Paid media is one of the tactics that a business can use to get the word out about their brand or service. It’s a tool that can be very effective if it’s used in the right way and targeted to fit the most motivated audience. Paid promotion of your content is a powerful and beneficial advertising strategy that has helped many brands boost exposure and interest.
What is Paid Media?
Paid media are marketing efforts that encompass the monetary investment actions you take to promote your brand, company, or content. In other words, the term “paid media” refers to paying to promote content about your business and/or its products and services.
Paid media can be both online and offline. You may place ads that promote your brand, company, or product, in magazines or newspapers or use Facebook ads and other digital avenues. Most companies have learned the value of using a variety of different online and offline methods to promote their brand.
However, for this article, let’s focus on paid digital channels. Digital advertising is particularly powerful because it creates numerous opportunities to quickly and easily boost brand exposure through many different channels and on many platforms.
Examples of online paid media include things like the following:
- PPC advertising
- Display ads
- LinkedIn Ads
- Boosted Facebook posts
- Facebook Ads
- Youtube advertising
- Video ads
- Sponsored Tweets
- Search ads
- Pop-up ads
Without paid marketing efforts, your brand doesn’t get the much-needed exposure and attention it requires to thrive and get noticed.
What is Owned Media?
Owned media includes all the content and other marketing assets that your brand controls.
The following are all examples of owned media:
- Website
- Blog posts
- Case studies
- Whitepapers
- Ebooks
- Social media profiles
- Email list
Each of these assets represents a vehicle or way of marketing your content online. It’s best to think of “owned media” as your brand’s real estate. They also help provide value to potential and existing customers alike. The content is usually informative and educational, rather than focused on promotion and sales.
What is Earned Media
Earned media is perhaps the most influential of all forms of media. This type of media is akin to the power of word of mouth advertising. When your brand’s reputation precedes it, promotion can come from many unsolicited sources, boosting your brand’s credibility and expanding its reach. Furthermore, it often makes up the bulk of your organic SEO efforts.
Earned media is any content created or written about your organization that you didn’t pay for. In essence, it’s your brand’s reputation that leads to earned media. In the past, companies relied on media outlets like TV, magazines, and the news for “free” publicity your business gained via word-of-mouth.
While that type of earned media is still critical, these days earned media also includes things like social shares, user comments, customer reviews, and online citations. Furthermore, the wealth of channels make it easier for reporters, journalists, bloggers, and influencers to create or share content that includes mentions, quotes, and insights from your content or you directly.
You can find earned content in the following places online:
- Mentions and Quotes in Online Articles
- Guest Posts
- Links to Content in Industry Newsletters
- Social Shares by others
- Customer Comments
- Social Media Comments
- Customer Reviews
How much earned content your business garners is evidence of your brand’s impact and legacy.
Why is Paid Media Important?
Paid media, particularly PPC advertising services, are critical for companies because of their speed. An effective digital advertising campaign can quickly boost leads and revenue.
Paid media has many other benefits as well:
- The paid content placement has value because it quickly promotes brand exposure.
- Paid placement produces trackable and shareable results.
- Paid media efforts like social ads and search advertising can boost both owned and earned media
- Paid Media can help an organization gain access to a new audience that has the power to share it exponentially.
Paid media is often the first investment that a brand will make when it comes to promotion. It’s a way of introducing a brand to larger, more relevant audiences. Without paid advertising efforts, it’s challenging to get to know a brand initially. Paid media is a vital investment in the legacy and growth of a brand. Moreover, it works like a well-oiled machine when combined with owned media and earned media. Each plays a vital role. However, Paid Media is usually the first leg when it comes to exposure for your brand.
Final Thoughts
Paid media is an integral part of any brand’s marketing efforts because it promotes brand exposure and helps drive traffic. It’s the initial vehicle that helps boost brand exposure and interest.
It allows people to experience your brand, develop opinions, and get behind it. In some ways, it’s the first leg of advertising and the first leg of the race. In essence, it brings your brand and all its assets, out of the dark and into the light.
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If you’re ready to leap into Paid Media and PPC, then contact us here or click on the chat bubble below to speak to a paid media consultant today.
