What Belongs In A Media Kit?

⌛  By Kaylin R. Staten ⌛

Earlier this month, Hourglass Media released its most recent media kit for The City of Huntington’s 150th Anniversary. 

While I have written nearly 1,000 press releases and designed several media kits, this one -- by far -- is my favorite. In addition to this client media kit, I have also created a one-page media kit for Hourglass Media to use for pitches.

At the beginning of the process, make an outline to keep yourself on track and know what is needed throughout the creation of your media kit.

These following checklist points will help you create an impactful media kit that will drive more engagement and get you the results you want:

Make it for both print and digital.

I know this seems like a no-brainer in the digital era of which we live, but. Choose a format that works best for you and your target audiences. I use a mixture of Adobe Creative Cloud (namely InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop), Canva, and Adobe Spark Page. During the Research and Planning stages, I assess what is needed per project. Sometimes, a simple press release will suffice, but there are other times in which you want to add something for someone to keep and leaf through as needed. I use Electronic Press Kits (EPKs) to complement standard Word and PDF versions of press releases. The media’s use of online tactics 

Be informative but not overbearing.

The aim of your media kit is to tell your brand or company’s story. I like to do this in multiple ways, from inserting infographics to providing easy-to-consume chunks of information. You don’t want your media kit to be too wordy because people will likely just check out while reading it or not even read it at all. (Think of all of those PowerPoint presentation slides that have full sentences or brochures that should have just been a novel.) Use a combination of information, like mission and vision statements, statistics, timelines, checklists, actionable lists, contact information, website links, quotes, letters, and more.

Ensure that it’s visually appealing.

You don’t have to have a graphic design degree in order to design a media kit that will boost your open rate and inform your target audiences. Use a blend of photos, logos, branded color schemes to tell your media kit’s story. You may be unveiling a new product or asking donors to consider contributing to your nonprofit organization’s fundraising campaign. No matter your mission, create a media kit that sticks to your brand and goals for the project. If you’re stuck, try Googling some examples of media kits. I also find things on Pinterest and just through my journey as a PR practitioner. Keep good examples on file for rainy day when you need some design inspiration. You can find inspiration anywhere! For example, my one-page media kit that I send with pitches includes on-brand photos, my headshot, a brief biography, my personal tagline, areas of expertise, main focuses, social media links, contact information, and other Hourglass Media brand assets.

Have a Call to Action.

If you’re doing a print or digital media kit, you want to have a clear call to action because you want your target audiences to act, right? Don’t just give them information and expect them to know what to do with it. In the City of Huntington’s 150th Anniversary campaign media kit, we included ways for community members of all ages to get involved in order to maximize impact. See page 9 if you’d like to see how we phrased these tips and then laid them out. For Cabell County Family Resource Network’s Pathways to Summer Fun Guide Electronic Media Kit, we decided to have a digital version to accompany the standard print press release. Our Call to Action here was to get people to access the master listing of summer events and resources and sign up for email updates. So, use your communications plan to its full extent with outreach and reaching your goals and objectives using your media kit.

Give everything to your audiences.

I am a huge advocate for giving my target audiences what they need -- even before they know they need it. Public relations is about cultivating relationships for years to come, and it takes several touchpoints to get people to know and then trust you. So, don’t be afraid to be repetitive -- just not too repetitive that it’s condescending. You can put a link to your campaign’s assets on Google Drive in a couple of different spots, as well as your website and other pertinent information. I like to add sample social media posts, graphics for multiple platforms, logos, and other downloadable content that will make people’s lives SO much easier.

Kaylin R. Staten, APR, is an award-winning, accredited public relations practitioner and writer based in Huntington, WV with 18 years of professional communications experience. As CEO and founder of Hourglass Media, she uses her compassionate spirit and expertise to delve into the heart of clients’ stories. She is a recovering perfectionist, mental health advocate, wife, Luke’s mom, cat mom, and Leia Organa aficionado. Connect with Kaylin on LinkedIn.