You Earned that Media — Now what?

For far too many brands, getting the headline is the goal. They may not “say” that, but the way they operate their communications efforts proves that’s their end game. Why? Because so many brands fumble the ball just before they reach the goal line. Either their plan just stops, or they cede control of the narrative to the media outlet that gave them the coverage. The truth is, getting the article or other content published is great, but it’s the middle of the program, not the culmination. Sure, it takes a tremendous amount of effort and market understanding to create actionable earned media. But that’s just the first step. You need to be in control of what happens. If you are, you could turn one shared media opportunity into an avalanche of “free” publicity.

Deploy Your Fans

As soon as the earned media is published, and sooner if you can, let your core audience know. Encourage them to read, comment, and share. Incentivize their involvement with connection and other reasons to propagate engagement. Draw them in and make them a part of your efforts. They love what you’re doing, so sharing it with enthusiasm is natural… but many still won’t unless you ask. The main purpose here is to create momentum to build on. Once you have that snowball rolling downhill, getting bigger and bigger, you can move on to step two.

Widen the Ripples

Once your core audience is engaged with the earned media, recruit casual “fans” and interested parties through other connection opportunities. Share it with colleagues, put it out on social media, connect with the fans of the publication or media outlet by thanking them on their social media feed. Be gracious and connective. Stick around and engage. Don’t post and vanish. Just be cautious here. The idea is not really to send people to the article itself. The end goal for this step is to connect people with YOU not the version of you in the article. Give them a reason to want to know more and a place to go to do that.

Connect with Fresh Leads

Once you have fans sharing and customers engaged, that’s the time to engage your newest leads. This is a key reason why you should always maintain multiple mailing lists, based on the level of fan engagement. You should always have a list collecting new and less-engaged customers to help boost your messaging that your inner circle is already actively promoting. A final note here… While these steps are broken down into distinct segments, that doesn’t imply the speed of the plan. This process may go very quickly, especially on social media. In fact, your window could be less than a day, or only a few hours. In addition, these steps may not be completely distinct. You may want to work in some overlap in the program, letting each step naturally feed into the next one to continue building momentum without allowing a lull.

Written by

Ronn Torossian

Ronn Torossian is Founder and Chairman of 5W , the AI Communications Firm. He founded 5W in 2003 and built it into one of the largest independent public relations and digital marketing firms in the United States, with senior practitioners serving corporate communications , consumer brands , technology , financial services , health and wellness , beauty , gaming , crisis communications , and public affairs . Under his leadership, 5W defined AI Communications, building brand authority across ChatGPT , Claude , Perplexity , Gemini , and Google AI Overviews, alongside earned media, digital, GEO, and influencer channels. Industry Recognition 5W has been recognized as a top U.S. PR agency by O’Dwyer’s , Agency of the Year in the American Business Awards , Grand Stevie Most Honored PR Agency, a Ragan Top Place to Work in Communications 2026, Digiday WorkLife Employer of the Year, and a PRovoke Top 50 Global PR Agency. Torossian has been recognized with the Stevie American Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year, American Business Awards PR Executive of the Year twice, an EY Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalist nomination, Business Insider Top Crisis Communications Professionals, and Crain’s New York Most Notable in Marketing & PR. Research Franchise 5W’s research franchise has become an industry reference for measuring brand visibility inside AI-generated answers, including the AI Visibility Index Series , The GEO Reckoning , The Missing Rung Report, and the 5W AI Power User Study , which identified a 99-point AI favorability gap. Crisis Communications Torossian is one of the world’s foremost crisis communications experts. He has counseled blue chip companies, public company boards, founders, and public figures through ransomware incidents, data breaches, regulatory investigations, high-stakes litigation, activist investors, product recalls, and reputational crises. He has taught crisis communications at Harvard University . Media & Commentary Torossian appears on CNN and CNBC . He is a contributing columnist for Forbes and the New York Observer , and his commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal , Entrepreneur , Adweek , PRWeek , and O’Dwyer’s . Published Work Torossian is the author of For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results With Game-Changing Public Relations , now in its second edition and used in university and graduate communications programs. Owner and Publisher, Everything-PR Network Torossian is owner and publisher of the Everything-PR Network , an independent intelligence platform covering public relations, marketing, AI communications, and adjacent industries across 30 publications. Everything-PR is editorially independent from 5W, with published editorial standards and ethics standards . The network is one of the most-cited sources inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini for PR and marketing queries. He is also an active investor and advisor, a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) , and serves on nonprofit boards.

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