Owned vs Earned Media vs Paid Media: Differences and Similarities

For marketing professionals, the terms of earned, paid, or owned media are essential in shaping campaigns and roadmaps either for their own company or for their clients. Nowadays, there are multiple forms of displaying the content you create, and the struggle to classify it is a bit more difficult compared to 5 or 10 years ago. 

However, the importance of understanding to what type of media your content belongs to is also highlighted by setting up goals, creating lead and traffic funnels, or increasing brand awareness. Regardless of the type of campaign you are planning, if it relies on content, it’s either earned, paid, or owned media.

What is Owned Media

Owned media is the owned content published on the owned platforms. For example, if you publish an article on your own website - you will take advantage of owned media. Owned media also means publishing your content on social media platforms using the accounts that you own. An article, image, or video published on Medium, Twitter, Substack, Facebook, or LinkedIn also means that you take advantage of owned media. 

However, if you choose to pay social media platforms to display your content as ads, owned media will transform into paid media. At the same time, if someone else shares your content, talks about it or mentions it anywhere else on the web - owned media will become earned media. 

As you notice, the border between owned, earned, and paid media is thin, and your goal is to develop owned and paid media campaigns into earned media. In other words, to spread the word organically and make your audiences interested in what you publish. 

Owned Media to Paid and Earned Media

The only way to transform owned media into paid media is to pay for advertising the content you own. Paying for ads on social media and search engines will make your content a paid media. However, if you pay to publish your press release, the content is initially owned media, transformed into paid media, and aimed to become earned media. That is because the end goal of a press release is to be mentioned and referred to by as many publishers as possible. 

The path from owned media to earned media is more difficult, but, at the same time, there are more channels. To put it simply, any owned media has the chance to become earned media. You can do it using SEO, Email Marketing, Social Media, and Forums among others.

Publishing interesting and engaging content is the easiest way. Sharing the right content with the right audiences is crucial to earn media, and organically spread the word about you. 

Having more followers on social media, for example, increases your chances of earning media as their interests already match your content, and so do the chances to spread your content. 

Search Engine Optimized content is also owned media, but, if it gets to the right audience, more will start talking and referring to it. This way, it will also become earned media. To earn media through SEO it is vital to write content for people, not for search engines. 

You can also get earned media using email marketing. As you spread the word about your content, or your business via email, you increase the chances to start a buzz in communities. If you choose email marketing to earn media, making the text engaging and call to action appealing is a must. 

Forums are another path of transforming owned media into earned media. Quora and Reddit are great channels for this. However, respecting subreddit and community standards on both platforms is essential to keep your reputation clear and your back covered. 

What is Paid Media

Paid media refers to anything you pay for being displayed, or advertised. Paid Media is applied in digital marketing, direct marketing, and outdoor advertising. It literally covers everything that requires money to be shown. 

Even though the rate of watching TV has dropped in most developed countries, if you ever notice a brand mentioned in TV shows, or movies - know that this is paid media. Moreover, in movies, Apple doesn’t allow villains to own or use iPhones. This makes it a very subtle yet interesting form of paid media. 

Print advertising is also considered paid media. This includes newspapers, magazines, billboards, posters, and everything in between, including merchandise. When advertising on printed content - space is what limits you most. Make sure you fit in the space, and deliver an effective message. 

Display ads are the most spread form of paid media. You can see them nearly everywhere on the web unless you use adblocker. Display ads as paid media can be effective due to the visual content and interactive elements, but the pages where these ads are displayed also play an important role. The goal of display advertising as paid media is to convert and sell. 

Search engine advertising as paid media also aims to convert rather than spread the word. It is one of the most cost-effective ways to get relevant traffic and clients as their search intent matches your product. But, also related to the cost - some keywords could have a higher cost per click than paying for a TV ad. So use a keyword planner and consider your audience, budget, and results if you choose Social Media Advertising as your primary paid media channel. 

As I mentioned before, Press Releases are the most twisted paid media channels. Unlike TV ads, social media ads, and, search engine ads, the goal of press releases is to get more earned media rather than sell. Moreover, it’s among the most effective ways to earn media. So, take it into consideration if your content should reach media outlets. 

Paid media is always owned media because it starts with you. And the only thing that makes it paid, is the money you invest to expose your brand, product or content to get leads or brand awareness.

What is Earned Media

Earned media refers to the capacity of a brand or company to organically penetrate the market with their content. In the beginning, earned media also starts from own media, but its goal is to raise awareness and spread the content, unlike paid media. 

Also, earned media is more difficult to control. Reviews, comments and debates on a specific topic can turn out different from the initial campaign goal. Even with niche targeting, there are chances that your content could be mentioned or referred to in places you can’t control and in ways that your are not comfortable with. 

A good example of how earned media went out of control is Coke zero. The topic has been debated in the society ever since the product was launched in 2005. While the company also used paid media to increase the sales based on the zero calories concept, the medical communities and nutritionists are still debating if its healthy or not. So, the brand unintentionally got in the spotlight of critics and food experts which are representing earned media in this case.

However, the chances to get in the middle of such a serious debate, drop together with the size of your brand, and the innovation you are able to deliver through the content. 

In the end, earned media penetration depends on how vocal you or the content are. According to Newswire, the average consumer mentions 60 times/week specific brand names.

Trust, awareness, and visibility are what you get with earned media. However, considering that brands, companies, and agencies produce more content, word of mouth is the most trustworthy earned media channel. This includes reviews, referrals, and debates in forums and groups. Users rather trust them compared to ads, because in ads you only hear and see what the brand has to say, while in reviews for example you get to know the experience users had with the brand. 

Final words

In the end, your marketing campaign should focus on creating your own media. From there you can tailor your way through based on your goal - to sell or to spread. Make sure to choose the right type of content, product or service for earned and paid media as it’s crucial for your campaign’s end result.