The Ultimate Guide to Influencer Media Kits
If you’re a social media influencer or an aspiring influencer, and want to monetize your content, you’ve likely heard of media kits.
Hi, I’m Haley! I’m an Instagram influencer and content creator and I work with leading industry brands such as Sephora, Urban Outfitters, Princess Polly, Revolve, Sézane and many more. And you can too.
As an influencer, part of your job will be to pitch yourself to brands for collaborations and sponsorships. One way to really leverage your pitch is to provide a media kit. A media kit will share everything a brand would need to know about you and your platform to determine if you’d be a good fit.
Not only is a media kit crucial for your business, but having one will also give you a competitive edge amongst other influencers in the industry who don’t have one. It is something you need to create and use right now.
In this blog post, I will teach you what a media kit is, determine if you need one, explain when to use your media kit, what to include in it, what not to include, and my tips and tricks.
And lastly, if you don’t know anything about how to design a media kit, shop the customizable influencer media kit templates to save time and get started now.
What is a Media Kit?
A media kit is essentially your influencer resume. It is a digital document that explains who you are, what your platform is about, your key demographics and statistics, and your achievements.
Your media kit can be made and designed in Pages, Word, Canva, Photoshop, you name it.
Looking for a stellar media kit template? Shop the influencer media kit templates now.
Do I Need a Media Kit?
If you are an influencer, content creator, blogger, or a person on social media with influence, you need a media kit.
If a brand emails you to work with you on your social media platforms, you need a media kit.
If you want to collaborate with brands, you need a media kit.
If you want to be paid by brands to create content, do ad placements, and offer access to your audience, you need a media kit.
If you want to pitch yourself to a brand, you need a media kit.
If you want to upsell yourself, you need a media kit.
When Do I Use a Media Kit?
There are a couple times when you would use your media kit. If a brand emails you for a potential collaboration or partnership, they may request your media kit or screenshots of your insights to determine if you’re a good fit for them and their campaign. It’s always a powerful move when a brand asks for screenshots and you present a beautiful media kit in return. Badda bing badda boom.
You will use a media kit when you pitch yourself to brands, too. Attaching your media kit to your email will serve as your backing. It will showcase your marketable qualities and provide a deeper look into your platform. Additionally, attaching your media kit will declutter your email to allow the space to pitch yourself without distraction.
Lastly, you can use your media kit to negotiate. Say a brand approaches you and says they don’t have a budget. Instead of settling (because why wouldn’t you continue to negotiate?!) you can respond with your media kit to essentially say “but look what I have to offer before you tell me you don’t have a budget!” They may reconsider and finally offer you a budget now that they have received more valuable information.
What Do I Include in a Media Kit?
About Me
Your introduction page, or about me page, will help brands understand who you are and what your platform is about. As a result, this is how a brand will determine if you’re a good fit for a particular campaign or partnership opportunity. Introduce yourself, your title, your location, and your content focus.
A word of advice - don’t brush over this section! This is the first piece of information a brand will read so it’s important to focus on what you write and how you write it. You want to come across as enticing, competitive, and essentially, their ideal influencer partner.
Not a strong writer? Girl, I feel you. I feel really insecure writing sometimes, especially writing an introduction about myself. (Why are these always so challenging?!) Don’t be afraid to ask a friend for help or hire a copywriter to spice up your original writing to give it that extra oomf.
Bonus: Include a call-to-action (CTA) to encourage the PR contact to continue scrolling through your media kit.
Insights and Demographics
Here is where you’ll list all your fancy numbers which you can get from your Insights tab on Instagram! Include your follower count, impressions, average likes and comments, and average story views. Also, include your audience’s main age range and percentage, gender ratio, and the top three cities of your audience.
Lastly, consider including up-to-date screenshots to prove your credibility. ;)
I like to include screenshots because I like to show brands that my audience is authentic and that I can prove it. Sadly, many people still buy likes and followers, so I think screenshots emphasize honesty and realistic expectations should a brand choose to partner with you.
Other Relevant Platforms
As an influencer, you may have a couple successful platforms that you use like Youtube, Pinterest, TikTok or your blog. If you offer influencer services on these platforms in addition to Instagram, highlight them with the most impressive statistics to show the brand your audience reach. I don’t think it’s necessary to add all your insights here in the way you do with your Instagram insights. Rather, think of these additional platforms as “add-ons”.
Past Collaborations/Partnerships
To give some background of your previous work, include a couple past collaborations. You can do so by dedicating a page to a couple photos with the brand’s name, or you can quickly list the brand names or logos.
Links
I like to seamlessly include links in my media kit to offer easy access to my email address, website, and social media platforms. Remember, you never want to make someone work hard to find what they are looking for.
Try linking these on a cover page, within your insights page, or on your last page.
Photos and Optional Cover Page
By including a couple of photos in your media kit, a brand can get a visual sense of your work. They can also anticipate what you’d produce for them should they decided to work with you. After all, your photos are your money makers. You can include photos on a cover page, scatter images throughout your media kit, or dedicate a page to some of your recent work.
What Should I Not Include in a Media Kit?
Your Rates and Services
No matter what any blog post ever told you, do NOT include your rates in your media kit.
First off, the first person to state their price loses ;)
Secondly, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what deliverables are expected on your end. If you have set prices for set services in your media kit, you could be losing an opportunity to upsell a brand for a higher price point.
Lastly, your rates should reflect the brand approaching you. A small local business will not have the same marketing budget as a large retailer so that’s something you need to keep in mind, too, when presenting you rates.
In conclusion: Get a clear understanding of what the brand wants from you, cater your services to the request (if able and willing to), and set your rates intentionally. You’re worth it, girl.
An autobiography
Your media kit is not a place to write about your personal story, hardships, or challenges growing up. Of course those things are important! And, some of that information may be relevant if you’re an influencer focused on wellness, personal growth, or mental health and want to mention that in your about me as your content’s focus.
But, a media kit is meant to be concise and straight to the point in regard to what your Instagram is about. Instead of an autobiography, answer the following questions in your introduction: Who are you? What do you do? Where are you located? And, what is your Instagram’s focus?
Irrelevant social media platforms
Do not include every social media platform that you have. Instead, focus on your most successful one(s) where you accept influencer-related work.
Have a Twitter but never post on it and rarely use it? Don’t include this. It won’t give you a competitive edge and will be more information the PR rep has to weed through to get to the good stuff.
Instead, say you have a couple successful platforms you use seamlessly together, like Instagram and Pinterest. It may be wise to include both in your media kit in anticipation of offering a bundle deal later on to upsell the brand.
Too many pages
Keep the amount of pages in your media kit to a minimum. Remember, brands receive hundreds of media kits each week. You can only imagine how many pages they go through on a daily basis!
Make it easy for them to access important information while also standing out and making yourself memorable.
Tips and Tricks
Cohesive branding
In an effort to establish your personal brand or business, it’s crucial that your branding is consistent across the board. Use the same brand fonts and brand colors in your media kit as you do on your website, blog, and in your custom email signature.
Also, make sure your media kit represents your Instagram aesthetic accurately. If your Instagram feels a bit all over the place in terms of aesthetic, learn how to create a cohesive Instagram feed to help solidify your personal brand.
Don’t forget, you can completely edit and customize every aspect of the influencer media kit templates to make sure your branding is completely consistent, too.
Grammar and punctuation
Always triple check your media kit for grammar and punctuation errors!
Export to PDF
And lastly, the best way to share your media kit is if you export it to a PDF and share it as an email attachment. Or, upload it to Google Drive and share the link in-email. This way, it’s professional looking and easy for brands to access. Woop woop!
