The Power of Owned, Paid, and Earned Media

Sharissa Kuurstra
Growth Ads
Published in
2 min readApr 9, 2021

Owned, Paid, and Earned Media — sounds pretty familiar right? But do you actually know what these types of media mean? And how they can help you grow your business?

Each of these media types are important for your business to succeed. So, let’s dive in.

Owned Media

The name kinda gives it away. It’s media that you own. Think about your website, your newsletter, your social media channels. It’s anything you can control. You decide what message you communicate to your target audience and how you do this.

You can achieve many goals with your owned media. Social media for brand awareness, your website and newsletter for sales, your blog for engagement. The possibilities are endless and it is thus very important that your owned media channels are performing 10/10.

Paid Media

Also known as Sponsored Content. This is media you pay for, duh😝. Think about paid articles, advertising on Google or Social Media, TV commercials, and so on. There is still a bit of control on your side. You can decide what message you want to communicate, who will see your ad, and how much you want to spend.

Paid media is a great way to generate traffic to your owned media. Often to your website, but also to subscribe to your newsletter or to attend events, read new blogs, and so on. And, of course, the main goal is often to sell your products or generate leads.

Earned Media

I hear you thinking… Can you earn media?🤔 YES, YOU CAN! Think about reviews, testimonials, articles other businesses or journalists write about you. Basically any user-generated content. It won’t cost you anything, but this also means you have NO control over this kind of media.

This could bring you in tough situations. You see, not all earned media is positive. People can complain about you on their social media or write a bad review. It can be a real deal-breaker for your reputation. Luckily, you can control how to respond to those messages!

Positive earned media helps you to increase brand awareness, improve your reputation, and hopefully gain new customers.

Visual about owned, paid, and earned media

So… get started! Build your website, create your social media channels, set up your first ad, and get those reviews. Embrace the power of combining these media types and see your business grow.

GOOD LUCK! If you have any questions or just wanna chat about marketing, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter.🔥

Cheers,

Your Favourite Content Warrior — Sharissa

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Sharissa Kuurstra
Growth Ads

💥 Content Warrior 🔥 Online Marketer 🍫 Chocolate Addict 🍕 Pizza Lover 🏉 Rugby Player 🐶 Proud Dog Owner 🇳🇱 Dutch