# Earned media value

> Insights · Owner or Admin to configure · Settings → Admin → EMV · Reporting only · Canonical page: https://kindlinghq.com/docs/earned-media-value/

EMV puts a dollar figure on distribution you earned rather than bought, so advocacy can be compared against the paid channel it competes with for budget. It never affects what advocates are paid.

## What EMV is

A modelled figure: what buying the same reach on the same platform would have cost. It is an estimate built on your assumptions, not a measured outcome.

That does not make it useless. It makes it a comparison tool, and it needs to be labelled as one.

## How it is calculated

Base value is impressions at your benchmark CPM:

```
base EMV = impressions × (CPM rate ÷ 1,000)
```

One optional adjustment, the **engagement multiplier**. When it is switched on, likes, comments, and shares on each post are weighted, expressed as a rate against that post's impressions, and converted to a multiplier on a log scale so a single viral post does not dominate:

```
weighted engagements = likes × like weight + comments × comment weight + shares × share weight
engagement rate      = weighted engagements ÷ impressions
multiplier           = 1 + log10(1 + engagement rate × 100) × 0.5, capped at your maximum multiplier
EMV                  = base EMV × multiplier
```

Worked from that formula, a 1% weighted engagement rate gives a multiplier of about 1.15, 5% about 1.39, and 10% about 1.52. When the switch is off, or a post has no reported engagement, the multiplier is 1.0 and EMV equals base EMV.

EMV is calculated when a screen loads, not stored. Changing a setting changes every EMV figure, past and present, the next time you look.

## Configuring it

Settings → Admin → EMV. Owner and Admin only. The Admin tab is not shown to other roles, and the settings API rejects them.

| Setting | Default | Allowed range | Controls |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CPM rate | $50 | $1 to $500 | Your base cost per thousand impressions. The screen notes typical ranges of $30 to $80 for LinkedIn and $5 to $15 for Twitter |
| Engagement multiplier | On | On or off | Whether reported likes, comments, and shares raise EMV at all. Off means EMV is base EMV |
| Like weight | 1.0 | 0.1 to 10 | Relative value of a like |
| Comment weight | 3.0 | 0.1 to 10 | Relative value of a comment |
| Share weight | 2.0 | 0.1 to 10 | Relative value of a share |
| Maximum multiplier | 2.5 | 1 to 5 | Ceiling on the engagement boost. 2.5 means EMV can reach at most 2.5 times the base value |

The weights and maximum multiplier are only shown while the engagement multiplier is on.

## Where EMV appears

- **Dashboard.** The Earned media KPI, with its ROI multiple.
- **Analytics.** The EMV card: total, ROI multiple, average per post, actual spend, engagements.
- **AI assistant.** The `get_emv_report` tool returns the same figures together with the CPM benchmark and engagement weights that produced them. This is the only place the configuration is reported alongside the number.
- **Monthly report email.** Estimates EMV at a flat $10 CPM with no engagement multiplier. It does not use these settings, so it will not match the dashboard.

## Choosing a benchmark

Use what you actually pay on the platform your advocates post to, from your own ad accounts. If you buy LinkedIn at $45 CPM, set $45.

Do not use an aspirational figure or an industry average you found online. An inflated benchmark produces an EMV that impresses in a board deck and collapses under the first question about it.

## EMV-to-spend ratio

Total EMV divided by what you approved for advocates in the same range. A 5x ratio means each dollar bought reach you would have paid five dollars for. The ratio shows 0 when spend is 0.

The ratio is only as credible as the benchmark. Halve the benchmark and the ratio halves, with nothing about the program having changed.

## Using it honestly

EMV measures **reach**, not pipeline, revenue, or intent. It answers what this would have cost to buy, and nothing else.

The argument for advocacy does not rest on EMV. It rests on a customer being more believable than an ad, which no CPM comparison captures. EMV is useful for the budget conversation. It is not the case.

State your benchmark whenever you present the number. A stated assumption is defensible; a bare multiple is not.

## FAQ

### Is EMV real money?

No. It is a modelled comparison to what paid media would have cost.

### Why is my EMV higher than my spend?

That is the normal result, and the point. Earned distribution costs less than bought distribution.

### What if my advocates do not report engagement?

Likes, comments, and shares are optional on a submission. A post with none reported gets a multiplier of 1.0. If almost nobody reports engagement, switch the engagement multiplier off rather than reading meaning into a sparse signal.

### Does EMV affect what advocates are paid?

No. Payment is impressions against the program's CPM rate, capped at the post cap. EMV is reporting only.

### Why does the monthly report email show a different EMV?

It uses a flat $10 CPM and ignores your settings. Use the dashboard or analytics figure when the two disagree.

Questions about the calculation: support@kindlinghq.com.