COVID-19 taught us many public relations lessons – the importance of well-established internal communication channels, the need for a crisis management plan and the importance of having a PR team by your side. But it’s also taught to capture our own audiovisual content, and a lot of it, for those moments when media members can’t attend your event in person. 

Throughout the pandemic, social distancing and crowd restrictions limited the amount of people in one area. Unfortunately, media members have more restrictions than they did in non-pandemic times. To combat this now and in thee future, PR professionals need to learn what visual content media professionals are looking for so your story gets covered and your client gets featured.  

Learn how to capture quality content

While we all want high-quality photos and videos, this is especially important to media members. It would behoove you to brush up on your photo- and video-taking skills! When planning out your content, consider where it will be posted – this determines whether you need to capture content vertically or horizontally. Investing in a quality microphone will also benefit you when video footage is needed. You’ll want to make sure the audio is audible and clear, and camera or phone speakers don’t always provide the best sound quality. 

Don’t forget to get the extras

Whether you’re in need of video or photo content, make sure you capture different angles, settings, takes and b-roll. You’ll want to provide as many options possible. This also gives you a higher chance of receiving coverage – the more content they have to use, the easier it will be for them to craft a piece. When filming, also remember to capture each interviewee’s name (with spelling) and title so media can accurately credit on-camera speakers. 

Make it easy for media teams to get content

In my experience, the easiest way to share content with the media is through Dropbox. If you aren’t able to use that platform, ensure everything is in a shareable folder that media members can access easily without editor status. Even if you aren’t pitching your event until after it happens, having a folder with organized content included already puts you ahead of the rest! 

While the pandemic seems to be slowly easing up, the practice of preparing content for the media will still prove useful in the future. In fact, it may become a more “normal” practice in the industry. Either way, PR professionals are always looking for ways to help their clients get coverage, and this has proven successful for our team!