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Paid, Owned and Earned Media Mix – what it is and why it matters

Blog by May 7, 2017

Paid Owned Earned Graphic

The Paid, the Owned and the Earned. Each of these media components should form part of your modern day marketing mix.

By using multiple online and offline channels to reach target audiences, businesses are able to optimise their marketing strategy and excel.

Although all three forms of channels tend to cross over at different stages there are a few clear differences between them, and we’re here to guide you through what they are.

Paid Media – you pay for it.

Paid media includes any activity that has been paid for – in plain English, we’re talking advertising.

Paid activity is an essential part of the marketing mix creating more traffic to your business, online or offline, and as a result improve the performance of owned media.

Paid Offline

Traditional methods, including: print, TV, radio, sponsorships direct mail and current leads.

Paid Online

Google Ads, banner advertising, Facebook and Instagram promotions.

Owned Media – you own it.

The biggest advantage of ‘owned’ is that a business has full control over all aspects of it. Owned tends to be the most effective when providing leads with information that doesn’t necessarily come across as promotional (think resources or educational information that provides value to the customer).

A positive brand awareness is a great outcome of owned media. Potential and current customers being able to positively associate a brand with a business is a huge win!

Owned media also provides businesses with a valuable opportunity to create solid long term relationships with customers.

Owned Offline

Branding, store, shopfront, company car, products and staff.

Owned Online

Websites, social media channels, blogs or newsletters.

Earned Media – you earn it.

Your advocates are doing the promoting for you

Earned media is primarily made up of word of mouth referrals and publicity, and is generally the result of a customer’s positive experience with a business.

This form of marketing is known to be more valuable and credible by target audiences as it highlights the voice that customers have.

Credibility is key in the earned sphere.

Earned Offline

Word of mouth referrals, positive publicity across offline media and offline referrals and testimonials make up offline earned marketing.

Earned Online

Likes, comments, shares, testimonials, good ratings, search engine optimisation or good customer experience.

Combining quality paid and owned media by developing engaging content and advertising effectively will in turn produce earned media that is distributed by the customers themselves.