In days long gone – actually just a few years ago – media kits used to be called press kits (press packs) because they were sent to newspapers and printed publications by companies to introduce themselves, or make sure the press had the most up to date information on their brand, when writing an article or launching a new product.
Today, media kits serve the same purpose, but can include elements that you could not so easily send through the mail. Media kits can be emailed when needed, or more often simply made available through your company website as a download.
With the explosion of online media and written content, a downloadable pack is the best way to ensure everyone has the latest information available about your brand. When something changes, you only need to update it in one place.
Media kits are more than just informative, however. They need to be beautifully designed and easy to use and read. If you are submitting to a publication (print or online) in the hope of having a write-up, launching a product or just getting coverage, a great looking media kit goes a long way, especially if it makes a journalist’s life that much easier by doing the background work for them.
If you are looking for media kits downloads on a company web page, start with looking for a link marked as ‘Press’ – some habits are hard to break!
So when it comes to creating your brand media kit – what are the elements that you should think about including? Here are some essentials, and a few optional extras:
Company information
A brief introduction to the business – any interesting story about its history (how the business was inspired, such as a life event, a niche discovery, etc).
Follow this with a short bio of key staff and make sure this includes a recent headshot photo!
Any other interesting stories about the development of the business or its product.
Try and keep each section between two to three of paragraphs – enough to get the information written but not too much to lose it in unnecessary waffle.
Up to date images
Always have up to date product photographs, or recent event images in your media kit – and keep them up to date.
Journalists love photos – so keep a supply of recent ones in your media kit. Keep these in high resolution, which is preferred, but consider a link to lower-res versions as these are sometimes needed. At the very least, state that they are available upon request.
Also include logo images (in various formats that you permit – colour, black and white, etc) and include files in printed media formats as well as digital.
Contact details
Often overlooked in a downloadable media kit, contact details are an essential element.
Although in many cases your media kit will be downloaded from your website and this will already have your contact details on it, your kit needs to be a stand-alone ‘one stop shop’ containing every important element, so include all contact details including names, phone numbers, emails and even your web address.
You never know when it may be passed on to a third party by someone else.
Additionally, there will be many times you will be emailing this out for marketing purposes and the recipient will have no prior knowledge of your company or website.
Customer testimonials
These are powerful inclusions which should be on every website, so make sure that you have some shining examples in your media kit as well. Testimonials can be used as quotes and create an interesting extra angle for journalists.
Recent media coverage
This should link to (or preferably, contain) recently published news media and anywhere else your business and/or product has been featured.
Don’t forget video
As well as everything already listed, include a short video or two to introduce the business, the staff and your products.
This should be a brief introduction, a couple of minutes at most, as many journalists are even too busy to read through the condensed information of a media kit.
Video is now the prevalent form of communication across many platforms, not just social media. Having a short video to watch will, in the first instance, save a journalist time and help them easily grasp the concept of your business or product.
They can then delve into the rest of the media kit if their interest has been piqued, but remember that any included video will often be the first thing they see, so create it with that in mind, and above all make it professional.
Press release info
If you are launching, or have just launched, a new product or service, then make sure you include a write-up about this. Include quotes from a relevant person, who should also be available for interview if required, so relist their contact details at this point. (Remember – the key to a successful media kit is to do the journalist’s job for them).
In many cases, you will be contacting publications to promote such events, and having everything they will need already in your media kit goes a long way to helping them ‘do their job’.
It’s also surprising how many others will look at your media kit if you post it on your website; many people will look at a business press page on your website, as they know it will provide them with a shortcut background to the business without having to wade through the ‘official’ long website pages.
It’s not just the press that look at media kits! Your media kit should be a form of marketing available to anyone who wants to see it.
Splento are committed to visual excellence and helping the world move online. For further information on media kit creation or refreshing (or any other aspect of branding), you are welcome to contact Splento today, at your convenience.
If you already have a successful brand image, but feel it could perhaps do with a little freshening up to help propel your business to the next level, then contact Splento today and find out how to take your own first steps to refresh.
Look here for some amazing examples of companies that have done just that.
Splento has put together a brand audit package which will assess where you are at now and help you understand where you want to get to.
We can then map out a route for you to follow to help you get there.
For more information on this exciting service, take a look at our brand audit information.
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