There is immense value in PR, no matter how many “experts” claim PR is dead.
Brands publishing their own content can't easily replicate the velocity at which consumers engage with publisher content. However, it is true that the value of earned media is shifting.
Fortunately, the burgeoning content marketing industry, and the blurring of lines it has created between earned and paid media, has started to help us better understand how to quantify the value of PR. Brand managers, marketers and even PR professionals overseeing paid content campaigns have become very well versed with all the types of new software that can provide real-time measurement of the impact content is having on consumers from their initial engagement with the content to where they go after to what they end up purchasing.
They then start to bring these sophisticated ideas back to their more traditional earned media campaigns.
[FREE GUIDE: Brand journalism and content marketing—what’s the difference?]
To have a seat at the table, the PR industry needs to embrace this shift.
After all, the most basic definition of PR is influencing people through content. Now PR pros can have real-time answers to all sorts of questions and can tweak campaigns while they’re just getting off the ground. Is the content being viewed to the end of the video? Did they share the listicle on social media? Did it lead to a website visit? How did a consumer’s attitude towards a brand change?
None of these need to be mysteries.
New business models
Discussing new business models has often been where the conversation ends with PR agencies. Measuring anything in real-time often flies in the face of setting somewhat arbitrary and often costly monthly retainers.
The timing may be right this time around for them to listen. As the CEO of Edelman says in an article on their advertising campaign promoting Edelman’s expanding integrated creative, paid and consulting expertise, they “have a business model problem.” Namely, too many PR practitioners pitching to too little journalists. PR professionals outnumber journalists 5-to-1 in 2018.
The increased supply of PR peddled stories and lack of demand among a shrinking journalist base is leading agencies like Edelman to become more holistic content strategists and executors, who can quickly integrate with a brand’s internal content team to strategically time, scale and distribute branded content creation. It is also where earned media has an evolving but essential role as a distribution tool.
Unless you are Coca-Cola, your owned and branded content will struggle to attract viewers without promotion. In fact, a recent study by researchers using Ahrefs' SEO tool found that 90 percent of organic content receives no search traffic from Google. Branded content just doesn’t have the built-in reach and engaged audience of tried and true publishers.
Using more traditional PR tactics you can tie your branded content strategy into your PR strategy. However, rather than simply trying to create a trend story that a client can fit into via an email to a journalist, integrated teams are creating brand-driven digital trends with creative assets.
A strong example of this tactic is Intel. Luke Kintigh, the head of Intel’s very well received Intel IQ, explained how their branded content team can often work hand-in-hand with their PR team.
“Our Intel IQ video can serve as a B-Roll-like supplement for our PR team to entice journalists and gauge if there is media interest,” he says. “In addition, our integrated team can also pick and choose where we want to amplify an Intel relevant storyline through branded content or earned content, or sometimes, both.”
Top media outlets earn trust
In addition to earned media offering reach, another value it retains is trust.
Fake news is a big deal. The recent Cision State of the Media Report found that 59 percent of U.S. consumers said fake news is making them more skeptical of what they read and see. It’s even worse on social media according to Edelman’s Trust Barometer, which found only 30 percent of Americans trust what they see on social media.
This doesn’t mean consumers eyes glaze over when they see a news story from a trusted news source—quite the opposite. Consumers are moving to media channels that they believe in.
A report from the comScore at the end of last year found data that points to information consumption shifting from BuzzFeed back to traditional news organizations such as The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Though it’s crucial to measure real-time engagement with earned content, PR pros must also assess the value of brand association with trusted media outlets. With big brands, you often see it from the other side as they try to avoid negative associations with untrusted or disparaged media outlets. Not only will they try to avoid being covered within these publications, they are pulling their paid advertising from them.
Earned media placement within trusted outlets can give brand owned content validation and your brand third-party credibility. In addition, that credibility expands in the eyes of both consumers and other media members with each additional mention in the press. For instance, a past study by Ogilvy found that journalists agree (65 percent) that the more the media covers a brand, the more credible the brand appears.
The true value of earned media
Merely increasing the digital or traditional advertising budget without an eye towards incorporating earned media can be costly and ineffective.
While traditional paid programs may drive clicks and short-term views, past research from Forrester has found that 88 percent of consumers say direct advertisements have little or no influence on their actual purchasing decision.
A recent Northeastern study found that on average, increasing a brand’s social media output on owned media by 10 percent saw a 7 percent increase in brand awareness, a 4 percent increase in customer satisfaction, but a 3 percent decrease in purchase intent. The same percentage increase in earned social media via other accounts led to percentage increases across all three categories.
Similar to consumers moving more towards trusted earned media, they’re trusting social media when mentions of a brand come from anywhere other than the brand itself. This is why brand managers are using publisher created branded content and then advertising that sponsored content across social networks for positive lift.
While measuring and analyzing the real-time value of earned media will remain a work in progress, there is no denying that it still has intrinsic value. Marketers and PR practitioners just need to expand their view on where it can be used and understand the new levers to pull with it to ensure successful outcomes.
Edward Kim is the founder of Simple Reach.
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