Media Kits: What They Are and Why You Need One 📸
- Social Media
Learn what a media kit is and how it can help your brand flourish. We’ll cover the essential elements and provide compelling media kit example.
Marketing and public relations professionals spend immense resources developing a well-cultivated image for the brands they serve. But once that’s done, they still need to get the word out. That’s where a media kit comes in handy.
A media kit is invaluable for any small business, digital marketing agency, or independent marketer. It defines the public perception of your (or your client’s) brand, ensuring it stands out from the competition. Our guide will explain media kits, give exceptional examples, and show you how to build one of your own.
What is a media kit? 🧰
A media kit is a collection of promotional and informational materials that lays out a brand’s identity, products or services, and story. For reporters, influencers, and potential partners, it serves as a reference and demonstrates how the brand would like to be portrayed.
The kit’s contents may vary depending on its audience, but its intent remains the same: to provide a one-stop shop of resources for anyone who wants to work with a brand. It should give a journalist everything they need to know to include the brand in a story and tell an influencer what vocabulary to use (and avoid) when promoting the company. It may also provide product specs and collaboration rates — especially if the brand is courting partnerships or advertisers.
These resources streamline the partnership and promotion processes, getting everyone on the same page.
Media kits vs. press kits 📰
Although many use the terms interchangeably, some distinguish between a media kit and a press kit. The difference is usually in their timeliness and specificity.
A media kit contains generalized information about a brand that is evergreen. It should remain largely the same unless there is a significant rebrand or the business acquires better data. On the other hand, a press kit is distributed to coincide with a new product launch or brand update. It often accompanies a press release and contains more specific materials to save reporters time on research, so they can quickly assemble a story.
Media and press kits are both vital tools for framing the public perception of a brand. They’re the best way to garner earned media coverage and standardize your influencer marketing.
How to make a media kit 🏗️
If you’ve put in the work upfront to create a cohesive branding, then a media kit simply requires you to compile it in an accessible package. A media kit is often just a reorganization of the info you’re already presenting in your investor pitch deck and style guide.
We’ve provided a list of the materials you may want to include. Not all of these components are necessary for a successful media kit. In fact, sometimes less is more. The kit should make it easy for interested parties to learn about your brand, so it’s wise to keep it simple and streamlined.
Here are some materials to consider for your media kit:
Contact information 📞
This is perhaps the most essential element of a media kit. Tell recipients who they should contact with various inquiries and give them multiple modes of communication. This will likely be your PR or media relations team — not your CEO (unless you’re an army of one). Whatever phone numbers or email addresses you include here, ensure someone checks them frequently.
Company bio 🧬
A media kit must define your brand identity — readers should learn who you are and what you stand for. This could entail a brief company history, bios on pivotal leaders within the organization, or initiatives you have adopted. A mission statement is essential in even the most bare-bones company bio.
Product/Service info 🎁
Your media kit should explain what your company does. What distinguishes your product from your competitors? Who is your service’s target audience, and what does it provide for them?
If you’re seeking partnerships, this is the time to get into the nitty-gritty of your product’s specs so potential partners know what they’re working with. For instance, a print media company may include its magazine’s dimensions, paper stock, page count, and advertising pricing so other brands can plan their ads accordingly.
Statistics 📈
A media kit provides an excellent opportunity for you to tout your successes. Include growth metrics, sales data, and opinion polls. You can even throw in social media rankings (e.g., subscribers, follower count, and engagement rates) to cement the popularity and legitimacy of your brand. Graphics are a great way to visualize your success.
This is another section where you can help collaborators better understand your brand. Share audience demographics so they know who they’re talking to when they address your audience. Bloggers and journalists also love including hard data in their reporting. Make their lives easier, and you’ll be rewarded with more press coverage.
Success stories 🥇
Numbers are helpful, but stories guarantee your brand will leave an impact. Like the other suggested materials, these are best left short and sweet. Compile quotes and testimonials from satisfied customers or partners, list prior collaborations, and limit case studies to brief descriptions. You can include links to more robust info if it is of interest.
Branding guidelines ✅❌
Brand recognition hinges on consistency. Your media kit should include explicit and detailed rules about your brand’s font, logo, and colors. Provide examples of how your branding should look in various contexts, such as in print, online, and in black-and-white.
These guidelines extend beyond imagery. The kit should tell influencers, advertisers, and partners how to talk about your brand, including specific dos and don’ts. Essentially, this section should be a condensed version of your internal style guide.
Media assets 🖼️
The best way to ensure your brand is presented correctly is to do it yourself. This is why provided media assets are a standard inclusion in any media kit. Include high-quality images of your logo and other branding in various configurations and file formats, so those using your media kit can include it in their work.
Your media package may also include high-resolution images of your product, headshots of leadership, and videos of your company in action. These make it simple for outside parties to produce promotional material that portrays your brand in a flattering way.
Many brands create a simplified kit encompassing these items and their branding guidelines, often called a social media kit. This tells influencers and PR pros how to represent your brand online.
How to distribute a media kit 🌐
So you’ve compiled your materials, but how do you get your media kit into the right hands?
Digital media kits are the modern standard, but there are multiple ways to format them. You may include a download link on your brand’s website — typically on the “Contact” or “Press” page. The files should be compressed into a ZIP file for easy access. Alternatively, you could host an interactive media kit across multiple web pages. This represents a more significant effort on your part but guarantees an intuitive experience for users.
No matter how you host your media kit, you should link to it in any press or partner outreach communications.
Media kit examples 🌟
Crafting a stellar media kit is an art, so take inspiration from the masters. Here are some examples to inspire your work:
Airbnb 🏠
The Airbnb media kit sets the gold standard. The app has a dedicated news site that provides product updates, founder bios, a company timeline, and extensive media assets. All the content is organized and searchable, so the impressive breadth of materials doesn’t overwhelm interested parties.
Spotify 🎵
Spotify’s media kit is all about collaboration. The static PDF starts with an overview of the service, including usage statistics and demographic information. Then, it touts the company’s ability to target advertisements and lays out the different types of brand collaborations they offer. Finally, it ends with a list of the trusted third-party services they use to measure the efficacy of their partnerships.
Leena Abed (via Contra) ✨
You don’t have to be a multinational company to have a sleek and effective media kit. Independents can benefit from them in the same ways. Leena Abed is a content creator and social media marketer on Contra who has crafted an impressive kit to outline her qualifications, services, and rates. It also features examples of her previous partnerships.
Spread the word about your services on Contra 📢
Media kits are one of many tools that help Independents and burgeoning brands find success. Whether you’re promoting your own services or seeking clients in need of a marketing master, Contra is the place to be. Our commission-free hiring hub matches Independents with their ideal clients. Sign up today and become part of the future of work.
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