What should happen after earned coverage publishes?

Share useful coverage with the people it can help: customers, prospects, candidates, employees, partners, or investors. Choose the follow-up based on the article's substance and your goal, then agree who will do it. A good article can support more than launch-day excitement.

Start with the published piece itself. Read it before deciding how to describe or reuse it.

Match the article to a real use

Fictional example: A trade article explains a startup's product and includes a customer's experience. The sales team might share the link with prospects asking the same question. A founder profile may be more useful for candidates trying to understand the company.

Neither needs to be turned into a campaign across every channel.

Ask the agency which uses it recommends and whether that work is included. A social post, customer email, sales follow-up, licensed reprint, and paid promotion can involve different people and costs.

Preserve what the article actually says

Describe the coverage accurately. A quote from a customer is not the publisher's endorsement. A mixed review should not be promoted as an unqualified recommendation.

Keep independent reporting, contributed articles, sponsored content, and release pickups identifiable. People should understand what they are looking at.

If an employee, investor, creator, or other partner promotes the article, relevant commercial connections may need disclosure. The FTC's endorsement guidance explains the U.S. considerations.

Check rights before reproducing material

Sharing a link and reproducing an article, photograph, video, or publisher logo are different uses. The company does not automatically own material because it appears in coverage about the company.

Check the publisher's terms or available license for the reuse you want. The U.S. Copyright Office says there is no fixed number of words or percentage that automatically makes a use fair. Ask counsel about uncertain commercial uses.

If a license or paid promotion is proposed, understand the scope, duration, fee, and any removal obligation before spending.

Keep the follow-up useful and current

A simple plan may be enough: who will share the link, with whom, and why. If you pay to amplify it, set a budget and decide what response would justify the spend.

Report the original coverage separately from later posts, ads, clicks, or inquiries. Useful follow-up can contribute to a customer journey, but an increase in traffic alone does not establish revenue caused by the article.

Revisit promoted material when the publisher changes it, the underlying claim becomes outdated, or a license expires. The goal is to help people make sense of the business, not keep an old favorable headline circulating indefinitely.

Use PR metrics to judge the results and what you keep for ownership questions.