Earned Media

Earned media is called organic media or “word of mouth,” defined as promoting your brand through organic reach. You can consider this one of the most effective content marketing strategies, but it takes work to work with it. There are three types of media: Earned, Paid, and owned media. You pay for paid media to promote your business on different platforms; owned media is content you have created and nurtured.

Now earned media is different from both because it is not paid or in your control. Examples are Instagram mention when they visit your business place, reshare your post or blog, and reviews. We’d like to understand earned media better and how it can help your brand in the future.

Why is Earned Media Important for Brands?

Since we know that earned media is great exposure that is free of cost, this includes social media mentions, reviews, customer recommendations, influencers, and more. Apart from this, earned media has many benefits for brands. Let us look at some of them:

Exposure and Reach: Earned media can help you reach wider audiences than your existing customer base: viral social media posts, mentions by popular influencers, and coverage in influential media outlets. All these can help your brand increase its visibility rapidly.

Credibility and Trust: Earned media has the power that helps you get trust and credibility from customers when compared to paid promotions. When you hear about a brand from another brand, then it will make you trust it more. Independent resources can help you improve your brand visibility through positive reviews and coverage.

Target Audience: Earned media will help you reach a more relevant audience to your business. For instance, if a beauty influencer talks about a skincare product, the message will likely get individuals interested in skincare. This level of precision might take more work to achieve through traditional advertising.

Long-Term Effects: Compared to paid promotions, earned media has long-term impacts. A positive review of a post and influencers’ post commendations can have long-lasting influencing effects on people’s outlooks.

SEO Benefits:  It is in the form of online coverage, backlinks, and social media mentions can positively impact a brand’s search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Search engines often consider backlinks from reputable sources as a signal of a brand’s credibility and relevance.

Different Tips for Successful Earned Media

For a successful earned media, you need to plan and execute carefully. To help you with this, we have mentioned some of the tips that can help you:

Identify your Target Audience and Goals:

You should be clear about your target audience. Who is your ideal audience, and where can you find them? Online or offline? This will be your initial step.

Set specific goals for your strategy. Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, generate leads, or do something else? Defining clear goals will help guide your efforts.

Build Good Relationships for Earned Media:

Suppose you cultivate good relations with bloggers, influencers, journalists, and those relevant to your niche. Personal connections can help your brand get featured or mentioned.

Apart from this, it helps you build good relationships with your customers. To do this, reply to their messages or comments, encourage organic sharing, and more to help you connect with them.

Leverage User-Generated Content and Testimonials:

You can encourage the clients to share their experiences with your business or brand. User-generated content (UGC) and testimonials authenticate your brand’s story.
Showcase UGC on your social media platforms, website, and other marketing materials. This builds trust and incentivizes others to engage with your brand.

Monitor and Engage:

You can closely watch mentions of your brand across social media, forums, news outlets, and other relevant platforms. Use social listening tools to track these mentions.
Respond promptly to positive and negative mentions. Engage with users, express gratitude for positive feedback, and address concerns professionally. This shows that you value customer opinions.

Identify Trending Topics and Newsjacking:

Stay updated on industry trends and news. Consider how your brand can contribute a unique perspective or provide solutions when a relevant news story breaks.

This technique, known as newsjacking, can position your brand as a thought leader and increase the likelihood of media outlets picking up your insights.

Conclusion

Remember, earned media is a long-term strategy that requires patience and constant effort. Building relationships and credibility takes time. Following these tips and adjusting your plan based on feedback and outcomes can create a successful earned media approach that enhances your brand’s reputation and reach.

When a positive impact is made on your business or brand in front of people through earned media, then this can help you during the crisis that can occur in the future. When you build a good reputation and have a community will receive empathy during the challenging time.