What is Earned Media Value and Influencer Media Value

Before the influencer era, earned media typically bound up with the editorial and mentions of brands in newspapers and magazines. But nowadays, all this changed, everyone can count as influencers on social media. Imagine one tweet or one post from an ordinary user on social media can make a Mexican wave and it can affect positively or negatively the brand’s online presence. That is why every single post on social media counts as a form of earned media. It increases the importance of Earned Media Value(EMV). Analysis and understanding of Earned Media Value are now becoming a clearer way for brands to evaluate the value of their investment in social media. In this blog, we will define EMV and demonstrate the usability of this metric in influencer marketing.

What is Earned Media Value (EMV)?

Earned media value is a more advanced metric about a brand that refers to the sum of any type of mention gained through social media, websites, blogs, forums, reviews, and so on. That mentions not from advertising (paid media) and didn’t come from brand’s media channels(owned media).  Take a look at our previous blog to learn more details on the differences between each type of media. In General, this form of media includes word-of-mouth, recommendations, or conversations about the brand.

Marketers used to measure EMV entirely on user-generated content (UGC) and were not invested in it as it was not considered very valuable to brands. Nowadays, sponsored ads, influencers, and many such factors have increased the value of EMV and motivate brands to invest in it.

EMV helps brands understand how their marketing path and online presence affects their potential customers. If the earned media value is low, it is usually an indication of mistakes in marketing strategy. If EMV is high, it shows that this brand is on the right track or builds meaningful connections with its target audience.

The connection between IMV and EMV

The earned media value (EMV) is the method of calculating the value from every type of media. However, influencer media value (IMV) is more specific than EMV, focusing solely on influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is a relatively new strategy for marketers who are willing to build strong relationships with their target audience. It is obvious that influencer marketing is the best of the effective marketing strategies. For this reason, the EMV model was adopted as an influencer media value (IMV) and applied to the influencer field with minor changes. It is proved that influencer posts lead to better quality impressions than traditional PPC(Pay-per-click) ads. That is why marketers shift EMV to influencer marketing.

Why Earned Media Value is Important to Influencer Marketing

Both earned media value and influencer media value assist brands to predict which influencers are likely to have the highest ROI.  Of course, after knowing this possibility, brands can easily choose the right path and strategy to increase awareness and sales.

But do not forget that, firstly, you should identify a well-grounded perspective to calculating EMV and IMV, which could help you make better influencer marketing decisions. 

Gaining a solid understanding of your EMV and IMV can help you save paid media costs by showing you which influencers also possess high EMV.

How to Calculate Influencer Earned Media Value

Since earned media is so valuable, you will want to calculate it to identify how it contributes to your brand’s sales. The problem with this is that there is no agreed formula for calculating earned media value.  Here are a few different methodologies for calculating EMV.

1. Based on Non-Paid Impressions

Calculation: Impressions(Non-paid) x CPM

2.  Based on Organic and Viral Impressions

Calculate: Impression(Organic Impressions Over Last 30 Days) x CPM x Average CLV(Customer Lifetime Value)

3. Based on Reach and Conversion:

Calculate: Reached Users X CPM by Vertical x Conversion Factor 

These aren’t even all of the methods people have used to calculate EMV.  For influencer campaigns, calculating EMV can help brands figure out how effective influencer activities have been.  In influencer marketing, there are two methods to calculate EMV according  to marketing KPI (impression or engagement)

• Emv based on Impressions 

If your target is to drive brand awareness, then you should track and calculate an EMV based on Impression. For that, you need to determine CPM (cost per impression). For instance, it can be based on the brand’s previous paid influencer campaigns or known digital media rates.

You can then calculate the Impressions EMV by multiplying the Impression CPM by the free impressions delivered / 1,000.

(Impressions) * (Cost per 1,000 or CPM) 

• EMV based on engagement

If engagement is more significant than an impression for your marketing strategy, you can also track an EMV based on engagement. In the calculation process, the same way is followed as above.

Figure out Engagement CPM, then multiply the Engagement CPM by the free engagements delivered (likes + comments) / 1,000.

Of course, calculating these formulas is not easy. With Keepface, brands can track engagement, along with influencer EMV. Brands can use EMV metrics to identify where they will get maximum ROI.  Keepface uses proprietary technology to quantify the value of Influencer media value, making IMV the standard for measuring social media buzz and engagement.