Earned Media Coverage Volume
Number of media placements (print, broadcast, online) featuring the organisation or its cause
What is Earned Media Coverage Volume?
Earned media coverage volume counts the placements an organisation wins in the press, broadcast and online outlets without paying for them. It is the basic output measure for media relations.
Earned coverage carries the independent endorsement of a publisher, which makes it more credible than paid advertising and valuable for building trust.
How this KPI is measured
- Function
- Marketing
- Sub-function
- Media & PR
- Industry
- All Industries
- Type
- Lagging
- Impact
- Quality
- Unit
- #
- Measurement frequency
- Monthly / Quarterly
- Formula
- Count of earned media placements in period
How to calculate it
Count the earned placements published in the period, excluding anything that was paid for, sponsored or written by the organisation.
For example, if 28 independent articles and broadcast mentions appeared in a month, the volume is 28.
Keep a consistent log, and note the outlet, reach and tone. Compare periods of the same length and take account of news events that can distort a single month.
Where it is used
Monitoring PR output
Follow the flow of coverage over time.
Comparing campaigns
See which campaigns and announcements generated the most pick-up.
Benchmarking
Compare with competitors' coverage in the same outlets.
How to improve it
Tips and common mistakes
- Volume should be read with quality. Choose the outlets your audience actually reads.
- Exclude paid and sponsored content, or the count overstates earned attention.
- One major story can distort the trend. Look at the underlying pattern.
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