The “lack of control” with earned media is a pro, not a con.
Since brands can’t control the message, it’s seen as more trustworthy by consumers. Third-party reviewers can offer their unbiased opinion about a product, and people can share their honest thoughts about a company or product on social media.
As finance writer Morgan Housel puts it:
The information age promotes a lot of good behavior. But more powerful is its ability to reveal bad, inefficient behavior. What used to be policed by a handful of reporters and review publications is now done by billions of everyday people on the prowl for anything that doesn’t look right.
In other words, if real people are singing your praises, and it’s clear that you didn’t pay or incentivize them to do so, that helps your brand stand out in the market. This is especially true for direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands.
Think about it. Parachute isn’t the only mattress company selling online today. Purple, Casper, Leesa—the list goes on and on. Most consumers probably can’t tell these companies apart, even if they see their ads.
Earned media is the way to be remarkable in front of potential customers.
What are some examples of earned media?
Here are some examples of how earned media looks like in the wild.
The workload like this whatsapp number list allows both the vendor and the affiliate to focus on. Clicks are the number of clicks coming to your website’s URL from organic search results.
TV segment
Newspaper/magazine feature
Niche/trade publications
Twitter mentions
Reddit discussions
Review sites
Influencers
Search engines
TV segment
This is the most traditional form of earned media. Appear in a TV program and reach millions of viewers in their living room.
Ahrefs has yet to appear in a TV show, but authors like Eckhart Tolle have sold millions of books thanks to Oprah’s recommendation.
Newspaper/magazine feature
Last year, Bloomberg featured our data on the most popular Google searches in a Businessweek article. We didn’t pay for this. Our ongoing promotional efforts led the author to find our content, and he decided to include it in an article.