How to Get Earned Media at Scale in 2025?

1. Create Newsworthy, Shareable Content

To get media coverage at scale, brands must create content that is valuable, data-driven, and built for syndication.

✅ Zillow: Turning Real Estate Data into Viral Stories

Zillow didn’t just provide property listings—it used data to tell compelling stories about home values, rental trends, and real estate market shifts. The launch of Zestimates created a viral moment in real estate by giving people a reason to check and share their home’s estimated value. Media outlets continuously referenced Zillow because its data was fresh, unique, and engaging.

🔹 How to Apply This to Your Brand:

• Publish exclusive research or industry insights that media outlets will want to cite.
• Frame content like news, not marketing—remove branding and CTAs to increase shareability.
• Create visually engaging reports or interactive tools that people naturally share

2. Become a Trusted Source for Journalists

Instead of chasing media attention, brands should position themselves as go-to sources that journalists naturally reference. 

✅ NerdWallet: Blurring the Line Between a Brand & a Media Company

NerdWallet built credibility by publishing newsroom-quality finance content. By offering unbiased, expert-backed financial guides and high-quality data journalism focusing on financial topics, it became a trusted source for major media outlets like The New York Times and Forbes. This approach resulted in continuous earned media without needing aggressive PR outreach. 

Nerdwallet’s biggest strength was realising that in order to get content shared widely; they had to avoid being overly promotional or branded. By focusing on data and quality journalism rather than shoehorning in product links, Nerdwallet created trustworthy, shareable content that helped build their brand into the powerhouse it is today. 

 🔹 How to Apply This to Your Brand:

• Focus on creating high-quality data journalism; and avoid promotional/marketing language.
• Share content freely; asking only for attribution in exchange.
• Use localization to attract journalists and improve readership.

✅ Zillow: A Data Powerhouse Journalists Rely On

Zillow made real estate data free and accessible, which meant journalists routinely referenced it in stories about housing markets, rental trends, and economic shifts. By becoming a default resource for housing data, Zillow ensured ongoing earned media placements.

🔹 How to Apply This to Your Brand:

• Offer data and insights that journalists can easily cite—be the source, not just a subject.
• Build direct relationships with industry reporters so they turn to you first.
• Monitor HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and provide expert commentary on breaking news.

3. Leverage SEO & Backlink Strategies to Scale Earned Media

Google prioritizes content from authoritative sources, meaning high-quality backlinks from media outlets increase both brand visibility and credibility.

✅ NerdWallet: SEO-Driven Growth Through Earned Media

NerdWallet consistently ranks for high-value finance keywords because top publishers frequently cite its reports and reviews. These earned media mentions reinforce its domain authority and make it easier for NerdWallet to outrank competitors—even major financial institutions.

🔹 How to Apply This to Your Brand:

• Run a competitor backlink analysis—find where industry leaders are earning media mentions
• Publish data-driven reports that journalists want to cite—avoid generic blog content
• Ensure publishers link back to your original article as the canonical source to consolidate SEO value

4. Create Content That Feeds a Continuous Earned Media Cycle

Rather than treating earned media as a one-time event, brands should create ongoing content that naturally generates recurring media mentions.

✅ HubSpot: Consistently Publishing Data-Driven Industry Reports

HubSpot has built a reputation as a go-to resource for marketing, sales, and business trends by regularly publishing in-depth reports, like its State of Marketing and Consumer Trends studies. These reports are widely cited by industry media and blogs, ensuring HubSpot stays visible in conversations about digital marketing year-round.

🔹 How to Apply This to Your Brand:

• Publish recurring reports, industry updates, or annual rankings that media can cite repeatedly
• Create evergreen content that remains relevant over time (e.g., “The Best Cities for Remote Work”)
• Develop a syndication strategy to ensure content reaches a broader audience

5. Use Media Syndication to Scale Earned Placements

Traditional PR is slow and unpredictable, but media syndication helps brands land consistent earned placements at scale.

✅ LendingTree: Scaling Earned Media Through Syndication

LendingTree uses content syndication to secure recurring media placements. By publishing data-driven reports on mortgage rates and credit trends, it distributes insights to thousands of publishers, reinforcing its authority in personal finance.

🔹 How to Apply This to Your Brand:

• Leverage media syndication platforms to distribute high-quality content at scale
• Build a repeatable earned media strategy rather than relying on one-off PR wins
• Ensure your brand’s content gets published in high-authority media networks for ongoing credibility

6. Capitalize on the End of Third-Party Cookies & Social-Driven Earned Media

With Google phasing out third-party cookies, brands can no longer rely on targeted ads—earned media is now essential for organic reach.

✅ Zillow: Creating Shareable, Social-First Content

Zillow didn’t just rely on media placements—it designed its real estate content to be shareable on social media. Fun, clickable topics like "Celebrity Homes for Sale" ensured massive organic engagement.

🔹 How to Apply This to Your Brand:

• Create highly shareable content that naturally spreads on social media and earns media mentions
• Encourage user-generated content (UGC) to amplify your brand’s visibility
• Optimize for owned media (blogs, newsletters, and social channels) to maximize exposure

The Bottom Line: Scale Earned Media Like a Publisher, Not a Brand

Brands that think like media companies, publish data-backed content, and build repeatable earned media strategies will dominate in 2025

✅ Create high-value, newsworthy content that journalists want to cite

✅ Position your brand as a trusted source for recurring media mentions

✅ Leverage SEO and backlink strategies to strengthen your domain authority

✅ Use syndication to scale earned media placements rather than relying on PR pitches

✅ Encourage UGC and social engagement to spark organic media coverage

Earned media isn’t just a marketing tactic—it’s a sustainable growth engine. The brands that own the conversation in their industry will win the long game. 🚀