4 Common Earned Media Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Earned media is the new, and more powerful version, of word-of-mouth marketing. It happens when a third party mentions your business online. Now that mention can be anything from a tweet with your brand name in the tweet or a link. It can also be sharing your content on Facebook, or even posting a picture with your products on Instagram. Earned media is powerful because consumers tend to trust recommendations and information from their peers. It has shown to have better results than traditional advertising. And while many companies know the benefits of earned media, they’re making mistakes with their strategy and tactics. Let’s explore the most common mistakes and discuss how to remedy them.
Ignoring Earned Media
Okay, so the first, and potentially the biggest, mistake you can make as a company is to ignore earned media. Sure, you’re probably getting earned media, but maybe it’s not a formal element of your marketing strategy or marketing plan. This is a mistake. When you put in place goals, objectives, and measurable outcomes, you can then plan and assess your results. You can better leverage this tactic when you integrate it into your overall marketing strategy.
Not Promoting Your Content
You have exceptional content, right? You have content that builds your brand, drives traffic, boost authority and credibility. This is exactly what you want and need for earned media. However, if you’re not promoting your content then you’re not going to have the earned media results that you could have. You’re missing out on opportunities. When you publish something online, promote the heck out of it. You have to let people know about your amazing content. Publish a blog post? Share the post on Facebook, link to it in your email newsletter, and tweet an interesting fact or quote with a link to the post.
Not Responding in A Timely Manner to Earned Media
When someone talks about you online, respond immediately. In real time is best, but at least respond on the same day. This is relatively easy to set up. You can create alerts that notify you of when someone mentions you online. Hire a VA or a media assistant to respond to shares, comments, posts and so on. Engage, thank the person or website that talked about your business, and build your community.
Not Promoting Earned Media
If you receive positive mentions, reviews, or other earned media, it pays to promote it. For example, if someone shares a positive review of your company, you might share it on Twitter or in your email newsletter. Getting earned media is a huge opportunity; leverage it by sharing and promoting it on your various marketing channels.
Not Making It Easy for Readers
Finally, make sure that promoting you is as easy as possible. For example, you might include tweets right in the content of your posts. You can also invite people to share earned media by holding a photo contest or making it fun to talk about your company online. Get creative and look at your company’s information from your reader’s perspective. What can you do to make earned media as easy as possible?
Earned media as part of your marketing strategy is a must in this day and age. It’s competitive out there, and getting positive online word of mouth can be a game changer. Start creating a solid earned media marketing strategy today.
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