Preparation of a tool that showcases your business
When you run a business, it’s essential to promote your latest news to the press to generate interest and sales. A feature story in a targeted media venue can, after all, significantly boost brand awareness and visits to your business premises or website. More importantly, this kind of coverage provides third-party credibility that you cannot get with paid advertising. The best way to get information across quickly and consistently is with a media kit (also known as a press kit).
What is a Media Kit?
A media kit is a packet of information about your business that is created for use by the press. Its purpose is to provide the media with all the necessary information to report on your business.
Why Do You Need a Media Kit?
If reporters have a tight deadline to finish a story, they want the fastest and easiest way to get the information they need. If your competitor has a media kit with this data readily available and you don’t, they are going to get the free publicity!
Media kits are also great tools for communicating important facts about your company to potential new customers and partners. The information is easily accessible in one central location (especially when it’s online), and you can print copies of your media kit for conferences, tradeshows, and targeted media members as needed.
Common Media Kit Contents
The content of a media kit can vary, depending on the product or purpose of the kit. In determining the content, your needs, goals and the intended media targeted should always be considered.
Common media kit contents include:
- Company Overview
What does your company do? When did it start? Is there something unique about your origins that people might be interested in?
The overview is the place to summarise your business so that even someone who hasn’t heard of you before will understand what your business is all about. You may also want to include a fact sheet listing elements of your business or a timeline of growth and achievements. - Product/Service showcase
It is very important to list all your products and services and the benefits of each in your media kit. Any prospect/reporter should be able to read this page and know exactly what you sell and why people buy it very quickly. Make this information very scannable, and focus on the benefits, not the features – you can get bogged down in detail very quickly that way.
Include useful product photos that the media can use, perhaps with the product being used. - Current News
Entice the reporters, and let readers know that your business is up-to-date by including current news, industry trends, and forthcoming events in your media kit. List or link to all of your press releases, published press clippings, video samples, business testimonials from customers, case studies, speaking engagements, articles, and other activities.
Also include company brochures, logos, photos, identity standards, and potential story ideas to help the media get the information quickly. You need to update this regularly – you don’t want the latest news to be five months old! - Business Facts
Include a brief synopsis of what your company does and why you are unique. Include your mission statement, goals, and any other pertinent information about your business. This can be written in the form of “Frequently Asked Questions”. - Biographies of company officials, or at least a company’s officers
Provide biographies of the key leaders at your business with a current photo. Add pertinent anecdotes, quotes, and other unique criteria that establish credibility for each individual listed.
Also look to add some personal interest story items, such as marital status, family information, and hobbies enjoyed outside of work so readers can relate to the executives. - Multimedia Presentations
Modern media kits contain a CD or DVD containing a demonstration of the company’s product and/or message you are seeking to convey, either as a movie or PowerPoint presentation (though avoid ‘death by PowerPoint!) - Contact information
Obviously – yes, but public relations professionals say some people often overlook including a section of whom to contact for more information. You should list phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your company spokesperson.
Media Kits for Sponsorship
Over the years Jack Marketing Solutions™ has developed highly effective media kits for local sports clubs to help them find sponsors. The media kits outline the sponsorship opportunities (and believe us when we say that we have some innovative ideas), the price you expect to get, and the benefits you should expect from sponsorship.
Not only does a sponsorship media kit serve to generate income it also provides a document that helps publicise your organisation, and helps maintain a consistent message to the public.
For more information on how Jack Marketing Solutions™ can maximise your potential with innovative media kits, call us today at +44 (0)203 357 3557.
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