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Earned Media

Earned Media

There are a couple of terms that have been floating around the marketing world since the dawn of time. Media is one of those terms marketers have been using and adapting to their marketing strategy. There are three types of media that, if used all together, create a trifecta used in digital marketing. These are paid media, earned media and owned media. 

A business can grow in many ways, and having a strategy to incorporate this trifecta would be great earned media is often the best way. Paid and owned media can be controlled by your business, while earned media can be a little bit trickier, but it can have very positive results for a long-term strategy. But, what is earned media?

What is Earned Media? 

Hubspot1 defines earned media as "any material written about you or your business that you haven't paid for or created yourself." In other words, earned media is when your customers or clients talk about your business in a positive light, whether it's online or offline. This media can include customer reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, and even social media mentions. Earned media is any exposure that your business gets from a third-party source. The key part to remember is that this type of exposure is free - you haven't paid for it or traded anything for it. 

Earned media is the most valuable type of marketing because it comes from an unbiased, third-party source. The term earned media refers to the fact that no money or special favours have been paid to get coverage. Instead, companies have earned media by providing their products or services to the public and building positive reputations with customers or clients.

Why is Earned Media Valuable?

In today's age of instant gratification and constant connectivity, earned media is more critical than ever before. Consumers are constantly shown advertising from businesses; what sets you apart is authenticity and real endorsements from people who have used and enjoyed your product. 

It has been proved that consumers today trust their friends, family, an online blog and social media influencers' posts for recommendations on what to purchase. These are earned media and help build your business and brand's reputation and authority on the product or service you are offering. In addition, technology has also helped to spread recommendations and opinions about specific services and products to a broader and global audience. 

Earned Media Examples

Some common examples of earned media are: 

  • Influencers or brand ambassadors for free
  • Media Coverage
  • Guest Posts
  • Reviews 
  • Search Engine Results
  • Social Shares
  • Mentions

How to obtain Earned Media?

Earned media leans towards an organic approach, meaning that it is focused on getting results more naturally. Still, marketers must be able to track and generate earned media for their brand or business. Some ways to do this are: 

  1. Know your target audience and your marketing objectives.
  2. Build relationships with the media, and engage with journalists, bloggers and influencers, so they talk about your product or service on their platforms. This will also be part of the public relations strategy. 
  3. Create engaging and interesting content to reach the desired audience, and they feel the need to share it. Sharing your content, like retweeting and reshares, counts as earned media and can be used to tack it. With this content, you are also demonstrating your expertise and building a reputation for your brand or business. 
  4. Upgrade your customer service game. According to SproutSocial2, customers tend to positively view businesses and brands that engage with them and answer questions or complaints on social media.
  5. Make sure you are using all the distribution channels that you have. Do not limit yourself only to Instagram or Twitter; use email newsletters and review sites. 

There is no doubt that earned media is effective. 

Track your earned media to get an accurate picture of your brand's reach and performance. Tracking your earned media will help you decide better where to put your resources. There are a few different ways to track earned media. One is to set up Google Alerts for your brand name and key phrases related to your business.
This alert will notify you whenever your brand is mentioned online, so you can quickly collect and analyse the data. Utilise social media monitoring tools to track conversations about your brand across the web.

After all, it is one of the most popular and oldest forms of marketing. Nonetheless, its effectiveness depends on how it is used. If used correctly, earned media can be an excellent way to reach new audiences and promote your brand.