They say, “Fame is fickle food on a shifting plate”, and it holds much truth. Each day there are millions of innovations, and they are all recognised for their day while some not so much. In an Industry like an E-commerce Store where millions of platforms are emerging every day, businesses must gain that recognition to attract customers and hold their trust. It is a massive moment when a press establishment covers your brand and showcases it to the world, and it is a moment of great recognition for your work and the level of its growth. This brings in more exposure and traffic, resulting in massive sales. All this is possible when a company creates its press kit.
A press kit, also called a media kit, is an information portfolio given to a media organization to promote events, products, candidates etc.
Table of Contents
What is a Press Kit?
A Press Kit is a page on your brand’s website which provides resources about your brand to the media and publishers. All this is available in a form where the desired message is handed over to the press to publish to a broader audience. This is also a part of reputation management where the brand releases specific information about the products they need to advertise. This is a promotional event to the press, where the kit contains brochures, pictures, press releases, product information and samples of products. Press kits can be entirely electronic and save a lot of time where there is no wait for a response.
Origin of Digital Press Kit
In the early years, a press kit would be sent via post with a detailed handwritten portfolio about the company’s objectives and products, or given by hand. Nowadays, the digital aspect of the kit lets you swap and update the company’s details whenever needed. The press kits on your website can be shared and the traffic exposure can be examined through google analytics. These links should be easy to spot. Therefore, they must be mentioned at the footer section with a title of Media kit or Press kit. The files can also be uploaded to a USB or flash drive so the resolution of the images remain intact.
Press Kit Starter Pack
Your press kit would depend on your company’s niche and make up for most of the necessary details to the press. However, adding some of these elements would give a complete promotion package.
Decide on the Format
There are a variety of designs available for the creation of a press kit. Some options for the kits are the PDF method or a slide deck, a folder with all the resources uploaded on cloud services or a digital media kit with an interactive experience. These should be decided on the look and feel of your brand. All these attachments sent through an attachment or mail is not the best option as the resolution of the material could change, and download options could wreck it. Instead, an online media kit with preview options and resources is a good option. Search engine optimization (SEO) can lead to the website if the media kit is online instead of mail attachments.
Your Beginning
This kit should contain the “how “of your business. How did you get this idea, how did this business come about, how is it going now, and what do you represent as a brand? This is the context for an ‘About Us’ section.
Collect All the Resources
The press will only want to look at accurate documents and to the point. Make sure to add everything related to the company, such as company details, images and headshots, bios, fact sheets, press releases, a product manufactured etc. The visual imagery comes second to the amount of information required.
Logo Variants and High-Resolution Images
Logos are the face of the brand and must be uploaded in a high-definition category for both light and dark backgrounds. SVG files have zero-loss quality which would be a good choice, and PNG files are recommended for a transparent background. You can even provide raw vector files on transparent background as the editorial publishing would be different from those of a laptop. Product pictures must be high resolution so they do not come out as unclear or cramped images. With images, the bigger, the better.
Social Links/Audio-Video Segments
We’re all well aware of the impact of social media on the business, so it is crucial to note to create handles on relevant platforms and attach their links here. Suppose the company has taken up any social cause initiatives. In that case, those activities can be a part of the social links, so it is easier for the journalists to speak to the people related to the subject. Podcasts or interviews can also be uploaded to the kit as videos can get a lot of views and direct their traffic.
Choice of Display
Most of the media kits are online and at the website’s footer. However, a much better idea would be to create a newsroom. A press kit has to be updated repeatedly every time there’s a new development; however, the larger audience would get their updates regularly with a newsroom. Press Releases and case studies can be added to the kit, and online media kits are viable for optimization
These are all the components needed for a press kit. The press would publish the necessary information for more exposure from the larger audience.
Some Examples of E-commerce Press Kits
KickStarter
This is a simple set up of the press page with just the accurate details required and links and email provided for further contact.
Buzzfeed
They have added all their recent press appearances at the top by their order and used a HTML page to create their press room. They have even added a section for contact details.
HappyFox
They have added the necessary details along with logo specifications for different backgrounds . There are download links for logos and videos as well.
Press Kit for Your Business
Now that you’ve read about the starter pack, you must start creating one for your business as everything is online in this generation. There are many online apps to make these kits, or you can design one by the company’s designer by specifying the format and placement. Once this is ready, go ahead and add facts, products, press releases etc. Then add the kit to the website’s footer if you have a newsroom or under the Main Menu.
Pitch your stories to the media. The media picks on stories with relevancy, making it seem like a story worth hearing rather than an advertisement. News websites like YourStory, VCCircle, Mint etc., support up and coming businesses by writing about them. These online portals get more traction as the links and social channels are linked to your site directly, and search engines recognize the work. Now that all the requisite materials are in one place, fame’s ready for you.
