The Pentera Blog
The Real Purpose of Photo Captions
So after photographs and headlines, what do readers typically read most often?
According to reader eye movement research, readers' eyes next go to captions.
With such high readership, publishing one of your photographs without a caption–or with one that merely describes the action in the picture–is a missed opportunity. The real purpose of a photo caption is to market your mission. Tie the photograph to the organization message, advises the Direct Marketing Association, using the caption to highlightthe "benefits" of whatever product or service is being marketed.
Behind the research
The Poynter Institute, an eminent journalism training facility based in St. Petersburg, Florida, has performed several eye movement readership studies over the years.Glasses worn by participants hold two tiny cameras: one records eye movement and the other records where the reader looks.
The recordings are blended together, and researchers and their student assistants track where the readers look as they read newspapers, with more than 300 distinct viewing elements identified (including captions). Poynter says its studies are the most comprehensive eye-tracking research ever conducted.
Advice from the experts
Malcolm Gibson, renowned professor at the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, states unequivocally that captions are "the most read body type in a publication." ("Body type" is text, as opposed to headlines, which are "display type.")
Susan K. Jones, Professor of Marketing at Ferris State University in Michigan, says that captions help "lead the reader through a story or process." That can be the story told by the pictures, or it can be a much larger story: the "big picture" of your organization.
More than the picture
Some believe that captions are unnecessary because they so often merely describe what the viewer can obviously see in the photograph: "College graduates throw their mortar boards in the air in celebration." But avoiding the obvious does not make a caption superfluous. That's where the marketing opportunity presents itself: "Nearly 80 percent of these happy hat-tossing grads received scholarship assistance; your planned gift could make it even more."
Another example
Here's an effective marketing caption: "Janey Jones, 6, shares a special moment with the nurses in intensive care; your gift can help ensure the highest level of care for other patients at XYZ Hospital."
Unfortunately, too often the caption reads like this: "A young patient talks with two nurses." Or there is no caption at all. But a powerful marketing caption can be created even if you don't have a lot of specifics about a picture from your photo library.
We can help
Pentera's experienced writers can help pen your captions. All you have to do is provide whatever basics you know about the photo: who, what, when, and where. We'll do the rest!
