What Is Earned Media? Benefits, Examples & How to Generate It

What is Earned Media

Earned media is publicity you don't pay for directly. Simple as that.

When a journalist writes about your company, a customer leaves a glowing review, or someone shares your content on social media, that's earned media at work.

You've "earned" the coverage through your actions, products, or services—not because you bought an ad space.

Unlike paid media, which involves advertising costs, or owned media, which lives on your own website and channels, earned media comes from others choosing to highlight your brand.

It often carries more credibility, since it’s seen as an independent endorsement rather than a message you control.

To better understand where earned media fits into the bigger picture, it helps to look at how it compares to paid, owned, and shared media.

Key Differences: Earned vs. Paid vs. Shared vs. Owned Media

The PESO (Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned) model helps categorize how media types work together—and what trade-offs come with each.

Paid Media: You pay for guaranteed exposure—think Google Ads, social media ads, or sponsored posts. You control the message, timing, and placement, but it’s clearly promotional and comes with ongoing costs.

Owned Media: These are channels you fully control: your website, blog, email list, and social accounts. You decide what to say and when, but you’re limited to your existing audience unless you promote further.

Shared Media primarily involves social media platforms where content is distributed and amplified through user sharing, often overlapping significantly with earned media when content goes viral organically.

Earned Media: This is exposure gained through others—journalists, influencers, customers—talking about you without being paid. It’s harder to control and can’t be guaranteed, but it builds unmatched credibility and trust because it comes from third parties.

Each type serves different purposes, with earned media excelling at building credibility and trust while complementing paid and owned efforts.

Types of Earned Media

Now that you understand the differences, let’s look at real-world earned media examples and where they typically appear.

Word-of-Mouth Referrals

The oldest form of earned media still packs a punch. Customer referrals, recommendations from friends, and casual conversations about your brand all count.

Dropbox famously grew from 100,000 to 4 million users in 15 months largely through word-of-mouth and their referral program.

Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Reviews on Google, Yelp, Amazon, or industry-specific platforms. These carry serious weight because they come from real customers sharing genuine experiences.

A study by BrightLocal found that 76% of consumers “regularly” read online reviews for local businesses, making review platforms a goldmine for earned media.

Influencer Mentions (Organic)

When influencers talk about your brand without being paid to do so. This differs from sponsored content – we're talking about genuine recommendations based on their experience with your product.

Beauty influencer Jooshica sharing beauty products that she genuinely uses creates more authentic earned media than any paid partnership could.

Social Media Mentions and Shares

This includes users organically sharing your content, tagging your brand, or creating their own posts about your products.

Remember when everyone was posting photos of Starbucks’ holiday cups? That buzz generated millions in earned media value.

Retweets, Instagram Story mentions, LinkedIn shares, and TikTok videos featuring your brand all fall into this category—all created without your direct involvement.

Media Coverage and Press Mentions

These include traditional and online publications writing about your brand, products, or industry expertise. 

When TechCrunch covered Slack's rapid growth in 2016, that wasn't a paid placement – it was earned through the company's impressive user adoption rates.

Local newspapers featuring your business, industry magazines quoting your CEO, or podcasts inviting your team as guests all fall into this category.

Backlinks from Other Websites

When other sites link to your content naturally, search engines take notice. These organic links signal that your content provides value worth sharing.

High-quality backlinks from reputable sites can significantly boost your search rankings while driving referral traffic.

Awards and Recognition

Industry awards, certifications, and recognition from reputable organizations create earned media opportunities through press coverage and credibility enhancement.

Patagonia consistently wins environmental and workplace awards. Each recognition generates press coverage and strengthens their brand as a responsible company that actually walks the talk.

Benefits and Value of Earned Media

You’ve seen the types—now here’s why earned media is worth investing time and effort into.

Enhanced Credibility and Trust

Third-party endorsements carry more weight than self-promotion. When a customer reviews your product or a journalist covers your story, audiences trust it more than your own marketing messages.

Nielsen research shows that 88% of people trust recommendations from the people they know more than any other channel.

Cost-Effective Reach

While not entirely "free" in terms of effort, earned media typically delivers significant exposure without direct advertising costs.

A single media mention or viral social post can generate awareness equivalent to expensive paid campaigns, making it an efficient use of marketing resources.

Just look at Labubu, the quirky collectible that exploded in popularity after being spotted with global icons like BLACKPINK’s Lisa, sparking massive social media attention and media coverage.

That wave of visibility came not from paid promotion, but from organic interest—making it a powerful case of how earned media can drive reach far beyond its cost.

Improved SEO Performance

Earned media often includes backlinks and mentions that signal authority to search engines. Press coverage, guest posts, and organic social shares all contribute to better search rankings.

Quality backlinks from earned media can be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars if you were to pay for equivalent SEO value.

Extended Audience Reach

Earned media taps into other people's audiences. When someone shares your content or mentions your brand, you instantly access their followers and readers.

This exponential reach potential makes earned media incredibly powerful for brand awareness.

Long-Term Brand Building

Unlike paid ads that disappear when you stop paying, earned media can have lasting effects. A positive review stays online, a news article remains in search results, and social shares live on timelines.

These create compound benefits over time, building your brand's digital footprint organically.

How to Generate Earned Media

Of course, earned media doesn’t just happen. Here’s how to start earning it strategically.

Create Compelling, Shareable Content

Developing content that provides genuine value encourages natural sharing and mentions. This includes original research, insightful industry analysis, helpful tutorials, or emotionally resonant content.

For example, Buffer took a bold step in 2013 by publishing every employee’s salary online—spurring real-time public scrutiny and media attention.

Fast Company described the move in “The Counterintuitive Science Of Why Transparent Pay Works”, highlighting how this transparency built trust and company culture—coverage earned entirely on the strength of the idea, without paid promotion.

Develop Thought Leadership

Position key team members as industry experts through speaking engagements, guest posting on industry blogs, and commenting in media stories.

For example, SaaS founder Guillaume Moubeche (lemlist) often shares behind-the-scenes lessons from bootstrapping his business—leading to frequent media coverage, podcast invites, and guest post features.

Thought leaders naturally earn more media mentions and opportunities for coverage.

Build Relationships with Media and Influencers

Earned media often comes from relationships, not cold pitches.

Follow journalists who cover your industry, engage with their content, and provide helpful information even when you're not pitching.

Leverage Current Events and Trends

Connect your expertise to trending topics in thoughtful ways. This increases the likelihood that your insights will be included in news coverage or shared on social media.

Monitor industry conversations, news stories, and timely shifts—and be ready to contribute commentary, original data, or a unique angle when relevant topics break.

For example, SurgeGraph published a live case study tracking their journey to reach 100,000 organic visitors while addressing a trending SEO concern known as “The Great Decoupling.”

By aligning their content with a topic already generating buzz in the SEO community, they positioned themselves to earn attention organically from social media, newsletters, and industry watchers.

Engage Authentically on Social Media

Participate in conversations, respond to mentions, and share valuable content consistently. Authentic engagement increases the chances that others will share your content or mention your brand.

Avoid the hard sell. Instead, aim to educate, entertain, or support—building trust that naturally leads to mentions.

Deliver Exceptional Customer Experience

Happy customers become your best advocates. Focus on product quality, customer service, and creating moments that surprise and delight.

Zappos built an empire partly on exceptional customer service stories that customers couldn't help but share.

Once you start earning media attention, it’s important to track what’s working—and how it impacts your brand and bottom line.

Measuring Earned Media Effectiveness

Tracking earned media requires different metrics than paid campaigns. Here's what to monitor:

Media Mentions and Share of Voice

Track how often your brand gets mentioned across different channels compared to competitors. Tools like Google Alerts, Mention, or Brandwatch can help monitor this.

Share of voice shows your brand's presence in industry conversations relative to competitors.

Reach and Impressions

Calculate the potential audience size for each piece of earned media. A mention in a major publication might reach hundreds of thousands—or even millions—of people.

While not everyone sees every mention, reach gives you the upper bound of potential exposure and helps benchmark visibility.

For example, press releases distributed through MarketersMEDIA Newswire can appear in outlets like AP News, Business Insider, Benzinga, and Yahoo News, contributing to a potential network reach of 5.9 billion.

With guaranteed pickup across 550+ media outlets in 160 countries, this kind of broad distribution provides a measurable way to evaluate earned media impact.

Website Traffic and Referrals

Monitor traffic spikes that correlate with earned media coverage. Google Analytics can show which sites send traffic your way and how that traffic behaves.

Quality earned media often drives engaged traffic that converts better than other sources.

Social Media Engagement

Track mentions, shares, comments, and hashtag usage related to your brand. High engagement rates often indicate that earned media resonates with audiences.

Look for increases in followers and engagement after major earned media wins.

Sentiment Analysis

Monitor whether mentions are positive, negative, or neutral. The tone of earned media coverage matters as much as the volume.

Tools like Hootsuite Insights or Sprout Social can help track sentiment across different channels.

SEO Impact

Watch for improvements in search rankings, increases in organic traffic, and new backlinks following earned media campaigns.

These SEO benefits often provide long-term value that extends well beyond the initial coverage.

Lead Generation and Sales Impact

Track how earned media translates into business results. Look for increases in inquiries, demo requests, or sales that correlate with major earned media wins.

Attribution can be tricky, but patterns often emerge when you track consistently.

Measuring outcomes is essential—but earned media becomes even more powerful when it's part of a bigger strategy.

Building Your Complete Media Strategy

Earned media works best when integrated with paid and owned media efforts. Each type strengthens the others.

Use paid media to amplify earned wins—boost press coverage on social platforms, or run ads that highlight third-party mentions.

Your owned media channels can showcase earned media wins. Feature customer testimonials on your website, share press coverage in newsletters, and highlight positive reviews on product pages.

The most successful brands treat these three media types as complementary forces rather than separate tactics. They create owned content that's worth earning coverage, use paid promotion to amplify earned wins, and let earned credibility enhance their owned and paid efforts.

This integrated approach creates a flywheel effect—where each media type amplifies the others, fueling sustained growth, visibility, and brand recognition.

Want your brand mentioned on sites that rank in Google News, appear in AI search engines, and drive referral traffic?

MarketersMEDIA Newswire helps brands get featured in real media—with built-in reach, credibility, and SEO value. Feel free reach out to us to learn more.