Do you understand the difference between a press release and a media pitch, or an electronic press kit and an editorial calendar? Keep reading for a guide that shares the differences between the eight most common public relations documents:

Electronic press kits
Sample letters and fact sheets
Editorial calendars
Media game plans
Press releases
Media advisories
Media pitches
Media lists

What’s An Electronic Press Kit?

An electronic press kit is a one-stop-shop for journalists to find helpful information about your company. They are important to include in your public relations campaign, as they provide reporters with details about your business, high-res images and contact information so they can refer to it as they put their article together.

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The key to an electronic press kit is to anticipate what the reporter may want so they can find the answers to their questions quickly and easily any time of day – without needing to wait for you to call or email them back. Rather than writing text that reads like an ad, the point is to provide just the facts by answering the 5 Ws:

Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?

See examples of electronic press kits here.

How To Create An Electronic Press Kit For Your Public Relations Campaign

Remember your audience when you create your electronic press kit; you’re writing for journalists, not consumers, so make sure you write about the facts instead of using sales-y language.

I always start an electronic press kit by thinking about the questions I want to answer:

How can you be contacted? List this at the very top so it’s easy to see. Make sure you include a phone number and email address so they can get a hold of you quickly and easily.
What does the company do, and what makes them unique? This should be clear in the very first paragraph. If you have any facts or figures, make sure you include them.
Is there anything your company specializes in that you need to explain?
Would it be helpful to include details about yourself as the proprietor? For some companies, it makes sense, although for others it’s not necessary.
How much does your product or service cost?
Where is your company located? How can consumers contact you?
What would be a great story about your business? We like to suggest 3-5 basic ideas for journalists visiting our clients’ electronic press kits.
Is there anything else you think needs to be included? Some companies have an interesting story behind how they started or have some sort of initiative worth sharing.

Write your answers to these questions as clearly as possible. Applying a hack to a clean iso on mac high sierra. Then step away, do something else and come back with a fresh set of eyes. In addition to thinking about how well your electronic press kit represents your brand, consider how clearly it shares important details with someone who doesn’t know anything about your company.

Once you’ve written all the text, upload it to a separate page of your website. Include high-res images (at least 3×5 inches at 300 dots per inch, although the larger the better) to the page for journalists to download, too. Ideally, include your logo, products you sell (take photos of them on a plain white background without any props) and any other images that make sense, like maybe your headshot.

What’s A Sample Letter Or Fact Sheet?

A sample letter contains most of the same information as the electronic press kit but is limited to one page. This one-page information sheet is important to include in every single sample package you send out to journalists so they have the vital information they can reference quickly – especially contact details and the URL to your full electronic press kit.

For clients that offer a service as opposed to a product, we recommend a fact sheet to send interested journalists in lieu of a sample letter. This is the same information as in the electronic press kit as well but formatted more like a bulleted list that is easy to skim and pull specifics from quickly. This is also a fantastic place to highlight any statistics or industry research relevant to your brand.

What’s An Editorial Calendar?

A valuable tool in trying to secure media coverage is an editorial calendar. This is a list of planned stories for upcoming issues in magazines and newspapers. Advertisers use them to decide which issues to place their ads in, and public relations professionals use them to know when to pitch specific outlets and with what angle.

How To Get An Editorial Calendar

Decide which publications you’d like to target.
Check each media outlet’s website to see if it’s posted online or downloadable. The best places to look are in their media kit or advertiser’s section.
If you can’t find the editorial calendar online, call the media outlet, ask for their advertising or sales department and request a media kit, which will include demographic information, ad rates and an editorial calendar. They’ll either email you a .PDF or mail a hard copy.

How To Use An Editorial Calendar For Your Public Relations Strategy

Make note of the stories that would be applicable to your company.
Look at the close dates listed for “Features” or “News” and check the calendar to make sure there’s still time to pitch them.
Carefully craft a pitch that ties your company to their upcoming story and email it to the appropriate reporter at the publication. For example, if you’re pitching a food angle, you should contact the food editor. For a line of beauty products, contact a beauty writer.

What’s A Media Game Plan?

A media game plan lays out which media targets you plan to approach and from which angles each month. It’s an important step to stay organized and see an overview of your public relations strategy quickly and easily.

Here’s how to make one:

Brainstorm media outlets in which you could see your business. As you read newspapers, magazines or blogs, think about ways your company would be a natural fit. Actually, write out a list of the media outlets you come up with.
Think about ways you could see journalists covering your business. Are you a good fit for holiday gift guides? Write it down! Or is Mother’s Day a good fit? Add it to your list!
As you start looking over your list of media outlets and potential angles to use when you approach the media, think about the times of year that would be best to get the ball rolling. It’s important to remember lead times, meaning how far in advance journalists start working on their stories. They vary by media type:
- Magazines: 4-6 months
- Newspapers: 6-8 weeks
- Websites and blogs: 4-6 weeks
- TV and radio: 3-4 weeks
Write out all the months of the year, then plug in the media outlets you want to approach and the angle you plan to use for that specific outlet. Now you have your media game plan!

What’s A Press Release?

One of the most well-known public relations tools, a press release is an announcement of a newsworthy item that is issued to the

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