A press kit is a convenient tool that businesses can use to communicate with journalists. When journalists are researching for their stories, a press kit can help them determine quickly if your restaurant is one that fits the piece they’re working on and can answer questions and give them follow-up information to make the process easier for them and for you.

Press kits all have the same basic components. These are designed to give journalists an impression of your business at a glance. Consider working with a graphic designer or whomever created your restaurant’s branding to create something that has the same look and feel as your overall brand. Here’s what press is expecting to see in a basic press kit:

The Basics

This includes your business name, location, hours of operation, owners, social media profiles, and contact information.

Your Story / Mission

This is where you can give a broader perspective about your business, including what type of food you offer, your ambiance and vibe, special events, awards, and detailed information about your owners and management. Here, you can include your restaurant’s mission statement if you have one as well as bios of your key team members.

You may also want to answer frequently asked questions here, such as when and by whom your business was founded, total number of employees, square footage of your location(s), number of locations, popular menu items, and important milestones. Also, share information about off-site and in-house events in which your business has participated, especially if there is a give-back component involved to give journalists a feel for your community involvement.

Images

Many media outlets will want to create their own photography, but some will need to rely on images that you provide. For that reason, it’s useful to create a shareable resource (such as a Dropbox folder) that includes a mix of images, such as the interior and exterior of your establishment, images of food and beverages, headshots of your owners and management staff, images of people serving/dining (with photo release consent), photos of company swag, and both a color and black and white copy of your logo. Include attribution for photography in the description of the photo so that press knows who created the images and can include attribution in their coverage.

Previous Releases and Coverage

Link to all existing coverage and any relevant past press releases so that journalists can see where you’ve already been featured and what has been said—no one wants to cover something that’s already been written about often; this can help journalists come up with new and unique angles!

Include your press kit on your website, either on its own page or in your “About” section. You can also send your press kit to journalists on your press list or your press wish list to let them know that this is a resource you have available. It can be useful for journalists to know it’s there when they’re looking. Some businesses will print out press kits and make them available for journalists. In this digital age, it might be more useful to simply say that copies are available upon request, but consider giving out press kits at any media events your business hosts.