Earned Media Value (EMV) Formula for Social Media Marketing

When your followers talk about your brand, they’re adding to your earned media. Any time someone regrams your post, mentions you in a comment or shares your content with their friends, they’re creating earned media on your behalf. So, how do we calculate the value of all this social media buzz? You might see some EMV formulas online, but here are a few reasons why you should be skeptical.

Earned Media Value Formulas

• Method 1 - Based on Impressions

Compare the number of impressions to the number of people who took an action (i.e purchased your product or service.)

This method is meant to show how aware your target audience has become of your brand.

• Method 2 - Based on Media Impact

Assign points to the quantity and quality of earned media and compare them to sales.

This method is meant to compare coverage to sales over time in order to see return on investment.

• Method 3 - Based on Target Influence

Measure recall, retention and attitude changes of your target audience.

This method is meant to evaluate if exposure to earned media has reached your target audience and influenced their behavior.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

As you can see, earned media value (EMV) formulas all essentially take data such as impressions, reach, and engagement across multiple social media channels and try to determine the monetary value of them. The truth is, there isn’t one industry benchmark that all brands can use to measure their earned media value. Formulas currently floating around online might be able to give you an idea of your brand’s EMV, but it’s only an estimate.

Think about it, these numbers all vary drastically depending on the brand and the efforts they’re using to boost their social media presence. Earned media value isn’t an exact science. It should measure against your brand’s goals. Take into account which channels you’re on, how people are responding to the content you’re putting out and the general trends of social media in your category.

Honestly, earned media value is an old school metric that doesn’t provide the answers and data people like to think it does. If you’re being asked to report it, it’s time to have a heart-to-heart with your superiors about monitoring the data that counts.

What You Should Be Measuring

EMV formulas might not be the way to go, but that doesn’t mean you can’t measure your earned media value. For all of your posts, you should be monitoring the number of retweets, photo reposts, shares, mentions, tags, reviews and other data provided by the channels you use. These numbers give you an idea of how many people are talking about your brand, and how far your brand’s reach extends.

Keep a log of how many mentions you get, and when you got them. These metrics will allow you to figure out what parts of your strategies are likely generating the most buzz. You should also keep track of what kind of mentions you get. A mention in the form of a tagged photo is different from one that is in the first sentence of the caption. The “quality” of the mention is just as important as when it was posted.

Monitoring social media stats is also important when you work with social media influencers. We know they can expand your reach—that’s why brands partner with them. It’s crucial that you’re collecting data on their posts about your brand because that gets added to your earned media value.

Simplify the Process

If tracking your earned media value sounds like a large task, that’s because it is. The good news is, there are services that can help you weather the social media storm. Social analytics tools help you track your mentions and engagement on your posts so that less slips through the cracks.

If you’re partnering with influencers, you’ll have to work hands-on with them to make sure they’re not only posting per your agreement, but also providing accurate post analytics. If you’re working with a team of influencers the job gets even bigger. In this case, working with a full-service influencer marketing agency can help you out.