Earned media

Earned media is the media attention you do not pay for but earn because people voluntarily talk about your brand, share your content, recommend your products or services, or mention you in news coverage, reviews or online discussions.

Customers, journalists, creators and other third parties become the media in this case.

The strength of earned media lies in its credibility. Because the message comes from independent sources rather than the brand itself, it often has a strong influence on consumers during the buying process.

Examples of earned media include positive customer reviews, editorial news coverage, social media shares, podcast mentions, blog articles, online discussions, and content that goes viral. Earned media is often the result of a successful combination of owned and paid media.

A disadvantage of earned media is that you have little direct control over it. It can be both positive and negative, is difficult to predict, cannot be scaled as easily as paid media, and its impact can be challenging to measure accurately.