To gain recognition and boost their engagement, businesses must develop a well-crafted content strategy. And this strategy cannot rely purely on one tactic to do its job. There needs to be several working parts to get the most out of your strategy. To generate qualified leads, you must regularly put together curated content crafted to engage with your target audience. This content must be compelling and contain valuable information that will convert these individuals into valued customers.
You have to post engaging content, whether on your social media channels or as a blog on your website. Don’t be afraid to explore guest blogging and providing quotes to third party sites to get your name out there. Establish co-marketing campaigns. And you must establish an effective strategy when it comes to promoting all this content.
While it is always a good thing to put stock in your earned and owned media, you cannot rely on these two to get your content and business in front of the right audiences. That’s where paid media comes into play. Paid media allows you to put your curated content in front of audiences that would not have discovered you otherwise.
ARYU Advertising understands the importance of all forms of media, regardless if it is earned, owned, or paid. We are here to explain the difference between all forms of media and the importance of paid media.
What is Earned Media?
At its core, earned media is simply the media attention you have earned through word-of-mouth. Typically, your media is well received and has gained enough popularity that it has traveled across various platforms and sites across the internet. From your SEO effort and expertly crafted blogs to excellent customer service, earned media is simply just the recognition you receive from your content.
You can even develop earned media by providing quotes about your business to journalists and other press mentions. If possible, you can even contribute your own content to third party sites. Earned media also includes user-generated content. User-generated content refers to content related to your brand or directly referencing your business that was created by someone who is not affiliated with your business. In fact, 90% of consumers say this content holds more influence in their decision to make a purchase than anything else.
What is Owned Media?
Owned media is much easier to understand. It’s the media that you create yourself and broadcast on your own channels. It’s the media that you have full control over. This includes the content you publish on your website, blogs, and anything you post on your social media accounts. The primary goal of owned content is to provide more information and value to leads as they further progress down the funnel.
What is Paid Media?
Now, we get to the interesting part: paid media. As the name suggests, paid media is a form of media that involves taking content you have created for your business and paying to promote it across various platforms. Paid media appears in the form of:
- Sponsored social media posts
- Display ads
- Paid search results
- Video ads
- And more
Through paid media, you can reach a wider audience that wouldn’t have discovered your business on their own, get more clicks, improve conversion rates, and boost your overall traffic. The media is in a constant state of oversaturation, which makes it difficult to get your business’s message heard organically. Often, you need to utilize paid media to get your message to the right audiences.
The goal of paid media is to boost exposure and drive content. Fortunately, there are a variety of options your business and brand can choose from, such as:
Paid Social Media
Arguably the most obvious form of paid media is paid social media. Social media has become a vital part of every business’ marketing campaign. After all, there are 3.8 billion social media users across the globe, which means there is a wealth of potential customers that have never interacted with your business. Through paid social media, you can take a post that has already garnered a lot of engagement organically and then pay to promote it to your target audience. You can also create brand-new targeted content to promote. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube are all major platforms that are great for paid social ads.
Search Engine Ads
Many search engine ads are pay-per-click (PPC), which are ads that only charges advertisers when a user clicks on their ad. These PPC ads will appear as one of the first few results on a keyword’s search results page. They will always be marked with a label that says “Ad” to inform the user. Most users hardly look past the first page and often only choose between one of the first few options on search engine results, so having your site appear as one of the first options would greatly impact your business.
You simply need to figure out the relevant keyword for your site, pinpoint your target audience, and make sure your bid amount is reasonable enough to land but not affect your return. When done correctly, these ads can have a great impact on your business. 75% of users say they prefer ads because it makes it easier for them to find the information they are searching for. Additionally, a third of these users said they clicked on a search ad because it directly answered their inquiry.
Display Ads
Display ads are very recognizable, as they can appear on virtually every aspect of the internet. You often see display ads as pop-ups, wallpaper ads, banner ads, video ads, and more. You can find these ads almost anywhere on the internet. These ads also operate on pay-per-click modeling, only charging you when a user clicks on your ad. They are often affordable and do an excellent job of increasing your brand awareness and getting your brand in front of the right audience. However, because they are so common, and users encounter them frequently, they are often ignored.
The Benefits of Paid Media
It is important to prioritize on all forms of media. Owned media provides users and leads a chance to learn more about your business and strengthen their relationship with your brand while you retain full control. There is also the potential for organic growth. Earned media is also important because it means that your content is engaging, and audiences are responding well to it. However, paid search is vital to all businesses marketing efforts.
Paid media opens doors that you previously wouldn’t have encountered on your own. Your brand can reach a wider audience, boosting your brand awareness. It leads to more clicks and increased conversions while generating more traffic to your site. If you aren’t prioritizing paid media, you’ll quickly fall behind your competition. As a premier DFW digital advertising firm, ARYU Advertising is here to help your business reach new heights.
