As a business or organisation, it is really important to have all your ducks in a row before you start approaching the media and this is where your press kit/media pack comes into play. This kit can play an important part in engaging with the media and letting them know what you and your business are all about. It should provide them with all the key facts and messages in an easy to digest way.
Your media kit will help you long term as it forces you to look at your messaging and how to get things across in an impactful yet concise manner.
If this all sounds a little overwhelming and you’re wondering where to even begin, have no fear this week’s blog gives you all the info you need to get a media friendly press kit sorted.
Elevator pitch/60 seconds
This is the equivalent of going to a networking event and having to explain your business in an exciting yet informative way in under a minute. To get this right imagine you’re in a lift and only have minute to tell somebody enough information about your business to leave them feeling like they want to know more.
It needs to be brief, interesting, and memorable.
Boilerplate
If you read my blog about press releases writing you may remember the bit about notes to editor, well this is your boilerplate. The aim of this is to give some background to what you do, how long you’ve been doing it and information about founders as well as a chance to share information about any milestones or awards.
Images
The saying “a picture speaks a thousand words” is a saying for a reason, because it’s true. When it comes to the images you send out to the media (and I can’t stress this enough) a snapshot from your phone just won’t cut it. Susan Truseler talks about this in a blog she wrote for me recently.
For the press pack itself you just need a page or two (4-6 images per page) showcasing the images that are available for the media to use. Include product shots, (cut outs), lifestyle and founder headshots.
Factsheets and case studies
Depending on what your business, you might want to include fact sheets. For a product this would be all the highlights of your product and technical information, if you’re a charity it might be stats about the people you are helping or the problem you are addressing. If you’re service-based business, you might want to use this section for case studies that demonstrate why your business I needed and how it has helped solved a need.
Testimonials
Let those people who love what you do, do the talking for you. Using testimonials is a chance to show your credibility and let them know you have something exciting to offer. Potentially have a couple of testimonials who are happy to speak to the media about you.
Comment pieces and thought leadership.
This won’t be relevant for everyone, but if you’re looking to pitch yourself or other spokespeople as experts, having comment pieces prepared can really aid your PR efforts. Don’t over-complicate things and include them all in the press kit, but you could include a couple of headlines and introductory paragraphs to draw the reader in.
Press release(s)
In your press kit, include your key press release(s), so that they’re readily available and easily found in one place. Journalists get a lot of emails so won’t necessarily go back to the email you sent them six months ago to find the release so putting them all in one place can be a great help.
Contact details
Don’t forget to let them know how they can contact or follow you. Include email, ph0one number, website, and social media handles.
There’s the basics of a press release. How it looks is important so you may want to get a graphic designer onboard to make sure the press pack is on brand. As for the pack itself don’t use a fancy program as they may not be able to open it. Instead save it as a low-res PDF so that it won’t block anybody’s inbox (but ensure the compressing of the file hasn’t made the images blurry).
So hopefully you are ready to get that press kit ready to send out. You’ll be proactively using it when you pitch, but it can also be a great way to send everything the media needs if they request “more information”.
Need help with your press kit then get in touch at sayhello@beckandcallpr.co.uk or if you want to discuss your ideas, story angles, finding your story etc then book a 75 minute discovery call with me.