Paid, owned and earned media: what does your brand need?

Is your business is doing really well – are your products and services having a positive return on investment? Are you ready to take your venture to the next level, yet you are unsure which channels to promote it on and how to integrate all of them and maximise the effect? Here are some tips.

Traditionally, when we talk about promoting a business, marketing and advertising come to mind. While marketing involves understanding the market, choosing the product that meets the needs and selling it, advertising is all about reaching a wide range of audience using mass media. Until recently, these two practices were frequently used to help create awareness among the consumers. However, industry professionals are now starting to adopt a new practice. If you have read our recommended books, you will have heard the terms: paid, owned and earned media.

What are they?
According to Marketing guru Nick Burcher, marketing and advertising are now being defined by the mantra of paid, owned, earned. This trilogy is made up of:

• Paid media: paid placements that promote a product, website, or piece of content, for example TV commercials and Facebook ads. This is the category that advertising falls into.
• Owned media: any asset owned by the brand. In the digital world, it can be a website, social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, an Android or iOS app. This, however, varies greatly from business to business. For example, if your business is in FMCG, your branded trucks and vending machines are your owned media or an airline can use boarding passes as owned media.
• Earned media: brand-related consumer actions and conversations. Obvious examples are media coverage of your business or your products in newspapers and magazines. It can also be a product review by a famous blogger on YouTube or the hashtags consumers create to talk about your brand.

How do they work?
Basically, the three channels must be used and integrated in all campaigns. Paid media is often advertising, owned media includes, but is not limited to, corporate websites and social media, and earned media often comprises PR activities.

The reason these new terms have become increasingly popular is because of the changing nature of consumers. They are not simply the ‘recipients’ of a company’s advertising activities anymore. In fact, the consumer co-generates content with their favourite brands through the internet and social media platforms. In order to influence the consumer, brands need to use all three channels at the same time. Paid media creates awareness, earned media will create credibility for your brand through the media and your owned media will keep them engaged with your brand. They all support one another. Just advertising or marketing is no longer enough.

So, where should I start first?
Ideally you will use the three channels for your brand immediately. But if you are unable to do so at the moment, either due to lack of human or financial resources, there are different ways to approach it.

If your brand or core product or service is relatively new to the market, you could consider investing heavily in paid channels first. This is to make sure the product USPs and core messages are spread as much as possible. Then, when customers are aware of your brand, you can modify the budget and move on to owned channels such as social media to engage them with online conversations, ultimately creating brand loyalty. After that, earned media will come naturally as now customers will start talking about your brand online. Journalists as well are part of the online community, and will pick up on your newsworthy online topics and decide if they will approach your brand.

However, if your brand needs a high degree of credibility and trust, for example with medical services or new technology solutions, earned media must be the priority for the strategy. Remember: consumers are no longer passive. They proactively research a brand of interest, dig everywhere on the internet to find out more about a service or a product, especially if it’s something related to their wellbeing. If you don’t have any online reviews or a feature story about your products, it’s unlikely that they will pick up your products.

Whatever you do, keep in mind that working across paid, owned and earned channels is always about consistency and commitment. Whichever channel you decide to take on first, the two other channels need to follow up in later stages. No campaigns are successful using one channel alone.

Have a look at the book Paid, Owned, Earned: Maximising Marketing Returns in a Socially Connected World by Nick Burcher if you want to find out more. Or you can follow us at @GrainCreative for any assistance you might need!