Are media kits dead?

3 ways to bring your media relations efforts back to life with help from PR

44007962_s Over the years, the business community has reported that many tools and concepts are “dead.” From press releases to polling, people are quick to declare the premature end of something that no longer seems to be working for them. One such device that has suffered this fate is the media kit. Is it really dead – or perhaps just misunderstood and misused?

Why reports on the death of media kits are greatly exaggerated

Media kits have gone digital.

Once upon a time, PR professionals would spend hours gathering bios, headshots and mission statements to cram into those ubiquitous media kits. They repeated the ritual for every product launch, marketing campaign and special event. This was all to attract the attention of time-starved, overworked journalists, who probably didn’t have time to read most of it anyway. So press kits have slowly gone out of fashion.

However, journalists still need this information for background and editorial-ready copy. Enter the digital media kit.

By putting information online and simply directing journalists to its location, your PR firm can make better use of the media kit. You can now fill it with lots of fact sheets, FAQs and news releases, without overwhelming the journalists. They can just click on the information they want and ignore everything else.

There are more ways to use media kits today.

Media kits aren’t just for media anymore. You can customize the information in traditional media kits for a variety of visitors to your website. You can direct job prospects, current customers, potential business partners and social media influencers to your online newsroom for information because it’s already in an easy-to-digest format. This way, they can find what they’re looking for without getting lost among the many pages of your website.

Media kits are still necessary.

For all the big talk about everything going digital, you’ll still find journalists who prefer old-school methods. They like to have hard copy documents they can hold on to and file for later. Make sure you’re not handing them some generic, run-of-the-mill press kit. Just like news releases, you should customize each media kit to interest the reporter or media outlet you’re pitching.

Media kits, like the times, are a-changin’. To make the most of them, hire a PR agency to help you. The art and science of media relations gets more complicated all the time. Generating positive news coverage requires creativity, excellent communication skills and strategic thinking. Let the experts at Axia Public Relations show you how to best use your media kits and once again make them a valuable component of your media relations arsenal. To find out more, contact us or download our complimentary e-book “Learn Media Relations from the Media” today.

Clients love Lisa’s engaging writing and PR experience. She specializes in business and technology PR. Lisa has worked with Axia since December 2013. Learn more about Lisa.