Media outreach is an important part of any successful crowdfunding campaign and, if done right, can be incredibly effective. While your pitch will be the first thing that a journalist sees, it’s safe to assume that you won’t be able to fit in all the images, features and information that a journalist will need to develop a story in there while still keeping their attention. That’s where a media kit comes in for the win.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, a media kit is a document that contains any information about your product and company that a journalist would need to write a story, usually in a visually appealing way. Media kits can contain everything from links and social media profiles to story angles, photos and more. Here are a few guidelines to follow in order to create a stellar media kit that journalists will appreciate and hopefully help your chances of getting coverage for your campaign.

Make sure you’re utilizing the best platform – PowerPoint isn’t the answer

First and foremost, make sure you’re utilizing the best platform to create your media kit. Canva.com and even Google Docs can be great places to start when creating a media kit for your business or product. Additionally, if you’re fluent in InDesign, this can open a lot of doors to building a helpful and design-worthy media kit. You’re definitely not limited to these platforms; there are certainly a variety of different platforms for you to use. Essentially, the world is your oyster as long as your media kit contains the right information, and enough of it, in a way that a journalist can easily access and read. A note to remember, the easier the information is to read, the easier it will be for the journalist and the more they’ll appreciate your efforts.

Best beginner platform suggestion: Google Docs

Best intermediate platform suggestion: Canva.com

Best expert platform suggestion: InDesign

Provide the right information and the right amount of it

When making your media kit, put yourself in the shoes of a journalist. What information would you need to write a story that your readers will go crazy for?

Give them an overview or blurb that encompasses as much of your product in it as you can, similar to an elevator pitch. Then get into detail and provide them with all of the features and technical specs of your product that readers might want to know. How big is it? How much does it weigh? Is it portable? Any question that you could imagine a reader would ask, you’ll want to provide an answer to in your media kit. Speaking of questions, FAQs can also be great to add to a media kit. Make sure that you’re adding relevant questions and answers that might might help the journalist understand all aspects of your product. Tell them a little bit about your company. If the background of your startup, or even someone on your team, is really story-worthy, add that information in your media kit! For example, consider doing an executive bio on one of your team members and highlighting facts about them. Did they start this company when they 10 years old? Did they struggle with a long term problem so much that they created their own solution to help others? Any angle that might be helpful to a journalist is always good to add. Make sure you have your media contact information written down in your media kit. Decide who the main point of contact on your team should be for a journalist and provide information like their name, email and phone number. Your main media contact will most likely be the person on your team who knows the most about the product and will be able to schedule interviews, demos and answer questions. Include links to your company’s website, social media accounts and even a link to more photos if you have enough. Photos are extremely valuable to journalists so you should try and provide them with as many high-definition photos as you can, along with your logo.

Remember, any information that a journalist might be interested in should be a part of your media kit. It’s about finding that happy medium so that your media kit doesn’t have too many pages, but also supplies enough information to help a journalist out.

Good photos are crucial for a world filled with visual people

When you scroll through articles on Mashable and Buzzfeed, there are plenty of words, but also plenty of high-quality photos. We have to come to the realization that people are always in a rush and are frequent skimmers. The quicker a journalist can make their point, the more their article is likely to get read. So, what kinds of photos should you include?

High-resolution lifestyle photos of your product in different, relevant situations. If your product is an electric scooter, consider having photos of someone riding the scooter, charging it, locking it up and other features that you can display. High-resolution product shots of your product, different angles and different features if possible. These photos might be pictures of your product on a plain background with closeups and highlights of features that you can see. Your logo is also important to include just in case a journalist wants to include it in their article.

Journalists will really appreciate a variety of different high-resolution photos of your product that they can use in their article. This will hopefully entice their readers and, in turn, help your crowdfunding campaign become more successful.

These are just a few of the best practices we use at Enventys Partners to ensure that we’re creating media kits that journalists will appreciate, but you shouldn’t feel confined to just these three things. Branch out and show your company’s true colors in your media kit. As long as you have the right information and it’s helpful to a journalist, you really can’t go wrong.