You might be wondering, what is a media kit? When I first heard the term I was clueless. A media kit is a like a portfolio for your blog. Typically are in PDF format and have 3-4 pages of info about you and your blog. Some kits can be small some kits can be bigger. I had a single page when I made my first one.
Media kits are an important part of blogging. It is your first impression with brands and PR companies. It's what they look at when considering you for a campaign. It is what they see you as. So you want a nice, clean, professional media kit that actually represents you, your blog and your social media presents.
Media kits aren't just about your numbers and stats. It's about you and introducing yourself and your blog to PR companies. That is why you're about me portion should be first. I wrote a whole post about what to include in your kit. You can read that here.
In this post I wanted to answer your questions. So I asked you guys on twitter what questions you have about media kits. I'm going to do my best to answer them.
Media kits are an important part of blogging. It is your first impression with brands and PR companies. It's what they look at when considering you for a campaign. It is what they see you as. So you want a nice, clean, professional media kit that actually represents you, your blog and your social media presents.
Media kits aren't just about your numbers and stats. It's about you and introducing yourself and your blog to PR companies. That is why you're about me portion should be first. I wrote a whole post about what to include in your kit. You can read that here.
In this post I wanted to answer your questions. So I asked you guys on twitter what questions you have about media kits. I'm going to do my best to answer them.
QUESTIONS FROM TWITTER
A media kit is a resume you send to brands and PR teams. It is what PR will use to determine if you are right for their campaigns. It shows them who you are, what you do on your blog, who your audience is, what your audience likes and your follower numbers and engagement.
Andi Asks: When do you need one, like at what stage in your blogging career does one become a necessity?!
A: I'd say you need one as soon as you start contact brands or they contact you. You want to have a media kit to send out to brands when you reach out. Like I said above think of it like a resume, you are showing your information and qualifications. You are pitching yourself and your blog. A media kit makes it look more professional and is likely to keep the interest of the PR staff than a page just listing stats and numbers.
Lily Asks: Can someone with very little stats have one? (no brands worked with as well) or is it pointless?
A: I made my first media kit when I was super small because a company asked for it. I had maybe 200 twitter followers. And as for brands I still don't have any on mine. Past work is great to have in your kit but I don't think it's necessary.
Sarah Eliza Asks: If you're small blogger how do you make the small numbers look appealing?
I include a total of all my followers after I list out my followers on all platforms. Seeing the bigger number can really help.
Rachel Asks: What's the best format to create a media kit in? Pdf or otherwise?
PDF is the best so you can keep going back to edit it as your numbers grow. If you do a multi-page kit you have to do PDF as it is the only file that can do multiple pages. If you only have 1 page you can save a PNG copy to send to brands since PNG will still have a nice quality but will be a smaller file.
Jade Marie Asks: How do you send it out once it's created? Like how do you find out PR email addresses and what do you say?
Most companies will have a PR/contact email on their website. Some have forms which you can select PR from a list of subjects.
When contacting brands I say something like "Hello my name is Cassie. I run the Beauty, Geek & Lifestyle blog ZombieGoddess Beauty. I love X product(s) and their brand name. I would love to work with you on a post for my blog! I do product reviews and I would love to test some products. I have attached my media kit with all of my stats. It was last updated xx.xx.xx. I would love to work with you! And I how to hear from you soon!"
That is obviously aimed at mostly beauty brands. But you can change the details around almost any brand. You can make post topic suggestions or wait to let them suggest something.
I also recommend creating a PR/Work with me page. Include your current following stats, a link to a GoogleDrive copy of your media kit, a list of PR services you offer, and your PR policies. You can check out my Work with Me page on ZombieGodddess Beauty for reference.
Enigma Asks: Do you make it colourful or plain? Which do you think brands like best?
Mine is currently a sort of pastel themed to fit my blog. But I'm about to revamp my blog to something more colorful and I'll be changing the kit to match. You don't want to over do the color. Write everything in an easy to read font and a color that is easy to read and isn't hard on the eyes. But a pop of color will make your kit memorable!
How often should one update their's as the numbers changes regularly?
Honestly I still don't know. This varies from person to person and how they grow. I asked you guys in a poll on twitter how often you update your media kits. You can see the results below the twitter questions.
I try to update mine once a month. Sometimes I update when one of my accounts gains another 100 followers and sometimes I wait for milestones. It depends on how lazy I feel at the time. haha.
And lastly, do you lie in a media kit or use the real numbers even if they're low? We know brands are after high numbers.
Some brands are after high numbers, yes, but you should lie in your kit. Include accurate numbers round to the nearest 5 or 10 if you'd like. And all your social media handles. If you lie in you kit then a brand asks you to promote and sees your real numbers it could end up very badly.
Some brands will want to work with you no matter the numbers.
Em Jane Asks: What are the main things that have to be on your media kit? Don't want to miss out anything important!
I have a post all about what to include! Check it out here!
Abbey Asks: I'm currently doing my media kit, where do I find all my blog stats?
This depends on that site you are using to host. On Blogger in your dashboard there is a stats section on your sidebar. It doesn't collect everything but it will tell you daily, weekly and monthly pageviews and your top countries.
I'm not to sure about Wordpress or any other site. But I'm so you could find out after a quick Google search.
You can sign up for Google Analytics but I'm not sure how accurate it is. It was reporting numbers much lower than blogger was for me so I'm not sure it is correct.
TWITTER POLLS
I held a poll on twitter and asked you guys how often you update your media kits. Here are the results:
I expected once a month to be the most popular. However quite a few of you replied to that poll that you didn't have one. So I held a another poll asking if you currently have a media kit. Here are the results:
If you don't have a media kit you can see all my posts about media kits here! I have post a about what to include in your kit, and one about my tips + a free template.
About The Author
Cassie // ZombieGoddess Beauty
My name is Cassie. I write a beauty, geek & lifestyle, a little bit of everything blog. I'm a nerdy gamer with a lipstick addiction & a true makeup obsession. I created GirlsWhoBlog to retweet great blog posts and share other bloggers content! I am so excited that it is now a fully fledged blog!
FOLLOW CASSIE
Love this post!! So much info on media kit's, I now need to make mine.
ReplyDeletehayley // hayleyxmartin.com