Public relations (PR) services help businesses communicate their message to media outlets. PR keeps your company in the public eye, and if your company is in need of public recognition, consider creating an online media kit that will enhance its PR efforts. An online media kit will help media professionals learn about your company, and they may subsequently choose to contact you for a potential feature story or mention in a publication.
An online media kit is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials about your company/service that is intended for the media to review. It should feature facts, news, and updated contact information. The kit will allow reporters, editors, and bloggers to get a “sneak peak” of your company that may lead to an interview. However, following up with reporters dramatically increases your chances of getting featured. Furthermore, a media kit is a professional way to quickly present stimulating information about your company/services.
Below is a list of information that is essential for your company’s online media kit:
- Fact Sheet — This should be one of the first components of your media kit. A fact-sheet should be designed to briefly convey vital information about your company on one page. For example, use information such as how your company/product originated, your mission, and a short overview of your accomplishments, and a short biography about the CEO. Be sure to stray away from lengthy paragraphs. Rather, create a list and keep the most important information at the top to grab the reader’s attention. If possible, make sure to include images of your company. Presenting captivating photos of the office environment, events and the CEO with other employees positively presents the good nature and camaraderie of your company.
- Current Press Releases— What better way to engage a reader than providing your most recent news? This is the ideal way for your company to garner press hits. Always remember to keep the most newsworthy/relevant press releases first; that way, reporters and editors know that you’re not trying to turn just any news into a release—only “big news.” Including current press releases in your online media kit will give quick story ideas to reporters, editors, or bloggers and provides more of a reason to interview you.
- Press Clips— Adding press clips will show the media contact that other outlets have been interested in your company/product. Media contacts yearn to compose the best story about a company that will separate them from their competitor’s story. If you present press coverage to them, they will be more inclined to write up something about you because, as the saying goes, “everyone else is doing it.”
- List of Suggested Questions— This component of the media kit makes the media professional’s job easier. Propose FAQs (frequently asked questions) that you would like them to cover. For instance, list your company’s recent successes, future endeavors, reviews from clients/customers, etc. Providing FAQs to a media professional can help them envision a prospective interview before conducting their own.
- Contact Information— More often than not, many editors, reporters and bloggers have reported that a company’s email, phone, and address was not included in the media kit, or that the contact information was not up-to-date. Be sure to include who to contact (perhaps list numbers for different departments), email addresses, phone numbers with extensions, and your company’s mailing address. Don’t forget to incorporate your company’s social media information, too—Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, etc. This will give media professionals the opportunity to browse through your social media pages and get a glimpse of how the public responds to updates and/or pictures. If the media professional has to spend hours seeking your most recent contact information, they may choose to contact another company with contact information that is more easily accessible.
Providing media professionals with direct access to your media kit on your company’s website is not only convenient, but a perfect way to begin your public relations campaign. We live in a digital age where reporters, editors, and bloggers do most of their research online. Since a media kit represents your company/services, make sure that you frequently update it and check for errors/mistakes.
Make sure that the individual who is handling your media kit is a PR professional. An experienced PR/media-focused professional will know how to formulate an effective press release, how to pitch the media, and how to effectively follow up with journalists. Whenever possible, contract with a full-service PR firm to ensure that they can handle the content, design and uploading of your online media kit.
If your company/product is in need of public relations services to improve visibility, please do not hesitate to contact info@theprmg.com or call 1-855-PRMG-123
