4 Types of Media to Promote Your Business: Paid, Earned, Owned, and Shared

Market Me This! is a newsletter aimed at the marketing world, SME owners, managers and other decision-makers worldwide. If you are one of those fantastic people interested in applying skills, rather than only reading about them, subscribe to my articles and tell your friends about them.

⭐TL;DR: Types of media that can be leveraged to promote a business: Paid Media, Earned Media, Owned Media, and Shared Media. Paid media is any form of advertising that you pay for; Earned media is any coverage or promotion that your business receives without paying for it; Owned media is any media channel that your company owns and controls; Shared media is any content that your customers or followers share on social media. 

As a business owner, it's essential to understand the different media types and how they can be leveraged to promote your business. In today's digital age, there are four main types of media: Paid Media, Earned Media, Owned Media, and Shared Media. We will explore these media types and provide examples of how they can be used to promote your business. + There is a short (fake) case study example of creating a media strategy based on these four types.

Paid Media

Paid media refers to any form of advertising that you pay for. This includes:

• sponsored posts on social media (e.g. an ad that keeps popping up on your Facebook feed about a product or a service), 

• website display ads (think of all the banners you will see on various websites), 

• paid search ads (depends on the bidding strategy, but most are PPC "paid-per-click"; if you type "best fertilisers for potatoes" and click on the first ad link that pops in your Google search, that's it) .

The benefit of paid media is that you have (nearly) complete control over the message and target audience. For example, you can use paid search ads to target people actively searching for your products or services.

A sponsored post on LinkedIn is one example of a paid media campaign for a B2B platform that connects farmers with customers. The platform could create a sponsored post targeting people in the agriculture industry, highlighting the benefits of their platform and encouraging people to sign up. This would expose the platform to a targeted audience and potentially generate leads and new customers.

Earned Media

Earned media refers to any coverage or promotion your business receives without paying for it. This includes things like

• media coverage,

• reviews,

• social media shares (can also be counted into Shared media; the rule of thumb I follow is if the share is by a KOL or KOC (read the difference here).

The benefit of earned media is that it can be more trusted and authentic than paid media, as it comes from a third-party source.

However, it is incredibly difficult to distinguish earned media from paid media. Many influencers (and media outlets that had or chose to adapt to current standards) will blatantly ask to get paid for promotions or endorsing a product without disclosing that information to their fans/viewers.

Some social media platforms and media outlets try to mitigate the issues by verifying users who talk about or promote sensitive topics (like politics or religion) or publicly display the names of parties who paid for the promotion/advertisement. Sometimes, it works, but most often, it doesn't.

Take endorsement and promotion with a grain of salt and assume that if somebody pushes something at you online (it might very well be a simple recommendation), they are getting something out of it (unless they explicitly say they are not getting any benefits from doing so - it might still be a lie, but hey, at some point you have to believe in something).

One example of earned media for our B2B platform would be if a local news station did a story on the platform and how it's helping farmers connect with customers. This would give the platform exposure to a large audience and potentially generate new leads and customers.

Owned Media

Owned media refers to any media channel that your business owns and controls. This includes your:

• website, 

• blog, 

• social media channels, 

• email list. 

The benefit of owned media is that you have complete control over the content and messaging and can use it to build your brand and promote your products or services.

One example of owned media for our B2B platform would be a blog post on the platform's website. The post could highlight success stories from farmers who have used the platform to sell their products directly to customers. This would help build trust with potential customers and demonstrate the platform's value.

Shared Media

Shared media refers to any content that your customers or followers share on social media. This includes things like:

• user-generated content (e.g. a picture taken by your customer using your product and uploaded to YOUR CUSTOMERS media outlet or using THEIR media outlet - they can post an image f them going to a local pub on their Instagram and/or tag you in it), 

• shares, 

• comments (a comment can quickly turn into a review depending on its quality and the reach of the commenter),

• reposts. 

The benefit of shared media is that it can help to increase brand awareness and reach a wider audience. True (not-bought, coerced or passive-aggressively asked for) shared media is crucial in modern digital marketing as it creates social proof and a sense of community.

People are tired of hundreds and thousands of 5-star reviews at their local restaurant or e-commerce shop, where the opinions are either paid for or given no substantial information.

On that topic, if you don't know how to get constructive feedback from your customers or clients, I highly recommend reading my other article: 4 Undervalued Methods How to Get Feedback.

One example of shared media for our B2B platform would be if a farmer posted about their positive experience using the platform on social media. This would give the platform exposure to a new audience and potentially generate new leads and customers.

This kind of shared media is what I base my newsletter on (at least for now), so if you enjoyed my article, I would love it if you shared and commented on the post.

(Fake) Case Study: B2B Platform for Farmers

Let's take a look at a hypothetical case study of a B2B platform that connects farmers with customers. The platform is aimed at small to medium-sized farmers who want to sell their products directly to consumers. The platform has been in operation for two years and has had moderate success, but the founders are looking to grow the business and reach a wider audience.

Paid Media:

A decision is made to launch a paid search campaign targeting people searching for local farmers' markets and organic produce. They create ads highlighting the platform's benefits and encouraging people to sign up. They also launch a sponsored post campaign on Facebook, targeting people in the agriculture industry and promoting the platform's features.

Earned Media:

The platform reaches out to local news stations and agricultural publications, pitching stories about how the platform is helping farmers connect with customers. They also encourage their existing customers to leave reviews.

In summary, understanding the different media types and how they can be leveraged is crucial for business owners looking to promote their businesses. The four main media types in today's digital age are Paid Media, Earned Media, Owned Media, and Shared Media. Paid media provides complete control over the message and audience, while earned media can be more trusted and authentic. Owned media allows complete control over content and messaging; shared media can help increase brand awareness and reach a wider audience.

I am an educator, marketing & business consultant and entrepreneur. I love advising and helping people & companies to improve their work and adopting best practices in professional life.

If you like my work, like, comment and share my articles & posts. Connect or follow my LinkedIn profile and subscribe to the Market Me This! newsletter.

I publish the articles every two weeks, but make sure to check my profile. You will find more general tips, insights and useful documents on #marketing #business #management my life in #taiwan and #education.

If you have any advice or comments, please let me know. Thanks for your support!