ShareIQ releases a free tool to measure the value of image-based earned media on Facebook

“Free” is always better when you get value.

That’s what a new and free tool from ShareIQ offers. The New York City- and Berlin-based company is out with a cloud-based self-service capability that lets brands find out the value of earned media on Facebook, assuming each earned media item has at least one visual element.

VP of Marketing Jonathan Gardner told me that, to his knowledge, this is the first free tool that lets brands calculate the value of their image-based earned media on that social platform.

Earned media — influencers’ posts, blog posts, articles resulting from public relations efforts and similar items — can be very valuable on Facebook, because of the emphasis placed by social platform’s news feed algorithm on such content, compared to paid media.

ShareIQ’s focus is the performance and optimization of visual content, and this tool only estimates the value of content that is or contains a visual of some kind. Here’s a sample screen of the Earned Media Value Report:

The tool employs an average CPM rate to assign a dollar value, but there is also a slider bar so the user can vary the CPM. To run a valuation, the brand gives the tool permission to access its Facebook page, a permission that can later be canceled.

Valuation is based on how many times media items with the brand’s name or image were loaded, shared, liked or engaged with during the selected month.

Gardner says that his company has been using this kind of tool internally for the last year or so as part of its professional service, and this is the first time it’s become available as a free self-service.