Marketing and advertising campaigns have their best results when they are spread across various platforms. Why? To start with, the concentration spans are normally limited. People don’t have long-term focus on one piece of content or one platform that is being posted .
However, when it is seen in different sites within the same social media, and in two different posts, ad or any other form, then we are likely to retain the information. If we hear or read it from friends and other people that we admire, then we’d probably get curious. See? So here you have paid, owned and earned media rolled into one.
What is Paid Media?
Paid media brings in any marketing that you can’t execute for free. This can include traditional advertising- think print, radio and TV ads, or billboards. Online, it includes ads on social media, ads on search engine results pages, and display ads on websites.
Paid media: Due to its advanced targeting options, paid marketing content is a great way to reach your desired target audience in digital marketing. THere are a lot of advantages to incorporating paid media into your marketing strategy, though whether you use paid media into your marketing strategy, though whether you use paid search or paid social (or both) is up to you.
What is Owned Media?
Owned Media refers to marketing content you own – content you can publish for free. It includes content you publish on your website and blog posts and your social media channels (not including your social ads). It also includes email marketing.
Generally speaking, Owned marketing content is free and you can fully control who sees it. That makes it a powerful tool in your content strategy. You have to put budget behind paid, and you can’t control what you earn, but you can always create content with the hope of reaching your audience the organic way. That’s content marketing in a nutshell.
What is Earned Media?
Earned media isn’t a term you hear too often, but it’s important : it involves any content where other people are talking about you. This often includes influencers, PR, reviews of your product or business, or simply fans and advocates who share your content on their own or through social sharing tools. It’s also called word of mouth marketing or free media. The best part about an earned media strategy is that it helps build trust in your business and your products or services. It helps potential customers see that you’re legitimate, and that your products are enjoyable.
Difference between Paid, Owned and Earned media
| Criteria | Paid Media | Owned Media | Earned Media |
| Definition | Media for which payment is made to place branded content. | Media channels owned and controlled by the brand. | Media exposure gained through word-of-mouth, customer experiences, or organic mentions. |
| Examples | Pay-per-click ads, display ads, social media ads. | Websites, blogs, branded apps, social media channels. | Customer reviews, social media shares, mentions in articles. |
| Control | High control over messaging, placement, and duration. | Complete control over content, design, and functionality. | Little to no control over the message or its spread. |
| Cost | Costs can be high, depending on the reach and scale of media buys. | Initially high for setup and creation, but low ongoing costs. | No direct costs, but requires investment in high-quality content and strong customer relations to encourage mentions. |
| Duration | As long as the budget permits. Generally, short-term visibility. | Long-term asset, with ongoing benefits as long as maintained. | Can be unpredictable, often short-lived unless it goes viral. |
| Measures of Success | Clicks, impressions, conversion rates. | Traffic, engagement, SEO rankings. | Shares, mentions, organic traffic. |
| Audience Reach | Can target specific audiences quickly at scale. | Builds over time with SEO and user engagement. | Potentially vast as content can be shared widely and quickly, but less predictable. |
| Trust & Credibility | Lower trust compared to owned or earned media as audiences are aware of the paid aspect. | Higher trust as content is directly managed and distributed by the brand. | Highest trust from audiences as it comes from unbiased third-party sources. |
| Content Type | Advertisements, sponsored posts, paid partnerships. | Blog posts, branded content, websites. | User-generated content, media coverage, word-of-mouth. |
| Strategic Purpose | To drive immediate traffic or sales, often part of a short-term strategy. | To build brand presence and long-term customer relationships, enhance customer service, and improve organic search rankings. | To amplify brand reputation and leverage organic interactions and endorsements. |
| Benefits | Immediate visibility, precise targeting, scalability. | Cost-effective over time, increases brand equity, controls the narrative. | High credibility and influence, often leads to viral effects. |
