It’s Monday, pitches.
Hope you had a totally cute Easter and all that. And if you are also Greek Orthodox, know that my household is in vegan solidarity with you as we fast during this upcoming Holy Week. (I love it — it’s my fave week of the year. Pete? He suffers.)
One quick maintenance-y thing to get out of the way: Your feedback is always welcomed, encouraged, and really, kind of the point. So, if you have something to say after reading, pretty please hit ‘reply’ and lay it on me.
After all, your input is key to making Pitch, Please as meaningful as possible. IMHO.
In other news, you may recall that last week I wrote ad nauseam about three main reasons pitches don’t get read. One of said reasons was: PICTURES!
Or, if you’re feeling fancy, ~iMaGeS~. (Kim, would you stop taking images of yourself? Your sister’s going to jail.)
If you haven’t picked up on this by now, I’m pretty picky. I am undoubtedly a perfectionist who appreciates aesthetics, and I know what works when I see it.
So, let me just start with this — I get it. Not every email is going to format correctly. Or be perfect. It’s okay. Images can be annoying as heck. Sometimes they don’t cooperate, sometimes the sizing’s off, and sometimes a gal just doesn’t feel like Photoshopping six pics together when it’s so much easier to upload separately.
I GET(!!!) it.
But we can’t deny that visuals matter. Like, a lot. Like, in the words of Parent Trap-era Lindsay Lohan pretending to be Hallie Parker who was pretending to be Annie James while holding her treasured bunny named Cuppy: A lot, a lot.
In fact, a 2014 study found that the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. And there’s a palpable payoff to that statistic, too: 80 percent of people remember what they see in comparison to only remembering 10 percent of what they hear and 20 percent of what they read.
So, keeping these statistics in mind, you should know that — when pitching — images are often the thing the writer remembers. Yep, even more so than the words.
But it’s more than just a memory thing. High-quality, well-executed images get a lot done on your behalf. A picture’s worth a thousand words, right? Instead of reading three lines, I now have a kickass reference photo. Bam! Instant recognition of what it is you’re pitching.
And for me — the writer — that makes life 10 times easier.
Because I can’t tell you how many times I get a pitch and can’t quickly discern what it’s actually a pitch for. “But Stephanie, read those three lines and then you’ll know what it’s a pitch for.” I wish that were true, but it’s not always.
Part of that is, well, some publicists use a lot of jargon. Maybe that came directly from higher-ups or maybe not. But if the writer can’t surmise what the pitch is in approximately, eh, 10 seconds then there’s no denying — you need an image that can tell the story better than your words can.
I’ve got a few more bones to pick with image etiquette, but I’ve highlighted them in a shorter, bulleted format for both your sake and my own:
Photoshopping a bunch of products together: This comes with the caveat that, of course, it works at times. But think of it from my perspective: You just pitched six different dresses from six different brands, then plopped a Photoshopped image of the six dresses together. I, the writer, am interested in one dress specifically but I have no idea which one it is. The image doesn’t clearly go with the description given = HEADACHE!
Images that ain’t high-res: I’m going to need a high-res image if I cover the product — whatever it is. Give me access to that high-res image now so I don’t have to ask for it later. Process = STREAMLINED!
No pictures at all: I don’t care if you’re pitching something that can’t easily be photographed or if it’s something intimate like, a vibrator. I need a photo. I kid you not when I say, if there is no photo, I click ‘read’ and move on. No images = NO INTEREST!
Strange formatting issues: Again, not every email can be peachy-keen perfection but just know, I notice when photos format weirdly, are hilariously tiny, or interrupt a graph mid-sentence. Unfavorable formatting = STEALS THE LIMELIGHT!
And because I’m a woman of my word, I want to leave you with one more thing: an example.
I actually LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this product: the FluentPet Tester Kit. (Shout-out if this was your pitch/is your client!) It was pitched to me, partly, like so:
Teaching my dog (Koda — FYI) how to communicate with me? In English? Via buttons? ALL THE YES.
But I thought about this one after I had clicked the link. You know what would have grabbed my attention even more? Sold me even more? This photo from the website that illustrates everything I need to know in literally .5 seconds:
*I screenshotted this from the website, please don’t come for me.
This single image explains more information (and frankly, better information) about what the product is than even the product’s name does. FluentPet Tester Kit could be anything. A doggy DNA kit, maybe? But this image tells me exactly what it is. And I’m sold.
Ah, the power of photos. Am I right?!
That’s all for now. Enjoy a vegan cookie from Whole Foods for me this week as I will also be subsisting on dark chocolate and Just Eggs until Sunday.
BTW, this pitch is headed to Nashville for my joint bachelorette next week. Any recs? It’s my first time and I’d love to know your fave spots/any must-do’s while in town!
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LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/StephanieOsmanski
Super useful tips here, Steph. I'm visually motivated as well. However, I've often heard *not* to include attached images in pitches (aside from a link to a folder of images, which is necessary for services like HARO). I'm going to experiment more with pix in pitches & let you know how it goes.