No matter what the size of your business, using a mix of different media types is a highly effective way to build brand awareness.
Media types are generally described as three main categories: paid, owned and earned. Each media type offers different amounts of reach and scalability and uses different amounts of budget, time and effort to create an impact.
Combining paid, earned and owned media is important to make sure the right audience sees your content and that enough numbers of the right audience see your content. Achieving that balance will deliver your business stronger brand awareness and better lead generation.
What are the differences between paid, owned and earned media?
There’s no doubt that blending all three media types will help grow your brand, attract new business and keep existing customers. While all three are valuable components of any marketing and PR plan, it’s important to understand the differences between each media type.
Paid media is when you pay money to use a third-party channel to share your messages. Examples include sponsorships, paid search results and paid advertising on websites or social media networks.
Owned media defines the content types across locations your business fully controls. The most obvious example of owned media is your website. Blogs, social media channels and company created podcasts, which extend your online presence beyond your website, are also examples of owned media.
Earned media describes any content generated for your brand that you haven’t written, or paid for, directly. This media type is always published by a third-party, such as media organisations, analysts or customers. It is defined as ‘earned’ because when third parties like what you’re saying or doing so much, they’re prepared to publicly endorse your brand. That is, you have ‘earned’ their mention. Examples of earned media include press releases, influencers, social media posts, a news story, radio interview or a TV segment.
How paid, owned and earned media can help your business
When growing a brand, it is rare for stand-alone tactics to succeed. The same is true of paid, owned and earned media. Think of the three media types working together as a three-legged stool. Each has an individual role to play in amplifying brand awareness efforts, but each is also strengthened when integrated with the other media types and with the rest of your marketing strategy.
Paid media, because it’s possible to specifically target the unique audiences you want to reach, is ideal for reaching customers and prospects across every stage of your sales and marketing funnel.
Owned media is a powerful tactic to engage audiences who are already moving through your funnel. This audience already knows your brand and, therefore, are ready to consume content that is a layer deeper than brand awareness.
Earned media, by virtue of third parties talking about your brand, is ideal for attracting new audiences into the top of the sales and marketing funnel. Imagine how instrumental the right media outlet or influencer could be in spreading your brand’s reach to new audiences and boosting your brand’s credibility.
Does my business need all three media types?
This age-old marketing rule states that an audience needs interact with your brand an average of seven times before making a purchase. Following that logic, the more media types your business uses, the more likely your target audience is to see your brand and interact with your content.
It’s possible your audience will skim over content delivered through one media type, only to engage with it through another media type. For example, someone could easily miss your marketing message in their LinkedIn news feed, but if their favourite Instagram influencer mentions your brand, they suddenly notice your content.
Given that each media type influences a different part of the sales and marketing funnel, it’s recommended to integrate at least two, but preferably all three, media types into your PR plans.
Combining all three media types together provides a highly effective strategy to grow your brand awareness and generate leads.
The more media types you use to share your company’s messages, the more likely it is you’ll reach your target audience at the right point in their buying process to help nurture their interest or close a sale.
While successful businesses usually include all three media types in their PR plans, few start out with all three working smoothly together. It can take some trial and error to figure out what combination has most impact on your brand awareness plans.