More than ever, the name of the marketing game is “change” – especially in the past few years. As marketers, we know that agility is one of the many essential keys to success.
At our full-service marketing agency, we consistently see the value of agility – to refocus and keep driving key initiatives forward. While we are living in an uncertain economic environment, we have the opportunity to be creative and try out new strategies.
The truth is in today’s landscape you need a diversified portfolio of marketing tactics to achieve this agility. Success lies in the blend of earned (your public relations strategy and other awareness you gain through word-of-mouth), owned (your company’s assets like the website, blog and organic social media channels) and paid media strategies (we’ll dig into this below) working together to build brand awareness and meet your customers where they are in their buyer’s journeys.
So, what’s the role of paid media as part of an integrated marketing strategy? Well, let’s start with what paid media can do:
- Generate leads
- Build brand awareness
- Increase visibility with new audiences
Paid media, which includes paid social media campaigns, ad buys or sponsored content in key publication websites and more, help companies to meet potential customers where they already are.
These campaigns build brand awareness in key markets and generate guaranteed impressions, clicks and qualified leads from ads and gated assets such as articles, white papers, webcasts/webinars, podcasts and more. If you name it, a paid media campaign can usually be developed for your organization’s needs.
As a general rule, paid media cannot:
- Create brand voice
- Establish SMEs as thought leaders
- Work alone
Paid media is a fantastic asset, but most effective when used in conjunction with both earned and owned media strategies. For example, paid social media campaigns can deliver additional value to prospects when supported by earned media coverage or linking back to a company website that is robust with useful and relevant information addressing customer pain points.
Paid media is a great and increasingly essential tool in building brand awareness and reaching customers, however it is just one part of a broader media strategy that includes public relations, content development, digital marketing and compelling creative design. Your marketing portfolio needs to be diversified to stay agile in the ever changing media landscape.
If you are interested in diversifying your media strategy, including earned, owned and paid media, reach out to our team today!