Today I'm going to be sharing my knowledge on the topic of media kits and how to create one that is both successful and effective. They are a valued feature that will definitely be crucial when collaborating with brands, but they need to be done correctly in order to be valued and impactful. I'll be sharing all of my handy tips with you, including the basics of a media kit, what you'll need to include and how to create one, step-by-step.
WHAT IS A MEDIA KIT AND DO I REALLY NEED ONE?
A media kit, in its simplest form, is a collection of information and data, usually displayed as a document, which gives brands and companies all the information they might want about you and your blog. Your media kit may be requested by someone wanting to work with you, or you can send it out to different companies in hope that they'll be interested. By having one, you will clearly stand out to a variety of people wanting to collaborate with you, showing that you are organised and committed to blogging. It also gives you an edge over other candidates with a similar niche and audience. Although you might find yourself never even using your media kit, it's useful to have and is worth investing a few hours into creating.
WHAT GOES IN MY MEDIA KIT?
You may be mistaken that a media kit simply consists of boring, analytical data such as your blog's pageviews and how many followers you have, but it is so much more than that. You can include many different things that help the reader get to know you, learn more about your blog and be persuaded to collaborate. Gathering all of the necessary things is probably the most laborious step of making a media kit, but it's really important to get everything together and in one place. I'd recommend making a folder on your computer called Media Kit Resources for you to keep all of this in, as this will prevent you from losing or forgetting about everything you have gathered. For your media kit, you will need:
Images:
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Statistics:
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Text:
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Your blog logo
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Pageviews per month
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Paragraphs about you and your blog
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A screenshot of your blog homepage
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Blog visitors per month
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Your sponsorship policies and what you offer
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A photo of you
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Social media followers
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Testimonials
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The best images from your blog
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Any other noteworthy statistics
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Email address and web address
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HOW TO CREATE A MEDIA KIT STEP-BY-STEP
1. INSERT YOUR BLOG LOGO AT THE TOP OF THE DOCUMENT, KEEPING IT FAIRLY LARGE AND CENTRED
Your blog logo will play an important part in your media kit, as it instantly gives the reader a glimpse of your brand and will be their primary way of identifying you. A professional looking logo shows that you're willing to dedicate time and effort into the aesthetic side of your blog and makes you look experienced, even if this isn't the case. If you don't have a usable logo, your header will do fine for now, but I recommend either making one yourself or paying a designer to create something, as it will make your media kit and blog, in general, appear to be much more professional.
2. INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO THE READER IN THE OPENING PARAGRAPH
The best way to get brands to want to engage with you is by writing a personal paragraph about yourself, keeping it relaxed and true. This will be the first thing that people will read in your media kit and could be the reason they stop looking through, so make it count. You don't need to mention the blogging side of your life, as this can be covered in the next paragraph, so instead give the reader a taste of your true self by mentioning your life, hobbies, goals and anything else that defines you. If you're not sure what to write, why not use the 'About Me' page of your blog as a guideline and build on it. I'd also recommend including a photo of yourself here, as the people reading your media kit will want to see the person behind the blog and it's a great way to show that you're a friendly face willing to collaborate.
3. TALK ABOUT YOUR BLOG, ITS NICHE AND REGULAR FEATURES
If brands are looking to work with your blog, they will need to know a bit about it and what it involves. Keeping the same relaxed tone as in the previous paragraph, talk about how your blog started, mentioning things like what inspired you to start and how it has developed since then. Mention your niche and subject areas that you often write about, as well as regular features that appear on your blog. If you've had the chance to work with any other brands or bloggers in the past, now is your time to mention them. However, keep this minimal, only choosing one or two of your favourite anecdotes to persuade the potential client, as too many can be boring and make you sound like you're bragging. Also include a screenshot of your blog in this section, so they can see what it looks like and get a feel for your site without needing to visit it.
4. MAKE YOUR SPONSORSHIP POLICIES CLEAR AND EVIDENT ON THE PAGE, ALONG WITH WHAT YOU OFFER
This is probably one of the most important parts of your media kit, as it shows what you're willing to do or put on your blog in collaboration with the brand. It's good to mention things like adverts on your blog, sponsored posts and samples, but if you have any other ideas or ways of collaborating then make sure you include them. Give as much detail about the possibilities, or alternatively say that they can find out more upon request. For example, if you're offering adverts on your blog, they will need to know where the adverts will be, what size they will be, how long they will be visible for and the cost. If you want to be paid, make sure you have fixed rates for everything you're offering and a set time-frame that payment has to be received by.
5. SHARE YOUR BLOGGING STATISTICS TO SHOW THE READER YOUR SUCCESS AND IMPROVEMENTS
Possible clients and people interested in your blog may want to know how successful your blog is and how many views it is getting. This will help them make an informed decision about whether to collaborate or not, but let me just say that there's no point in lying about these. The statistics that you need to include are your pageviews per month and unique visitors per month, but I would include others as well, so the brand has an accurate view and knows what to expect. If there are other statistics that you think are particularly good then make sure you include them, as this will create a better image. Below all of your statistics, make sure you say how current they are, as your blog can drastically change in a few months and old statistics may not have any relevance now.
6. TALK ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND HOW INFLUENTIAL THEY ARE
Social media is definitely growing and is a tool that bloggers and brands alike can take advantage of. You might find it convenient for sharing your posts and gaining an audience, but companies can use it to promote products and new launches. By sharing with the reader what social media accounts you have and how influential they are, you will find yourself becoming a likely candidate. Brands will love to hear if you have lots of followers, so make sure to give that a mention, but if you're a smaller blogger then say how much your audience has grown by. Potential sponsors will jump at the chance to have added promotion on the internet and might even interact with you on social media, sharing your posts and images with a wider audience.
7. SHOW YOUR EXPERIENCE AND LIKEABILITY THROUGH TESTIMONIALS
As humans, we often put our trust in peoples' opinions and love hearing what other people think, so including testimonials in your media kit will work in your favour. Brands who might be considering you but aren't sure could be certain after reading what other people have said about your blog, so you definitely need to get your hands on some. For your media kit, you only need a few, depending on the length of them, but it's always better to have a wide selection to choose from. If you've worked with any brands or bloggers in the past then make sure to politely ask them for a testimonial, but if not then there may be some readers of your blog who are willing to write one. It might be hard to ask them, but building up a bit of courage to send a short email will be worth it when you have lots of brands wanting to work with you.
8. BREAK UP ALL OF THE TEXT WITH SOME OF YOUR BEST BLOG IMAGES
So far, your media kit will consist of mostly text, which can be informative but doesn't look very eye-catching. Add images throughout the document to break up the large amounts of text, ensuring that they are some of the best photographs from your blog. This will give the brand a feel for your work and style of photography, as well as making your media kit more appealing to look at.
9. LEAVE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS IN A CLEAR AND NOTICEABLE PLACE SO BRANDS CAN EASILY RESPOND
I prefer to have my contact details at the very top of the page, but you could also have them at the end, depending on your preference and where there is room. The brand reading your media kit might want to contact you, but they probably won't go to great efforts to find out how. If your email address isn't prominent, you might lose that client and many others in the future. Oher contact information is optional, so I'd suggest saving room and stating that any other forms of contact are available upon request.
10. ARRANGE ALL OF THIS TO CREATE A CLEAN AND PROFESSIONAL LAYOUT
You now have all of the components of a great media kit and all that's left to do is build a clean, sleek layout that showcases and compliments the information. Try and stick to a colour scheme that is similar to your blog, staying clear of lots of bright colours. You want your media kit to look professional, so different shades of grey with one accent colour will work much better. Find a font that is easy to read but isn't boring and consistently use it throughout the media kit, sticking with a uniform size for headings, subheadings and body text. Try and fit everything onto one or two pages, as a brand mightn't spend lots of time flicking through excessive pages.
11. CHECK THROUGH TO MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO ERRORS OR MISTAKES
There's nothing worse than trying to create a professional looking media kit, only to find that there are frequent spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Scan over the paragraphs a number of times in search of these, using a spell checker to help you if necessary. It also helps to read over everything again to make sure that it flows, sounds right and everything is phrased in a way that you're happy with.
12. CONVERT THE FILE TO A PDF AND START SENDING IT OUT!
PDF files look a lot more professional than sending out your media kit as an image or a word document, so either convert it within the program you created it or online. Then, you're ready to start approaching brands and companies with your new handy tool that will instantly create a good impression.
That is all you need to know to make a successful and effective media kit. If you'd like any more advice, tips or want to see some examples, just let me know and I'll be able to help you. I hope you like this post and that I've inspired you to make your media kit the best it can possibly be.
Love from Daisy x
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