Qamar Zaman is an American Entrepreneur and the Founder of KISS PR Brand Story.
In the dynamic field of public relations and marketing, three primary media types form the crux of a comprehensive strategy: owned, paid and earned media. Startups that master these three media types lay the foundation for exceptional growth and market outreach.
I’ll explain each of the three media types below and share some practical strategies for making the most of each one.
Owned Media: Taking Control Of Your Content
Owned, or native, media is content your company creates and controls. This can range from blog posts and social media content to podcasts, videos on your YouTube channel or TikTok, newsletters, and other content on your company’s website. For example, a tech startup might regularly publish blog posts on its website about product updates, or thought leadership articles about industry trends.
The primary advantage of owned media is that you control the narrative. Moreover, it offers you an opportunity to build a direct relationship with your audience.
Paid Media: Investing In Your Brand’s Visibility
Paid media encompasses marketing methods that require direct payment, such as display ads, sponsored blog posts, event sponsorships, paid search results, social media ads and more.
Although paid media requires a financial investment, it gives you control over your message and instant brand visibility. You can use paid media to target specific audience demographics, stimulate website traffic and boost brand awareness.
When developing your paid media strategy, make sure you invest strategically. This involves selecting suitable platforms, targeting the right audience, tracking your results and understanding the publications that resonate with your target audience.
Earned Media: The Reward For Quality
Earned media is the exposure you get without directly paying for it. This could include mentions in newspaper or magazine articles, as well as customer testimonials, social media shout-outs and word-of-mouth referrals.
The challenge with earned media is its organic nature, which makes it difficult to control. For example, if a journalist finds your company interesting, they may write a feature on you or approach you for an interview. However, earned media is invaluable since it is usually perceived as an unbiased and credible form of publicity.
To optimize your earned media, aim to deliver excellent products or services that satisfy your customers. The result is customers organically become brand advocates who promote your startup and generate high-quality earned media.
Online Press Releases: Bridging The Gap Between Paid And Earned Media
Online press releases are an integral part of a comprehensive media strategy. They’re often part of a paid media strategy when you pay a PR agency to write and distribute a press release rather than doing it yourself.
Well-crafted and engaging press releases can capture the attention of journalists and industry influencers. Consequently, they often get picked up by various media outlets, transforming from paid media into valuable earned media. This dual benefit makes press releases an invaluable tool for startups looking to maximize their media exposure.
Practical Strategies To Maximize Owned, Paid And Earned Media
Whichever type of media campaign you’re developing, start by defining clear objectives. Make sure you deeply understand your target audience so you can tailor your messages for maximum impact.
For owned media, consistently generate engaging high-quality content that provides value to your audience. This could be informative blog posts, insightful videos or creative social media content.
Leverage storytelling in all of your media. Sharing your startup’s journey, challenges, victories and vision in a story format can strike a chord with your audience. This emotional connection can inspire your audience to share your story, driving organic earned media. A great video resource, “Your Brain on: Storytelling,” explains this with science-based evidence.
Leveraging Media Monitoring Tools
In our digital age, effective media monitoring tools have become essential for startups seeking to maximize their media strategies. These tools allow you to monitor media mentions across numerous channels, including online news outlets, blogs and social media platforms. They provide analytics to help you understand the reach and impact of your media presence and can also help you identify key influencers and journalists in your industry, enhancing your earned media strategy.
You can use a simple Google search to find the media monitoring tool that best fits your needs. Make sure you consider factors such as your budget, specific features you need and the scale of your media activities.
Key Takeaways
To effectively harness the power of owned, paid and earned media, combine all of the following strategies for a successful awareness campaign:
• Owned media: Consistently generate quality, engaging content that provides value to your audience.
• Paid media: Invest strategically in paid media initiatives, selecting the platforms that resonate most with your target audience. Regularly monitor your campaign’s performance to fine-tune your strategies and drive higher engagement.
• Earned media: Focus on delivering excellent products and services and building strong relationships with your customers and industry influencers. Encourage customers to share their experiences online.
• In all of your media, use storytelling techniques to share your company’s journey and vision.
• Incorporate media monitoring tools into your strategy to gain valuable insights into your audience, measure the effectiveness of your content and make data-driven decisions to optimize your media efforts.
By incorporating these strategies, you can expertly navigate owned, paid and earned media to grow your business and succeed. The key lies in understanding your audience, creating compelling content and harnessing different platforms for optimal exposure.
Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
Read the full article here
