If Earned Media Was Fully Measurable, It Wouldn’t Be Earned Media

Measurement has long been a sticking point in evaluating the success of earned media. Although PR practitioners often work alongside the data-centric world of marketing, our impact has always been more difficult to capture. Many say it’s due to a missing “industry standard” unicorn metric, while others say we just have yet to achieve “true” PR attribution.

But I have a different take. I think the difficulty around measurement is an inherent feature of our work and something that will go unchanged, regardless of silver bullet data points or magical attribution. 

And that’s a good thing—because if earned media was fully measurable, it wouldn’t be earned media at all.

Earned ≠ Control

Before we go any further, a little context: When we talk about different types of media content, we tend to group things by distribution—paid media refers to advertising through third parties or social media; owned media refers to content distributed through channels under one’s control; and earned refers to publicity gained through editorial influence of various kinds. 

These differences have implications far beyond where a person consumes them. They impact how much data the creator can access, which ultimately affects their ability to make improvements over time. This is where the true difficulty around earned media measurement lies.

While owned and paid media creators can access performance data to fully measure and iterate on their work (either because they own the channels themselves—owned media—or have a contractual agreement with the distributors to receive the necessary data—paid media) earned media has no explicit agreement between creator and distributor. This means the relationship is asynchronous. While PR professionals certainly build strong reporter relationships over time, there is no “currency” that guarantees successful distribution. 

The Power of Less Control

While this dynamic comes as no surprise to industry vets, it’s rarely emphasized in conversations around measurability. Marketers and non-communication executives are often laser focused on improving PR program results. Which, to them, means analyzing and iterating until the trend line of overall coverage goes up and to the right.

But this type of growth isn’t the goal in earned media. Our success is not defined by an exponential curve of coverage volume or impressions—it requires establishing a credible and recognizable voice within the ever-changing media landscape. Ultimately, earned media is a collaboration between communications professionals and journalists. Success is about story first, measurable impact second.

Empowering Storytelling

This doesn’t mean there is no measurable impact of earned media. It just means we aren’t looking in the right place. Articles that feature brands or company executives can be leveraged in a number of ways, across different channels. 

For example, those stories can be distributed through paid social or direct marketing campaigns. These kinds of integrated campaigns aren’t new, but because they are more controlled, we can better measure impact and evaluate program value. 

Most importantly, by taking this approach, we are moving away from the impossible task of trying to prove true direct attribution in earned media. No unicorn metrics needed.