How can your brand reach a wider audience organically? With new brands emerging every day, it can be difficult to stand out in a world where everyone is competing for a share of a similar target market. Consumers are exposed to more information than they can fully digest, so they are looking to their friends, family, and followers for opinions on whether they should trust a brand or avoid it at all costs. Focusing only on branded or paid media is not the most effective strategy when you’re competing with a mass amount of content.
Your brand should be focusing on Earned media to generate more word of mouth referrals and enhance your content strategy organically. When compared to Owned and Paid media, Earned media is gained largely through your customers’ voices without direct influence from you as a brand. Although it is voluntarily shared by customers, there are many ways to steer the content that is being created and use it to boost your earned media value organically.
Have a good strategy
As with any marketing campaign, having a good strategy is the only way to separate yourself from your competition. Narrow down your target audience! The more specific and segmented it is, the easier it will be to relate to. Customize your messaging based on your ideal customer profile and the social network or media outlet you will be posting your content to. Remember, your goal is to communicate the right message to the right customer at the right time.
Increase the amount of content on your official accounts
If you want your customers to talk about you, give them something to talk about. Invest in creating more content & media across different social platforms. However, make sure that as you increase your output of content, that you’re creating content that is engaging. Try to start a meaningful conversation that will inspire others to interact with your brand and other fans.
Create interactive instagram stories, challenge your brand fans to show off your products on their own feeds, and ask them what they want to see more of. Creating more quality content will encourage members of your community to share information and media across their own networks, which will drive more awareness and encourage brand building.
Be an expert in what you do
Being a reliable source of information will help you create the reputation of “expert” within your industry. Providing interesting and relevant statistics or data will build deeper trust in your existing community. Strong and effective research is essential to giving your brand credibility, and it should be an ultimate goal to be an expert in what you do well. This, in turn, will make it easier for your customers to build trust in and advocate for your brand.
Recruit brand ambassadors
In addition to creating more quality content, recruiting more people that want to talk about your brand will increase your market share and allow you to steer the content that is being created around your brand. Through ambassadors, you will be able to engage and interact with a broader pool of potential customers, while guiding their brand experience and gaining insight into what your brand fans want to see more of.
By recruiting more people to advocate for your brand, you’re creating a stronger and honest bond with your customer base. Having supporters that people can trust is the key to boosting word of mouth and earned media value organically.
Do something remarkable
Now more than ever, customers know that actions speak louder than words. Doing something worth talking about will help you generate an organic and natural buzz around your brand. Discover and invest in new ways to influence or have an impact on the world around you. By doing something remarkable and newsworthy, you will further strengthen the connection between you and your community. Your customers will feel that they are not only supporting you, but also the good causes for which you advocate.
Right now, it’s time to be creative and discover new ways to connect with people. Traditional campaigns aren’t working as well as they used to, so investing in new ways to drive brand awareness will help you separate your brand from the rest. Tapping into your community and boosting Earned media is one of the most valuable ways to drive more awareness, engagement, and growth for your brand — organically.
