Put simply, earned media is coverage of your business, products or events written by a third party and which you have not paid for. In digital marketing, it’s best described as PR which you outreach to the media. When the content is picked-up by a publication and written up for their own site, that’s earned media.
Examples of earned media include:
- Tactical PR, such as newsjacking topical events
- Traditional press releases on company news
- Infographics based on survey data
- Creative asset such as an interactive site.
Why use earned media?
- It’s free. Once you’ve paid your staff or an agency to outreach your content, any coverage you secure from websites is free. This makes it a cost-effective digital strategy and frees up budget for future campaigns.
- It’s scalable. Earned media can be delivered for any budget. From a simple tactical piece, such as issuing quotes to a newswire on a topical issue, to a bigger creative campaign, such as a site build or conducting a survey.
- It’s good SEO. Getting backlinks to your site from trusted publishers and institutions can be worth its weight in gold. Google ranks sites by their DA (Domain Authority) and sites with higher DAs, such as colleges and news sites, can help to improve your own authority.
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