How to Build a Creator Media Kit That Answers a Brand's Key Questions
A media kit answers the questions a brand asks before it pays you. What to include, which numbers to show, whether to list rates, plus a free template.
By Heidi Curto, Head of Brand Partnerships, 1DS Management · Published · 4 min read
To make a media kit, build a 1 to 3 page PDF with 6 sections: a short bio, your audience, your performance numbers, proof from past work, the packages a brand can buy, and how to book you. Each section should answer 1 question a brand asks before it pays, using numbers it can check.
The table below maps every section to its question, and there's a template you can copy near the end.
What should a media kit include?
6 sections, each tied to a brand question. If a section doesn't answer one, cut it.
| Kit section | The brand's question | What proves it |
|---|---|---|
| Cover and bio | Who is this, and why do people follow them? | A 2-sentence positioning line, your niche and a photo |
| Audience | Are these our customers? | Top countries, age and gender split from native analytics |
| Performance | What will a post deliver? | Median views and reach per format over 30 or 90 days, plus engagement rate |
| Proof | Has this worked for brands like us? | 2 or 3 past results, a brand quote or comments asking where to buy |
| Packages | What can we buy? | Deliverables by platform and format, with add-ons on separate lines |
| Booking | How do we book? | Business email, your manager's details and a "stats as of" date |
Put audience data on page 1 or right after the bio. It's usually the first thing a brand checks, and a mismatch there ends the read.
Our guide to what brands look for in influencers explains how brands run each of these checks.
Which numbers belong in a media kit?
The ones a brand can verify: followers, median views and reach by format, engagement rate with its formula, and audience demographics. Every number should match a native analytics screenshot dated within the last 30 days.
Here's how to work out the main ones:
- Median views: list the views on your last 20 posts in a format (Reels, TikToks, Shorts or long-form), sort them and take the middle value, which keeps a single outlier from skewing it.
- Engagement rate: (likes + comments + shares + saves) divided by reach, x 100. Some tools divide by followers instead, so name your formula.
- Stories and Lives: average views per story frame or average concurrent viewers, if you sell them.
- Audience: your top 3 countries with percentages, your main age band and your gender split.
Keep lifetime totals and your best-ever post out of the headline numbers. A brand is buying your next post, and your recent medians predict it better.
Inflated numbers are a legal risk as well as a trust risk. Since October 21, 2024, an FTC rule has banned buying followers or views you know (or should know) are fake when they misrepresent your influence for a commercial purpose (16 CFR 465.8). Report what your analytics show, and date it.
Should you put your rates in a media kit?
List packages, and save full prices for the quote. Advice on this splits, and the deciding factor is that usage rights, paid ads access and exclusivity can move a fee as much as the deliverable itself.
A brand reading your kit hasn't decided yet whether it wants 30 days of organic use or a year of paid ads on your handle. Quote after you've seen the brief, and price each of those on its own line.
A starting price makes sense in 1 situation: when small budgets keep eating your time. A "packages from $X" line filters them out, as long as X is a floor you'd accept and you say what it covers.
Our brand deal pricing guide walks through each of those lines.
What does YouTube's built-in Media Kit do?
YouTube Studio builds a Media Kit for every creator in the YouTube Partner Program, and you can edit it and download it as a PDF. It's a strong base for YouTube, and you'll still want your own kit for other platforms and for your pitch.
Here's what YouTube's Media Kit help page says it does:
- Where to find it: on a computer, open YouTube Studio and click Earn. Use "Download your Media Kit" under the Creators Support and Tools card, or open the YouTube Creator Partnerships tab and click View Media Kit.
- What's inside: your channel banner and bio, top audience and shopping categories, key stats and demographics, branded content videos and top videos. Google estimates the audience segments.
- What you can change: up to 5 audience categories per card and up to 4 videos. You can hide cards you can't edit, then preview and download the PDF.
The same Creator Partnerships tab lets you set desired rates for long-form and Shorts deals and add a manager or agent email that's copied on brand inquiries. YouTube lists its requirements as being 18 or older, in the Partner Program, based in an available country and free of active Community Guidelines strikes.
YouTube's Partner Program page lists 2 ways in: 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. YouTube has announced program updates starting February 1, 2027, so check the page before you plan around it.
On Instagram, the closest match is a creator portfolio inside Meta Creator Marketplace, where you can add text, posts and Reels, and profiles of brands you've worked with. It stays visible only to you until you change its visibility.
How do you make a media kit, step by step?
Pull your numbers, write 2 lines about yourself, pick your proof, define 3 packages and export a PDF. Plan on an afternoon for the first version.
- Export 90 days of analytics from each platform you'll sell, and screenshot the audience and performance pages with the dates visible.
- Write a 2-sentence bio: who you make content for, and what they get from you.
- Pick 2 or 3 proof points: a past campaign result, a brand's comment or a post where your audience asked where to buy.
- Define 3 packages, from a single post up to a monthly bundle, and list add-ons on separate lines.
- Add your business email, a manager's contact if you have one, and a "stats as of" date.
- Export a PDF, and keep a link version you can update without resending.
Free media kit template
Copy this structure into Canva, Google Slides or a doc. Page 1 holds the first 6 rows, and page 2 holds the rest.
| Section | What to write |
|---|---|
| Header | [Name or handle], your niche in 3 to 6 words, and a photo |
| Who I make content for | 1 sentence about your audience |
| What they get from me | 1 sentence about your content |
| Platforms | Platform, handle and followers for each one you sell |
| Audience (stats as of [month, year]) | Top 3 countries with percentages, main age band, gender split and 3 interests or shopping categories |
| Performance (last 90 days) | Median views and reach per format, engagement rate with its formula, and average story or Live views |
| Proof | 2 or 3 results (what you made and what happened), plus a brand quote or comment screenshots |
| Packages | A single deliverable, a bundle across platforms and a monthly package |
| Pricing line | "Quoted after the brief. Usage rights, paid ads access, exclusivity and rush timelines are priced as separate lines." |
| Booking | Business email, your manager's name and email, and your usual reply time |
When the kit's done, our guide on how to pitch brands covers who to send it to and what to write. Building and refreshing kits is part of our Talent Management and Brand Partnerships services, and you can apply for representation when you're ready for a team.
Questions creators ask
Should a media kit be a PDF or a link?
Keep both. A PDF attaches cleanly and survives forwarding inside an agency, and a link lets you update numbers without resending. Put the "stats as of" date on each.
How long should a media kit be?
Most pitches need 1 to 3 pages. Send a 1-page version with cold pitches, and the fuller kit when you're answering a brief or a brand asks for more.
Can you make a media kit with no brand deals yet?
Yes. Fill the Proof section with organic wins: posts where you recommended something and the comments asked where to buy, saves and shares on product content, or a concept for what you'd make for the brand. Label that proof as unpaid so nothing reads as a past sponsorship.
How often should you update a media kit?
Refresh the numbers every month and rebuild the kit every quarter, or sooner after a jump in growth. Change the "stats as of" date each time.
Do you need a different media kit for each brand?
Keep 1 master kit and tailor page 1 for each pitch, leading with the audience data and proof closest to that brand's customer. It's a 10-minute edit, and it reads as if you made the kit for them. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Have an entertainment lawyer review any contract before you sign it.
Written by
Heidi Curto
Head of Brand Partnerships, 1DS Management
Want a team negotiating your deals?
1DS Management represents more than 100 creators and athletes across brand partnerships, content strategy and monetization.