Everything You Need to Know About Earned Media

What is Earned Media?

Earned Media is publicly gained content that is written about you or your brand without paid promotion or advertising. It can also be seen as word-of-mouth marketing or free advertising. Earned Media is comprised of coverage that comes from a variety of sources and mediums. A few of those include mentions across broadcast channels, online newspapers and magazines, blogs, social media sites and more.

Also, earned media is among the most trusted types of media. While you can influence others to write something good about your brand, they still have to make the final decision on whether or not they’re going to share their experience with your brand or mention it in a news story. Therefore if someone makes a positive media mention, it provides opportunities to show the marketplace that your product or service carries weight. In fact, Crazy Egg has reported that 25-40% of all traffic and lead generation comes from earned media.

Earned Media Examples

As previously mentioned, earned media comes in different forms. Either way, it is important to take advantage of these media opportunities. Good or bad, every mention is an opportunity to shape your brand’s reputation.

• A local reporter mentions your brand on live news. 

          Take control of your organization by tracking and editing your TV earned media.

• Radio hosts positively talk about your organization on air.

         Monitor your radio coverage and share your positive mentions with your audience. 

• A competitor negatively mentions your brand on their Twitter account.

         Quickly jump on negative social media mentions by receiving real-time alerts of each mention you want to track.

• An online magazine editor published an excellent product review about your brand’s services.

         Instantly reply and share positive online news mentions by tracking your brand’s keywords.

Not only should you track your brand’s name, but you should be able to track any saved search including additional keywords and phrases related to your industry and organization.

Why Your Brand Needs Earned Media Monitoring

The expansion of different media types opens the door for more people to write about your brand. The need for real-time coverage and alerts is at an all time high because communication can move so quickly throughout the internet, on social media or on 24/7/365 broadcast channels. Plus, it’s important to share earned media with your organization’s team so that they’re on top of your brand’s reputation too. Therefore, brands should always have the ability to create and share reports with you and your colleagues.

Always know who’s talking about your brand with real-time media monitoring. Take advantage of positive mentions, and don’t miss out on opportunities to engage with others and form partnerships. And of course, track negative mentions to instantly address and extinguish issues before they escalate.