iUse a press kit for startups to showcase your brand professionally and leave a lasting impression
In the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, establishing a strong brand presence is essential for success. A press kit is a powerful tool every entrepreneur should have in their arsenal. Designed to showcase your brand in an organized and professional manner, a press kit is essential for building credibility and effectively communicating your message to the media and potential clients.
A well-crafted press kit is a comprehensive introduction to your brand, providing journalists, bloggers, and influencers with all the information they need to write about your business. It typically includes a company overview, key milestones, product/service details, high-resolution images, and contact information. You save time and ensure consistent messaging with a press kit, making it easier for others to learn about and promote your brand. Moreover, a press kit is an excellent tool for enhancing brand recognition and establishing authority within your industry.
When your press kit is easily accessible on your website, potential customers and investors can quickly gather valuable insights about your business, fostering trust and confidence. In this article, we will explore the importance of having a press kit for startups and provide tips on creating an effective one that leaves a lasting impression and earns you media coverage.
How media coverage helps your brand
a) Building credibility
If you get featured in a trusted news source, the likelihood of potential customers trusting you skyrockets. It is a stamp of approval in the marketplace that converts into sales.
b) Increased traffic
The amount of traffic your company gets from news sources after a feature is greater than before. People respect news sources and check out the products or services they feature.
c) Increased SEO
Links from high-authority news sources like Mashable, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Vogue, GQ, etc, will improve your search engine rankings because of the amount of authority they add to your backlinks.
To receive such unexpected features, you want to make it as easy as possible for the journalist to feature your company without contacting or setting up an interview. A compelling and well-designed press kit is one way to do that.
A press kit is a page on your website with resources and information for reporters and journalists. This page does not necessarily have to be on the main menu as most journalists know not to look for it there. Instead, it can be on a secondary menu or the footer section.
How can an effective press kit for startups help you?
a) Giving journalists easy access to information
An effective press kit ensures that the journalists do not have to contact you for additional information. In other words, you can ensure they find almost everything they need in the press kit. Therefore, a press kit that requires the journalist to write an email asking your company questions (they probably won’t bother) will not achieve its purpose. It should provide easy access to materials needed for the publication to happen. Your press kit should have an introduction to the brand, great company photos of the team, product photos, and other marketing materials.
b) Creating a memorable impression
If you come up with a press kit that is ugly or scanty in resources and information then you are not creating an appealing brand image. Instead, you will send journalists running in the opposite direction with the poor execution of your press kit.
Make it look good. Include as much information as anyone would need. Remember that a press kit is not just for the media. It is for anyone who wishes to talk or write about your company.
Previous customers might want to forward your press kit to their friends by email or social media. Ensure they forward information that is accurate and appealing.
c) Validation
if your customers have heard about your company by word of mouth, they should feel confident in your brand when they see the press kit. What they have been told is what they have come to your website to prove. When your press kit is unavailable, unattractive, or lacking information, it takes away everything they have heard. However, you’d rather not have a press kit than have a bad one. A bad press kit can do irreversible damage.
What is in a press kit for startups?
Here are the components of a good press kit for startups.
1) Your story
Remember that journalists and reporters do not just write the news. Journalism is about storytelling. Compelling stories win the news and win the audience. No journalist wants to write about a startup that lacks an interesting story, or a story at all. There will be no point.
This section is where you provide detailed information about how your company came to be, the inspiration behind it, and the idea that is making everything happen. Focus on the WHY. Why did you start the company? Why do you think people need your product or service? Who should a journalist care about your brand?
2) Company facts
In this part, you present the company data. How many users do you have? How many products have you sold? What is the size of your team? Analytical data that might be worth delving into for the journalists? What are your statistics like? At what rate are you growing? Where is your business located? Where is your product manufactured? What is your mission and vision? What are your core values?
3) Images
Ensure you have a high-quality logo, banners, branding merchandise, and product images. High-resolution graphics are quite inviting. People appreciate images that look good. It doesn’t matter what kind of product you are selling, the photos will stand out if well done. If you provide high-quality graphics, the chances of getting featured in magazines rise too.
4) Your team
Do not hide your team behind the scenes. After all, the team is the driving force behind your brand. Let anyone who looks at your press kit see the team and what role each of them plays. If you have an executive board you could add them too. If your team is too big – in the thousands, this might not be realistic but you could feature the senior management. The founders and co-founders have to be in the press kit since they are the face of the company.
Featuring your team in your press kit humanizes your brand. It also encourages potential clients to trust you more.
5) Previous press coverage
If you have a news outlet that has written about your company, include those articles in your press kit. Showcase the full article or an excerpt and link to the news outlet if someone would like to continue reading. Previous press coverage is a valuable form of social proof for your brand.
Do not feature your negative press anywhere in your startup media kit. Only show your best press to inspire confidence among potential customers.
6) Contact information
There is a chance that specific information a journalist is looking for couldn’t be found in your press kit. Your contact information will make it easy for them to reach you. Create an email address dedicated to the press or media. It could be something like press@example.com or media@example.com. Make it apparent and put it in a prominent spot on your press kit.
7) Social media metrics
Do you have some impressive social media numbers to share? Well then, put them in your press kit. Specify which social media network has how many followers. You can even dig further into the data to show the different stats like the number of males vs the number of females, how much they spend per year, and what fields they come from. If you break down data you make the press kit more interesting.
8) Visuals
Speaking of data, another good way to make your press kit memorable is by using visuals to break down complex information. Visuals like infographics and graphs help your press kit stand out and your audience understand your statistics and other complex information.
9) Quotes
It is always good to have quotes from some members of your team published in your press kit. Do that with customer testimonials too. These quotes from customers, the team, and the founders make it easy for the journalist to quote someone without contacting your company for a quote.
The general idea behind a press kit for startups is to make it easy for journalists to write about your startup with the information you include. The following press kits have made it easy for journalists to access their company information.
- FiftyThree
- Holstee
- Pure Fix Cycles
- JimmyCase
- Annmarie Skin Care
Does your startup have a press kit? If yes let us know how it’s working for you and what you would advise companies to do when creating one. If you don’t have one, contact Pressfarm for quality content for your brand.
