As the cost-of-living crisis really starts to bite, marketeers across the country are being faced with a double whammy – cuts to their budgets combined with media inflation driving up the cost of advertising.
With fierce scrutiny on different lines in the marketing budget, the argument for maintaining investment in PR and earned media is an incredibly strong one. In fact, wise marketeers recognise earned media as a ‘marketing superpower’ when times are tough. Why?
Value & ROI: The most obvious benefit of earned media is that it is earned, not paid for, so the return on investment is always going to be higher than with any other bought media. Landing that double page company profile in the Times, a glowing review of your new product in Good Housekeeping, or that business leader interview on Sky News costs companies very little compared to the equivalent advertising spend – the cost of the time & expertise of the comms specialist who secured it aside.
Efficiency: Unlike relatively broad advertising audiences, PR and earned media can be incredibly targeted – focused exclusively on the absolute sweet spot print, digital or social media being consumed by your brand’s target audience. Meaning no wastage whatsoever when it comes to time and money.
Brand trust & affinity: Earned media is essentially word-of-mouth marketing. In its purest form, it’s positive reviews from third party sources – be those trusted individuals or respected publications. It’s a personal endorsement of your product or service in a public forum. And it’s never been more important. At a time when consumers may be considering trading down to a cheaper product, or a lower cost service, brands that continue to build trust and affinity with their customers, over time, will be much harder to swap.
If you want to talk to us about how earned media can make your marketing budgets work harder, please don’t hesitate to get in touch here.