How to prepare a media kit

A media kit is the document an advertiser uses to decide whether they can justify spending money with you — usually in under two minutes. It is not a brochure. The kits that sell answer three questions quickly: who is the audience, what can I buy, and what does it cost.

The three-page structure

Page 1 — The audience

Lead with the reader, not the mission statement.

Include	Example
Who they are	“Owners and managers of independent food businesses in Southern Ontario”
How many	Subscribers, monthly unique readers or downloads per episode — one headline number, dated
Engagement	Open rate, average listen-through, time on page — whichever you can substantiate
Where they are	Region or city breakdown, if you have it
What they do	Job titles, industries or interests from a survey or from sign-up data
Why they trust you	One sentence on how long you have published and what you are known for

Round numbers are fine; fabricated numbers end relationships. Date every figure (“as of August 2026”) and keep the kit current.

Page 2 — What can be bought

List every placement with a name, a description and a price. Advertisers rarely want to assemble a plan out of parts, so group placements into two or three packages as well.

Placement	Description	Rate
Primary sponsor	Banner + 80 words at the top of one issue	$450
Featured item	Image + 60 words mid-issue	$250
Dedicated send	Full email to the list, subject to approval	$1,200
Podcast mid-roll (30 s host-read)	One episode	$600
Package: “Four weeks”	4 × primary sponsor + 1 × podcast mid-roll	$2,200

A kit without prices creates an extra email, and every extra email loses a percentage of buyers. If you must, give “from” prices.

Page 3 — Specifications, examples and contact

• Specifications for each placement: image sizes, copy lengths, deadlines. You can link to our specification sheet or copy the rows that apply.
• Two or three examples of past placements, ideally with a one-line result (“312 clicks, 14 enquiries for the advertiser”).
• Advertiser rules: categories you decline, exclusivity, disclosure wording.
• How to book: a name, an email address and the lead time you need.

Format and length

• PDF, 3–5 pages, under 5 MB. Also keep a one-page web version — a link is easier to share than an attachment.
• Your masthead and colours; otherwise plain. Design does not sell placements; clarity does.
• Update at least quarterly. Put the date on the cover.

Mistakes that lose the sale

Mistake	Fix
Mission statement first	Audience first, always
No prices	Add prices, even “from” prices
Undated or vague audience numbers	One headline number, dated, with the source
Twenty individual placements	Two or three packages plus the list
No examples	Screenshots of two past placements with results
No specifications	Link to the spec sheet
Kit last updated in 2023	Quarterly review, date on the cover

Working with The Ad Mart

If we represent your inventory, we build the advertiser-facing package from your media kit and inventory sheet, and we keep it current with you. You approve every advertiser before anything runs; see the Publisher Terms.