Press Kit: What Goes in One and Where to Put It
A press kit is one findable page, or a small download, that gives anyone writing about your product what they need without asking: a short description, key facts, logos, screenshots, a founder photo and a contact. It saves a writer or newsletter editor time, and it makes your facts the ones that get repeated. It is worth building before your first pitch.
What is a press kit and who actually uses it?
A press kit is the answer to the first four questions anyone writing about you will ask: what is it, who made it, what does it look like and how do I reach you? A newsletter editor on a deadline, a podcast host preparing an introduction or a blogger writing a round-up will take what is easy to take. If your logo is a 200-pixel screenshot cropped from a tweet, that is what they will use.
The name suggests journalists, and a small product rarely has any. In practice the readers are the people who might mention you, a directory curator checking details or a customer writing a recommendation. A kit that is quick to use turns a maybe into a mention. A good one also keeps the facts about your product consistent across everything written about it.
What belongs inside a press kit?
| Item | Format | Why a writer wants it |
|---|---|---|
| One-line description | A sentence of plain text | Copied straight into a list or a caption |
| Short and long descriptions | About 50 and about 150 words, plain text | Fits a round-up item and a longer write-up |
| Fact sheet | A short list: launch date, platforms, price, who it is for | Prevents wrong details from being repeated |
| Logo | SVG and PNG, light and dark backgrounds | Prints and web both need a clean file |
| Screenshots | Three to five at full resolution, each with a caption | Shows the product without a request |
| Founder photo and bio | One image and two sentences | Humanises the story; podcasts and newsletters use it |
| Demo link | A short video or a live page | Lets a writer try it before writing |
| Contact | A real address and a time zone | A kit with no reply path wastes the effort |
| Name and brand notes | Capitalisation, how to say it, colours if you have them | Stops your name appearing three different ways |
Leave out claims you cannot back. A kit that says “thousands of users” on day one with no source gives a careful writer a reason to doubt the rest. State what is true: launch date, what it does, what it costs. The press kit checklist lists the same items as a to-do, and the logo and icon specs page covers the sizes the platforms ask for.
Where do you host it so people find it?
- On your own site, at a stable address. A page named after the purpose, such as a press or media page, linked from your footer, is easy to remember and to link.
- With direct links to each file. Do not make a writer download a single archive to reach one logo. Offer the files separately and also as a bundle.
- Without a login or a form. Anything between a writer and a file is a reason to skip you.
- Small enough to open fast. Compress images; a 200 MB folder on a mobile connection is a hidden refusal.
- Dated. A “last updated” line on the page tells a reader the facts are current.
The image you set for link previews matters too, since it is what appears when someone shares your page. The og image specs page gives the sizes to use.
Example: a kit for a transcript-search tool
An invented maker has a tool that searches inside recorded interviews. Their kit page holds the items above, and the fact sheet is the part writers use most. It looks like this:
Name: Quotefinder What it is: a search tool for audio and video interviews Who it is for: researchers and journalists who record interviews Launched: 12 January Runs on: web browser; no install Price: free for up to three recordings, paid plans above that Built by: Dana, a former market researcher, working alone Contact: press@quotefinder.example (replies within two working days)
Each line answers a question a writer would otherwise email about. The maker also adds a link with a source tag at the bottom of the page, so a visit that arrives through the kit can be told apart from other traffic. When a newsletter mentions the product, the write-up carries the same description, the same capitalisation and the right link.
How do you tell whether the kit is doing its job?
- Count asset downloads. Your server log or analytics shows which files are taken. If nobody downloads the logo, the kit is not being used.
- Compare what is published with what you wrote. Are names, prices and dates correct in the write-ups? Errors point to gaps in the fact sheet.
- Watch for new mentions. A search for your product name, plus the links report in Google Search Console, shows who linked to you after outreach.
- Record time to reply. If writers email questions the kit should have answered, add the answer to the page.
Pair the kit with a short, specific pitch. The press pitch email template gives wording, and the launch with press and blog outreach playbook explains the order.
What mistakes make press kits useless?
The classic one is a kit built once and never updated: a launch date that has passed, a price that changed, a logo you replaced. The second is sending the kit as a heavy attachment to someone who did not ask, when a link would do. The third is missing the contact line. A fourth, subtler one is writing a kit full of adjectives. Writers can describe your product for themselves; they need facts and files.
A public page is part of the kit as well. When you launch your product free, the listing carries your name, tagline and link, and you can point writers to it and to your kit together. For other makers’ tools you could mention, browse the creative tool ideas. Related terms: a tagline is the line at the top of the kit, an elevator pitch is the spoken version of the long description, and a hard launch is when most kits get their first real use.
Frequently asked questions
What is a press kit?
It is a single page or small download that gives anyone writing about your product the basics without asking: a short description, key facts, logos, screenshots, a founder photo and a contact. It saves their time and keeps the facts about your product consistent wherever it is mentioned.
Do I need a press kit for a small product?
It helps, and it is cheap. A single page with a description, a fact sheet, two logo files, three screenshots and a contact takes a couple of hours. A small product has more to gain, because a writer will use whatever is easiest to find and copy.
Should a press kit be a PDF or a web page?
Use a web page, with direct links to each file, and offer a bundle for those who want everything at once. A web page is easy to update, to link and for search engines to find. A PDF is out of date as soon as something changes and is harder to share.
What should a press kit leave out?
Claims you cannot source, long marketing prose and files that are too large to open quickly. State facts: what it does, who it is for, launch date, price and contact. Writers form their own view from the product, so give them verifiable details and not adjectives.
Written by Post your build ideas with AI assistance and edited for this site. Where a page names another product, the facts came from that product’s own pages on the date shown above; terms change, so check them before you rely on them. About the publisher.