Owned vs. Paid vs. Earned Media
When it comes to owned media, paid media, and earned media, each channel has a specific function and purpose, and each can play a separate, yet complementary, critical role in any brand strategy. These three strategies often overlap to create an overarching brand marketing and communications plan.
Let’s look at each of these channels in detail:
What is owned media?
Owned media is content disseminated on platforms “owned” by the brand themselves, such as a brand’s Facebook page. Brand websites, social channels, and blogs are all considered owned media. The options for owned media have expanded exponentially in the last two decades, from simply a website to a plethora of social media channels that allow a brand to communicate directly with the public.
Owned media is an important aspect of the overall brand marketing strategy because it provides the closest and most direct touchpoint a consumer has to the brand. A brand’s website, social platforms, and blog should be up to date with relevant and audience-specific content to reflect brand values, relevance, and voice.
What is paid media?
Paid media is purchased content that a brand centers around its advertising and marketing departments. It typically falls in categories such as traditional or display advertising, social media sponsorships/ads, and search ranking or search engine marketing (SEM).
Paid media is used to both drive sales and raise brand awareness. Advertising, for example, is typically executed to consistently reach a specific audience. This is perhaps most apparent with digital advertising, in which a product advertisement may follow you to several sites. Budgets for paid media can vary depending upon the placement and in terms of the ad buy. Depending on the goal, budgets may be best allocated towards securing ad space in a magazine, airtime on a specific TV show, or in partnership with a social media influencer.
What is earned media?
Earned media is content you don’t own or buy but instead earn. Proactive pitches to press members to cover a brand in their articles or coverage are how these placements are typically generated. Earned media can run in the form of appearances on national television, quotes in a New York Times article or a featured product on a Rachael Ray episode. These opportunities provide brands with external validation, given the publicity is generated through a third party. It also creates the opportunity to engage with audiences that are not typically exposed to the brand’s owned media.
Earned media is traditionally handled by publicists or PR departments. In some cases, managing earned media is less proactive and more reactive depending on the brand and its status in the media landscape.
Earned media can also provide credibility for brands and boost consumer trust. In a time of widespread public distrust in media, consumers have shifted their news intake from the Buzzfeeds of the world to outlets such as CBS, NBC, and The Wall Street Journal, as these outlets are generally perceived as more trustworthy. A feature in a trusted news organization lends itself to the brand trust, an increasingly valuable attribution.
Which media type should my brand care most about?
The answer to this question depends on both your brand and your objectives. Owned channels are important for any business as they allow consumers to interact with your brand on a day-to-day basis and provide information straight from the source. B2C brands tend to build their owned channels as an alternative to building product awareness and engagement. For B2B brands, owned channels can serve as a great way to build brand awareness.
Paid channels are important for businesses promoting a product or, in some cases, as a communications strategy to reach larger audiences. If a brand’s product has the potential to resonate with mass audiences, utilizing paid channels may be beneficial in amping up sales of a specific product or raising broad brand awareness.
Earned channels may benefit brands looking to extend their audience engagement and build brand awareness, regardless of company size. Establishing a media presence is no easy feat, yet it can be accomplished through great storytelling. Unlike owned and paid channels, earned media requires less self-promotional and more thought leadership-driven content to gain traction. In that respect, earned media often requires a content strategy separate from owned and paid efforts.
Paid, earned, and owned media are all important to an overall brand strategy, but may not play an equal role depending on the brand, its budget, and its main objectives. It is critical to evaluate all three media types symbiotically, which is the key to a successful overall strategy.
