What Is Earned Media? Definition, Benefits and Examples
In 1934, the diesel-powered train Pioneer Zephyr made a historic dash from Denver to Chicago, dramatically coming to a stop on a stage at the World’s Fair. Newspapers went wild. Zephyr-mania swept the country. It inspired a movie. Ford named a car after it. Most importantly for the manufacturer, every railroad wanted its own Zephyr train.
The Zephyr’s speedy publicity stunt is the perfect example of how earned media and public relations (PR) have always worked together hand-in-hand. But today, PR professionals have to track the sentiment of much more than newspaper articles. Let’s take a look at what earned media is today, plus its benefits, challenges and how to overcome them.
What Is Earned Media?
Earned media is publicity your brand earns through word-of-mouth, content sharing or media coverage without directly paying for it. At its core, the meaning of earned media is that it can’t be bought, only deserved. It’s the spontaneous mentions, reviews and overall buzz created by your audience. It’s always gained organically through the endorsement, sharing, or coverage of customers, followers, journalists, influencers and other third-party sources.
Earned Media vs. Paid Media
The main difference between earned media and paid media is that earned media is obtained organically without direct payment, while paid media requires monetary investment. Another big difference is that with earned media, brands have limited control over the messaging and placement, while paid media offers full control over the content, placement and audience targeting.
Earned Media vs. Owned Media
The main difference between earned media and owned media lies in ownership and control. Earned media is generated by third-party sources without direct control by the brand, while owned media is created and controlled by the brand itself. Some examples of owned media include a brand’s blog, website and social media accounts.
Examples of Earned Media
It’s easy to confuse paid, owned, and earned media, especially since some of them overlap. Let’s look at some examples to better define earned media.
- Media mentions: Press coverage from journalists and media outlets is the biggest example of earned media. Press releases are the best way to get the word out to journalists and media outlets to earn your brand media mentions.
- Social media mentions: When users or followers on social media platforms mention your name, products or services, that’s earned media. When they share your content, that can count as both earned media and shared media.
- User-generated content (UGC): This is content your customers or users create to share their experiences with your brand. It includes testimonials, reviews, photos and videos.
- Influencer endorsements: If an influencer or thought leader promotes your brand without your involvement, it’s earned media. If they’re paid, it’s paid media.
The Value of Earned Media
Trust is a rare commodity in the digital age, but what is earned media if not your chance to earn it? Earned media has benefits that paid media simply can’t match:
- Credibility: Unlike paid media and owned media, earned media can’t be bought, and it isn’t directly controlled by the brand. That could be why most consumers believe earned media is the most credible source of information about a brand.
- Reach: Through the power of positive mentions, reviews and coverage from third-party sources, earned media can reach new audiences who aren’t already aware of your brand.
- Cost-effectiveness: It’s right there in the definition: Earned media doesn’t require a direct financial investment. While PR professionals still need to monitor and direct an earned media strategy, it’s typically a very cost-effective channel.
- Direct sales impact: Positive earned media coverage is a valuable form of social proof that can sway purchasing decisions and increase conversion rates and sales. You’ll just need the tools to prove it.
Overcoming the Challenges of Earned Media Marketing
Demonstrating the value of earned media isn’t impossible. Don’t let that or these other challenges hold you back from embracing earned media.
Choosing the Right Tools
The real answer to “What is earned media?” is that it’s only as good as the tools you use. Luckily, solutions for every stage of the process have come a long way, and you can now find tools for:
- Ideation: Align your brand with current events and topics that matter to your audience by using tools that search for trending topics.
- Targeting: Targeting tools help you identify, segment and reach the audience most likely to pick up your story.
- Distribution: To distribute your content to your target audience, choose tools with global reach but localized engagement capabilities.
- Monitoring: It’s important to monitor online, social, print and broadcast channels, plus have sentiment analysis capabilities to tell you the deeper meaning of mentions.
- Reporting: The best tools turn monitoring data into meaningful reports, showing how earned media drives specific business results.
Generating Earned Media
Earned media may be cost-effective, but it isn’t always easy to garner attention for your brand. As the name says, you’ll have to earn it by:
- Creating compelling visual content that underscores your message and makes your audience want to share.
- Leveraging social media to foster positive reviews and build a community around your brand.
- Encouraging positive UGC through contests, giveaways or referral programs.
- Earning media coverage with global distribution that reaches all major media, yet is also personalized.
- Engaging with media contacts and influencers in a meaningful way that provides them with valuable information or insights that help them do their jobs well.
Controlling the Narrative
While you can’t directly control what others say about your brand, your earned media strategy can still guide the narrative by:
- Leveraging social media tools that make it easy for your audience to share your story the way you want it to be seen, like PR Newswire’s SocialBoost.
- Developing a compelling brand story that communicates your brand’s values and unique selling points. A positive brand story helps shape the perception of your brand in the eyes of journalists, influencers and consumers.
- Establishing strong relationships with the journalists, bloggers, influencers and thought leaders who cover relevant topics. When you build genuine connections and provide value, you’ll increase your chance of getting positive earned media coverage.
- Closely monitoring earned media coverage with tools that show you real-time mentions and provide deeper insights on sentiment so you can respond quickly.
Converting Earned Media into Leads
The primary goal of any business isn’t to earn media attention – it’s to drive revenue. Implement these tips to help drive leads from your earned media:
- Optimize your website: Earned media drives website traffic as people search online for information about your brand. Make sure your website is optimized to capture leads with clear CTAs and forms. Drive traffic to earned media landing pages when possible.
- Provide value: Offer exclusive content, free resources, special promotions or discounts to visitors coming from earned media sources in exchange for providing their contact information.
- Retarget: Implement retargeting campaigns to re-engage visitors who have interacted with your brand through earned media channels but haven't converted into leads yet.
Measuring the Impact of Earned Media
This one isn’t a surprise to PR professionals: 50% of communications leaders cite the “inability to measure impact effectively” as one of their biggest challenges. Yet with the right tools, you can prove the impact of your earned media strategy on:
- Media mentions: Monitor the quantity and quality of mentions in articles, blog posts, social media shares and reviews to gauge the reach and visibility of your brand.
- Social engagement: Measure likes, shares, comments and mentions to evaluate the level of audience engagement and interaction with your content.
- Brand sentiment: Demonstrate a positive impact on the perception of your brand by analyzing the tone and sentiment of earned media.
- Share of voice: Compare your brand’s share of media coverage against competitors to evaluate your visibility and share of voice.
- Backlinks: Track the number and quality of links your campaigns generate to show a positive impact on your website’s search engine ranking and domain authority.
- Website traffic: Prove engagement by analyzing the number of website visits, pages per visit and conversion rates from traffic generated by earned media channels.
- Lead generation and conversion: Track metrics like form submissions, email sign-ups and conversions from earned media channels to measure the impact on the bottom line.
Maximize Your PR With Earned Media Solutions
So what is earned media? In today’s digital and online world, it’s an essential piece of your PR, communications and marketing efforts – and its foundation is a strong distribution network that shares your message with the world.
PR Newswire is the industry’s largest and most trusted distribution network of media outlets, websites and social media channels. We have global reach, but local expertise, and you’ll always know how your earned media strategy is performing. Contact us today to see how we can help you maximize the impact of your earned media.
FAQs About Earned Media
What are the advantages and disadvantages of earned media?
The biggest advantages of earned media are credibility and cost-effectiveness. Audiences trust earned media because it comes from third parties, and it’s cost-effective because you don’t pay for it directly. However, you do lose some control over the narrative, which can be a disadvantage.
How does earned media impact SEO?
Search engines see things like earned media mentions, backlinks and social signals when scanning the web for information. Positive reviews, media coverage and influencer mentions provide valuable backlinks that signal your brand’s authority and relevance, potentially boosting your visibility and helping you rank in search results.
Can small businesses leverage earned media effectively?
Yes, earned media is an effective way small businesses can increase brand visibility, credibility, and engagement without a large advertising budget. Small businesses can network to build relationships with journalists, influencers and potential brand advocates. They can also encourage customers to create and share positive user-generated content (UGC) and reviews.
Ready to take your story or campaign to new heights? Let PR Newswire help you achieve unmatched visibility and reach.