There are two main ways to make money as an influencer:
- From your audience, through ad revenue, merchandise, and similar
- From brands, through sponsorships, collaborations, and paid user-generated content (UGC)
That second avenue can generate considerable cash; it’s why many creators become influencers in the first place.
Want to snag one of those paid partnerships? You’ll need a professional influencer media kit to share with brands you want to collaborate with. Wondering where to start? Here’s your 101.
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Sometimes dubbed a press or collaborations kit, an influencer media kit provides a snapshot that covers everything brands may want to know before partnering. That includes:
- Who you are
- What and where you create
- Audience demographics
- Engagement rates (including examples)
- Past campaigns (including examples)
You can flex proven content-creation strengths, and readers can check your past work, gauge your professionalism, and ultimately decide if you’re the right creator to meet their current goals.
1. Who you are
Keep it to a few short “about me” lines that cover your niche, main social channels, upload schedule, and audience. Also include:
- Recent photos: Include at least one picture from the past year so brands know who you are and what you look like. Choose pics that reflect your niche, personality, and content.
- Contact info: Include your business email and phone number.
- Social handles: Link any active social media accounts you use as a creator.
2. Analytics
These are the numbers that help brands understand how your content performs and whether it’ll reach their target demographics – ultimately, how valuable you are as a creator.
Content metrics
- Followers or subscriber numbers for active social platforms (put the most impressive or relevant platform first)
- Engagement rates, broken down by platform and content type
- Click-through rates (CTRs) on your main platforms
- Views, broken down monthly, weekly, and daily for all active relevant platforms
“I highly recommend that you actually show your receipts,” says influencer Vanessa Lau. “Actually screenshot a lot of that data so the brands know that you didn’t just make these numbers up.”
Demographics
- Age ranges
- Locations
- Gender
These are the most basic audience demographics that brands need to gauge who and where you influence, but you can probe deeper for additional insights. More detail is always better.
Lau, for example, questioned her YouTube community and was able to describe them as largely:
- Unisex
- North American
- 18 to 35 years old
- Interested in entrepreneurship, social media, and online marketing
- College educated
- Social media savvy
- Sole purchasing decision-makers
- Willing to invest in products and services
3. Deliverables
List all deliverables you offer in easily scannable bullet points, and provide plenty of detail. For example, you may include:
- YouTube videos up to [max duration]
- Short-form video for Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and TikTok
- Livestreaming on TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch
- Editing long- and short-form video content
“It’s so important to make sure that you list out all the deliverables you offer in your press kit,” says influencer Mattie James. “When I did this, it opened me up to so many different kinds of opportunities with brands.”
4. Portfolio and case study
Provide links and screenshots from relevant past collaborations, including:
- Content examples
- Testimonials and feedback
- Positive results
According to Nina Zadeh of Sidewalker Daily, top creators supplement portfolios with more detailed case studies.
“They know the importance of...showing past results, showing what they’re able to do – conversions, clicks – really letting the brand feel confident in working with them and using this as a sales tool.”
5. The ‘why’ of hiring you
“I could scream this from the top of the rooftops,” Zadeh says. “Media kits are no longer little résumés. They are sales tools.”
Zadeh urges influencers to directly express why brands should work with them – not just stating your value, but communicating how that value may help.
“So, for example, really strong titles that say things like, ‘I help brands reach millennial mums through family-friendly content, high-converting Instagram content’,” she says.
Credit: Asier Romero/Shutterstock
1. Too much info
Each section should be concise, scrollable, and scannable. Skip the full autobiography in your bio, and include only the most relevant and impressive details.
2. Outdated details
Update your media kit every three to six months, or every time you have a new impressive gig to add, to ensure that you’re providing the most recent analytics and examples.
3. Rates
This one is a bit controversial. Some say rates should be included. Others point out drawbacks.
“I think it’s a very bad idea,” Zadeh says. “Brands have different budgets [and] you can do different things. What if the brand wanted you for talent or UGC work or just wanted to run ads to your content? How could you put all your rates in your media kit?” Instead, consider leaving rates as something for later discussion. When the topic arises, you can always negotiate.
Valerie Moore
Moore perfectly organises her media kit into separate, scannable slides, including a detailed breakdown of analytics and a case study with clear positive results (30% sales increase within two weeks).
Michelle Henderson
Henderson demonstrates how effectively and instantly photography and design can communicate a creator’s style, personality, and content.
Kambria Hall
Hall supplements a clean breakdown of her analytics and previous experience with several examples of the most recent beauty-based UGC videos from her TikTok. It’s among the best content creator media kit examples for aspiring UGC creators.
Credit: PeopleImages/Shutterstock
There are three main times you might send out a media kit:
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When pitching directly to a brand
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When brands request information about your services
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When data has become outdated and current clients need the latest version
Here are a few best practices.
Keep it convenient
Accessing a media kit should be as simple as possible.
- When sending your media kit as a PDF, keep it under 5 MB to prevent email bounce-backs and slow downloads.
- When using a live link, generate view-only shareable links to optimise for all devices, maintain up-to-date data, and avoid spam filters.
Don’t cold pitch
“Start by engaging with the brand on social media weeks before you reach out,” Alexis Quintal, CEO of Rosarium PR & Marketing Collective, tells Hootsuite. In other words, ease in by commenting on posts, tagging brands you love, and reaching out in DMs to establish relationships before sending over your media kit.
Personalise your kit with each send
Media kits that are customised to each pitch have a better chance of landing, so take the time to think about how the information you include relates to the brand or project in question.
“If you’re a lifestyle creator or have a lot of different content buckets within your personal brand, I recommend making multiple media kits that showcase your past brand collaborations,” says creator Veronica Droulia. “It may seem like an extra step, but it’s extremely important to view your media kit in the eyes of someone on the brand’s influencer marketing team.”
Common tools for designing media kits include:
Choose a template that matches your style and customise it using drag-and-drop tools, but don’t go too crazy. Hype Maven founder Andreea Moise tells Buffer that being concise is more important than format. “I don’t have a format preference as long as it’s short and relevant,” she says.