• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, August 21, 2014

What’s your planned earned media strategy? Right. That’s the slightly confusing question from Jeff Melton, Chief Analytics and Media Officer at MRY, for attendees of MediaPost’s Social Media Insider Summit. At the risk of undermining the paid/earned/owned model we all know and "love," Melton says planned earned is simply about creating “sustainable earned media,” rather than taking the popular “fingers-crossed” approach. What it definitely isn't is PR. Earned means people voluntarily syndicating your ad or content by liking, posting, re-posteing, or taking some other sharing action on social media. When it comes to planning for people to take such actions, it’s about “looking across the entirety of the media mix, and projecting” where the love is most likely going to come from. And, if done correctly, it’s about “de-risking” social media investment, Melton said.