4 Ways to Amplify Your Earned Media Coverage

By serving as a credible, third-party endorsement, earned media is a powerful tool that can help your organization achieve specific business goals—from building greater brand awareness and thought leadership, to growing the online presence of your brand and attracting more leads.

Although there’s no denying the power behind third-party validation from the media, it’s no longer enough to simply land media placements for your business. With today’s constantly evolving digital landscape, it’s important to develop a media relations strategy that incorporates ways to maximize the reach of that publicity so it doesn’t fizzle out after only a day or two.

Fortunately, there are a wide variety of ways that your business can extend the shelf life and value of your earned media placements—the most common being through your website, repurposed content, social media and email marketing.

Leverage these four key tactics to help amplify your brand’s earned media coverage:

1. Showcase Earned Media on Your Website

Serving as the central “hub” of information, your website is often the very first place that current and prospective customers will go to learn more about your organization. This makes it the perfect place to start in order to maximize the exposure of your publicity.

A best practice is to create a dedicated space on your website where any media placements can live—whether that means adding a specific press page, incorporating earned media into your blog or even developing a digital newsroom for your brand.

Regardless of the format, each earned media placement should be prominently displayed on your website—including the story headline, an image, a brief summary and a link that directs back to the original story. Not only will this help promote media coverage to your target audience, but it will also boost your website’s SEO and increase traffic to your site.

2. Find Ways to Repurpose Your Media Coverage

Another tactic for amplifying your earned media is to find different ways that it can be repurposed into fresh, compelling content. In addition to allowing your media placements to be enjoyed and shared for an extended period of time, this approach also provides your brand with a consistent stream of new content.

For instance, media placements that discuss industry trends, timely issues and evergreen topics can be repurposed into a variety of valuable content forms—from blog posts and infographics, to whitepapers, video and case studies. Be sure to drive specific action by including a compelling call-to-action at the end of each content piece, such as purchasing a product, attending a webinar or simply visiting your website to learn more.

Creating a regular cadence of fresh content can help get your organization’s message out in front of a bigger audience and, in turn, serve as a powerful media magnet—ultimately attracting even more media interest for your brand over the long run.

3. Share Your Story Across Social Media

When credible third parties such as the media or other influencers publish stories about your brand, it’s a great opportunity to share that news on social media by creating pithy, shareable posts that prompt your followers to check out the media coverage.

For social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, your organization should share links to the online articles with a brief, engaging description of the placement. On the other hand, your posts on Instagram should feature visually appealing images, with a brief caption that directs users to the article link in your profile bio.

In addition, a great way to cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with the media is to tag the reporter who originally published the article. These types of media shout-outs are always appreciated—and often even reciprocated!

4. Use Email Marketing to Promote Earned Media

Email marketing also offers a valuable opportunity to engage potential customers and stakeholders who have already expressed an interest in your brand. This tactic allows your organization to showcase earned media to your email list by incorporating media placements into an existing e-newsletter or by promoting them through the occasional email blast that features your latest company news.

By leveraging email marketing as a key component of your overall media relations strategy, your organization will not only get media placements in front of loyal email subscribers—but they may even spread the word by forwarding the coverage to their own personal contacts or sharing it on social media.