Building a business? You’re going to need media. But a quick look at the concept will tell you it’s a very deep topic. Is a paid media strategy your ticket to success? Should you focus on earned media?
The key here is strategy. A successful digital strategy never relies on one narrow tactic. Instead, it keeps a variety of them at the ready, utilizing paid and earned media strategies that work.
Media’s Role in a Marketing Strategy
When media was first established, its primary purpose was to educate, entertain, and persuade audiences. It started with print, radio, and television but has morphed over the decades with the advent of technology.
Media is all about communication. Some media is one-way—the producer speaks directly to the audience with little interaction. Digital opened up the opportunity to have conversations, dialing up transparency.
You can’t have business success today without having a successful digital marketing strategy. Advertising, social media, blogs—they all contribute to the cause. But before you create a successful strategy, it’s important to understand paid and earned media. Their distinct differences can build depth and strength into your overall plan.
What Is Paid Media?
Paid media is pretty straightforward: It’s the marketing you pay for. If you promote content, it’s paid media. If you run a pay-per-click campaign, it’s paid media.
Paid media helps you promote what you do faster and creates more exposure. That’s how social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest make money. Your paid media strategy includes promoting posts and creating ads that stretch your reach further.
Once you dive into paid media, you’ll discover even more opportunities: Pay influencers to talk about and promote your products or services. Retarget ads so they continue to be in front of your website visitors as they finalize their decisions.
There isn’t a shortage of opportunity. If you want to grow, paid media is the fastest way.
What Is Earned Media?
Now that you understand paid media, it’s easier to understand earned media. It includes all publicity or exposure gained from methods other than what you pay for.
Think of earned media as online word-of-mouth referrals. It’s the viral Reels that get thousands—millions—of views and the shares, likes, and reposts that people share with their friends. It’s the organic rankings in search engines like Google.
Finding success with earned media takes time. It’s something you build. This is where content strategies and SEO fit into your plan.
Digital technology has allowed consumers to take an active part in the communication process. They engage with brands and each other, giving credibility and transparency a big part of the process.
What’s the Difference?
Creating a digital marketing plan means building a toolbox with a variety of tools. There isn’t a “right” approach. It includes building up your owned media—websites, blog posts, email funnels—and using that content to create an earned and paid media plan. It’s hard to build success if you don’t use all three together.
The primary difference between the three is control. You own owned media: It’s yours to keep, change, and move around as you see fit. Paid media offers a similar level of control, but you must keep paying. Stop, and it goes away. Earned media comes as you build your online reputation.
Brands can no longer expect to have complete control over their message. Once online, consumers will be guided along the path as they share their views. It’s up to you to take an active role.
Another difference is cost. It takes financial resources to build and control your owned media. You’ll often hear paid media called “pay to play.” Pay as much as you want for exposure, but it will go away if you stop paying.
That brings us to earned media. People are often attracted to earned media tactics, thinking they’re free, but there is a price: time. It takes time to grow with earned media.
Finally, each media strategy will have a different impact online. Content produced in each of the three ways will reach, engage, and influence your target audience differently. It takes time and focus to understand each approach and use them effectively to convert traffic into sales.
Paid Media Strategy or Earned Media Strategy – What’s Your Approach?
It’s easy to get lost and confused when starting a digital marketing strategy. With so many choices, where do you begin? The online world can be relentless, targeting you to convince you which ways are best. It’s hard to ignore when studies tell you the average internet user spends almost two and a half hours daily on social media alone.
In our opinion, the best approach combines the three and understands each of their purposes. Owned is great because you own it. Earned works for long-term growth. To connect the two and control how effectively you build, paid media strategies are a tool you can’t ignore. You can weave a strategy together using all three to hit your goals from year to year.
But where do you start?
Budget
Each strategy has its own costs. Earned media is considered cost-effective because you aren’t paying for ad placement. Paid media is “pay to play,” allowing you to reach your audience immediately and then control how much you wish to spend. Combined with owned media, the three can help you develop a dynamic online presence. And with help from experts, it can set your business up for success.
Timing
If you want fast results, paid media is the way to go. You can reach your target audience as soon as your ad is published. Earned media takes time, but it’s an efficient tool for long-term growth.
Reputation
You can’t survive online without brand reputation. This means handling the communication, whether it’s through earned or paid media. Paid media allows you to target your audience, yet you’ll build deeper relationships through earned media once your audience is in place.
Confused by any of these strategies? Looking for a way to maximize your efforts? That’s what we do best. Get started today building a better plan. Learn more about us or start with a web presence audit to help you make your business a success.
