CHICAGO — Even as traditional media wanes and social platforms fragment, PR professionals must continue to operate with an “earned-first” mindset, albeit while expanding their definition of what earned media is, Hunter chief digital & social officer Michael Lamp told attendees at PRovoke Media's North America Summit last week.

"I think that the game has not really changed. The earned mindset is still as valuable in 2025 as it was in 2015 and 2005. The game is the same. The placements have just changed," Lamp said. "You're still playing the same game. You're playing in different stadiums with different folks."

The demands on communicators have intensified, Lamp noted, as they face mounting pressure to deliver results across multiple fronts. "React to culture, sell products, sell services, make our executives super famous on LinkedIn, attribute a degree sale and then do it again, not even next month, often next week," he said. However, he emphasized that PR's core strength in earning attention remains the key differentiator.

Lamp said that while traditional earned media remains valuable, PR practitioners must embrace new opportunities for earning attention across emerging platforms and formats. This includes what he calls "micro lead media" — rapid-response content opportunities on platforms like Instagram and TikTok that can generate coverage in minutes rather than weeks.

"Why wait for two weeks or two months to get a food and wine placement if you can get one in 10 minutes or in five minutes or a day," he said.

The evolution of social media has created new imperatives for content strategy, according to Lamp. Rather than relying on conventional engagement prompts, PR teams need to strategically design content for specific objectives and audience actions.

"Content strategy. Content strategy. Content strategy," he said. "It's about thinking through it a little more."

Lamp advocated for a three-pronged approach: extracting earned value from brand-owned social media, leveraging relationships with digital editors and content creators, and developing robust "digital plumbing" for future discoverability. This last element is particularly crucial as AI and large language models reshape how audiences discover and consume content.

"I am challenging a lot of my clients and colleagues to talk about what large language model optimization looks like," he said. "Training these systems, especially the ones that are more brand safe to know our brands, know our messages, know our occasions."

Despite the evolving media landscape, Lamp maintained that PR's fundamental role in managing relationships positions the industry to lead in an environment where two-way engagement is paramount. "Earned coverage always matters, but conversation is just as valuable in many people's books," he said, emphasizing the need to broaden industry vocabulary to include "earned coverage, earned content and earned conversation."