What Is Earned Media?

We can divide media and advertising types into three. Paid media, owned media, and, of course, earned media. You can think of these three as a whole as they are crucial elements contributing to your digital marketing strategy. Earned media is simply a type that emerges with one-to-one interaction of people. Owned media is your blogs, websites, social media channels, etc. Paid media is the marketing strategy that you pay for. In this article, we’ll focus on earned media and also the interaction between the other types of media. Let’s start!

What Is Earned Media and What It Does

Earned media (EM) is advertising a product, a site, or a brand by people’s word of mouth so it may also be called publicity. This type of media is not the type you can buy, you need to make an effort at first to achieve that. People should embrace a product with their free will, talk about it, and tell each other. Today, this mostly happens through social media. It has become essential to talk about a product on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. One can think of it as a kind of channel. So, it is a channel for you to advertise a product, without paying for anything.

EM often occurs with content posts and posts on popular topics. When people start to talk about what’s popular, you receive more engagement, and as a result, more audience. After having such an audience, it is much easier and more rational to advertise and then market products. Because people feel free in their choices, it’s not like an ad is being imposed on them so they feel like they’ve chosen that product. In short, EM is not a paid advertising tool. It is a natural and spontaneous, organic advertising tool.

Earned Media vs Paid Media

Now we know what EM is. So what about paid media? And what are the differences between the two? Paid media is simply the media you earn by paying for. Paid media and EM work in connection with each other. Business and service owners manage the audience by paying people who have EM. This is paid media. Paid media does not occur on sites or channels where there is no interaction. One of the best ways to market products and services is to use EM. If you wish, you can market your product or service after creating an EM. Or you can advertise on platforms or people who already have such an audience. When audiences see that people they follow are using your product, they become more confident and demanding.

How to Earn the Media

There are different ways to have EM. You can get EM from a Twitter account or gain an audience from an Instagram page. In short, all social media channels are a good way to do this. In addition to these, you can have an audience with the articles you write on a site. However, this may not be as easy as said. Regardless of which platforms you share your content on, you should do it with a certain logic. You must understand what will gain you an audience. We will give you some basic rules.

• If you have a site, you should write SEO-compatible content. Make sure that you have an SEO-friendly website as well.
• The content you make should appeal to a large audience. Here, your content strategy is essential. Not every piece of content makes an audience.
• You should not neglect to write articles about the agenda.
• If you want to own media individually, your content should create an emotion in people.
• If your goal is to reach EM via social media, you should know the trending shares.
• Sometimes you can obtain EM by putting forward an opposing opinion against one opinion. The incoming reactions give you an audience.
• Blog posts are also very useful in this regard.
• You can even earn media by showcasing your skills. These talents can be music, painting, and dance.
• Be extraordinary! If you do things that nobody has done before on social media or the internet, you will efficiently and quickly influence audiences.

Keep in mind that earned media is a very effective form of advertising your product. Recommendations that come from family or friends are what shapes our mind when buying a product. So, create great content, optimize your SEO strategy, be active on social media and receive good customer reviews.

Earned Media Examples

The thing to remember is that all this has to happen naturally. Sometimes a teenager can have EM by posting on Twitter that makes people laugh. Sometimes a kid gains an audience by creating a Vlog on Youtube. The important thing here is the free will of the mass. However, one can manage these audiences through ads. You can find more examples of EM below.

Customer reviews and testimonials on websites

Receiving positive reviews from websites like Google My Business, TripAdvisor or Yelp can help potential customers decide whether they should buy a product or not.

Shares/retweets of your content or any content about your brand or business

Satisfied customers or fans of your products may write about your service for free. They share their experience on social media channels and it spreads quickly with likes, retweets, shares, etc.

Mentions on any social media platforms

The same satisfied customers may reshare your posts, tweets, and other content mentioning you. To achieve that create an interesting content about your products. And as always, be consistent.

Word-of-mouth recommendations that are both in-person and digital

It is simply a happy chat happening between a customer and a potential customer. The better service you provide for your current customers, the more likely it is that they’ll promote your products both in-person and digital.

Blog posts about your business or product

You probably have seen blog posts that share roundup articles, which are lists that inform customers about high-quality products. Getting a place in those lists is considered to be a form of earned media.

Magazine and newspaper articles

Especially for local businesses, magazines and newspaper articles are important. Having your product reviewed there will build trust among other potential customers.

Conclusion on Earned Media

Earned media is a type of media that requires a certain amount of time and effort. It is crucial in terms of advertising when you obtain earned media because you can easily manage it. Today, many companies use earned media for advertising. Now that you know the basics, you might want to put these into practice.