So What Is A Press Kit?
In public relations, creating seamless and engaging interactions with journalists is crucial for reaching your target audience and securing earned media coverage. To achieve this, understanding the importance of a press kit is key. A press kit is a fundamental PR tool that compiles all the essential information about your company, brand, or individual in one place, making it easier to promote to journalists effectively.
Key Takeaways
- Press Kits Matter: Essential for giving journalists quick access to your brand’s key info, aiding media coverage.
- Press Kit Essentials: Include press releases, fact sheets, images, and contact details to support your story.
- Media Kit Examples: Use diverse examples like product launches and events to boost your press kit’s impact.
Press Kit Definition
A press kit, or media kit, is a collection of promotional materials shared with the media to support announcements, product launches, or events. Examples include holiday promotions, new CEO announcements, and special conferences. Great press kits enhance credibility by including detailed information about your company, services, and accomplishments, helping your brand stand out. An effective press kit should contain relevant media materials like photographs and documents, tailored to the specific media and event. Ensure the content is engaging, informative, and free from distractions, making it easy for journalists to cover your story.
The Essentials of a Press Kit
Although the content of a press kit can vary for PR professionals, it should contain plenty of useful information that will effectively supplement a story. For example, if a journalist is covering a company’s executive team, the press kit should include quality headshots and in-depth descriptions of the executives or attributed quotes. Press kits should also include a press release, fact sheets about products or services, a boilerplate, logos, visually appealing images, contact information, social media links and videos, if applicable to the story. It should serve as a reference point for the brand and the key messages of the company. The goal is to make research and writing as easy as possible for the journalist. If you send press kits with similar company information, be sure to regularly check if all of your items are up to date. It can be embarrassing to send a dated logo or video that no longer applies to your organization.
Press Kit vs Digital Press Kit
As the media industry and press coverage have evolved over the years, so has the press kit. The traditional press kit has evolved digitally to include press materials, such as a brand’s pdf files, videos, company websites, online newsroom and web pages. Using a digital press kit, which can be viewed online or shared as a PDF, ensures information can be shared and stored easily and updated at any time. Digital press kits are used throughout all facets of public relations to inform the media.
For example, an electronic press kit, or EPK, is used in the music industry to promote musical acts to agents, promoters, venues, reporters, etc. EPKs include videos of performances, interviews, bios, images, press releases as well as previous media coverage. A digital media kit can be adapted to any channel of communication which is why they’ve grown in popularity, but physical press kits are still a great way to share information with journalists and the media. A physical press kit contains some of the same material as digital press kits — fact sheets, contact information, headshots and descriptions, images and promotional material — but they also allow journalists to experience your product or service before writing about it. Physical press kits can be personalized and creative, which is essential for securing coverage.
How To Make a Press Kit
When industry professionals are building/making a press kit, including a digital press release kit, it’s important to identify the brand image, key messages and how the content will represent the brand. A key factor to your media relations strategy, each piece of the press materials, from the images and videos to the press release and business cards, contributes to the journalist’s impression of the brand and, consequently, their readers. In addition to the theme and concept for the press kit, digital or physically, you should put yourself in the journalist’s shoes to ensure all the information they need to write a story is included and accessible.
Press Release Examples
When crafting an effective press kit, including strong press release examples is essential. These examples provide journalists with a clear template and help demonstrate how your brand communicates its key messages. Here are some examples of press releases you might include in your PR basic press kit:
- Product Launch Announcement: Highlighting the introduction of a new product, detailing its features, benefits, and availability.
- Executive Appointment: Announcing the appointment of a new CEO or key executive, with background information and the impact on the company.
- Event Announcement: Promoting an upcoming event, such as a conference, seminar, or product unveiling, with key details and reasons to attend.
- Partnership or Collaboration: Detailing a strategic partnership with another company, explaining the benefits and future goals of the collaboration.
- Milestone Achievement: Celebrating a significant company milestone, such as reaching a sales target, anniversary, or industry award.
Including a variety of these press release examples in your press kit ensures that journalists have access to well-crafted narratives that align with your brand’s messaging, making it easier for them to cover your story effectively.
Related: How To Improve Your PR Writing
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