Owned, earned & paid media
The owner of Brand24 emphasized the importance of his own communication channels. What does that mean?
Owned media
Own channels or owned media are methods of communication over which you, as a brand, have full control. You can change them, improve them, constantly adapt them to your own needs, no one can take them away from you, and in the event of a failure you have direct access to them.
Own channels include, for example:
- Website
- Newsletters
- Webinars
- Video materials that you place on your own platform
Why are social media profiles not included in owned media? Well, precisely because, as users of social platforms, we have no influence on how their algorithms work, what content is displayed or which accounts are promoted.
Why can Facebook block an entrepreneur’s or company’s profile overnight? Facebook, like Linkedin, TikTok and other social media own the profiles on their own platforms. Artur Jabłoński neatly compared social media accounts to rented apartments. You can lose access to them at any time and you can’t fully manage them the way you want to.
Earned media
In addition to our own media, we are also talking about earned media, i.e. free publications, mentions, guest posts, interviews, when our brand is written or talked about. While such activities are desirable and contribute to building recognition, you will still not have 100% control over them. We also talk about earned media in the context of negative PR, when unflattering opinions about your business are made public.
Paid media
Things are the easiest here. Paid media cover all the publications your brand had to pay for. You use them most often in lead generation campaigns to identify potential customers and obtain their contact details.
Paid media are all types of:
- Ads in radio, television, magazines
- Sponsored texts
- PPC or PPM ads
- Search engine ads, e.g. Google
- Banner ads
Why is it worth building a decent website?
The history of Brand24 and their block on Facebook leaves us with two lessons.
First, it shows how important it is to have your own communication channels and create brand-related content on them. The main channel is the website, which is the focal point of communication and most often accumulates the most important content. Users are redirected to various places on your website through advertisements, sponsored posts, giving interviews or encouraging subscribers.
It is also the first place that your potential customers will be looking for.
Secondly, Brand24’s history is a warning showing that the lack of control over the media means real losses, not only in terms of image, but above all financial. It is terrifying to think how much the company could lose if it did not prepare its own communication channels from the very beginning. In such a case, the blow from social media, although costly, would not turn out to be deadly.
As you can see, your own website is more than a place for a short description of the company and a contact form, more than what the users see when accessing the entered or searched address. A properly designed website provides significantly more possibilities. But you will find out more about it in a separate post.
