Combine Your Owned, Earned, and Paid Media for a Bulletproof Marketing Strategy

When promoting a product or service, marketers choose between a variety of ways to attract customers. Content that marketers lean on might be paid, earned, or owned – and each has a different role to play and potential for return. A recent article shared the thorny statistic that 40% of media buys is wasted. Marketers and business owners need to be great at more than selling or promoting a product – they need to find the best possible channel for their business. Here’s a quick breakdown of earned, paid, and owned marketing:

• Earned media is defined as publicity, exposure, or cross-promotion that a business did not pay for. When the publicity is good, earned media is an excellent kind of attention and a testament to a brand’s traction and quality. User-generated content in reviews, testimonials, and social media mentions, all fall into the category of earned media. Brands can seek earned media by delivering a standout experience, growing their reputations, and fighting for high ranks on the search engine results page.
• Paid marketing refers to marketing initiatives that you budget and pay for, such as banner ads, paid search ads, sponsored blog posts, Facebook ads, and other social media ads. Paid media adds up quickly. If your brand wants to pay for advertising, be sure to go where your audience is most likely to engage with paid advertising – whether through a LinkedIn ad, a TikTok influencer, or a site banner. Marketers who track their ad spending carefully are most likely to understand which channels are most effective and maximize their ad spending accordingly. 
• Owned marketing is another way of thinking about the content marketing that a brand creates, owns, and controls. Content marketing aims to engage prospective customers who are already in the door, having discovered you through paid or earned marketing channels. Because brands have total control of their owned media, it tends to be the most cost-effective marketing format. Social media channels, blogs, and newsletters are all excellent opportunities to offer an audience valuable material that helps inform them about a brand and builds trust over time.

Ultimately, the key to unlocking these three media types is understanding how to combine earned, paid, and owned media to create a robust marketing strategy. If your brand is looking to maximize its marketing impact and streamline resource allocation, partner with ASTRALCOM. We work with businesses across sectors to build compelling content marketing strategies.