Four-Media Marketing: Owned, Earned, Paid, Leased

I believe in a four-media marketing strategy. That is, marketing via four types of media: Owned, Earned, Paid and Leased. If your marketing plan doesn’t address all four, it’s not a complete marketing plan.

The Four Types of Media

Owned Media

These are the channels you own: Your website, blog, email list and customer database. The content you send via these channels could include direct mail, email newsletters, blog posts, multimedia and more. I’d also include events in this list. Events are part content, part channel.

Earned Media

Another word for this is publicity. It can include newspaper, magazine or TV coverage;  coverage by bloggers; guest posts; consumer reviews; and Facebook or Twitter posts about you.

Paid Media

Just like it sounds, this is attention you pay for. Included here: Display advertising (online and offline), pay-per-click advertising, trade shows, advertorials, news wire distribution, sponsorship and more.

Leased Media

Social media. While you may think you “own” your Facebook Page and the content you share there, you don’t. Nor do you own your fans’ contact information. Ditto on Twitter. You’re using these channels to reach your core audiences, but you can’t take them with you.

Editor’s Note: Do you think social media is properly categorized as “leased media?” Is “owned media” more appropriate. Make an argument…

Creating a Four-Media Marketing Strategy

Okay, so there are four types of media…what does that mean for your marketing strategy? For starters, you need to address all of them. Notice I didn’t say employ all of them — just that you must acknowledge where they fit.

Your marketing mix should reflect your goals and audience. It helps to ask some key questions:

• Where do my target audiences spend most of their time? Email? Social media? Watching TV?
• How are they using these channels? Are they more receptive to commercial messages on email than Facebook?
• What are you trying to achieve? Word of mouth spreads quickly via social channels (including email), while broadcast can reach many eyeballs quickly and boost brand awareness.
• What’s your budget? Creating a slick TV ad is expensive. The media buy is even more so. But don’t assume email or social media is dirt cheap. Everything has a price tag. Your budget will be a factor.

Start by Auditing Your Media Usage

If you don’t know what your marketing mix is, a first step is to conduct an audit of what media you’re using. Compile a list of all channels you use to communicate with customers and prospects. Be thorough.

Next, calculate how much time you’re spending on these channels. Include time spent interacting, as well as time spent preparing a media buy, creating content, and asking for publicity. Again, be thorough: Include the time spent by others in your organization, too. Remember, the fruits of some labors are distributed across channels (example, creating content), so allocate a fraction of the time spent on those activities accordingly.

After that, determine how much actual cash you’re allocating to each channel. Media buys, newswire services, consultants, tools, etc.

Finally, plug in your KPI numbers. You do measure against KPIs, right? You can’t measure ROI without measuring investment and returns.

You should now have a better picture of how Owned, Earned, Paid and Leased media fit into your overall marketing mix. Mine the data in search of insight and revise (or create!) your plan if necessary.