Please take a look at the above graphic. Media can be broadly distributed in three categories which are used for Digital Marketing. These are: –
- PAID MEDIA
- OWNED MEDIA
- EARNED MEDIA
Let’s describe these one by one.
PAID MEDIA is the form of media where you PAY. That’s right! You are paying money for advertising. Examples of these are Pay Per Click Ads, Display Marketing and Affiliate Marketing. OWNED MEDIA is the media which you own. This means your website, your list of email addresses of clients and your very own BLOG. EARNED MEDIA is something which you have earned naturally. These could be ‘mentions’ on social media by others, ‘mentions’ in videos or it could be an article written about you. Let’s take the example of social media in digital marketing which will explain all three. It will also explain how all three of these may overlap. If you are paying for advertising on your Facebook post, then it will be called PAID MEDIUM. If you are simply posting on Facebook, then it becomes OWNED MEDIUM. If you are receiving positive interactions on social media, then it can be called EARNED MEDIA.