Are you tired of scattered spreadsheets and endless email chains trying to track your earned media mentions? For marketing professionals seeking to maximize the impact of earned media strategies, earned media hub is the definitive resource. But is it really worth the hype? Let’s find out.
Key Takeaways
- You’ll learn to set up custom alerts in Earned Media Hub to track mentions of your brand, competitors, and relevant keywords across the web and social media.
- We’ll walk through analyzing sentiment scores within the platform to quickly identify potential PR crises and positive brand mentions.
- I’ll show you how to generate shareable reports directly from the platform, demonstrating the ROI of your earned media efforts to stakeholders.
Step 1: Setting Up Your Account and Initial Configuration
Creating Your Account
First, head over to Earned Media Hub and click the “Start Free Trial” button. You’ll need to provide your business email, company name, and a strong password. After verifying your email, you’ll be prompted to choose a plan. For most small to medium-sized businesses in the metro Atlanta area, the “Growth” plan is a solid starting point, offering a good balance of features and monitoring credits.
Configuring Your Initial Settings
Once logged in, navigate to the “Settings” menu by clicking your profile icon in the top-right corner and selecting “Account Settings.” Here you can configure your time zone (crucial for accurate reporting – set it to Eastern Time!), preferred currency, and notification preferences. I recommend enabling email notifications for critical alerts, such as negative sentiment spikes or mentions in high-authority publications.
Pro Tip
Don’t skip the onboarding tutorial! Earned Media Hub’s interactive guide walks you through the key features and helps you set up your first monitoring project. It’s well worth the 15 minutes.
Step 2: Creating Your First Monitoring Project
Defining Your Keywords and Sources
Now for the fun part. Click on the “Projects” tab in the main navigation menu, then click the “+ New Project” button. Give your project a descriptive name, like “Brand Monitoring – Q3 2026.” Next, define your keywords. This is where you tell Earned Media Hub what to look for. Include your brand name, variations of your product names, relevant industry terms, and even competitor names. Separate each keyword with a comma.
Under “Sources,” you can specify which types of media you want to monitor. The options include: News Sites, Blogs, Forums, Social Media (including X, formerly known as Twitter, and LinkedIn), and Podcasts. For comprehensive monitoring, I recommend selecting all sources to start. You can always refine this later.
Example Keywords: “Acme Corp”, “Acme Widgets”, “Widget Solutions”, “Competitor X”, “Competitor Y”
Setting Up Advanced Filters
To reduce noise and focus on the most relevant mentions, use the advanced filters. Click the “Advanced Filters” button below the Sources section. Here, you can exclude specific websites or keywords. For example, if you’re Acme Corp and keep getting mentions related to Acme Markets (the grocery chain), add “Acme Markets” to the exclusion list.
You can also filter by language and region. Ensure the language is set to English, and the region is set to United States (or a more specific region if needed, like “Georgia”). These filters are key to getting relevant results. We had a client last year who forgot to set the region filter and ended up tracking mentions of their brand in Australia!
Expected Outcome
After saving your project, Earned Media Hub will begin crawling the web and social media for mentions that match your criteria. It might take a few hours to populate the initial results, so be patient. You should start seeing mentions appearing in your project dashboard within 24 hours.
Step 3: Analyzing Your Earned Media Mentions
Navigating the Project Dashboard
Once your project has gathered some data, click on its name in the “Projects” tab to access the project dashboard. The dashboard provides an overview of your earned media performance, including the total number of mentions, sentiment analysis, top sources, and trending topics. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the different widgets and graphs.
Understanding Sentiment Analysis
Earned Media Hub uses advanced natural language processing (NLP) to analyze the sentiment of each mention. The sentiment is categorized as positive, negative, or neutral. Pay close attention to any spikes in negative sentiment. These could indicate a potential PR crisis or customer service issue that needs immediate attention.
Click on the “Sentiment” tab to see a detailed breakdown of sentiment over time. You can filter the mentions by sentiment to quickly identify positive and negative feedback. Read through the negative mentions to understand the underlying issues and develop a response strategy.
Identifying Key Influencers
The “Influencers” tab identifies the individuals and publications that are mentioning your brand most frequently and have the largest reach. This is valuable information for identifying potential brand ambassadors and partnership opportunities. Reach out to these influencers to build relationships and amplify your message. I once identified a local Atlanta food blogger with a huge following who was consistently raving about one of our restaurant clients. We offered her a complimentary meal, and she became a loyal advocate, driving significant traffic and sales.
Step 4: Creating Custom Alerts and Reports
Setting Up Custom Alerts
Don’t just passively monitor your earned media mentions – set up custom alerts to be notified of important events in real-time. Click on the “Alerts” tab in the project dashboard, then click “+ New Alert.” You can create alerts based on keywords, sentiment, source, or a combination of factors.
If you are looking to get press coverage, this is a must.
For example, you could set up an alert to be notified whenever your brand is mentioned in a negative context on a high-authority news site like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This would allow you to respond quickly and mitigate any potential damage.
Generating Reports
Earned Media Hub makes it easy to generate professional-looking reports that demonstrate the value of your earned media efforts. Click on the “Reports” tab, then click “+ New Report.” You can choose from a variety of pre-built templates or create a custom report from scratch. Include key metrics like total mentions, sentiment analysis, top sources, and influencer reach.
You can also customize the report with your company logo and branding. Export the report as a PDF or share it directly with your team members. Use these reports to track your progress over time and demonstrate the ROI of your earned media strategy to stakeholders. A Nielsen study showed that earned media is often viewed as more trustworthy than paid advertising.
Common Mistakes
A frequent mistake I see is focusing solely on the volume of mentions without paying attention to sentiment or source authority. Getting 100 mentions on obscure blogs is far less valuable than getting one positive mention in a reputable publication. Focus on quality over quantity. If you are trying to earn more backlinks, this is essential.
Step 5: Integrating with Other Marketing Tools
Connecting to Your CRM
Earned Media Hub integrates with popular CRM platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce. This allows you to automatically add leads generated from earned media mentions to your CRM database. To connect your CRM, navigate to the “Integrations” tab in the Account Settings menu and follow the instructions.
Sharing Mentions on Social Media
You can easily share positive earned media mentions on your social media channels directly from Earned Media Hub. Simply click the “Share” button next to the mention and choose the social media platform you want to share it on. This is a great way to amplify positive feedback and build social proof. Want to double your social media engagement? This is a good first step.
Leveraging the API
For advanced users, Earned Media Hub offers a robust API that allows you to integrate the platform with other marketing tools and build custom applications. The API documentation is available on the Earned Media Hub website. With the API, you can automate tasks like data analysis, reporting, and lead generation.
How accurate is the sentiment analysis?
Earned Media Hub’s sentiment analysis is generally accurate, but it’s not perfect. NLP algorithms can sometimes misinterpret sarcasm or context. Always review the mentions manually to ensure the sentiment is correctly classified.
Can I track mentions in languages other than English?
Yes, Earned Media Hub supports multiple languages. You can specify the language you want to track in the project settings.
How much does Earned Media Hub cost?
Earned Media Hub offers a variety of pricing plans to fit different budgets and needs. The “Growth” plan, suitable for most SMBs, starts at $299 per month. Visit the Earned Media Hub website for detailed pricing information.
What happens if I exceed my monitoring credits?
If you exceed your monitoring credits, Earned Media Hub will stop tracking new mentions until the next billing cycle. You can upgrade your plan to increase your monitoring credits or purchase additional credits as needed. The IAB recommends regularly auditing your keyword strategy to ensure you’re not wasting credits on irrelevant terms.
Is my data secure?
Earned Media Hub takes data security seriously. They use industry-standard security measures to protect your data, including encryption and regular security audits. They are also compliant with GDPR and other relevant data privacy regulations.
Mastering Earned Media Hub takes time and practice, but the payoff is significant. By carefully configuring your monitoring projects, analyzing your mentions, and leveraging the platform’s reporting capabilities, you can gain valuable insights into your brand reputation and demonstrate the ROI of your earned media efforts. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different settings and features to find what works best for your business. The Fulton County Chamber of Commerce often hosts workshops on digital marketing best practices – check their website for upcoming events.
Ready to stop guessing and start knowing what people are saying about your brand? Take the time to set up Earned Media Hub properly, and you’ll unlock a powerful tool for managing and maximizing your earned media impact.
