If you aren’t tracking earned media KPIs already, then it’s about time to start. Earned media is free publicity, or exposure generated by promotional efforts other than paid advertising. It is any form of media (news article, social post or share, review) that mentions a brand and tells people what customers are saying about it. Earned media is content that emerges organically from the quality and relevance of the material, as well as your brand reputation and relationship with stakeholders. There are multiple important reasons to be tracking earned media KPIs:
- Earned media is more trusted by consumers than paid advertising.
- Positive coverage in industry publications, mentions by influencers or thought leaders, and social media shares can expose the brand to a wider audience and attract potential customers.
- By securing earned media placements in relevant industry publications or by being quoted as an expert in news articles, B2B marketers can establish themselves as thought leaders and authorities in their respective fields.
- Earned media can contribute to lead generation and conversion efforts for B2B marketers.
- While earned media requires effort and resources to cultivate relationships with journalists, influencers, and other stakeholders, it can be a cost-effective way to amplify the brand’s message and reach a targeted audience.
- Earned media mentions and backlinks from reputable websites can improve a brand’s search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.
Overall, earned media KPIs play a crucial role in B2B marketing strategies by helping brands measure their credibility, visibility, and authority within their industry, ultimately driving lead generation, conversions, and long-term business growth.
10 Earned Media KPIs for Marketers
While free publicity and exposure sounds great, how do marketers know if their earned media efforts are paying off? The best way to ensure your approach is having a measurable impact on your marketing effectiveness is by focusing on these 10 key performance indicators (KPIs):
1. Media Mentions
There are a ton of media monitoring tools out there that can keep tabs on mentions of your brand, product, or important keywords across various channels like news sites, social media, blogs, and forums. These tools utilize algorithms to sift through and analyze content in real-time, giving you reports on where and how your brand is being talked about.
Marketers can take advantage of Google Alerts to keep an eye on the web for certain keywords or phrases. They can create alerts for their brand name, product names, industry-related terms, or any other important keywords, and Google will send them email notifications whenever new content featuring those keywords goes live online.
2. Share of Voice (SOV)
Share of Voice is all about figuring out what percentage of the total media buzz in your industry is about your brand versus your competitors. It shows how visible and reputable your brand is compared to others. If your share of voice is high, it means your brand is more noticeable and influential in the market. After you determine your SOV, the next move is to keep an eye on it over time to spot any trends or shifts in your market standing. This info can help you assess how well your marketing is working and tweak your strategies as needed.
3. Reach and Impressions
To keep tabs on earned media mentions across social media, marketers can take advantage of the analytics tools that come with each platform, like Facebook Insights, X/Twitter Analytics, and LinkedIn Analytics. These tools usually show how many people have seen your posts (reach) and how many times they’ve been shown (impressions).
If those mentions come with backlinks to your site, you can check out Google Analytics to see how much traffic they’re driving. Just look at the referral traffic sources report to find out how many visitors are landing on your site from those earned media mentions and see what they’re up to while they’re there.
4. Sentiment Analysis
This is all about figuring out how people feel about your brand based on what they say in the media. If the sentiment is positive, it shows that your brand is well-liked and has a good reputation. On the flip side, negative sentiment might mean you need to work on managing your brand’s image.
There are plenty of sentiment analysis tools out there that leverage natural language processing (NLP) to automatically gauge the feelings expressed in written content, like news stories, social media updates, and customer reviews. These tools categorize the content as positive, negative, or neutral by analyzing the words and context used.
5. Engagement Metrics
Monitoring your engagement metrics can be a good way to evaluate the level of audience interaction with your earned media content, including likes, shares, comments, and mentions. Higher engagement indicates increased brand awareness and audience interest.
Just as with Reach and Impression metrics, marketers can use the built-in analytics tools provided by each platform to track these metrics. By tagging the URLs shared in earned media content with UTM tracking parameters, marketers can attribute website visits, conversions, and other engagement actions back to specific mentions or sources.
6. Inbound Links
How many backlinks are you racking up? Are they coming from reputable sites? Keeping an eye on both the quantity and quality of backlinks to your website or content from outside sources is a great metric to track. High-quality inbound links from trustworthy websites can boost your site’s search engine ranking and enhance its credibility.
7. Web Traffic
On a similar note, looking at the amount of referral traffic coming from earned media channels to your site can give you insights into how well your earned media is engaging the audience and driving conversions.
8. Brand Awareness and Recall
Think about running surveys to see how brand awareness and recall have shifted among your target audience after they’ve been exposed to your earned media. If you notice an uptick in awareness and recall, that’s a sign your messaging and brand visibility are hitting the mark.
Brand lift studies can also be useful for marketers to gauge how earned media affects brand awareness and recall. By comparing key brand metrics (like awareness, favorability, and purchase intent) between those who have seen your content and those who haven’t, you can assess the extra lift from earned media mentions.
9. Influencer Impact
It’s also a good idea to evaluate the influence and effect of influencers or key opinion leaders (KOLs) who talk about or support your brand in their content. Look at metrics like follower engagement, reach, and conversion rates. Keeping track of this over time can help you see if your earned media strategies are making a difference.
10. Conversion and Sales
Finally, marketers should monitor how earned media directly impacts sales and conversions. This could involve tracking things like coupon redemptions, online purchases, or any other actions consumers take after interacting with your earned media content.
Boost Marketing Performance by Tracking These Earned Media KPIs
By tracking these earned media KPIs, marketers can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of their campaigns, identify areas for improvement, and demonstrate the impact of their efforts on overall business objectives.
If you’re looking to boost the performance of your earned media initiatives, reach out today. The crew at VSSL has helped many businesses supercharge their earned media performance and we’re ready to help. Get in touch with us today!