Earned media may be more difficult to garner, but it can be the most valuable. Earned media establishes trust and credibility – not to mention it can drive leads and sales. The key to getting great PR however, hinges on your brand’s story – what’s the “why?” Developing a compelling message is part one. Part two is delivering the brand story using best practices. Here are three ways brands can develop a great story with earned media:Use press releases, blogs and social media to deliver content that engages journalists and consumers and sparks them to share it. A multichannel approach ensures that your content is reaching the right audiences, in the varying formats that they prefer to consume their content. Don’t forget to include data or multimedia to bolster your story.Consider the timing of any message carefully, and share it as soon as the company is ready, without necessarily waiting for a major press conference. Timing is everything. If there is a news event external to your company that is controlling the news cycle, take that into account – your brand story won’t travel as far. Look for ideal timeslots where competition is low.

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