All about the press kit 101 (Part 1)
And other interesting links
Good afternoon! I’m writing this in the week where weather in my area has gone haywire: thunderstorms for two nights (in my 7 years of living here, I have seen 3 thunderstorms), heat wave, and wildfire in surrounding areas blowing in ash & smoke. If only climate change could take a break in 2020.
In other news, Zoey (my dog) and I celebrated 6 months on Saturday! I took her to the beach, which she loved. She’s come a long way from the anxious dog I adopted.
This issue’s original post is a little longer than usual but all necessary info for building your own press kit.
All about the press kit 101 (Part 1)
Press kits make marketers’ lives easier. There are a few different approaches to it and in this first part, I’m going to address the who, what, why questions and what you need in the most basic press kit. You could spend 15 minutes assembling it if you have all the needed items or days/weeks if you want a robust one and you still need to create the content.
Who uses a press kit
It’s all in the name but it’s not limited to the press. You could use the press kit when you need to check on company facts or you need a product photo on the fly.
But more often than not, you are sending the kit (digital or physical) to a journalist or publication who is writing about you. Depending on what you’ve put into it, it may also include information for your reseller partners, distributors, influencers/brand ambassadors, etc.
Why you need a press kit
Press kits keep you organized and professional. They include all the information and content for your business that someone writing about you might need. They also save you time. Instead of responding to every press inquiry with haphazardly assembled photos, all they ever need is right there already. You also won’t miss any info that you forgot because you were in a rush.
Sometimes publications just need photos. If your press kit is readily available on the site, they won’t even need to email you. One less email to respond to!
Where to store the press kit
You have a couple of options here. There are software platforms out there built specifically to design press kits but if you’re a small business, I think that would be overkill.
- Send a link: If you save it to a cloud-based platform like Dropbox or Google Drive, then you can generate a link and save that. Send the link when it’s requested.
- Add a link to your website: Some companies like to have their press kit linked already. You can put it into your website footer, about page, contact page, or press page.
- Publish on your website: Create a page that acts as a press kit. The photos will need to be available for download.
- Combine links + website page: Be like Slack and have a landing page press kit with outbound links to the types of photos you might want to download.
What to put in a basic press kit
If this was your company press kit and not a sales kit or marketing campaign kit, then you can start with just the basics and then slowly add to it as you find more time. For the purpose of this piece, I’m only talking about company press kits that are digital.
Assemble a one-page fact sheet. You can use your preferred text editor or make it fancy with graphic design. Either way, it should include the following info:
- Company name (the one you want to use in press articles)
- Founding date
- Founder(s)
- Investors & investing rounds (if applicable and/or desired)
- Boilerplate or a few bullet points that easily sums up your business
- Press contact person and contact information
If you have product or service offerings, create a one-sheet and photos for each.
Next, you want to put in your logo in multiple formats and types.
- Logos for light and dark backgrounds
- File types: .png with transparent background, .jpg, and at least one type of vector file (.ai, .pdf, .eps)
- Logo guidelines
Finally, wrap it up with a folder of multimedia content. This is usually photos but videos and gifs can be included, too. At the very least, have web-ready images but it would be best to have both hi-res and web versions available for an image. Include both landscape & portrait photos and be sure to name them to include your company name.
Common photos needed:
- Photos per product/service. At least one of the product photos should be on a white background.
- Founder(s)
- Cafe interiors & exteriors
- Action shots of what you do (making coffee, roasting coffee, etc.)
- Still lifestyle images (customers drinking coffee, coffee bag styled with a nice background, product being used/stored in ideal environment)
And that’s part 1! In the next part, I’ll talk about what you can do to expand the press kit beyond the basics.
Quick text updates & links on what's new on the networks
Twitter expanded the feature of limiting tweet replies to everyone.
Instagram keeps rolling out Reels (their TikTok clone) globally. Click through if you want to read more about Reels. It added new fonts for stories.
Facebook added new page follow options for users, including all updates or just a few types like offers). It’s testing: the unification of messages between IG & Messenger so users on either can message each other and new post-level analytics for groups. It published a second report on the effect of the pandemic on small businesses.
Helpful links on how to improve your digital marketing
Organic vs. Paid Social Media: How to Integrate Both into Your Strategy
Weighing the options between organic vs paid social media? We’ll save you some legwork: you’re probably going to want to do a bit of both.
8 Tips to Set up a Home Photography Studio
Learn how to create beautiful, visual content for your business from your very own home photography studio – sweatpants optional, but highly recommended!
How to Repurpose Audio and Video Content for Social Media: 5 Ways
Discover how to repurpose your videos, live video, and podcasts into multiple formats you can share on your social media channels.
www.socialmediaexaminer.com • Share
Anything I've enjoyed reading recently
TikTok and the Evolution of Digital Blackface
On the app, users drape themselves in the trappings of Black culture—and steal the viral spotlight. It’s exploitation at its most refined and disturbing.
The Therapeutic Power of Gardening
Can anxious minds find solace working with plants? A therapist and her husband, a garden designer, say yes.
How social justice slideshows made by activists took over Instagram
PowerPoint activism is everywhere on Instagram. Why do these posts look so familiar?
An update from my container garden!
A month ago, I received this peperomia frost in a plant swap and now it's all happy and putting out "flowers" (the long stick things).
At this time, I'm open to: one-time coaching session clients or future project work (2+ months).
What'd you think?
Feedback, questions, or fist bumps 👊 – send them my way by hitting the reply button. Also happy with the 👍 at the end. Or find me on the social networks @thejennchen.
This newsletter is free to subscribe to & takes several hours to put together each issue. If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from my work and would like to support me: donate to your local bail fund, forward to someone who would enjoy the newsletter, buy me a coffee, or Venmo/Cashapp/PayPal me @thejennchen.
By Jenn Chen
This newsletter has now moved to thejennchen.substack.com - please sign up there!
💭 Thoughts on digital marketing as they intersect at specialty coffee, social media, writing, photography & social issues.
📬 2x a month on Wednesdays
🔗 @thejennchen | https://jennchen.com
In order to unsubscribe, click here.
If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.
Powered by Revue
