Published 4 April 2026 · by Jonathan
If you want to work with brands as a YouTube creator, you need a media kit. It’s the document or page that shows a potential sponsor who your audience is, how your channel performs, and what a partnership with you could look like.
The problem is, most creators either don’t have one, or they have a PDF they made in Canva six months ago with numbers that are no longer accurate. Neither is a great look when a brand is deciding whether to spend money on a partnership.
What a Media Kit Actually Is
A media kit is a summary of your channel for brands — the numbers, the audience, and the proof that your content reaches real people who pay attention.
At a minimum, a good media kit includes:
- Subscriber count and total views — the headline numbers
- Average views per video — more useful than total views because it shows what a brand can actually expect from a sponsorship
- Audience demographics — age, gender, and geographic breakdown. This is what brands care about most. A fitness brand wants to know whether your audience is mainly 18–34, not just that you have 50k subscribers.
- Engagement rate — likes, comments, and shares relative to views. High engagement means an active audience, which is more valuable than a large passive one.
- Top-performing content — examples of your best videos with view counts
- Collaboration types — what you offer (sponsored videos, product reviews, affiliate, UGC)
- Contact information — a business email for enquiries
Stronger media kits also include watch time data, subscriber growth trends, past brand partnerships, and testimonials from previous sponsors.
The Problem With Static Media Kits
Most creators build their media kit as a one-off project. Open Canva, screenshot YouTube Studio, drop in some numbers, export a PDF. Done.
Except it’s outdated within a week. Your subscriber count changes. Your views change. Your demographics shift as your channel grows. That PDF you emailed to a brand last month has stale numbers, and you probably don’t even remember which version you sent.
The manual update cycle looks like this:
- Open YouTube Studio
- Screenshot the analytics
- Open the Canva template
- Replace the numbers and charts
- Export a new PDF
- Remember to actually send the updated version next time
Most creators do this once, maybe twice, then give up. The media kit goes stale and stays stale.
A Media Kit That Stays Current
The better approach is a media kit that pulls current data from your connected channels and keeps itself up to date.
Instead of screenshots and manual updates, the media kit keeps itself updated using current channel data — subscriber counts, view counts, audience breakdowns, and engagement metrics. When your numbers change, your media kit updates too. No manual work.
This is the approach TubeCMS takes. Instead of relying on screenshots and manual updates, TubeCMS pulls current channel data into your media kit automatically — headline stats, audience breakdowns, top content, and engagement metrics. If you’ve connected TikTok or Instagram, those numbers can be pulled in too, along with a combined audience total across all platforms.
More Than Just Numbers
Numbers alone don’t close a deal. Brands want to know what working with you looks like. A good media kit includes context around the data:
- Intro text — a short personal pitch. Who you are, what your channel is about, why brands should work with you.
- Collaboration types — what formats you’re open to: sponsored videos, product reviews, UGC, affiliate, and so on. Brands like knowing upfront.
- Brands you’ve worked with — social proof. Even a short list of past partnerships signals experience.
- Testimonials — a quote from a previous brand partner carries more weight than any stat.
Share It or Download It
A live media kit page on your website is ideal for most situations. Drop the link in your email signature, your YouTube about section, or your link-in-bio. Brands can view it instantly, and the data is always current.
But some situations call for a PDF — email pitches where a brand wants to circulate your info internally, or sponsorship applications that ask for an attachment. Having both options matters.
With TubeCMS, you can download a PDF generated from the same live data as your page — useful for email pitches or sponsorship applications. The PDF works even if the public page is hidden, so you can pitch brands privately before making the page visible.
Make It Look Like You
A media kit that looks generic undermines the professional impression you’re trying to make. Your channel has a personality — your media kit should match your brand, your tone, and the kind of creator you are. TubeCMS includes theme and layout options so the page feels like yours, not a template.
You Don’t Need a Huge Channel
There’s a common misconception that media kits are only for creators with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. That’s not true. Brands increasingly work with smaller creators — sometimes called micro-influencers — because smaller audiences often have higher engagement rates and more trust.
A media kit with 5,000 subscribers and an 8% engagement rate tells a brand more than a channel with 500,000 subscribers and a 0.3% engagement rate. The media kit makes that visible. Without one, the brand only sees the subscriber count and moves on.
Having a media kit at any size signals professionalism and makes you easier to say yes to. It says you take partnerships seriously and you’ve thought about what you bring to the table.
Getting Started
The Media Kit is a Pro plan feature in TubeCMS. Here’s how to set it up:
- Set up your TubeCMS site and connect your YouTube channel
- Enable the Media Kit from Admin > Content > Media Kit
- Grant Analytics access — a one-time Google consent screen for read-only analytics data (demographics, watch time, engagement)
- Add your pitch — intro text, collaboration types, past brands, testimonials
- Choose a theme and set which sections to show
- Share the link or download the PDF
Your media kit stays current from that point on. No more Canva, no more screenshots, no more stale PDFs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a YouTube media kit include?
At minimum: subscriber count, total views, average views per video, audience demographics (age, gender, geography), engagement rate, and examples of your best content. Stronger media kits also include collaboration types you offer, past brand partnerships, and testimonials from previous sponsors.
How many subscribers do you need to have a media kit?
There is no minimum. Brands increasingly work with smaller creators who have highly engaged audiences. A media kit shows professionalism regardless of your subscriber count. If you have an audience that watches and engages with your content, you have something brands want to see data on.
Should I send a PDF or link to my media kit?
Both. A live web page is ideal because the data is always current and brands can view it instantly. A downloadable PDF is useful for email pitches where the brand may want to circulate it internally. Having both options available covers every scenario.
How often should I update my media kit?
If you’re maintaining it manually, at least monthly. Subscriber counts, view counts, and engagement rates change constantly, and brands will notice if the numbers look stale. The better approach is to use a tool that pulls live data from the YouTube API so the media kit is always current without any manual effort.