Earned media is the most trusted form of content among consumers. But what is earned media exactly?

Below we explore why it's important and provide ten earned media examples to inspire your eCommerce marketing.

What is Earned Media?

Marketers can split media into three key categories: paid owned and earned.

Paid media includes any content that is paid for such as PPC ads or sponsored articles. Owned media is content that your brand distributes through its own channels like a blog. Earned media on the other hand is content that your brand has no control over. It includes any content relating to your business that you haven't paid for or created yourself.

Earned media can include unsolicited social media mentions online reviews and even retweets of your content. This is a highly influential form of marketing. However it is also the most difficult media type to obtain.

Why is Earned Media Important?

Earned media is used by the biggest eCommerce stores as well as the smallest D2C brands. Here's why:

It's influential

According to the BMV Digital Brand Index US consumers say earned media is most often how they discover products online. In the same survey earned media also came out on top as the biggest driver of action.

30% of consumers said that a positive news article editorial or blog would be most likely to influence their buying decisions while 28% said positive social media posts from friends and family would do the same. In comparison just 12% said online ads shaped their buying decisions.

This highlights just how influential earned media is. And this is further backed by academic research. According to a study published in the Journal of Promotion Management a majority of consumers believe that earned media is the most credible source of information.

It's free

Earned media is also highly cost-effective. That's because most of it is free. While your brand may invest in the likes of PR and the creation of shareable content most earned media happens organically.

In 2020 the Influencer Marketing Hub analysed 2000 online campaigns and found that for every dollar invested in earned media strategies marketers generated $5.78 for their companies. This increased from $5.20 the previous year. (Unfortunately its most recent report doesn't feature this figure.)

This is a clear indication of the value earned media offers.

It's long-lasting

Most forms of earned media will promote your brand for a long time. The likes of articles podcasts reviews and other content remain online indefinitely and are often discoverable through search engines.

This means consumers will continue to be influenced by this content long after it's published. And unlike paid media it won't require ongoing investment to continually drive awareness and conversions for your brand.

That's probably why 38% of B2B marketers plan to make earned media a key area of investment in 2022.

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