In today's increasingly complex (and expensive!) marketing landscape, it’s more critical than ever for brands to maximize impact across all their marketing efforts. That means less paid-led thinking and more true, integrated planning across paid, earned, and owned activities (figure 1).
As a rule of thumb, we generally recommend working toward a mix that looks something like 45% paid, 35% earned, and 20% owned, mixing activities we can directly control (like search ads) with ones we can only influence (like social engagement) to keep business healthy and the brand moat strong. Rethinking how to approach each touchpoint through this lens helps maintain a balance of channels and tactics that drives short-term health (read: sales) without damaging long-term sustainability (read: LTV).
Paid Media refers to the marketing channels that a brand pays for on a per placement or per impression basis (e.g., paid search, sponsored content, paid display). The key characteristic of Paid Media is that it requires a budget and is designed to reach a specific audience. Paid media is often seen as a blunt tool to drive more traffic, especially because it is easy to measure ROI - $XX returns $YY. Here are a few tactics to optimize your paid media investment:
1. Optimize for ad auctions – When an auction is complete, the winner is not always the one who paid the most. Social platforms such as Facebook consider your bid, estimated conversion rates and ad quality. Overall, these determine ad relevance – and an ad that is more relevant could win an auction against ads with higher bids. Ensure your campaigns are meeting your advertising objectives and are performing well. Use the ad relevance diagnostics tool on Meta to help with underperforming ads.
2. Minimize spend on irrelevant keywords – Identify relevant and high-intent keywords that increase visibility and drive traffic. Tools like SEMRush and Google Keyword Planner can aid in finding valuable keywords.
3. Set budget for maximum ROI – Growing budgets can grow ROI and by allocating budgets across ad sets, audiences and placements you can maximize returns. Assess each channel to determine how much to spend based on your business goals. Try not to throw all your budget into one basket but spread across all paid channels. Then, continue to monitor and adjust as needed.
Fact: Nielsen suggests reinvesting 1-9% of revenue into your overall media spend to stay competitive.
Earned Media refers to the exposure that a brand receives organically without paying directly for the reach (e.g., third-party blogs, direct traffic, reviews). The key characteristic of Earned Media is that it is unpaid and generated by others on behalf of the brand. It is a result of a strong paid and owned media strategy. Earned media is built up over time, and hard to directly influence in the same as way as paid media. To optimize earned media, consider the following:
1. Maximize engagement with content – Today, there are many ways to get your message across and engage with an audience. Crafting high-quality content with strong PR-value is an effective way to do that. Also, capitalize on creating compelling stories that are more likely to be shared and remembered. In turn, success in generating earned media can be acquired.
2. Collaborate with Influencers – Influencer marketing may be considered paid media, however the approach has many earned media benefits. When used effectively, it drives top and bottom funnel activities. Relevant influencers who have an engaged and aligned audience bring value and publicity to your brand. When influencers share their experience, awareness and credibility are increased. Marketing platforms like BuzzGuru Influencer Analytics help you find influencers who may work with your brand. Consider doubling-down on non-monetary benefits for your desired outcome. These can be events (TikTok house), grading systems and featuring top-performing influencers on social media.
3. Join the conversation online – Get to know your consumer by investing plenty of time in interacting on social media. This not only encourages consumers to talk about your brand, but to create content related to your brand. UGC (user-generated content) is an up-and-coming social media outreach phenomenon that will benefit your brand’s growth and community over time.
Regularly track the performance of your earned media efforts by analysing metrics such as traffic and social media engagement to understand what works best and refine your strategy.
Owned Media refers to the promotional tactics a brand may deploy within their own communication channels (e.g., email, website, SMS). Like paid channels, spend on owned channels may be based on reach. The distinction, however, is that users have opted-in to receive communication. The key characteristic of Owned Media is that it is under the direct control of the brand. To optimize your owned media strategy, consider the following:
1. Email – Use email marketing campaigns to nurture leads, drive conversion and retain customers. Focus on building a high-quality email list with consumers who are interested in your brand, then drive consumer behavior by using cost-effective strategies. For example, set up automated emails to streamline your campaigns. These automations can be set up for triggers for new customers, abandoned cart reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups.
2. SEO – A SEO-optimized website can ensure your owned media ranks higher in search engines by driving organic traffic and visibility. If you haven’t already, check out our SEO blog for tips on on-site and off-site tactics.
3. First-party data – First party data is collected directly from consumers and retained for future use. As a cookie-less world becomes more apparent with second and third party data, leveraging first party data will offer more benefits in your owned media strategy. Build the consumer relationship and experience by gathering key insights and analysis to tailor your strategy.
Consider all brand touchpoints to make the most of your paid, earned, owned media strategy. Each area has unique benefits, but all remain powerful in enhancing your brand’s reach, credibility, and customer engagement. View your performance across these channels with Laine’s insights features as you optimize media. As the marketing landscape continues to evolve, remember to adapt your offerings as you build your strategy.
