Is Earned Media Dead? Or Are You Just Doing It Wrong?!
Written by Anna Wilson, Chief Digital Innovation Officer
Image source Pexels
You, like me, will have heard many a conversation about social media and PR. That goes something along the lines of this...
“This [insert amazing world event] has just happened, we’ve got a great brand story to build around that, let’s get something out”
“Sure, how much spend shall we put behind it? Is there any point sending it to media, or shall we just put it on social”
“Let’s whack some spend behind it and see how we go”
It’s the type of conversation that makes my toes curl and then get a bit twitchy. Because when you unpick this conversation, the people who are having it have been tricked by their friendly neighbourhood [insert big name (social) ad overload] salespeople into thinking things:
Attention is guaranteed if you pay for reach
Earned media, organic media, PR (call it what you like) is dead
Brands should choose between paid and earned strategies
This is the part where I wave my ‘Earned Media Isn’t Dead – You're Just Doing It Wrong’ banner and make my point.
So here’s the headline:
Attention is the means but not the end goal
Attention has become a buzzword. The industry has started using this as a measure of success, but in isolation it’s simply a signal of how much time you have to land your brand message and deliver salience (positive sentiment, talkability, recall of brand and brand messages).
STORIES ARE THE MOST MEMORABLE FORM OF INFORMATION
Do you remember the story of Goldilocks and The Three Bears?
Can you remember how to do a quadratic equation?
Research has shown that the human brain is more programmed to remember a story than other forms of information.
By using storytelling techniques brands can retain attention and build memorability to
LENGTH OF ATTENTION X STRENGTH OF STORY = BRAND SALIENCE
Researchers looking at brand salience showed the importance of creating ‘brand links’ or relevant associations which reinforce the brand message in a meaningful way to build memory structures which in turn deliver top of mind awareness.
They explain it like this, say McDonalds runs an ad for salads. This is the first time people have associated the brand with salads and so their brain needs to form a memory structure to solidify that association.
If you asked people the foods McDonalds serve, they may well include a salad in that list.
But ask them if they can name a fast food brand that now does a healthy option, they’re far less likely to name Maccies. Because the link has not been firmly established and the memory structure built.
IF YOUR STORY IS GOOD, YOU CAN HOLD ATTENTION! THERE’S NO EVIDENCE TO SHOW THAT PEOPLE HAVE A SHORTER ATTENTION SPAN THAN A GOLDFISH
Fun fact, this is actually an incorrect and unproved citation in a 2015 Microsoft report.
The truth is, there’s no longevity studies tracking attention to truly demonstrate shrinking attention spans. But, we are seeing a heavy increase of distraction levels due to tech advancements. Which gives the illusion of shorter attention spans.
THE REASON MOST BRANDS CAN’T HOLD ATTENTION IS BECAUSE THEY FORGET THAT PEOPLE ARE DISTRACTION ADDICTS
We can dedicate intense attention when we’re engaged in something, watching a movie, driving a car! But, most people are still cheekily reaching for your phone from time to time.
Social networks are built on the concept of a SLOT MACHINE
Social networks are built on the concept of a slot machine, small, frequent rewards give hits of dopamine and boom! We’re hooked.
News outlets have copied this set-up and all of a sudden a few years ago, brands started to see lower earned media numbers and fewer media opportunities and so started chucking their cash into paid media.
JUST BECAUSE YOU PAY FOR REACH, DOES NOT MEAN YOU’RE BUYING ATTENTION
Viewability is the amount of time your content is on screen, which our pals at Meta say is around 3 seconds. However, when attention is tracked, we know that people are really only watching this content for around 1 second (sometimes less).
And that’s important because researchers have shown that unless you’re holding attention for 3 seconds, you’re not hitting a memory threshold that will make your brand/product/message stick.
STORY-TIZING, THE NEXT STEP
Earned media can generate attention and when you combine a compelling story with brand ‘advertising’ messages, brands can achieve cost effective and meaningful results mid-funnel while ‘warming up’ audiences to subsequent bottom of funnel advertising.
