Earned media is a powerful way to get your brand in front of potential customers, but it can be challenging to secure coverage.
What Is Earned Media?
Earned media refers to any type of media exposure that is gained through non-paid efforts such as media coverage, social media shares, mentions, reviews, or word-of-mouth referrals. It is also known as “free media” or “organic media” as it is earned through the quality and relevance of the content or message rather than by paying for it.
One of the primary benefits of earned media is that it carries a higher level of credibility and trust with audiences than paid media. This is because earned media is viewed as a third-party endorsement, as it is typically generated by independent sources such as journalists, industry influencers, or satisfied customers. Additionally, earned media can help to increase brand awareness, improve reputation, and drive traffic and sales to a business or organization.
Another advantage of earned media is that it can be more cost-effective than paid media, as it doesn’t require a direct monetary investment. However, it does require an investment of time, effort, and resources to create newsworthy and shareable content, build relationships with journalists and influencers, and monitor and respond to media coverage and social media engagement.
Fortunately, there are a variety of strategies you can use to increase your chances of success. Here are some tips from experts in the field.
Use Query-Based Pitching
Megan Bennett, CEO and President of Light Years Ahead, recommends sending a query to the media to find out if they are working on anything in the category that you represent. If they respond, pitch the features and benefits of your product, making sure to include compelling visuals of your brand to hook them in. Then follow up continuously until you get covered in an editorial round-up.
Try Newsjacking
Jaci Burns, Chief Marketing Officer at Market Expertise, suggests newsjacking, which is the art of using a news story to demonstrate your expertise and promote your own brand or business. Burns advises that you must keep abreast of news and current affairs and when an opportunity presents itself, you must be willing and able to respond with something original that provides a unique perspective.
Create Shareable Content
Rafael Veloz, Founder of Share It Studio, believes that content is everything. He suggests creating informative, engaging, and visually appealing content that your audience will find valuable, such as educational videos, social media posts, and blog posts.
Focus on Dual Purposes
Samantha Flynn, Owner/Chief Strategy Officer at Junipr Public Relations, believes that a story must provide value to the reporter’s audience, in addition to sharing the client’s news. She suggests digging deeper to find a richer story that strikes a delicate balance between value and promotion. Flynn recommends adding an interesting angle or pain point to your product release information, so people have a reason to care beyond the standard product info.
Think in Headlines
Flynn also suggests focusing your pitch on a catchy headline that clearly sums up the newsworthiness of your story. For example, she worked on a program for World of Beer in which the first pitch with a standard headline returned minimal results. However, when they re-pitched with a headline of “Get paid 12 thousand dollars to drink beer,” they generated 2 billion earned media impressions.
Do Your Research
To dial in your outreach list, Flynn suggests researching your client’s competitors to see where they have been placed and who is writing about them or similar topics. This approach can yield 20 solid pitches based on targeted research, which is much better than sending 200 generic emails to “Lifestyle” writers.
Earning Media Coverage
Earning media coverage is not easy, but by following these strategies you can increase your chances of success. Whether you’re sending query-based pitches, newsjacking, creating shareable content, focusing on dual purposes, thinking in headlines, doing your research, or being a person, there are many ways to get earned media coverage for your brand or business.
Looking for More Tips on Earned Media?
Read: Earning Free Publicity (Earned Media) for Your Business — More Tips from PR Pros