Substack Marketing Is More Than Newsletters—It’s the Key to Reaching Today’s Most Engaged Readers

In 2025, audience trust is shifting from institutions to individuals. With more information — and misinformation — available online than ever, audiences are looking for sources they can believe in and depend on. More often than not, these sources are individuals producing relatable, authentic content rather than big media outlets or organizations.  Given these trends in audience interest, marketing goals and strategies are shifting. Reaching your target audience might mean relying on newer, more intimate platforms. While traditional media outlets, both online and print, have been the gold standard for decades, a new channel is emerging: Substack newsletters. Renowned journalists, influencers, change-makers and entrepreneurs are turning to Substack to not only create their own platform (and e-mail list) but as a way to better reach their communities and share stories. With freelance assignments, editorial staffs and issues shrinking, Substack offers a new frontier in and major upgrade in blogging. In some ways, Substack marketing can be more valuable than traditional press coverage for niche brands. LaRue PR maintains a relevance-first philosophy that combines proven marketing strategies with the latest digital developments to help brands solidify their place in an ever-evolving media landscape. What Is Substack Marketing? Substack launched in 2017, and started gaining popularity in 2020. At its core, Substack is a newsletter platform that allows creators to build loyal subscriber bases. The focus is on direct communication between the Substack author (the creator) and their readers (the subscribers). Optional discussion features allow audience members to interact with one another and creators, contributing to the potential to foster connection and community with this platform.  Substack marketing entails pitching to creators, leveraging paid/earned collaborations, and getting brand mentions in newsletters. Substack is known for cultivating close relationships between authors and audiences. The middle man — the editor — is removed from the equation in Substack, giving journalists the opportunity to tell their story, exactly as like. For brands, this means there’s significant value in Substack creators linking to or mentioning a specific product: they’re perceived as a trusted authority by subscribers, and their endorsement matters.  This demonstrates a clear strategy shift for marketing in general: from press release blasts to relationship-driven, creator-first outreach. Consumers would rather hear about a new product release or up-and-coming brand from a content creator they’ve been following and have learned to trust, rather than reading a blip about it from a top media outlet. Individual brands can also leverage this strategy to create their own Substacks to strengthen the consumer/brand relationship, positioning themselves as creators.  Why Substack Audiences Are So Valuable Understanding the depth, niche appeal, and engagement rates Substack readers are intentional — they opt in to receive content and often pay to support writers. Whether they sign up for free or paid subscriptions, readers choose to engage with specific creators and tend to stick with them over time. Engagement metrics are strong with this model: high open rates, time spent reading, and conversion potential. In fact, average Substack open rates exceed 50%, compared to ~20% for traditional email marketing.  Cult Followings and Targeted Reach Substack is known as a space for creators to delve into niche topics that audiences will flock to. There are many Substacks with a niche but powerful influence: Hunter Harris’ Hung Up, a pop culture focused Substack that boasts over 178,000 subscribers; Dr. Cara Goodwin’s Parenting Translator that translates child development research into key information for parents with more than 20,000 subscribers; or The Quiet Life with Susan Cain that offers curated “quiet” lifestyle content to over 280,000 readers.  This type of marketing helps you reach exactly the right person — not everyone, but your people. Substack’s platform is uniquely positioned to help creators and brands reach their target audiences. The more specialized your topic, the more success you can expect. This is in stark contrast to more established strategies that tended to prioritize generalized messaging to speak to as many readers as possible. Here, it’s about speaking to the right readers, and delivering ultra-specific, meaningful messages.  Substack vs Traditional PR Placements What does “ROI” actually look like in today’s media landscape? A brand mention in a Substack will undoubtedly look different than one in a customary glossy of the past. While audience size may be smaller depending on the specific Substack, engagement and trust is likely much higher. Audiences trust creators more than media institutions—and are more likely to take action on a recommendation from a newsletter they chose to receive.  Which of these sounds more effective: Seeing an ad for a product pop up during a muted TV commercial break, or reading about a trusted author trying out an exciting new product in their weekly newsletter? Given the media-consumption patterns of today’s audiences, the latter is more organic and much more likely to result in a positive impression of the product in question. Consumers would rather hear about a personal connection to a brand or product from an individual they have a vested interest in than see a static advertisement from a source they don’t have a relationship with.  Direct Traffic, Conversions, and Long-Term Brand Affinity Brands are seeing more traffic and conversion lift from niche newsletters than from standard online articles. Newsletter audiences are more likely to remember and act on a personal story or product recommendation woven into content. If they hear about a facial cleanser as part of a Substack describing the author’s updated summer skincare routine, odds are it’s going to be more effective than a standard press release touting the benefits of the cleanser. It all boils down to consumer trust: right now, that trust is more likely to be placed in a creator than a company. How LaRue PR Uses Substack Marketing Strategically LaRue’s Relevance-First Approach Instead of chasing headlines, LaRue focuses on impactful moments of visibility. We understand that for audiences, a mention in a bi-weekly newsletter can be more impressionable than a feature in a standard news article. To promote brand/consumer synergy, LaRue puts in the effort to identify

Affiliate Program Audit 101: How to Set Your Brand Up for Scalable Press and Profit

In today’s PR and influencer ecosystem, even the most glowing brand mention won’t move the needle if affiliate links aren’t in place. We’ll walk you through the essentials of an effective affiliate program audit — and show how LaRue PR helps clients ensure their foundation is both press-ready and profit-optimized. An affiliate program is not a “set-it and forget-it” marketing strategy — at least, it shouldn’t be. The affiliate landscape and the digital space it occupies is dynamic and ever-changing. An effective affiliate program must readily adapt and evolve to keep up with this fluidity. That’s why scheduling regular reviews and updates of your affiliate practices and procedures is essential.  To get the most out of your affiliate strategy, we conduct an affiliate program audit: a comprehensive evaluation of your brand’s affiliate infrastructure. It’s not enough to just have a few affiliate links on standby. Flexibility should be part of your strategy, allowing you to make adjustments in response to changes in factors like trending platforms, commission rates, and product availability. While we all wish it wasn’t true, the reality is most media outlets and influencers won’t feature a brand without affiliate links in place. With advertising revenue continuing to dwindle, both traditional media outlets and content creators see affiliate marketing as a powerful currency. Revenue from affiliate links is crucial for digital publishers. Publishers want to feature brands and services that their audiences will respond to — and that have earning potential. In today’s digital age, being set up for affiliate marketing is the bare minimum. Staying on top of regular affiliate management is the key to standing out. The Core Components of an Effective Affiliate Program Audit Before you pitch your brand to any affiliate, you should take stock of these aspects of your affiliate program. Of course, LaRue is here to help and guide you through not only the best practices, but the most effective ones. Partner Platform Presence Step one of your affiliate program audit: take a look at the network, partners and sub-affiliates you’re working with. Are you partnering with brand-aligned affiliates and networks that support your goals? For example, is your current affiliate network (i.e. Impact, AWIN, CJ) granting you the ability to strategically and dynamically commission with your top partners (i.e. Rakuten, LTK, Skimlinks)? Are your attribution questions being answered from your current reports? Aside from signing up with the biggest platform and highly-trafficked affiliate partners, we recommend casting a wide net of niche partnerships specific to your vertical to build trust and brand affinity. Your affiliate strategy should not be siloed from your PR efforts – it is essential to ensure top media publications and creators are supported as an affiliate and their specific link and asset needs are met.  (Not sure how to do this? We’re pros—and will take care of it for you.) Commission Structure Don’t forget to l review your commission structure. Consider whether or not your rates are competitive in your category. You want your rates to fall within what’s appropriate for maintaining your company’s margins, are attractive to potential affiliates, and compete with similar brands to further incentivize potential partners to join and promote your brand. If you’re unsure about your offer, look into benchmarking it against similar brands. This will give you an idea of where you stand in the competitive landscape, and help guide any restructuring decisions.  There are a variety of commission types to consider as well. If you’re not getting the desired results within your existing strategy, it’s time to re-evaluate the commission structure and make strategic changes  to your existing strategy. Pay-per-click, pay-per-lead, tiered commissions, new versus returning dynamic commissioning, SKU commissioning, and flat rate deals are all examples of popular affiliate commission types. The right commission structure for your brand will depend on a variety of factors, including the price of the product(s) or services you offer, current market conditions, seasonality, trends in customer loyalty. SKU Coverage and Product Feed Health Next up in your affiliate program audit: make sure your product availability is up-to-date. Are your bestsellers listed and linkable? These are the products with the highest earning potential for you and possible affiliate partners. Additionally, verify whether or not your product catalog is up to date across platforms. This will ensure broken links or out-of-stock products aren’t impeding performance.  There’s nothing worse for a potential customer than clicking a link only to get an error code or discover a product is no longer available — that’s hard to come back from. It’s essential to ensure everything is properly set up within the program to facilitate a smooth, simple shopping experience from first click to final purchase.  Attribution and Tracking Reliability No affiliate program audit is complete without being able to accurately assess performance. Look into whether clicks are being tracked accurately, and check for the possibility of tech glitches or delayed updates that could cause you to miss out on sales. Narrow down a few key performance indicators (KPIs) to focus on for the time being, and see how they trend over a set period of time. Link these KPIs to specific goals for your affiliate marketing efforts, and adjust your strategy accordingly. We recommend evaluating affiliate performance against a key set of industry and vertical benchmarks to ensure the program is healthy and providing value to the overall business and marketing mix. (We’ve been in the weeds of many programs over the years—we’ll help you identify strategic adjustments that will support you and your brand in the long run.) How Affiliate Readiness Supports Scalable Press and Visibility When you’re affiliate-ready (and have a strong backend setup to show for it), you’ll have much greater headline potential and more success landing affiliate partnerships. Journalists, editors, affiliate managers, and influencers are under pressure to generate revenue. If a brand isn’t obviously affiliate-ready, it will likely be passed over in favor of other, better options.  Many top-tier media outlets (think The Strategist, People, Forbes, BuzzFeed) require affiliate links for product

Why Storytelling PR Is the Most Underrated Growth Strategy in 2025

There is more media available now than ever, and it is easy to get lost in a sea of information (and misinformation). To cut through the noise, the answer is not to lean into corporate jargon—rather, it is to tell customers a story. Audiences crave authentic, emotionally compelling narratives, not traditional, buttoned-up messaging. Storytelling PR is gaining traction for its ability to connect with consumers and enhance both brand awareness and credibility. LaRue PR approaches storytelling as a growth strategy, and so should your brand.  What Is Storytelling PR? Storytelling PR refers to the practice of merging PR strategy with a narrative approach. It blends strategic messaging with emotional connection. The goal of storytelling PR is to identify your brand’s voice, clarify your core values, and then turn these foundational ingredients into a cohesive, impactful narrative that acts as the driving force behind future PR campaigns.  Traditional PR often focused solely on forming connections and delivering information through media relations. In this case, a PR team would focus on finding the right journalists, bloggers, and media outlets to feature your brand—and let those outside parties control the narrative. Storytelling PR is all about taking back this control and reframing it in a more individualized, meaningful way. Instead of letting a third-party decide how to report a product launch or brand expansion, storytelling PR ensures that the story originates from the source: you and your brand.  Effective storytelling PR relies on several key components, including:  Why Storytelling PR Works in 2025 In today’s digital age, consumers and journalists alike are fatigued by corporate speak and generic hype. Authenticity now outperforms polish in both media and social. The average individual isn’t looking for a new product report that provides a technically-perfect account of its specifications, or a concise press release on a merger that can be easily skimmed. Instead, they’re looking for content that will make a lasting impression. A funny, relatable, or touching piece of content will outperform any traditional PR strategy in 2025. Just as customers are now showing their favor for narrative-based communication, Google’s algorithm now favors human-first, experience-driven content—PR included.  From Pitch to Placement: How Storytelling PR Drives Media Coverage Narrative-led angles grab media attention and get picked up over formulaic alternatives. Consider, which of these is a more compelling investment for a journalist: a story-led piece about a woman who started out creating vegan, cruelty-free makeup in her basement and turned it into a successful brand that’s going to line store shelves soon, or a press release about a new line of organic lipsticks that will be released in a month?  The first piece is more likely to grab audience attention, providing an intriguing origin story and a peek behind the brand. The second option could easily get lost in the near-constant buzz of new brand and product launches. At the end of the day, it’s simple: personal, mission-based stories outperform product pushes. With storytelling PR, there is ample opportunity for media coverage to pick up speed and snowball. More generic pieces will likely burn themselves out instead. Storytelling PR Builds Brand Affinity and Customer Trust With traditional approaches to PR, there’s little opportunity to truly get to know a brand and its inner workings. Rather than turning them away at the door, storytelling PR invites customers to take a closer look into a brand—from how it started to its future goals. Founder stories, customer journeys, and behind-the-scenes content are all excellent additions to a storytelling PR strategy. These kinds of narratives offer the chance to build memorable connections between brands and customers.  Consumers are more likely to share and engage with story-driven content, especially when it aligns with their own values, interests, and life goals. A good story has the potential to make a lasting, positive impression that will be linked to a customer’s perception of that brand for years to come. As a result, storytelling fosters connection and trust. Earnest, authentic narratives lay the groundwork for emotional brand loyalty.  The Overlooked SEO Power of Storytelling PR There is much more SEO potential when taking a storytelling approach to PR than the traditional, concise approach of the past. Media placements with rich, keyword-aligned narratives drive backlinks. Authentic content increases time on page and shareability. Consumers are going to spend more time with this content and are more likely to engage with it in a meaningful way. LaRue PR helps clients turn stories into SEO assets, such as by repurposing them into blogs or newsletters. This can help solidify a brand’s place in the competitive landscape as a thought leader, reliable source, and respected authority. What Makes a Great Brand Story? LaRue’s Framework Over the years, LaRue has developed a trademark approach to extracting and crafting compelling, unique stories for each individual client. This framework draws on: LaRue tailors messaging for both press and end consumers. LaRue’s approach is based on the belief that brand stories should appeal both to media outlets and target audiences. This encourages additional media coverage opportunities without isolating clients from the narrative.  Why Most Brands Miss the Mark—And How LaRue PR Gets It Right There are many pitfalls that can get in the way of successful storytelling PR. Common mistakes include failing to develop a clear brand voice, solely highlighting the company to the exclusion of the customer experience, and crafting inauthentic or incomplete narratives. Examples include generic founder bios, vague mission statements, and nonspecific brand highlights. Bad storytelling is no better than a traditional, outdated PR strategy. With years of experience, LaRue PR is well-versed in avoiding these obstacles to success with storytelling PR. LaRue works with brands to uncover the emotional core that drives a meaningful narrative and the real differentiators that should be featured in content and campaigns to drive engagement. The LaRue approach to storytelling is not about creating a one-size-fits-all narrative. Instead, it’s all about determining what makes your brand unique, and how these features can best be highlighted in order to garner media attention and

Why PR Value Can’t Be Measured in Impressions Alone

Impressions and AVE (Advertising Value Equivalency) were once considered the gold standard in tracking the impact of PR efforts. These outdated metrics allege that the size or range of the media coverage a PR campaign achieves is directly linked to its value. Contrary to what these metrics claim, the number of individuals who view a piece of content, or the space that said content takes up, are not wholly representative of its value.  These metrics fail to take into account all of the underlying PR and marketing strategy that go into creating each and every campaign—not to mention their place in a carefully planned out brand strategy. After all, PR is about a lot more than just content creation. Metrics like impressions and AVE only measure small pieces that are part of a much bigger picture. As a result, they’re incapable of capturing everything that matters about PR value in 2025. LaRue PR helps clients redefine and track success in ways that are more strategic, measurable, and aligned with individualized business goals.  What Is PR Value—Really? Traditionally, PR value was calculated by determining how much monetary value could be attributed to the media coverage generated by a PR campaign. In 2025, PR value means something different. Now, it is a reflection of influence, visibility, credibility, and conversions—not vanity numbers. When determining PR value, there’s a big difference between volume-based metrics and impact-based metrics. Volume-based metrics, like impressions and AVE, encompass factors that can be quantitatively measured. For example, say your PR team puts out a press release detailing a new product in development at your company. A volume-based assessment of its value could include the number of clicks the press release gets, how many mentions there are of your new product in the media landscape, and how many news outlets or social media accounts pick up the story.  Impact-based metrics take another, more holistic, approach to determining value. Volume-based assessments are all about tracking the immediate, clearcut reach of a PR campaign. Impact-based metrics dive deeper, aiming to provide a look at what your PR strategy means to your audience and the lasting impression it leaves. As a result, impact-based metrics can offer insight into the potential long-term effects of PR.  To continue the above example, an impact-based approach to assessing the value of a press release about a new product might track how many times the piece is shared, which demographics are engaging with the content, the tone of the media coverage your brand is getting, and a consideration of how well related media aligns with your brand’s core values. Impact-based metrics monitor brand awareness, ensuring that it is in line with your brand identity and established messaging guidelines. Quality is far more important than quantity in today’s media environment. Broad, surface-level reach is no longer the goal. Instead, brands want to resonate deeply with their target audience, making a meaningful impact that won’t be forgotten by the next news cycle.  The Problem with Impressions and AVE Impressions only account for how many times any given piece of content pops up on a feed or is shown to an individual. They don’t track how long the content is viewed, how it is engaged with, or the impact that it makes on the viewer. Impressions are inflated and misleading in a multi-channel landscape. A piece can be viewed for as little as one second to be counted as an impression, and if the same piece shows up multiple times for one user, it’s logged as multiple impressions.  This means that if someone sees a brand post three times and scrolls past it immediately three times, the total count is three impressions. Conversely, if someone spends time reading a post, comments on it, shares it with their friends, and follows up by visiting the brand’s website, the total count is only one impression. The second example is indicative of more meaningful engagement, but counts less than the first. Impressions are unable to capture these nuances in user interaction, and fail to effectively qualify the relationship between a brand and its audience.  AVE pins the value of PR on its equivalent financial cost in units of comparable ad space. This is a false equivalence—there are significant differences between modern PR and the ads of the past that inspired AVE in the first place. PR is about a lot more than media mentions and product spotlights.  While these features are important, they need to be analyzed with more than mere tally marks. AVE doesn’t even begin to measure the deeper impact of media coverage, such as how it impacts brand awareness, perception, and understanding. AVE devalues the real power of earned media, failing to track long-term impacts on brand credibility, customer loyalty, and audience reach.  Smarter Ways to Measure PR Value in 2025 There are better, smarter ways to measure PR value in 2025 than sinking time and effort into flawed tools like impressions and AVE. Impact-based metrics that are growing in popularity include: How PR Supports Full-Funnel Marketing Goals PR is not just about buzz-building—with the right team on your side, it’s a business growth function. There’s a clear pathway from brand awareness→ consideration → conversion. This is known as the marketing funnel of the current digital age. Potential clients have to hear about your brand before they can begin to consider the products or services you offer. If you have a comprehensive PR strategy that includes clear messaging in line with your mission statement and core values, any media coverage you get will positively impact both the awareness and consideration stage.  It’s the best way possible to ensure your target audience hears a story that resonates with them, sparking their interest in your brand. Once they feel a connection to your brand, they’ll be much more likely to take the next step when they hear about your brand again in the future—whether that means subscribing to your website, making a purchase, or checking out your services. Done correctly, PR drives

Shoppable Content Is the Future of Brand Storytelling—Here’s How to Do It Right

When we scroll through our social media feeds today, we’re not just seeing ads that link to brand websites anymore — we’re seeing actual, current products in posts and videos that can be purchased with just a few clicks, often without even leaving Instagram or Tiktok. Instead of just saving items to a Pinterest wishlist board, we can now buy them in real time.  This is the power of shoppable content. It’s a compelling marketing tool that merges editorial storytelling with ecommerce functionality. Even better, it doesn’t have to be overly promotional or brand-diluting. When executed thoughtfully as part of a strategic marketing plan, shoppable content will strengthen the connection between your brand and your audience, fostering a seamless user experience that is both authentic and engaging. This article will dive into the ins and outs of shoppable content: how to do it well, what mistakes to avoid, and how to get started.  What Is Shoppable Content—and Why Does It Matter Now? Shoppable content turns blogs, images, videos, and social media posts into real-time sales tools. It refers to any kind of content spotlighting products that enables viewers or readers to purchase those products directly while they interact with the content. Shoppable content meets consumers where they already are: reading, scrolling, and watching. It shortens the path to purchase while keeping trust intact.  Ten years ago, you might have seen an ad for a handbag you liked in a magazine. You might have added it to a mental wishlist and then forgotten about it in a few days. Now, imagine seeing a handbag you like in a shortform video on Instagram. You see a brand ambassador showing off the handbag in a stylized videoshoot, highlighting its spacious storage and quality construction. With one click, you’re directed to a checkout page on the very same platform where you stumbled upon the video. The bag is yours before you have a chance to forget you saw it.  This kind of shopping experience is more important now than ever. There are millions of products available online, and a small brand can easily get lost in the crowd. Shoppable content is your brand’s chance to stand out. It taps into the modern consumer’s desire for instant gratification: purchasing the exact product you see right when you see it. Best of all, the entire shopping process can take place from the comfort of the customer’s couch.  Shoppable content isn’t just about providing a convenient, low-stress form of retail therapy. It’s also an opportunity for a brand to find its audience. Potential customers aren’t going to click on and buy every single product they come across on their feed. They’re much more likely to be interested in products that tell a story, and that hook them through unique, engaging content. Brands that see the most success from shoppable content will not only engineer an effortless pathway from first viewing to final checkout, but also draw customers in with consistent, high-quality storytelling.  Formats That Work Shoppable content is a very flexible marketing strategy that can easily be customized based on your brand voice, projected audience, and individual products or services. There are a variety of formats that can host shoppable content, including: Why Shoppable Content Converts Better Than Traditional Ads Shoppable content is truly marketing for the modern age. It supports a 21st Century retail journey. Readers and viewers are already engaged—in fact, they’re just a click away. They’re actively scrolling, browsing, and interacting with content already. Making a purchase in this context is a natural extension of the content engagement experience.  Traditional ads have lost their luster in recent years. A generic, static advertisement for a brand as a whole on a billboard, newspaper, or postcard doesn’t hold a candle to the more dynamic possibilities of shoppable social media content. Digital advertisements are better at capturing attention, and also at forming lasting connections.  Shoppable content provides value through recommendations, not just sales language. It’s not just a brand’s carefully curated slogan on a piece of paper telling you that you should check them out. You’re also seeing influencer partnerships, real customer reviews, and other forms of user generated content that expand the scope of the brand/consumer relationship.  This marketing strategy can start off as a brand posting photos and videos of a few core products, and then take off as these products spark interest and gain traction online, encouraging trendsetters and fans to try them out and post their own content highlighting their feedback. Over time, shoppable content builds brand credibility. The more content out there spotlighting a brand’s products, and the more positive buzz generated by interacting with this content, the more likely consumers are to trust the brand and view it as a worthwhile investment.  What Makes Shoppable Content Actually Effective There’s a big difference between link-dumping and creating thoughtful, elevated shoppable content that functions as a high-performing media asset. The difference lies in how the content is created. Here are a few key elements that make for effective shoppable content: Examples of Shoppable Content Done Right (and Why They Work) Example 1:  A “10 Things I Pack for Every Trip” list  Consider a listicle published in June offering readers an essential packing list for summer trips.  10 categories are outlined, including sunscreen, a travel phone charger, reusable water bottle, sunglasses, packing cubes, and swimwear. Each category naturally links to essential products that readers could take on their own summer getaway.  This piece taps into a common experience — getting ready for a fun summer vacation. It provides helpful recommendations for products that readers will actually get use out of – sunscreen to prevent sunburn, packing cubes to organize their belongings, and a water bottle to stay hydrated. Each product has a clear use, and readers will be tempted to purchase these items to enhance their own travel plans.  Example 2:  A “Get Ready With Me” video  Here, an influencer posts a ‘Get Ready With Me’ video doing a full face of makeup

Why Earned Media Value Is Broken—and What Brands Should Measure Instead

Earned media value (EMV) assigns a monetary value to the media mentions and press coverage your brand receives. EMV was once considered an essential tool for measuring the impact of a public relations strategy, but it has become a misleading, outdated metric in modern PR. While EMV can look impressive in a wrap-up deck, it often fails to show true brand impact.  There are smarter, more actionable metrics brands can measure instead to get a more comprehensive (and accurate) picture of what a PR strategy is doing in practice. Agencies like LaRue are at the forefront of this movement to focus on what actually matters. When it comes to visualizing the impact of PR in action, your brand can do much better than EMV.   What Is Earned Media Value—And Where Did It Come From? Earned media is an umbrella term referring to all of the third-party media coverage a brand gets that they don’t pay for themselves. Examples include online product reviews, customer social media posts about brand products or services, magazine or newspaper features, or blog write-ups. Essentially, earned media is all of the digital word-of-mouth marketing your brand receives. Earned media value attempts to calculate the dollar value of all of this unpaid coverage.  EMV is computed by estimating the dollar amount of paid advertising it would take to achieve the same level of coverage. This metric has roots in ad value equivalency (AVE), a similar practice used in traditional PR campaigns. AVE estimates the value of earned media by calculating how much it would cost to buy a traditional ad of a size or reach that would achieve the same coverage. As pieces of earned media gain traction online, and media impressions accumulate, they’re often “valued” with AVE by multiplying ad rates.  In recent years, AVE has been heavily criticized for failing to capture the true value of media mentions. AVE and EMV alike are all about measuring surface level metrics, such as number of impressions or mentions. They fail to provide a deeper look at how coverage is received, and how it relates to key factors like brand awareness and customer loyalty.  The rise of influencer marketing gave EMV new life, but not necessarily new rigor. EMV became a popular metric for measuring the value of influencer marketing campaigns, but it has significant limitations. While an influencer campaign may appear to have a large EMV at a glance, this so-called ‘value’ doesn’t automatically translate into actual sales for the brand in question. An influencer’s product post might go viral for a few days and get hundreds of thousands of views, but fail to increase sales of the product. EMV also fails to offer a nuanced look at the demographics of the audience making up those views, and a consideration of how the campaign fulfilled other kinds of goals such as meaningful engagement or brand recognition. Why Earned Media Value Is a Broken Metric EMV is all about volume over impact. In today’s digital space, volume is easy to overestimate and impact is too important to ignore. EMV often comes up with overinflated numbers based on shaky formulas (i.e. impressions x an arbitrary multiplier). One of its biggest drawbacks is that it completely fails to account for the quality of coverage. It doesn’t differentiate between brand name drops and full features.  Further, EMV ignores what really matters: whether anyone remembers, clicks through, or converts. It can easily be overinflated and gamed by sheer volume, not resonance. EMV can measure the height of a piece of media’s coverage, but it simply cannot capture its depth. In the current media landscape, it’s essential to consider the lasting impact of any marketing campaign.  The Vanity of Big Numbers A $3M EMV headline doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t shift behavior. A social media post or media feature could generate flashy metrics over the course of a couple days, contributing to a large EMV. If this valuation doesn’t translate into actual results, however, it’s not actually that valuable to the brand at the end of the day. Before launching any campaign or evaluating any coverage, a brand should set specific goals, such as increasing sales of a certain product, driving traffic to the website, or achieving meaningful audience engagement online. Whether or these goals are met is far more important than what dollar value a questionable formula can generate.  What Brands Should Measure Instead Fortunately, there are much better metrics available that can provide a more complete picture of the value of earned media. The metrics that are best for a particular case can vary based on goal and channel, but they are all tied to meaningful outcomes. Consider these tangible, strategic alternatives to EMV:  Brand Lift Brand lift is an increase in positive sentiments towards your brand following media coverage. Surveys or social listening can track perception changes. Media mentions should move the needle on how your audience sees you—in a good way. Brand lift can help you visualize just how far the needle moves. Traffic Quality It’s vital to look beyond clicks alone to consider additional factors such as bounce rate, time on site, and pages per visit. A hundred visitors spending less than a few seconds on your site doesn’t compare to twenty visitors spending at least ten minutes getting to know your brand and actually making a purchase. Good press should bring curious, engaged visitors—not just random traffic spikes.  Affiliate ROI and Sales Attribution For shoppable or affiliate-driven content, track what actually sells. Paying attention to affiliate links can help you pinpoint exactly what sales can be traced back to which affiliates. This can inform future affiliate marketing efforts. Great press combined with a strong call-to-action generates measurable ROI. Long-Tail Relevance PR isn’t always immediate—it’s about reputation equity over time. Tracking long-term effects of coverage and campaigns should definitely be part of the equation. Coverage can drive value months later (via search, evergreen linkbacks, or referral traffic), and that value can and should be followed as

From Backlash to Bounce-Back: What Smart Brands Get Right About Crisis PR

Now more than ever, the expression “any publicity is good publicity” does not hold true. Any brand knows that today, not all press is good press. Every brand is one headline away from a crisis. Whether it’s an interview gone wrong, an unexpected soundbite, or a well-intentioned social media post that reaches the wrong audience, the backlash is often swift and overwhelming.  While it might be impossible to predict the next controversy, you can take steps to prepare your future response. Crisis PR is not just about dealing with a crisis after it’s already unfolded. It’s also about developing a plan for handling potential crises, and working to prevent them from occurring in the first place. This article offers a deep dive into the key principles of crisis PR, a look at real-life crisis PR in action, and how agencies like LaRue can help clients navigate the firestorm.  What Is Crisis PR—And Why It’s More Than Damage Control At its core, crisis PR aims to preserve or rebuild a brand’s reputation before, during, or after a crisis has occurred. The goal is to restore a positive public perception of the brand, work to foster renewed trust, and try to repair the customer-brand relationship. That said, crisis PR is about more than just reacting to a disaster or major brand mistake. It’s also about taking a proactive approach by planning for crises before they happen and developing procedures for dealing with them.  The stakes today are higher than ever. Between cancel culture, social media, and the 24/7 news cycle, there are more opportunities to make mistakes and have these missteps broadcasted in front of a large-scale audience. A crisis PR agency offers both outside perspective and operational speed when it matters most. Tensions tend to run high within a company during a crisis. Crisis PR agencies come up with solutions from an objective point of view, providing a clear path through the storm to the other side. With focused expertise, crisis PR agencies are also equipped with dedicated resources that can help you navigate challenging situations in a timely manner, one step at a time. The Brands That Got It Right (And Why) There are no shortage of real-life brand crises to point to when highlighting the importance of an experienced crisis PR agency. The brands that tend to endure once the smoke clears are those that handle the crisis with transparency and clarity. Here are two examples of smart brand crisis responses: The Tide Pod Challenge In early 2018, the so-called “Tide Pod Challenge” started to gain popularity on social media, tasking teens with posting themselves placing the detergent pods in their mouths and biting into them. Evidently, Tide had a crisis on its hands- its pods are in no way edible, and viral videos were popping up across platforms encouraging their consumption. In response, Tide partnered with football star Rob Gronkowski to film a public service announcement that made it clear tide pods were not for eating.  Tide kept all of their social media posts on the subject brief, focused, and clear: tide pods are for cleaning laundry, not consuming. Their response was quick and multi-pronged. Their CEO released a statement asking family members to talk to their teens and explain that their safety is more important than a moment of viral attention. The Tide social media team also responded to various consumer posts urging them to immediately contact poison control or seek medical attention if they had participated in the challenge. Crock-Pot and This is Us Crock-Pot became an overnight villain after an episode of the popular TV show This is Us aired in January 2018, featuring the death of beloved character Jack Pearson following a house fire started by an old, faulty slow cooker. Across message boards and social media platforms, a discourse rapidly started to spread that Crock-Pots were unsafe and that the appliances should be discarded.  At the time, the Crock-Pot brand didn’t have a social media presence. To address rampant criticism of their brand, they created a social media account under the handle ‘CrockPotCares’. They posted a message that directly referenced the TV show, honoring the character. At the same time, they also highlighted their decades-long track record in appliance safety and assured customers that this was a highly unlikely, fictional event in a show.  In the days after the episode aired, the Crock-Pot social media team continued to respond to posts expressing concern or fear about the appliance in relation to the show by acknowledging their feelings and providing reassurance that Crock-Pots are in fact safe. In addition, Dan Fogelman, the creator of This is Us, made a post asking viewers not to blame Crock-Pot. Further, the brand partnered with the actor who played Jack Pearson, Milo Ventimiglia, to create a Super Bowl ad in favor of Crock-Pot, featuring the tagline ‘Crock-Pot is Innocent”.  Both of these examples represent an interesting type of crisis that is becoming more common in an increasingly digital age. In both cases, the brand itself didn’t do anything to cause public outcry. Their products were used or featured in an unintended way through media, and this resulted in unintended consequences. Both of these brands were able to handle an unexpected crisis well, and came out the other side without suffering an overwhelming hit to their reputations. Certain core aspects of their PR response helped support this outcome, including:  What They Did Right Both Tide and Crock-Pot controlled the narrative without sounding defensive. This is especially impressive considering these are crises they could not have anticipated. Instead of blaming the teenagers who started the challenge or the show writers who created the episode, each brand turned their attention to the crisis at hand and prioritized safety over blame. Both brands used existing values to guide the response, emphasizing consumer protection. Additionally, their social media teams both implemented a cohesive communication strategy that went beyond the initial post addressing the crisis, continuing to follow-up by replying to consumer posts

The Best Soundbites Aren’t Scripted—They’re Trained

In the current digital landscape, it’s essential to make every media exposure opportunity your brand gets count. Of course, you don’t just want your brand to stand out—you want to stand out for the right reasons. With a little extra preparation, you’ll be better equipped to handle any interview or media interaction that comes your way.  The difference between a headline-making interview and a PR flop often comes down to how well someone is media trained—not how “natural” they are. Media training isn’t just about avoiding saying the wrong thing—it’s about learning how to say the right things in a clear, concise way. This article will cover what effective media training really looks like, and why it’s indispensable in today’s attention economy. What Is Media Training—And Why It Matters More Than Ever When your favorite celebrity handles an uncomfortable question with grace or deftly sidesteps a controversial topic in an interview, you’ll likely see media training mentioned in the comment section. Media training, however, is not just for your favorite actors or musicians. It’s a crucial tool for brands and working professionals too.  Media training is not about memorizing a script. Instead, it’s about knowing how to communicate with clarity, confidence, and composure. These are versatile skills that can be applied across a variety of situations. With media training under your belt, you’ll be prepared to tackle any interview, speech, or digital communication that you’re faced with.  In a world of soundbites, livestreams, and TikTok callouts, one misstep can go viral. Effective media training helps leaders and spokespeople embody brand values without sounding robotic. Media training is about more than maintaining a running list of talking points or checking off certain boxes in each media appearance.  At its core, media training is an exercise in storytelling. The first goal of media training is to help you isolate the messages, values, and storytelling elements that are the foundation of your brand. The second goal is to help you learn how to adapt your message to the situation at hand. Your brand voice should stay consistent, even as you adjust your tone and content based on the format you’re engaging with. Whether you’re getting ready for an on-air interview, a magazine feature, or commenting on the brand’s social account, media training can help you represent your brand in a positive, cohesive light.  Scripted vs. Strategic: The Misconception About “Overtraining” It’s a common misconception that media training makes people sound inauthentic or robotic. When done thoughtfully, the goal of media training is not to eliminate personality—it’s to anchor it with intention. It’s not about memorizing a series of canned responses. Instead, it’s about internalizing strategies for answering questions and communicating your brand’s key messages and overall identity.  A media-trained spokesperson knows how to pivot, reframe, and recover in real time. If an unexpected question arises, media training aims to provide a better solution than pausing, freezing up, or blurting out the first answer that comes to mind. Media training allows you to handle both expected and unexpected topics with the same calm, consistent approach.  At the end of the day, “natural” delivery doesn’t mean “winging it”—it means rehearsed to the point of comfort. Instead of going over a set list of potential interview questions again and again, media training might look like nailing down a list of core values or relevant ideas you want to highlight across platforms and practicing talking about them. Coming up with relatable examples or engaging anecdotes that help you tell a better story about your brand is also a valuable aspect of media training.  All in all, the preparation should be geared towards improving your ability to authentically communicate. And, it should be tailored towards your unique brand goals and voice: with consistency as an underlying objective, not robotic delivery. The more you practice, the more flexibility you should start to develop in your ability to respond and adapt. Instead of repeating the same words over and over again, you should learn to incorporate the same core values and messages throughout a variety of different responses and get comfortable switching up your answers while portraying a consistent narrative.  When Media Moments Go Right (and Why) Media moments that reflect well on companies, brands, or individuals often have certain key features in common. They are typically achieved by maintaining composure, staying humble, and being cordial. Here are a few examples of what effective media moments can look like: Picture a founder of a lifestyle company heading out to what they hope will be a friendly Q&A session. While the session starts off with some easy questions about how the company started and what’s on the horizon, a few more challenging questions are also pitched. The founder is asked how their company compares to similar competitors, if they have a sustainability initiative, and how they are handling concerns about the ethics of their mission. A founder without media training might get rattled by these more complex questions. Fortunately, this founder was able to draw on media training to expertly answer these questions with the careful consideration they deserve, highlighting the unique company features that set them apart from their competitors, including existing sustainability measures, an ethical approach to business, and future initiatives to continue improving.  Imagine a CEO holding a press conference announcing the launch of a new wellness product. As part of the event, the CEO is also asked about a past product that had to be pulled off the market. Without providing excuses, the CEO states in plain language what went wrong with that product, and what steps have been taken to prevent similar mistakes from occurring moving forward. The CEO accepts responsibility for the company’s past shortcomings and highlights the solutions that are being actively implemented to ensure future products can be trusted.  Consider an influencer pulling off a successful interview for a snack brand. The influencer is both friendly and professional, connecting with the audience while completing the task at hand. The influence is asked

5 Key Tips For Every Newbie Working in PR

So you just started your career in public relations and you’re looking for some tips to get the ball rolling and hone your craft. Luckily, you’ve landed in the right place! We spoke to the PR experts here at LaRue and gathered five key tips for anyone learning the ropes of the public relations industry. Pitch From a Journalist’s Perspective When you’re writing a pitch, be sure to think to yourself, “If I were an editor, would I want to write this story?” Thinking about your pitch objectively can help spot potential areas of weakness and think of ways to engage your reader beyond just giving them the basic information. Does your pitch contain an interesting hook? Is the subject line enticing enough for the editor to open and read? And potentially more importantly, is your writing clear and free of any misinterpretation or misspellings? Here are a few more questions you can ask yourself to ensure that you are pitching from a journalist’s perspective: Set Realistic Expectations for Clients Over-promising almost always sets you up for everyone’s worst nightmare: under-delivering. Don’t over-promise or guarantee placements quickly if you feel it will take some time to build up to secure press. Setting realistic expectations for your client keeps everyone on the same page and ensures that all parties generally know what to expect out of the relationship. Good things take time, right? Another way you can set those expectations with your client is to share an estimate on approximately when the client can expect press to start going live. Additionally, keeping the client up-to-date on media feedback, pending interest, and passes will make certain that they’re aware of the progress. Do Your Due Diligence Do your due diligence on the industry you’re pitching. If you’re looking for unique ways to pitch your clients for consideration, you must understand the trends and current event items that are happening within that industry. While that may sound daunting at first, think of yourself as becoming a jack of all trades. Another way to do your due diligence is by always considering these two questions: Has something recently gone viral on social or in the media that your client can speak to? And, does your client have a product that can fall into a social media trend? To be sure you are always in the know, you can set up Google alerts for specific keywords or follow relevant press/industry leaders in the space so you can keep up on all the latest news in real time. Research the Editor Like our first tip of pitching from a journalist’s perspective, researching their background is imperative to scoring press for your client! Be sure to research the editor as much as you can to ensure you are sending valid pitches for the subject they cover. You can look into the editor’s niche via programs like Muck Rack, Cision, or social media platforms like LinkedIn! You should also confirm the editor’s niche by reading their recent articles. To personalize your pitches, customize outreach based on what you’ve learned about the editor. This shows that you understand them, their work, and their beat! Show Appreciation As someone pursuing a career in PR, you are likely aware of how busy reporters can be! So when working with a reporter, make sure to let them know that their time and effort are appreciated. Sending a short thank you note, even if the reporter choses to pass on your story, is a smart practice. Feedback is precious, so whether they are going to write that lead story or shared why they are passing, be grateful for the response! Click here

6 Reasons Why Your Brand Needs an Affiliate Marketing Agency in 2025

It’s 2025 and your DTC brand is interested in affiliate marketing. You probably have questions galore; what exactly is affiliate marketing? Will my brand benefit from it? What is the best, next step? LaRue has the answers! Here are six reasons why affiliate marketing should be part of your marketing mix in 2025. Here are six reasons why Affiliate Marketing should be part of your marketing mix in 2025: Increase brand exposure and awareness Drive incremental ROI Produce a new revenue stream for your business Increase the opportunity for publishers to talk about your brand Use data to drive future relationships Develop and foster long-term mutual relationships Increase Brand Exposure and Awareness Your brand is amazing, and everyone should know about it. By starting an affiliate program with an experienced affiliate agency, brand awareness will grow. Each affiliate link placement is a touchpoint for your end consumers to become more exposed to your product or service. And when the publisher is a coveted top-tier publication, even better as it becomes an invaluable recommendation from a trusted source. Shoppers love to search high-value SEO product review sites with terms like “best of (product/service)” or “brand/product reviews.” Plus, most publications are already looking for affiliate-ready products to feature in their shopping recommendations and shoppable content, so it’s a match made in heaven. Partners like Capital One Shopping, Rakuten, and TopCashback have millions of active and loyal users, and brands can tap into these audiences by offering the shopper a reward to incentivize purchase. Drive Incremental ROI A well-run, full-funnel affiliate program is more than just a great review on a top review site. In fact, there is a wide spectrum of publisher types that can capture new customer sales! Coupon and loyalty sites can be leveraged to maximize new-to-file customers or drive a higher order value. Outside of traditional affiliates in the content, loyalty, and coupon verticals, brands can establish affiliate partnerships with: Cart abandonment and retargeting partners to increase onsite conversions Buy Now, Pay Later publishers (especially if there is already an onsite integration as a payment solution) Paid search affiliates to help complement a brand’s own PPC campaigns Employee benefits and reward malls (including perk hubs for military members, nurses, first responders, etc.) Produce a New Revenue Stream For Your Business Working with an affiliate marketing agency can produce a new revenue stream for your business! According to the affiliate experts at LaRue, a full-funnel affiliate marketing program can account for 10–15% of a brand’s total e-commerce revenue. Unlike Google Ads or Facebook Ads, affiliate is a performance-driven channel where brands only pay publishers a commission if an affiliate click converts to an online purchase. As a result, affiliate marketing is often one of the most profitable channels for advertisers to invest in. Increase the Opportunity for Publishers to Talk About You Getting in front of the right publishers can prove to be difficult. However, an affiliate agency will already have the publisher relationships to truly drive a program. Working with an agency that also has a PR arm is like having the best of both worlds. While PR does what they do best, the affiliate channel helps ensure every placement is fully supported and tracked through affiliate links. Reminder: Offering competitive CPAs (that’s affiliate speak for publisher commissions) increases the likelihood of inclusions in editorial articles, product reviews/roundups, listicles, gift guides, and more! Use Data to Drive Future Relationship Decisions Data is everything and if you’re like us, you can’t live without it. And in most cases, the smartest decisions are data-driven! Affiliate Marketing allows brands to track key metrics from PR-driven content placements, as well as measure the incrementality of working with traditional affiliates across all verticals (for example loyalty, sub-affiliate networks, influencers, coupons). Measurable affiliate KPIs include topline revenue growth, traffic (affiliate clicks), conversion rate, AOV, ROAS, new customer acquisition, revenue distribution by publisher type, and more! A dedicated affiliate team at an agency will have the knowledge and industry expertise to analyze those KPIs and make strategic recommendations on commissioning strategies, as well as leverage publisher relationships to help brands meet their goals. Develop and Foster Long-term Mutual Relationships Affiliate Marketing is fundamentally a relationship-driven marketing channel and if you want to develop your relationship with industry content creators, hiring an affiliate management agency that specializes in establishing and cultivating those relationships is imperative. It takes time to build and nurture relationships with publishers, so brands should plan to budget for at least a year of dedicated affiliate management to achieve the best results. Another huge positive aspect of having an affiliate agency doing your footwork is that they can create unique ways to work with influencers and publishers, making your brand stand out amongst the fray. Hiring a specialty affiliate agency is one of the smartest strategic moves you can make for your brand. If you’re looking for an agency that does both Affiliate Marketing and PR, look no further than LaRue. With a team full of PR and Affiliate Marketing experts, we’re mastering performance-driven media strategies like it’s second nature. But that’s because it is! Let’s work together.