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When it comes to media presence, the terms “earned”, “paid” and “owned” frequently emerge, each with a unique significance. Among these, earned media has gained substantial prominence in recent years within communication departments. Understanding earned media and how it evolves in today’s digital information landscape is crucial to assess communication effectiveness, optimize content and make the most of your media mentions.
Earned media, as the name suggests, encompasses media exposure that a company has not purchased, commissioned or created itself. Instead, it’s the part that a company has genuinely “earned.” When viewed alongside paid and owned media, it provides a comprehensive outlook on your company’s marketing endeavors.
With the expansion of digital media, social platforms have become a very obvious source of earned media. However, the earned content disseminated in traditional media such as television and radio has a particularly high value, as these sources have notable reach and credibility, as well as a significant influence on public opinion.
Earned media carries immense value for any company. Research has shown that most purchasing decisions are influenced by friends, family, or people you trust and connect with online (similar to word-of-mouth). A company gains earned media through comments and voluntary content written by customers.
In addition to authentic and convincing advertising, earned media can highly contribute to further internal developments. Whether it’s a user comment on social media or a TV program where speakers mention a company, earned media offers insights into what the public genuinely thinks about a brand. It reveals what customers particularly like about a new product or what resonates most in their everyday lives.
Despite the great benefits of earned media, it can also present some challenges. While a company meticulously creates and maintains its image, content created by customers, followers or even journalists is often difficult to control or influence and can be quite unpredictable. Opinions that diverge from the company’s established image can lead to conflicts and potentially damage its reputation.
While negative comments or feedback are much like customers’ pain points, positive mentions are a real goldmine for PR and marketing.
Customers or press agencies that have good things to say about a product or brand become testimonials within their circle of influence which can – with a bit of luck – bring a huge benefit to a business. Companies that pick up on positive earned media contributions and use them skillfully for campaigns can convert voices from the public into publicity and subsequently into cash.
One of the primary challenges with earned media lies in measurement. Even if the content can be identified, it is difficult to qualitatively assess it or assign it a precise value. For quantifying an approximate worth, three models can be considered:
Remember, the larger the audience reached, the higher the awareness and thus the greater value for the company.
However, it is important to recognize that earned media is not a direct substitute for paid or owned media. Rather, the true strength lies in the synergy of all three marketing components, which together create a holistic and value-driven strategy. For example, owned media, such as a company blog post, can attract the attention of a media outlet which may then share it on its own news portal, effectively turning it into an earned media source.
Tracking earned media presents another challenge, particularly for traditional broadcast channels. While digital content is normally tracked through links or tags, traditional media tracking is considerably more complex. Fortunately, there are tools available to help identify and analyze earned media.
With the cloud-based media monitoring platform eMM Dart, you can receive real-time information about all media mentions on your topics of interest, which you can easily determine using keywords. You are then able to identify any earned media contribution, positive or negative, and use the knowledge to tailor your strategies.
Additionally, you can directly search a source or channel for content on a specific date or time. If you know that your company, or any other topic of interest, was mentioned on a particular programme you can perform a quick search using keywords to get results from the last 30 days and download them as Excel, Word or PowerPoint format.
To learn more about automated real-time media monitoring and how it can help you leverage earned media, simply click here to get in touch with our experts.
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