How to Manage Earned Media When the Lines Are Blurring [Podcast]
One of the most powerful boosts a business can gain is earned media. Having someone talk about your brand simply because they want to is an excellent way to build trust with your customers. The trouble is, as more and more people gain a voice and have influence through the internet and social media, it becomes more difficult for businesses to maintain a consistent message.
Chris Lynch, Chief Marketing Officer at Cision, joins the Content Experience Show this week to discuss the evolution of earned media in the social media landscape.
Lynch and his team at Cision have recently created a new position: Vice President of Earned Media Management. Maintaining a consistent voice for your brand is absolutely crucial, and if your business frequently works with earned media, he explains why you may want to consider this type of position.
In This Episode:
How Cision Manages Content During Acquisitions
What’s it like to be the CMO at a company that announces two acquisitions in under 30 days? Lynch explains that when there are new stories to tell and new audiences to get in front of, it’s especially important to have a dedicated team working on the announcements, along with a project plan that can be easily replicated.
“The key is starting with a very repeatable project plan when you do acquisitions.” — @cglynch
Why the Lines Are Blurring Between Earned Media and Paid Media
Some people may consider influencer relationships to be earned media because that’s often how they come across online. But when it comes to differentiating, the key is to be transparent and communicate to the reader how the piece of media was constructed. Is it true organic earned media, or is it a paid opportunity?
“Earned media is media that is mentioning a brand, being generated by someone who's not in the employ of the brand.”
— @cglynch
Who Should Be Responsible for Maintaining a Consistent Voice With Earned Media
According to Lynch, the role of a CMO is to help the company acquire, engage, and retain customers across all three of the main media channels: paid, owned, and earned. But given that earned media is of increased importance to their strategy, they’ve decided to create a new position to support this area.