In this post, I’m teaching you about the difference between a pitch deck v.s. media kit. I’ll also be sharing how to create a pitch deck, how to stand out with yours, and when to send a pitch deck v.s. a media kit. And at the end of this post, I’m giving away the EXACT Pitch Deck Template that I use to work with national brands all year long. Let’s do this!
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I’ll bet you’ve heard of a media kit, especially if you found this post by searching on Google for things like, “how to create a media kit” or “when to send out a media kit”. But have you heard of a pitch deck? And do you know what to put in one… or when to send it out? Well, if these are all questions running through your mind right now, don’t worry! Because I’ll be answering all of them in this post.
Having a pitch deck is one of the best ways to go from “sorry, we don’t have a budget”, to YES! When can you fit us in your content calendar, and YES we can pay your rate!”
What is the difference between a pitch deck and a media kit?
Both media kits and pitch decks are PDF documents that you share with a brand. Inside is everything they could possibly need/want to know about you. But they’re very different documents, and each one comes at a different stage in the brand collaboration process.
What’s a media kit?
A media kit is a document that tells a brand who you are, and who your audience is. Think of it as your resume.
In your media kit you want to share your reach, your audience statistics and brands you’ve worked with in the past. You can even share testimonials from brands that you’ve worked with before.
OK so that’s your media kit. Now…
What’s a pitch deck?
If your media kit was a bowl of ice cream, the pitch deck is the cherry on top. It’s the difference between being lost in a sea of influencer pitches and making the shortlist because you and your pitch STAND OUT!
Your pitch deck is going to tell the story of how you’re going to help the brand grow and make sales. That’s really all they want. They want to know that you have an idea that will SELL to your audience. They want to see how you will make your raving fans become their next raving fans. Remember: brands are looking for more than just a model holding their product. If they want a model they can hire one from an agency. They want YOU for your influence.
Before now, whenever you reached out to a brand you’d send them your media kit and rates via email. After reading this blog post you’re not only going to know how to make and send one, but you’re also going to have the exact template that I use to this day.
Here’s how to think about your pitch deck:
Let’s pretend you’re the Marketing Manager for a top-selling brand. Consider that you’re tasked with coming up with creative, new ad campaign ideas and hiring influencers to complete those campaigns. That’s a huge task and while you have influencers popping into your inbox every day, you still have to come up with creative ideas and find out which of those influencers would be a good fit. Not to mention most of the pitches you receive all say the same thing… “I have a lot of followers and I’ll take a picture with your product!”…. Boring!
Now imagine instead an influencer sends you a pitch deck outlining new, fresh, and exciting ideas that paint a picture of how your audience can align with theirs.
That’s going to take a huge amount of work off your plate, and you’re way more likely to work with that influencer over someone who’s just sent their rates.
Your pitch with creative ideas and examples of past similar campaigns is going to be an obvious YES.
A pitch deck should include:
- Creative ideas outlined specifically for that brand
- Content examples (this can be similar content that you’ve shot for another brand)
- A breakdown of the cost of each idea
- A timeline for each idea
When do you need a media kit or a pitch deck?
Creating a pitch deck takes more time because you have to put more thought into it. You’re customizing each one to the brand, but don’t worry, we have a template that makes it easy! That means you don’t want to be creating them right away, for every brand that you haven’t heard back from yet. Instead, you’re going to start with your media kit, which can be generalized and sent to everyone.
Then once you’ve heard back from a brand, you’ll create and send over your pitch deck. You’ll always need both. You’ll just create this when a brand has shown interest in working with you as well.
Good news for you, I’ve got a free pitch deck you can download at the end of this post. It’s completely customizable and ready to help you stand out from other influencers when pitching brands.
What’s the secret sauce to creating the perfect pitch deck?
Be creative and customize it to that brand!
Remember, Marketing Managers can get upwards of hundreds of pitches a week. And most of those pitches are sent straight to the trash because they’re not customized to the brand at all. Going forward, think of yourself as a partner with this brand. This is the best way to get long-term collaborations. A campaign can’t just look pretty, it needs to be well thoughts out and meet the brand’s needs in terms of exposure, reach, and sales.
You want them to succeed as a company as much as you want your own brand to succeed. So put in the work and show them that.
When to use a pitch deck?
Here’s a general brand collaboration timeline that you can use:
- Start by reaching out to the brand with an email (*hint: you can steal my EXACT Pitch Templates for initial outreach inside The Influencer Blueprint™)
- Once you’ve reached out initially and heard back from the brand, send them your media kit and 3 creative ideas, within your email.
- If the brand responds by showing interest in one or more of your ideas – then you respond with your pitch deck! You can highlight one or more ideas and include the price/rates for each. You can also include timelines and all specifics of what it takes to get them on your calendar.
At every step of the way make sure that your responses are personalized. Definitely make sure that your pitch deck is specific to the brand and its needs. Make sure that you treat every collaboration like a partnership, even before you land it. These little things will help you stand out from the crowd and be able to work with those big national brands with better budgets.
Before you go, don’t forget to take advantage of my free pitch deck template! Typically sold in my shop for $19, but for a limited time, you can grab it for free!
Download my limited-time free Pitch Deck Template here.
