Public relations professionals should use every possible means to get maximum coverage for what they are promoting. One of the most effective ways to present your brand or business to journalists is to use a press kit. It will help you present the most accurate information about your business and attract new customers. In this article, you will learn what a press kit is, see great examples of one and get a detailed guide to what you should include in your press kit.
What Is a Press Kit, Exactly?
To be more specific, a press kit is a collection of information about your company that media representatives can use when covering your brand in news outlets. A modern electronic press kit comes in many different sizes and shapes, including PDF files and folders, which are very convenient for sharing on your corporate site, blog or newsroom using such online services as WeTransfer or Dropbox. Alternatively, a musician’s press kit can be presented as printed press materials for greater exposure.
Not a long time ago, every PR expert used to know the difference between a press kit and a media kit. Media kits used to look like permanent files that evolved over time. Press kits were used to contain timely information, which was used mainly for social events, corporate updates or new product or service launch campaigns. Nowadays, either media or press kits can be seen online, and the difference between them almost does not exist.
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Main Benefits of Keeping Press Materials in Media Kits
Does it make sense to keep press materials online? The answer is yes. You need to do everything possible to increase your chances of getting media coverage. Below, you will find the main benefits of keeping your corporate press materials online in media kits:
- As soon as you have your corporate press kit, it will serve as a reference point for media communication regarding your brand. It is efficient for maintaining alignment on the key messages. You will not find a better way to provide critical brand information and present it in a perfectly digestible manner for media representatives and your target audience. No one says that a press kit can replace perfectly tailored pitches to the media, but it is an excellent supplement.
- When a brand has a professionally made press kit, it is much easier to keep the narrative under control. It is an excellent tool for keeping track of placements and staying aware of what is going out.
- A press kit demonstrates to the media that your company is a serious and well-organized structure. By dealing with such experts, journalists do not waste their time or the attention of their target audience on anything.
Press kits are not obvious to all professional media reporters and journalists. By having access to the main facts, reviews, awards and testimonials of the company, you can easily build trust among potential clients, colleagues, investors, social media influencers and business partners. Knowing all the advantages, we can move on to the next question: What should your press kit template include?
What’s Included in a Professional Press Kit?
If you try to figure out what to include in a press kit for artists or any other business, you should focus on the idea that your official press materials must be specific and represent your company in the best light. The goal is not to overload journalists with information. Always consider the lack of time most journalists face. Make sure that the layout of your press kit is uniform enough to help people find things and understand the key message quickly. You should be careful with your creativity so as not to confuse journalists even more. The final thing to mention is making a non-sales press kit. You can include some promotional details, but keep the section short. If you check the best press kit examples, you can see that the following elements are usually included:
- Boilerplate
Make sure that your boilerplate includes the essential information about your company’s background. It should look like the well-known “About Us” section, which is interesting and easy to comprehend for journalists and potential readers. Examine the information to see if it answers the fundamental questions. It is recommended to use headings for highlighting the key points of your press kit.
- Team bios
It is important to present your team members in a press kit. The best thing to do is to focus on their main talents and achievements. Make sure to let the media representatives know who is ready to provide comments or who is available for interviews. If you have team members with extraordinary backgrounds that can ensure an interesting interview, always focus on them and their professional/personal achievements first.
- Variants for your brand logo
One of the most important elements of your professional press kit is a logo. You have to check whether the resolution is high enough for your image. It is recommended to provide files in two variants, with both light and dark backgrounds. For your convenience, it is better to upload the SVG file, which you can scale to various sizes to ensure no loss of quality. This trick can be very useful if you have to be covered by a TV report or a large print publication. The second option is to choose PNG files, which have transparent backgrounds. Make sure you choose the largest logo, so it does not look blurry.
- Photos of high-resolution
It is important for a brand to have media coverage. To accomplish this task, you will need to have images of high-resolution on hand. The higher the resolution you have, the better it is for your press kit. Keep in mind that most journalists face rough deadlines. If you want your story to be covered, provide them with fast and easy access to high-quality images.
- Videos and audio content
If you want to boost coverage, you need to prepare video/audio content for your press kit. People do not appreciate seeing only text content, which is not that easy to digest. By including eye-catching video and audio content, you increase your chance of being noticed. Choose content depending on the potential audience and the main sector in which your business operates. As practice shows, marketing and PR campaigns with eye-catching visual elements get more attention.
- Contact details
Your press kit must include essential contact details. Make sure you clarify who the spokespeople are in front of the media representatives. Let journalists know when the spokespeople are available for interviews or conversations. Please provide a direct phone number as well as a valid email address.
- Links to social media platforms
We live in the digital age. When it comes to PR, marketing and social media platforms, they become the key channels for brands. When you prepare a press kit template, make sure to add the social links in the contact details.
- A company’s fact sheet
As the finishing point of your press kit, it is a good idea to outline a few essential points in order to describe your services and products. Make sure to include pricing and available locations to order services or buy products, etc.
FAQ: Press Kit
What is a press kit?
It is a package with materials about the company, its operations and facts for the media representatives to get you featured in their publications. If you offer them the opportunity to collect the data you think necessary from one place, it will improve the company’s reputation, increase its trust among the public and probably bring more traffic to your website.
What is in a press kit?
The media package should contain only relevant data like facts, history, employees’ bios, numbers, press releases, recent events and high-quality photos.
How to create a press kit?
Before you start collecting all the data, decide on the format it should be kept. Then according to the list of things to include, check each piece of information. Exclude all the old stuff and pay attention to the dates.
How to make an electronic press kit?
If you decide to supply the electronic version of the media kit, consolidate all the information in one folder and store it on any convenient cloud service. Then add all the elements to the special press section on the website. Thus, media representatives will find you faster, thanks to the indexation mechanisms of the search engines.
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