Brands usually have a digital ecosystem made up of their own assets: the Own Media, such as the web, blog or social networks, and the external assets to the brand in which they have a presence, such as a digital newspaper. Having control over the presence of the brand in these external assets or third parties is what is known as “Earned Media”, as these become part of the corporate marketing strategy. This channel is completely free, that is, all advertising is automatically generated thanks to the “mouth – ear”, so it is very important to know how to “win” the attention of users with attractive content to be shared.
What media can be part of Earned Media?
In fact, any digital asset on which the brand can exercise control can be considered “Earned Media”: blogs, newspapers and digital magazines with some comment or reference to your brand, online forums and directories, social networks (mentions, comments, likes, retweets, shares …) etc. In short, the Earned Media could be said to be the fruit of the work done in the Owned Media and Paid Media; do not depend on the brand itself but are part of the brand’s objectives, being the “voice” of users’ experience with the brand.
How do you earn Earned Media?
To achieve a controlled presence in digital external assets to the brand, it is necessary to carry out an Outreach strategy. To do this we have to start by analyzing the presence of the brand and the competitors in the digital ecosystem (Benchmarketing). This will identify the means in which the brand has presence and control, the means in which the brand has presence but not control (they are not yet Earned Media) and the means in which there is no presence or control, but It is in their interest to have them. Next, you will have to define the objectives, KPIs, resources, timings and actions.
Earned Media Advantages
Having an organic presence in digital external assets to the brand has many benefits, including the following:
- Gives credibility to the brand.
- It helps the organic positioning.
- Saturate in the SERP results.
- Extends the visibility of the brand.
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