I posted on my Instagram stories a couple of weeks ago about my revamped Media Kit that I had been meaning to update for ages and I also asked the question of 'Do you have a media kit?' The majority of the response was 'no, but I need one' and I have received a bunch of private messages and emails asking for advice on how to make one, what should be included and also the fundamental question 'what even is a media kit!?' So I thought I would write a post and share my tips for making a media kit, including an example of what I have currently. I am by no means an expert blogger when it comes to media kits and I am learning along the way too, but these are all things I have learnt or picked up along the way.
WHAT IS A MEDIA KIT?
Think of it as a CV for your blog/website. Media kits have been around for yonks, predominately used in the print/media industry to showcase readership for magazines and the sort of advertising opportunities they provide. A media kit doesn't have to be extensive, but it should represent your blog and be able to (in a page or so) showcase what it is your blog is all about.
Below is the design for my current media kit - I have taken out my stats and other personal information, but hopefully it will be clear as to what I have included and how I have mine all laid out.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE INCLUDED IN ONE?
The basics that should be included in every media kit are:
- Introduction about you and your blog. Make sure you have your blog header and a photo of yourself.
- Contact details. You don't need to supply your address or phone number, but a contact email is all you need.
- Blog statistics (taken from Google Analytics), the main ones to focus on are Sessions (visits, resets after 30 minutes or at the end of the day), Users (unique visitors) and Page Views (check out this site for a simple way to understand how these three stats work). In the past I have updated these each month and include a note that says 'Stats taken from a one month period', but now I just work out the average over a few months and state that figure for each.
- Social Media stats. I put a little disclaimer here and state 'Correct as at October '17' etc and try and update this at the end of each month to keep it relevant.
After you have covered the basics, that gives you a really good snapshot of your blog. If you want to go more in-depth you can include the following:
- Demographics of your readers, i.e. what is the percentage split between male and female, what is the most dominant age group, and where are your readers coming from around the world. As you can see in mine I don't go too in depth with these figures but this gives brands and PR a much clearer idea of your target audience, which is especially helpful for them. All of these stats can be found through your Google Analytics. If you haven't got a website, Facebook and Instagram give you pretty good stats/insights that you can include in your media kit.
- Advertising and sponsorship rates. This is one of the trickiest things about being a blogger - knowing your worth! I struggle with this on the daily, and although I have been lucky to have a few sponsored posts it is always difficult to know what to charge, and if it is too little or too much. I feel like this is a whole blog post in itself! A good way to look at it is what do you think your time is worth? How long would it take you to complete a post, this includes the planning, shooting, writing and marketing of it on social media. Think about what you get paid as an hourly rate for your job and base it from there. Often times creatives charge a lot more than your regular job for example. And I think no matter how many followers you have you should be charging over $50 - $100 for social posts and much more than for a blog post. Remember that a blog post is going to be around for much longer than a social media post on Instagram or Facebook which have a life of about 12-24 hours. If you are approached by a brand who wants to pay you for a post, you can always go back to them and ask them what they have in the way of budget, and don't be scared to say no if you think it is not going to be worthwhile, or you are getting a raw deal.
As well as outlining your rates for a blog post, make sure to include other options i.e. a package deal for an Instagram and Facebook, or fees for promoting or hosting giveaways. Perhaps you want to include ads on your site in the sidebar etc. There are a number of ways you can monetise your blog and social accounts. It is only since I revamped my media kit that I have dedicated a specific page for all of these details. In my past media kits, I have simply said "For all enquiries about sponsorship and advertising rates, please contact me', if you are just starting out with this side of things this might be the way to go while you find your feet and build your confidence in negotiating sponsored posts.
Some other things you can include are brands that you have partnered with or collaborated with in the past, any press features you have been in, awards you have won etc. I always make sure that my images are highlighted and they create a lot more interest in the design and help to break up all the numbers and writing. You can also include testimonials from brands you have worked with. Don't overdo it but you want this to be the best representation of your blog! I think the important thing is to keep it to 1-2 pages if you can, much like a CV.
HOW DO I MAKE ONE?
I am pretty savvy on Photoshop so I designed mine from scratch but looked at Pinterest and Etsy for some design inspiration. Etsy has some really amazing designs for around $15 - $20 that look beautiful and give you a good guide of what you need to include. I am sure there are free to download templates as well, but you want it to look professional and 'on brand'.
NOW, WHAT?
Get out there and share it! Save it as a PDF and you are good to go! If you have been in contact with brands and PR, let them know you have a current media kit so they can have it on file. If you want to reach out to brands/PR, make sure to include this in your email so they know why they should be working with you. As a blogger or social influencer, I think it's a really important resource to have on hand.
I hope I have helped in some way to explain why media kits are important and what should be included. If there are any questions, please leave me a comment or email me - I am more than happy to help you out. I have only been at this for 4 years and remember back in the day hearing the word media kit and not knowing what the heck it was so a post like this would have been very helpful for me!
Do you have a media kit? What do you think is the most important to include?
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