Earned media is the publicity you get without directly paying for it. It’s hard to achieve but is really effective where earned media is concerned. It includes media coverage, other people’s social media, blog posts that mention your brand, and even online reviews.
Effectively, earned media is anything created and shared by someone else that directly helps you.
It’s different from advertising or sponsored content, which you pay for. It’s also different from owned media, which refers to all the things you publish on your own channels (like your website or social media sites) and have more control over.
This organic publicity is the holy grail for marketers – and it’s something that you need to weave into your strategy.
How to Increase Your Earned Media
You might invest in getting earned media by putting some money into your PR or marketing strategy, but you can’t buy it. Effective earned media strategies involve a combination of PR efforts, engaging content, and leveraging social proof. Instead, you earn it by doing the job of making products that people love, or advertising your services with an amazing marketing campaign that people can’t help talking about.
Sometimes, earned media is completely organic. For example, do you remember Dua Lipa’s controversial Diet Coke recipe? The singer was at a restaurant with friends when she decided to introduce them to her favorite spicy drink – Diet Coke mixed with pickles, jalapeños, and brine. Since it was slightly unexpected, and it came from a celebrity, the recipe immediately went viral. It was perfect earned media for Diet Coke, since it immediately brought the drink to mind – whether you would consider drinking it with added pickles or not.
In this article, we’ll look at all the different types of earned media, and we’ll also explore how you can encourage more of it. After that, we’ll share some tips for checking if earned media is affecting customer behavior – the stats can be quite revealing.
In this guide:
What Is Earned Media
Types of Earned Media
Extracting Value From Earned Media
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Earned Media
Earned media is free publicity your brand receives through word-of-mouth, social media shares, press coverage, and other unpaid channels. You might need to work hard to get your brand out there to begin with, but earned media is often a positive benefit from your earlier paid and owned media activity.
Earned media is great for building trust and typically leads to more people hearing about your brand. There are lots of other amazing things about it, too.
Definition of Earned Media Coverage
Earned media refers to any publicity your brand gets without directly paying for it. This can include mentions on social media, reviews, news articles, and word-of-mouth recommendations. It's got quite a broad scope, so there are some things that you might not even realize count as earned media.
Unlike paid ads or owned media channels, you don't control earned media directly – it comes from others talking about you.
There are lots of benefits of earned media. It builds credibility since it often involves real people – or trusted media sources – recommending your brand. People trust recommendations from friends or respected sources more than traditional ads or anything that comes from a marketing team.
Earned media also allows you to reach new audiences, and that can lead to new customers.
To generate more earned media, you can focus on creating share-worthy content, building relationships with journalists and influencers, and delivering customer experiences that are worth talking about.
It's definitely worth putting in some effort, because earned media can dramatically boost your brand awareness and reputation.
Types of Earned Media
Earned media can refer to all sorts of things. Media examples include influencer shoutouts, features in trade publications, and organic social media mentions. It can include anything from online reviews on Amazon, to an influencer who happens to mention your brand without any form of payment (#notanad).
Social media mentions and shares are both earned media, as is any press coverage of your company or products (though sponsored articles don’t count).
In this section, we’ll discuss all the different types of earned media in more detail.
User-Generated Content (UGC)
UGC is content that other people create about your brand. This can include social media posts, photos, and videos. It's great for trust, because it feels genuine and authentic if real people are so enthusiastic about your brand that they're telling others about it.
To build up user-generated content around your brand, you can run contests or campaigns asking fans to share experiences with your products. You could even set a challenge so that people can show off their creativity. The trick is to make sharing and finding these posts easy by creating branded hashtags.
One of the great things about user-generated content is that you can get lots of value from it. In its original form, it's great for brand awareness – but you can take it another step further by featuring the best submissions on your channels.
For example, you can repost social media posts, share them to your Instagram Story, or showcase them on your website. The only caveat here is that you should either ask permission, or make it clear in advance that you reserve the right to share this content.
In short, UGC is great for social proof. It shows real people enjoying your offerings. This can sway potential customers more than polished ads.
Media Coverage
Getting mentioned in the news or trade publications is another form of earned media, and it can really help to boost credibility. Press coverage will lead to more people hearing about your brand. Certain types of coverage can even position you as an expert.
All sorts of media coverage counts as earned media. The general rule is that as long as you haven't paid for it, it's been earned. It could take the form of anything from a product being featured in a shopping round-up to your company being mentioned in a news article.
To get more media coverage, it's all about PR. Share newsworthy stories about your company, and send press releases on product launches, partnerships, or research findings. You could also offer to be a source for relevant topics in your field – this gives you the chance to position yourself as an expert, while getting a mention for your company or brand.
You'll need to research journalists and outlets that fit really well with your brand, then try to build a relationship. Provide them with valuable information, and get back to them quickly if they have any questions or need more resources. Over time, they'll be more likely to come to you for quotes and insights.
Influencer Partnerships
These days, influencer marketing is a really big deal. If you partner with the right person, it can be a game-changer. This is because an authentic-feeling influencer recommendation can basically act like a word-of-mouth recommendation at scale.
Influencers share so much of their lives that their followers often feel like they know them intimately. In turn, people are often more likely to believe and trust their favorite influencers when they say they genuinely love a product.
Now, most influencer marketing will count as paid media – because you're probably paying them for their partnership, or sending them free products. However, if an influencer mentions you organically, you've hit the earned media jackpot.
This might happen if you've previously partnered with an influencer who loved your products and continues to use and talk about them beyond the arranged partnership. And if you've done your bit to build relationships with influencers who align with your brand, they're probably watching what you do with some interest.
Another way to build influencer relationships is to send them news about your latest products and services via a press release, just like you would with a journalist. This might lead to a few organic mentions, especially if an influencer is hoping to broker a paid deal in the future.
Online Reviews
An online customer review that consists of just a few sentences might seem fairly forgettable, but reviews on sites like Yelp, Google, and Amazon shape buying decisions to a surprising level.
Customer reviews even count as another form of user-generated content – and if you ask permission, the most glowing reviews can be used as testimonials on your website. You can even feature them in your ads!
Positive reviews are valuable earned media because they build trust and lead to more purchases. If potential customers know that others have had a good experience with your product or purchases, they're more likely to give you a chance. The other great thing about reviews is that they can improve your search rankings.
To get more reviews, it's often just as simple as encouraging happy customers to share their experiences. You could do this by including an automated message right after purchase, or even scheduling email reminders to go out at a later date. Whatever you do, just make the process easy by providing direct links.
Social Media Engagement
Earned media has a broad scope – it covers everything from a coveted spot in a major gift guide to one single share or comment on your social media channels.
When users interact with your content on social media accounts, this is valuable since it expands your reach. If somebody comments, shares, or even just hits the “like” button on your post, the algorithm is more likely to show it to someone else in their network – and this visibility can introduce you to potential new customers.
Getting more of this kind of earned media involves the same kind of tactics as boosting engagement for any other reason. Post content that sparks conversations, and ask questions, run polls, or share behind-the-scenes peeks. Respond quickly to comments to keep discussions going.
Extracting Value From Earned Media
Getting more earned media can do wonders for brand awareness and credibility. To keep this valuable stream running, you'll need a few clever strategies in your back pocket.
Strategies for Encouraging Earned Media
If you're starting from scratch and you don't have much earned media, start by creating shareable content that resonates with your target audience. This is owned media and it's the best place to start, as it should lead to earned media.
Focus on topics your audience cares about and present information in engaging ways. Keep up with social media posting and interact with followers. Respond quickly to comments and questions to build relationships.
You can also encourage user-generated content by running contests or asking for customer stories. This type of earned media can increase brand awareness and provide social proof. Partner with influencers who align with your brand values, as they're more likely to give you a free mention later on if they really get what you do.
Compelling press releases about newsworthy events or announcements can help on the media side of things. Distribute them through trusted channels to catch journalists' attention. You could also build relationships with reporters by offering up a few expert insights on industry trends.
Measuring Earned Media Success
As with paid media or owned media, you should set clear goals for your earned media strategy and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to see if your earned media efforts are hitting the mark. This generally means monitoring brand mentions, social shares, and website traffic from earned sources. You can also use tools like CisionOne to measure sentiment around your brand in online conversations.
Search engine rankings can give you clues about earned media, too – especially if you see a spike in related keywords. Improved SEO can be a valuable result of earned media.
You should also analyze how earned media affects customer behavior. Ideally, you'll be looking for increases in leads, sales, or other desired actions after major earned media wins. This data will allow you to compare the cost-effectiveness of earned media to paid campaigns, too.
If you track these metrics regularly, it will give you a chance to adjust your approach based on what's working best.
Frequently Asked Questions
Earned media plays a really interesting role in digital marketing. Unlike paid media, it comes from real people or media outlets, so it builds trust and visibility for brands. It also leads to genuine audience engagement.
But it's also a slightly confusing form of media – since you might invest quite a lot of money (into public relations and marketing, for example) in order to grow your earned media.
Before we reach the end of this guide, let's explore some FAQs about earned media to make sure it's fully understood.
What distinguishes earned media from owned media and paid media in digital marketing?
Earned media comes from others talking about your brand. It's the free publicity you gain through positive customer experiences. Negative earned media exists, too – though this can harm your reputation.
Owned media includes your website and social channels, while paid media involves ads you purchase. You'll probably have to generate some owned and paid media content, before earned media comes along. It's worth it though, as earned media is particularly valuable because it's authentic and often more trusted by consumers.
Can you give us an interesting earned media example?
Viral social media posts are one of the most prominent forms of earned media. Take DuoLingo – who turned one form of earned media (press mentions) into another when they learned that people were using their app for dating. In response, they got their mascot to officiate a series of weddings in Las Vegas and posted it all on TikTok and other social media platforms. This led to lots of shares and engagement on social media, which was great for spreading brand awareness.
How can brands increase their visibility through earned media marketing efforts?
The best thing to do is to create shareable content that resonates with your audience. Then, engage with customers on social media to encourage interactions.
At the heart of it all, you should have some excellent products or services that people want to talk about. These tactics can help you gain more organic publicity.
What are the benefits of user-generated content?
User-generated content is a great form of earned media, because you can use it in so many different ways. For example, if you encourage customers to share photos or videos using your products, you can then feature this content on your social channels or website. It shows real people enjoying your offerings, which can influence potential customers.
Why is earned media considered a trustworthy source for consumers?
The thing about earned media is that it comes from third parties (often real people), and not the brand itself. This makes it more credible in consumers' eyes, because people naturally trust recommendations from friends, family, or unbiased reviewers over blatant marketing or advertising. When others are saying how much they love your brand or that they think your product is great, it carries more weight than self-promotion.
What strategies can companies adopt to effectively measure the impact of earned media?
Start by tracking mentions of your brand across social media and news outlets – these all count as earned media. Then, monitor website traffic from earned media sources. Look at engagement rates on shared content, and measure changes in brand sentiment over time. All this data will give you a better idea of how your earned media efforts are going.
