Social media marketing may be efficient, but it isn’t free.

I don’t know Len Stein, but I know he’s right about this: earned media – AKA “free media,” publicity, editorial coverage, garnered coverage, or placements – by whatever name is not free.

Len is the founder of Visibility Public Relations in New Rochelle, N.Y., about 100 miles south of our PR firm. His recent blog brings out several points.

Engineering mentions in the growing amount of media – mainstream media (MSM) + social media – has become the pursuit of brand managers and marketers, as well as traditional public relations people.  Indeed, the marketers are “rapidly leaving the orbit of ‘paid media’,” Stein observes.

The growing body of media possibilities is the sum of the MSM, where professional editors and producers generate the content, and social media, where the online conversation among individuals is the content. This can be good or not so good.

It’s good, really good, when your company or brand gets mentioned by a third party. It’s considered authentic and it’s delivered in context without interrupting the publics. Such exposure happens when people like us engineer the coverage or stimulate conversations among people online.

Coverage is not so good when a few among all those people connecting with one another start complaining about you or your product. Their conversations can go viral, with the effects damaging and the outfall very, very costly. When that occurs, the professional MSM journalists can even begin covering the viral conversation. Just take a look at the “Motrin moms” fiasco.

Unfortunately they drive the conversation. You don’t.

Taking the steps to effectively manage social media takes time, and time is money, whether it’s done by an agency that sends an invoice or by employees on your payroll. Even the CEO writing late at night.