Create a press kit to pitch a story

Business benefits

Build a comprehensive package of materials that give journalists what they need and increase your chances of placing an SEO-friendly story.

Gather strong, high-resolution images that the publisher can use as hero images and throughout the story.

Provide multiple image formats, including landscape and portrait, that allow media to choose the best options for their intended use of the story. Depending on the topic, consider also include headshots from your website’s press center.

Gather external quotes from experts on topics related to the story you’re pitching.

The media will respond more favorably to a story that includes a third, independent perspective. When using Tweets or other social media posts, reach out to obtain the posting user’s permission for using their content before sending it to media.

Gather background information, previous customer or expert interviews, relevant spokesperson testimonials, and your company boilerplate.

Host the press kit on a cloud storage platform like Google Drive or Dropbox to share with the media.

This saves you adding large attachments to emails, which are often flagged as spam by publication email servers. Hosting the press kit on a cloud storage platform allows you to present all materials together in one place, providing journalists with a single link to all background materials without file size limitations.

Choose between press release and media alert formats to pitch your story, based on the amount of relevant information you have.

Deciding between a press release and a media alert early prevents creating press releases with filled content that journalists are unlikely to read or use. Use a media alert as a mini-press release when you just need to deliver key information in a short format:

  • Simple business announcements.
  • Event announcements and invitations
  • Two related but separate topics that can’t be combined into a single press release, like two different alterations to the employee benefits package that tie into different trending news topics.

Write a press release that includes a strong headline and subheading, 1-3 informative paragraphs, key quotes, and a For the editor section with the company boilerplate and contact info.

Write a media alert that includes a headline, brief copy containing the who, what, where, when, and why, a quote, and a For the editor section with the company boilerplate and contact info.

Include 1-3 links to your website, but make sure they all actively support the announcment. Make one a branded link.

Choose natural anchors for any links, like the brand name to link to the homepage. Referring to the company by domain name – xcompany.com as opposed to X company – is preferable where brand guidelines allow it.

Add your primary SEO keyword in the first 65 characters of the headline, if possible. Prioritize readability over keyword placement.

Last edited by @hesh_fekry 2023-11-14T10:08:41Z