A rupee figure that estimates what the reach or engagement from organic or influencer content would have cost if you had bought it as ads. It is usually calculated as impressions times a CPM rate, sometimes plus a rupee value assigned to each engagement.
Formula
EMV = impressions ÷ 1,000 × CPM (+ engagements × value assigned per engagement)
Example
An influencer campaign got 80,000 impressions and 4,000 engagements. Using a CPM of ₹250 and ₹5 per engagement, EMV = (80,000 ÷ 1,000 × ₹250) + (4,000 × ₹5) = ₹20,000 + ₹20,000 = ₹40,000.
How you'll hear it
“The agency says the campaign delivered forty thousand in earned media value, but what did it sell?”
What it helps you decide
It is used to justify influencer, PR and organic budgets. Treat it with care: it should inform a decision only alongside sales, enquiries or another result that reaches the business.
Where people misread it
EMV is read as money earned. It is money you did not spend, priced by an assumed rate that the reporter chooses. Change the CPM or the value per engagement and EMV changes, with nothing different in the real world. It grew out of the PR metric advertising value equivalency, which measurement bodies have long criticised.
The story
Meera paid a creator ₹15,000 and gave her clothes worth ₹10,000 at retail, which cost Meera ₹3,000 (clothes cost 30% of selling price). Total cost: ₹18,000.
The agency report says: earned media value ₹40,000, a 2.2x return.
| 80,000 impressions at ₹250 CPM | ₹20,000 |
| 4,000 engagements at ₹5 each | ₹20,000 |
| Earned media value | ₹40,000 |
|---|
The ₹250 CPM and ₹5 per engagement were the agency's choices. At ₹125 CPM and ₹2.50 per engagement the same campaign would be worth ₹20,000 in EMV.
Meera looks at what actually happened. The creator's discount code was used 10 times, at her usual average order of ₹2,000.
| Sales from the code | +₹20,000 |
| Gross profit at 70% | +₹14,000 |
| Cost of the campaign | −₹18,000 |
| Profit after campaign cost | −₹4,000 |
|---|
Code sales undercount, since some customers walk in without the code. Still, the 2.2x was never a return. Meera now asks for code sales, store enquiries mentioning the creator, and profit after cost.
All figures are fictional and illustrative.
Compare EMV with what the campaign earned
The example's numbers are filled in. Replace them with yours.
EMV is above cost, yet traced sales did not cover the campaign. EMV is a notional figure, not money earned.
Don't confuse it with
- ROAS: revenue that ads actually brought, divided by ad spend.
- Earned media: the coverage itself; EMV is a price put on it.
Related terms
Want to use this at work? AI-led Social Media Excellence is aFactor's 16-week program for social media work.
Sources
- Frequently asked questions about Earned Media Value (EMV), Sprout Social Help
- Why EMV falls short and how VIT offers a better alternative, Traackr