What Every Blogger Ought To Know About Media Kits

You must have recently read a practical tip by Harsh Agrawal, on how he made $650 from a single blog comment, if not, go read it now. That simply outlines the importance of Advertise with us and Media Kits. Having ads displayed by Google Adsense is not the only way to monetize a blog, you must have realized that by now. Having direct advertisers on your blog is sure a offer that can’t be refused as it sets up a win-win situation for both the parties.

Read:

Potential advertisers scan through hordes of niche blogs daily to promote their products and services among a huge audience. That’s when these blog media kits come into action.

Majority of bloggers don’t have a media kit, those who make use of them have an outdated media kit, and the rest lot, don’t care what it has to offer. This is the widely neglected region of monetizing strategy in the blogosphere.

What you ought to realize is that direct advertising is the best out there, as you decide what ads to show, and you know your audience better, so that’s definitely a win for you. There is no middleman and the advertiser pays for what he gets. Okay, now let’s not dwell in the appraisal of Media Kits and get straight to the point.

What is a Media Kit?

In simple words, media kit is like the menu for advertisers, if your blog is a restaurant. Its like the tender that you submit in  the hope of getting a contract for some task. Media kits open up the doors to potential advertisers for partnering up with you.

Media kits is the perspective that you give to your potential advertiser about your blog. It is simply a way of presenting your blog statistics to your potential advertiser, as he must know what to expect after advertising with your blog.

Why Do you Need one?

Do you really need one? Yes you do, if you are seriously looking for direct advertisements, and more money (Now you do need it!), and meaningful ads which might be of true value to your readers, instead of irrelevant banners ads popping from every space available!

A great media kit helps in many ways. You get to know detailed insights about your blog, your progress, while helping your potential advertiser get an insight about your blog, its audience and everything. Your media kit is your best foot forward in promoting your blog to potential advertisers. If you have a media kit with only your Google Analytics (Duh!), you’re completely doing it wrong!

What details to include in the Media Kit?

Enough about the Media Kits! Show me the real deal. Here’s all things that you will need to include in your media kit. Before you start writing one for your blog, do remember your media tip is written for experienced marketers and media buying companies. So ensure, you target your writing for those people instead of your usual readers.

A short introduction

Fast company media kit - Intro
  • Save

A short introduction of your blog is a must and on the top fold of the media kit. A quick introduction to your blog, your niche, what you write about is a great way to introduce your blog to your potential advertiser. Make it personal. Write about the theme (Not WordPress theme!) of your blog. Let your advertiser know a little bit about the blog and its readers. Keep it short and to the point.

Your previous partnerships/Clients

theChive media kit - Sponsors
  • Save

If you happen to have any previous clients that you have worked with on advertisement partnerships, do mention them. Even if they are a industry name or not, you can include them in your media kit, to give the potential advertiser an idea about your experience with previous advertisers.

You do not need to start fudging in your media kit and include companies that don’t exist as your previously worked clients. Be true to yourself and you can skip this section if you are not proud of your previous partnerships, or if you haven’t had one yet.

Your Blog Traffic details

PopSci Audience profile
  • Save

This section is all about numbers and statistics. Blog traffic here doesn’t mean only traffic, it is all about the real reach of the blog. Here’s the entire list of statistics that you need to collect and present:

  • Unique visitors per month
  • Pageviews per month
  • Subscribers (RSS and Email)
  • Average reader time on site
  • percentage of returning users
  • Community interaction
  • Other rankings (if noteworthy): Google Analytics, domain authority, Klout score, Comscore, Quantcast, etc.

You can skip the sections that  are not noteworthy.

Your social media followers

Mashable media kit- social media
  • Save

Your sponsor needs to know about the social activity of your blog. Include your blog’s Twitter followers, Facebook likes, RSS subscribers, etc. Don’t include networks that you don’t have activity on. You can also come up with some creative ideas to present your social media profiles, like the one above. You need not have millions of followers to get advertisers, present your stats in a good fashion, and that would drive the advertisers towards your blog.

Types of advertisement options you offer

Entrepreneur.com Ad types
  • Save

List all the types of services you offer and the price for the same. You might offer many advertising options on your blog, do list them in a detailed fashion. Here are some services what are widely offered by blogs:

  • Paid tweets,
  • Banner ads,
  • Review posts,
  • Ads in feeds,
  • Sponsored posts,
  • Giveaway posts.

Also detail about the payment modes, and the payment receiving time for displaying ads. Also include format of ads supported.

Testimonials

Weekly Standrad testimonials
  • Save

If you have worked with anyone previously, do include their testimonials at the end. Your sponsor could have a read about what others have to say about your blog, who have had experience working with you. Ask for your earlier advertisers about giving you testimonial after you have worked with them for including it in further updates of your media kit.

Media Kit writing tips

Here are some takeaway tips for your media kit:

  • Update it every three months
  • Put ‘as of [Date]’
  • Keep it short
  • Don’t fudge your details

Wrapping it up

Wrapping everything we have seen about media kits till now, now is the time to wrap all these details up into a nice file that can be easily shared. Do make a PDF of your media kit. Please, No MS Word documents as media kits. Hire am experienced designer if you can’t make it yourself, but make it professional.

So, do you have a media kit on your blog? Shout out your doubts and experiences with media kits below.

Was this helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!
  • Save
Authored By
A Shouter whose articles got mentions from the likes of The New York Times, Kissmetrics and AllTopStories. He writes articles, novels and poems; spends most of his time reading everything he could get his hands on. Srikanth is currently pursuing his Masters from The University of Illinois and holds a Bachelors in Electronics Engineering from the University of Mumbai. He is a programmer, a motivational writer and speaker.

5 thoughts on “What Every Blogger Ought To Know About Media Kits”

  1. Rich

    Being able to help efficient communications by the press is nearly as important as interfacing with your clients. Covering your recognized equipment logos, product shots, management photos and press docs – in the form of a media kit is a great way to use Smartimage.

  2. Nizam Khan

    Excellent post! Well, yes media kit is very essential to get direct advertisers and to make more money. It’s a great way to know detailed insights about the blog, progress and it helps in many ways. Thanks Srikanth for sharing this wonderful post !

  3. dilip yadav

    Really nice article man!
    And especially for guys like us who are just starting this fame called blogging.
    I too have a blog, not so famous. But i will keep these things in mind, the time i get famous and start getting advertisers.
    Thanks man.

  4. Vikas Yadav

    Really media kit, is necessary and very helpful for any blogger/web publishers. It will helps a blogger to do all his tasks in a perfect manner. Frankly speaking@ Srikanth I was not aware about so much benefits of the media kit before earlier. Thanks a lot for sharing this informative article with the shoutmeloud readers. In near future, I will try to make a good media kit whenever I got some time during my busy schedule.

  5. Zoey Louise

    Wow another great tips! I admit I still can’t do most of them because my site is new but I really appreciate your sharing about having an introduction. Every time I read articles from shoutmeloud.com, I always end up learning new things.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top