What Is “Owned, Earned and Paid Media”? |  |
- What Is “Owned, Earned and Paid Media”?
- Shutterstock Deal Gives You Free Images for Facebook Ads
- How to Create a LinkedIn Company Page That Drives Sales
- “Social Media Engagement for Dummies” is a Smart Book
| What Is “Owned, Earned and Paid Media”? Posted: 26 Aug 2013 02:00 AM PDT
If you work in a marketing agency, or are a marketer in-house in a larger company, you probably know the answer to “what is owned, earned and paid media?”. But we small business owners wear many hats. Marketing may be one of 6 or 7 responsibilities you have. In fact, you may have so many responsibilities that you’ve run out of hats (see cartoon above). That being the case you may not be as familiar with certain marketing concepts, such as owned, earned and paid media. So let’s dive in and see what it’s all about. We’ll also look at how to employ owned, earned and paid media as part of your marketing strategy in a small business. Definition: Owned Earned Paid MediaThis phrase is simply a framework for how to organize and execute your marketing: Owned media is when you leverage a channel you create and control. This could be your company blog, YouTube channel, your website, or even your Facebook page. Even though you don’t strictly “own’ your YouTube channel or your Facebook page, you do control them and don’t have to pay for basic usage. Earned media is when customers, the press and the public share your content, speak about your brand via word of mouth, and otherwise discuss your brand. In other words, the mentions are “earned,” meaning they are voluntarily given by others. Paid media is when you pay to leverage a third-party channel, such as sponsorships and advertising on third-party sites. Forrester Research created a chart that lays it out pretty well, including the advantages and disadvantages:
Discussions about owned, earned and paid media tend to be in the enterprise context. Case studies and advice focus on Fortune 1000 companies with boo-koo bucks for their marketing. But the concept is just as relevant to small businesses. The concept of owned, earned and paid media has content at the center. Luckily, small businesses are getting savvier at creating and curating content. Avoid These 2 MythsThe key to understanding the “owned, earned, paid media” concept is not to buy into these two myths: Myth #1: All you need is owned media. It’s important to have channels and content you own – for sure. But they alone are not enough. What many small businesses lack with their owned channels is reach and scale. You have a website with excellent case studies and resources on it, but could use more traffic. You have a Google+ page, but don’t have a lot of followers and shares of your content through it yet. You have a company blog, but don’t have time to regularly create content. And when you do, with so much content floating around online today, it’s hard to get eyeballs to your blog to read it. That’s where earned and paid media come in. They extend your reach. To be successful, you need to amplify and scale your owned media channels. Myth #2: Paid media is more expensive than any other kind of media. Recognize that there’s a cost to every channel — time, money or both. Let’s take owned media. Whether it’s the time your people spend in improving your website, writing blog posts for your blog, commissioning expensive infographics to get people talking, editing videos to share on YouTube — or paying for SEO services to get more traffic to your website — you still have to invest time, money or both. It’s the same when it comes to earned media. Earned media takes effort to develop and leverage at any scale. If you want to your content to spread through social media and for social discussions to spring up around your products, it means you have to put effort into developing your social media channels. You must build your social media profiles, engage with customers, curate content. You must also do it consistently, week in and week out. You must stick with it. Paying attention to the your Twitter account once every 5 months won’t do much. If you want to earn blogger mentions, you may have to reach out to bloggers via email to share that new infographic. Or you may need to engage in guest blogging on third party blogs to get more people to pay attention to you and your brand. Here again, you have to do it consistently over time. One guest blog post may help. But it’s hardly enough to move the needle. So before assuming that advertising is more expensive than the other two forms of media, consider ALL the expenses. Consider the value of your time and your team’s time, too. Most small business owners underestimate the cost of marketing, especially when they do it in-house and invest precious time. Combine Two or More TypesThe best practice today is to use a combination of “owned earned paid media.” Use one media channel to amplify or extend another type. They need to work hand in hand.
Jeremiah Owyang and Rebecca Lieb, analysts with the Altimeter Group, use the phrase “Converged Media” (see image above) to describe the combination. They write, “Advertising, or ‘paid’ media has traditionally led marketing initiatives, both online and off, but advertising no longer works as effectively as it did unless bolstered by additional marketing channels. Owned and earned media are vital to campaigns, helping to amplify and spread brand messages across a myriad of complex paths that consumers follow across devices, screens, and media. Earned and owned media have become so integral to successful marketing initiatives that they are now commingling with paid to create new media hybrids. Paid + Earned; Earned + Owned; Owned + Paid; and even Paid + Owned + Earned media models are now emerging.” There is one difference in that description as it applies to small businesses. Smaller entities have always relied on owned and earned media to a large degree. Compared with their larger enterprise counterparts, they have had less of a single-minded focus on paid advertising traditionally. And that’s a good thing. It means that convergence comes naturally. We small business types never got over-reliant on advertising. We are used to doing more with owned and earned media. Here are four examples of ways to combine owned, earned and paid media, in a small business context — and make for more powerful marketing: 1.) Create content on your blog [owned]. Share it on Facebook [to generate earned]. However, you only reach about 10% of your fan base, according to statistics. To extend your reach, make it a sponsored Post for $40 or $80 [paid] to get wider visibility for it. 2.) Crowdsource some advice and tips from your customers or loyal community members, for an ebook on your website [owned]. Then share it on your company channel on Slideshare. And reach out individually by email to send a copy of the ebook, to each community member who submitted a tip. Most will share the ebook with their social networks, as they will be proud of their contribution [to generate more earned mentions]. 3.) Pay some influencers [paid] to create interesting and shareable content for your company blog [owned]. Then amplify it heavily through social media [to generate earned mentions]. 4.) Create special Facebook-only discounts [paid]. To take advantage of them, people must Like your page. Studies show that discounts are a primary reason people follow and interact with brands on social media. When they Like your page, you have their attention. That also means you now have a relationship with them [leading potentially to earned media]. When you combine owned, earned and paid media it expands your reach — more than from a single channel alone. So don’t think about a single marketing technique in isolation, such as blogging. Or being active on Twitter. Think instead about how you can combine techniques. The post What Is “Owned, Earned and Paid Media”? appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Shutterstock Deal Gives You Free Images for Facebook Ads Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:30 PM PDT
Facebook has been actively courting small businesses for some time now. And three new features in particular should appeal to smaller companies with limited resources. First, Facebook and Shutterstock have announced a deal that will give advertisers free access to Shutterstock’s huge library of images for use in their Facebook ads. This feature will be introduced over the next few weeks. On the official Shutterstock Blog, Vice President David Fraga explained how the free images for Facebook ads feature will work:
The screenshot shows how you chose images for ads, right from within Facebook.
How Images for Facebook Ads Helps Small BusinessesThe new arrangement will mean the most to smaller companies without the budget to hire big marketing firms.
Of course, you can still choose your own images for Facebook ads. It’s just now you will have an additional option built right in. Two Other Small Business Features on FacebookIn a post on the official Facebook for Business blog, the company introduced two other feature improvements.
Image credits: Shutterstock and Facebook announcements The post Shutterstock Deal Gives You Free Images for Facebook Ads appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| How to Create a LinkedIn Company Page That Drives Sales Posted: 25 Aug 2013 09:00 AM PDT
There's no better time to create or update your LinkedIn company page. With the July 31, 2013 launch of LinkedIn company page analytics, and new company page functionality launched in late 2012, you now have better tools. Below I give you a step-by-step guide to creating a LinkedIn company page that rocks — and drives sales. Before You Get StartedBefore you consider adding a new company page, make sure that you can meet all of LinkedIn's requirements:
Create a Sales-Driving LinkedIn Company PageAs recommended for your personal profile in “5 Essential Elements of an Optimized and Useful LinkedIn Profile,” make sure that you complete all areas in your LinkedIn company page. The more attention you pay to detail, the better and more powerful your company page will be. Start by filling out the company overview section. Company Overview
The information you need to fill in includes company language, name, type, size, website, industry, operating status, year founded and locations. When putting your description together, make sure you include appropriate keywords. You'll be able to describe products and services in detail in another section. The company description is critical. According to Lana Khavinson of LinkedIn, “Google indexes company pages, which means your page becomes a tool for strengthening your company's rank in organic search results. The results will also display the first 156 characters of your company description, so be sure to lead with the most important information.”
After you've filled everything out, click “publish.” Your page will now be live. Add Products and ServicesNext, you'll want to include information on your Products page. These can be products or services you offer.
This seems pretty daunting, which is why many people don't fill out this part. However, you'd be missing out on incredible opportunities if you don't. So spend a few minutes and input the information. Don't forget to include keywords in the description, images and video if you have any. And remember: since many people don’t bother to fill out this section, by being thorough you may gain an advantage over competitors.
Add Product and Service Overview
Call to ActionIn addition to the title, you can include a summary description of your products and services. I also like to use this area to include a call to action. If someone is spending the time to review your products and services, you don't want him or her to leave without (hopefully) providing contact information. That way you will be able to continue to market to your prospect. In exchange for your prospect’s contact information, you should provide something in return – a free report, ebook, etc. There are several ways to include calls to action on your products page. One is to build a link into your product banner image, similar to the "free demo" offered by Hubspot:
InSegment, a full service digital marketing agency based in Newton, MA, gained a 200% traffic increase from LinkedIn to their website. How? They added banners with a clickable “Learn More” and website URL to the top of their LinkedIn company pages:
Another way is to include a call to action in the description section of the products page. On the overview page, you can also add a YouTube video and 3 banner images.
After you've filled everything out, click “publish” and the page will go live on LinkedIn. Request Product and Service RecommendationsOnce you've added your products and services, you can get recommendations for them. Recommendations are very powerful sales tools. You'll just need to go to your product page and click on "request recommendations.” You'll get a pre-filled out request form that you can modify — or use as is. CareersIs hiring and promoting job opportunities important to your company? If so, you may be interested in upgrading your company pages to be able to add the "careers" button on your company page. Final ThoughtsFor more inspiration, check out LinkedIn's top company pages of 2012 in this Shideshare presentation: The post How to Create a LinkedIn Company Page That Drives Sales appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| “Social Media Engagement for Dummies” is a Smart Book Posted: 25 Aug 2013 06:00 AM PDT
Social Media Engagement for Dummies is by Aliza Sherman and Danielle Elliott Smith. It was published by John Wiley & Sons in June. Social media isn't new any more. If you've been finding yourself spending lots of time on social media, but not reaping the benefits, then hunker down for this review. Dig Into Social Media Engagement for Your Marketing PlanWith summer heading into its dog days, you know that it's almost time for planning your marketing strategies for next year. This is the ideal time to take a look at Social Media Engagement for Dummies. I love these Dummies books for their pure simplicity and practicality. If you aren't sure what to do or when to do it – just grab one of these puppies. You will be in action in under thirty minutes. This is a hefty book with over 300 pages of powerful content to dig through. That's why I recommend starting with the table of contents. Highlight the chapters you feel you want to focus on in your business. There are six parts or sections to this book:
About the AuthorsI have to say that one of the big reasons this book is so powerful is because it was written by small business owners. Aliza Sherman (@alizasherman) launched the first full-service Internet company, Cybergrrl. She also launched the first global Internet networking organization for women, Webgrrls International. Danielle Elliott Smith (@DanielleSmithTV) is a digital correspondent, speaker, brand spokesperson and Founder of ExtraordinaryMommy.com. While the authors have built successful businesses, you won't find their head in the clouds or any really big thinking here. It's all practical advice that you can read in one minute and implement the next. And many times, that’s exactly what you need. Why Get Another Social Media BookWhen was the last time you purchased a social media strategy book? If it's been a year or two, you'll want to get this update. Here’s why. Each of the major social media platforms have undergone massive updates. Things have changed so much that your business will be behind the curve if you haven't kept up. Another reason to get this book is to help you choose and focus on the social media platforms that will work best for your business. If you've been playing in every social media space, but not fully committing to one or two – you will want to read this book. You might be missing out on opportunities by spreading yourself too thin. Read this book from the context of choosing a platform or two where you can really get the most bang for the time and money spent and then focus on it. Social Media Engagement for Dummies isn't a book for beginners (although the name might make you think so). It's a book for smart business owners who are ready to put the social media marketing machine to work in getting and keeping profitable loyal customers. The post “Social Media Engagement for Dummies” is a Smart Book appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
If you're a fan of the "…for Dummies" books, then you will want to grab this one.| You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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