In 2013, a survey by PR Newswire and PR News revealed that 76% of communications planners intended to use more visual storytelling in 2014, yet even today only 5% of PR budgets are dedicated to producing visual content.

This lack of adoption provides innovative brands a competitive opening: visualisation as a PR tool.

The consumer landscape is ever more saturated with marketing messages and earned media is still the holy grail as brands seek to participate in conversations and gain audience trust. In this setting, compelling images and visualisations are key to making stories stand out from the crowd. They provide not only quick audience consumption, but the all-important stimulus for people to actually share that message. Think of it as a prop around which it is easier for people to share opinion – it is your stimulus to drive earned media.

PR teams have always had to think about what an article would look like on a page before pitching, and this is more important than ever. Thinking “what would it take for someone to publish this” before the content is produced will make it easier to sell in, gaining wider exposure and, ultimately, better results for clients.

In 2015 brands will continue to grapple with this and must consider the questions of what will our audience share, and what will they say when doing so.