3 Reasons Why Earned Media Should Be a Primary Player in Your Marketing Strategy
Are you using earned media? If so, is it a big player in your marketing strategy or are you like many others and it only plays a small role? Well, we have three compelling reasons that may have you spending more energy and attention on your earned media marketing strategy.
- When it comes to brand content, earned media is the most trusted and credible. Your audience believes and trusts the opinions and information shared by third parties. They trust it significantly more than they trust you. You can say, “hey, we’re the best.” But if Joe Smith says, “hey, this company is the best” you’re going to get a much stronger reaction online. This, in turn, builds your brand; it increases awareness, boosts traffic, and ultimately it increases sales.
In fact, up to 92% of consumers trust word-of-mouth recommendations, but only 24% trust online ads. (Source: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2009/global-advertising-consumers-trust-real-friends-and-virtual-strangers-the-most.html)
- Unprecedented reach. With social media being a key player in earned media, you have the potential to have your company’s name put in front of thousands, if not millions. According to Forrester Research, when we’re talking about other companies and products, people in the U.S. generate more than 500 billion online impressions on each other. When your brand advocates talk about you favorably online, it means you can now reach significantly more people with content they trust. Social media has really changed the impact of earned media.
- Let’s talk money. With earned media, it has a high return on investment because you don’t pay directly for the content. You’re investing in building a relationship with your customers and brand advocates. The content is created by them. And it has a significantly higher conversion rate than traditional content marketing, and certainly better than paid media.
Finally, it’s fair to say that earned media is sustainable. That is to say, a positive review posted by a customer this year will have the same impact whether it’s read right away or five years from now. Earned media lasts.
The one potential downside to earned media, at least in the past, was that it wasn’t particularly easy to measure. However, due to the increasing popularity and usage, there are now numerous tools that you can use to measure everything from buzz to open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
If earned media isn’t a major part of your marketing strategy you may be missing out on a wealth of opportunity. Begin to take measures to scale and grow your earned media. Build your brand, strengthen your relationships with your customers, and start gathering positive media from your customers.
Call us today to speak to one of our PR specialists: 1-800-713-7278
