Can you get guaranteed earned media coverage?

Is it possible to guarantee your story will get covered in earned media?

One key aspect of public relations is getting your story told in the media. This is called earned media, and it’s the one thing everyone wants from public relations plans. However, getting an earned media story is a long process that requires successful pitching, finding the right journalist(s) to pitch to, and allowing them to transform your story into theirs. The reward is well worth it, but the process is difficult.

But, perhaps there is a way to skip the process. Can you have guaranteed earned media coverage?

No, you cannot have guaranteed earned media coverage. Journalists are looking for stories their audiences would be interested in and that’s creditable, not stories you would be interested in having out. One key part of the earned media process involves finding the right journalist that would be interested in your story for their audiences, which alone can never be guaranteed. Having a “guaranteed” story would be ignoring what a journalist’s audience wants, which would harm their reputation, so there’s a good reason why journalists and other media contacts don’t do guaranteed stories.

In fact, saying you can have guaranteed earned media coverage is unethical. There’s so much that goes into determining if a story will appear in a media outlet or not that there is no way someone could guarantee an earned media appearance and not be lying through their teeth. If a PR firm you’re looking for says they can guarantee an earned media appearance, cut ties with them as soon as possible because they have a serious ethics problem.

If you want guaranteed appearances, look to an advertising firm. They get you paid media appearances, which can be guaranteed. However, these are less reputable than authentic earned media appearances due to their nature of being paid appearances. So, if you want the most credible media appearances, you’ll have to look to authentic earned media coverage.

You can’t guarantee media coverage, but you can learn how you tell your story in a way that it would be interesting to both media contacts and potential readers. A great premise to the right journalist will do far more than an empty promise of guaranteed earned media.

Need some help with making a great story for the media? Read our post on the 10 elements of news and newsworthiness to see how to pitch a story to the media like a pro.

Clients love Jacob’s speed. Jacob is an inbound marketing-certified webmaster. He earned an integrated communications degree from Florida State College at Jacksonville. Jacob joined Axia PR as an intern in August 2015 and earned his way into a critical role at our PR agency.