How to Make a Media Kit for Influencers: A Step-by-Step Guide
- william45779
- Sep 5
- 5 min read
Introduction
In today’s talent marketing landscape, media kits are often the first impression a brand has of your talent - and they can be a great tool to help you stand out and secure brand partnerships. This article contains a blueprint designed to help you develop media kits that stand out in the crowd and win brand deals.
My name is William Shoe; I used to work at LVMH and I now run a talent management agency myself. I am passionate about the talent management space, and enjoy sharing what I have learned over the years either as an author at Forbes or by speaking at events like Adweek. Having brokered deals with the likes of Dior, Lacoste, and L'Oréal - I know what it takes to succeed in this industry.
The interesting thing about media kits is that they can help you stand out even if your talent doesn't have the highest follower count. You'd be surprised how many agencies would approach us at LVMH with low-quality decks - and how much a polished portfolio stood out.
This article walks you through a media kit design blueprint informed by my own approach, as well as industry leaders like Michael Ovitz and Ari Emanuel.
It takes time to perfect the art of pitching, but once you understand how, you will be landing partnerships with global brands like Dior, Lacoste, and L'Oréal in no time.
The Blueprint To Outstanding Media Kits That Win Brand Partnerships
1. The Biography: Telling Your Talents Story
Start with a clear, concise bio that positions the talent as a brand in their own right.
Nowadays, brands want to see more than follower count - they look for bold authenticity. Brands what talent who stands out, they want to understand why a talent is unique, and what domain expertise they have. This should be the main focus of the bio. Providing a reason why a specific talent aligns with the campaign also goes a long way. For example, an NBA player has much more credibility than a singer when it comes to selling athletic gear. The bio is a great place to communicate the unique selling point of your talent, and doing so can help position you for success.
What to include:
Who they are
What makes them unique and different
Their ‘WHY’
🧠 Thought experiment: Ask yourself: “What about this talent is different to anyone else? What attributes will appeal to a select few, and push away others?" A strong personal brand always rappels the majority and draws in those who are similar - don't be afraid to be bold and expressive.
Extra tips and tricks to stand out:
[ ] Align colours, images, tone, and branding across a talent's various digital channels
[ ] Highlight your talents domain expertise & credibility (sports, fashion, fragrances, etc)
Having A Standout Hero Image
High-quality imagery can go a long way in helping your deck (and agency) appear professional and attractive to brands.
The HERO Image
Select an image that radiates confidence and conviction. This should be a campaign-ready image.
[ ] High-resolution
[ ] Feels like it could be part of a campaign
[ ] No full body shots
[ ] Background natural to your talent
[ ] Focus more on portrait or bust shots
[ ] Avoid black and white
3. Highlighting Social Media Posts
Brands want a clear picture of what they can expect in terms of content aesthetics, as well as metrics such as reach and engagement. Many decks include screenshots of Instagram pages and metrics; however, this can appear scrappy to brands. Talent managers can use Canva or other design software to curate imagery that presents an influencer’s social media profile and engagement metrics in a more professional way.
Most importantly, sending brands a link to your talent’s social media is not helpful. Brands have limited time, and you want to help them find the information they need in the shortest time possible. Doing the work of pulling out hero content that represents what your talent does, their content creation style, and notable partnerships is crucial. Put their best foot forward and curate the best possible perception of your talent. This will increase the chances of conversion.
Ensure:
[ ] Versatility of content (glossy, UGC)
[ ] Content is representative of the best reach & insights that they receive
[ ] Posts are hyper-linked so the brand can click through to the live social media page.
4. Displaying Account And Audience Metrics
Most managers focus too much on follower count, but this matters less than you think. The audience quality matters more. For brands to get a strong ROI, the audience has to be relevant to the product and have high engagement with the influencer.
Here are some key metrics to include:
Audience demographics (age, gender, region) - highlight this for the top 3 countries.
Average views and reach across all content
Average engagement rate
Average link clicks
It’s worth noting that you don’t have to include everything. The portfolio should selectively highlight the best metrics – if you have a low average link click, for example, don’t highlight this in your media kit. Paint the best possible image you can of the talent’s audience quality.
💡 Implementation Tip: If you don’t have access to on-demand, in-depth analytics, ask influencers for screenshots the day before your pitch and use Canva to turn these into visuals aligned with the influencer’s identity. You should do this for all relevant platforms (Instagram, TikTok, etc.).
4. Embedding Case Studies
Including case studies or testimonials helps brands de-risk their decision-making process, and enables talent agents to provide supporting credibility for their influencers.
Show proof:
Before & after results (e.g., “Boosted brand followers by 17% in 5 days”)
Testimonials from brands
💡 Implementation Tip: If you’re still building case studies, double down on the stats from your influencers’ existing posts, and project expected sales or brand awareness for the campaign - showing a clear chain of logic.
6. Contact & Booking Information
Make it as easy as possible for brands to get in touch:
Booking email or inquiry link
Talent manager contact info
Optional: link to a full talent roster or agency site if you have one
7. Relevance
Talent and influencers can quickly loose relevance - one day they are hot, the next they are not. Brands want to know that their investment will continue to pay off, and the influencer will stay relevant over time. In order to persuade them of this, you must highlight a few things:
Upcoming projects, events, and points of relevance (Eg. An upcoming album, an event they are soon to attend, a new YouTube series, etc.)
Recent news (Eg. They just collaborated with x influencer)
Overall, brands want talent who are ‘going places’ - your job is to portray your talent as an ambitious individual who has yet to reach their peak. Brands should feel that your talent is on a mission to build a larger following and gain greater influence.
Concluding Remarks
If you’re an influencer manager, creator manager, or talent management agency struggling to land brand deals, media kits are a great starting point to invest in. They help you stand out in a crowded space and position your talent as the go-to choice.
The key is being able to communicate your talents story, uniqueness and relevance in a concise and curated way, that gets across the key information that brands need to consider your talent.
Done well, a media kit will:
Win brand trust before the call even starts
Reduce pitch anxiety (you’ll have everything ready)
Make your agency look like a million bucks- even if it’s just five of you on Slack
Just remember: you’ll need to update the metrics regularly, ideally within 24 hours before presenting them. If you don’t have the time to do this- or to design decks that will land you high-ticket brand deals - IconDesk.co does this for you.