How to Make a Media Kit for Brand Deals (2026 Guide)
Cabana Studio Team · Creator-economy research at Cabana Studio
· July 13, 2026 · 6 min read
A media kit is the one-pager brands ask for before they book you - your reach, your best work, and your rates in a single place. Done right it closes deals; done wrong it's a stale PDF that undersells you. Here's how to make a media kit that actually works in 2026.
What a media kit needs to include
- Who you are and your niche - one or two lines, not a biography.
- Your audience: follower counts and, more importantly, engagement rate, across each platform.
- Three to six pieces of your strongest work - lead with the work, not the numbers.
- Brands you've worked with, plus a testimonial or two if you have them.
- Your rates or packages, and how to get in touch.
The PDF trap
The classic media kit is a Canva PDF you update once and email forever. By the time a brand opens it, your numbers are months stale and you look smaller than you are. The fix is a media kit that lives on a link and pulls current numbers automatically.
Step by step
- Start from your creator page, not a blank document - your portfolio already has your best work in it.
- Connect your socials so reach and engagement fill in (and stay) current.
- Add your rates as packages - a single number is easy to negotiate down; a package holds its value.
- Publish it to a shareable link and send that link instead of an attachment.
- Make variants by niche if you work across categories, so a beauty brand sees beauty work and a food brand sees food work.
On Cabana, most of this is generated for you: the media kit is built from your portfolio and connected analytics, so "updating" it mostly means doing your normal work. That's the difference between a document you maintain and a page that maintains itself.
Send it like a pro
When a brand asks for your kit, reply with the link and one line about why you're a fit for their specific campaign. A live link also tells you it was opened - useful signal for your follow-up. Pair it with a tracked deal so the conversation doesn't evaporate.
FAQ
What should be in a UGC media kit?+
Your name and niche, your audience size and engagement rate per platform, three to six standout pieces of work, brands you've worked with (plus testimonials), and your rates or packages with a way to contact you. Lead with the work; keep it to a single scannable page.
Is a link better than a PDF for a media kit?+
Yes. A PDF is out of date the moment you send it, while a hosted media-kit link shows your current reach and engagement, is easier to share, and can tell you when it's been opened. It also sits on the same page brands use to book you.
Do I need followers to make a media kit?+
No. A media kit can lead with your work and niche rather than follower count - especially for UGC, where brands are buying the content, not your audience. Add engagement and reach as they grow.