The power of owned media

Owned media refers to the marketing channels and assets that a company or individual has complete control and ownership over. These can be anything from the company-run website and social media channels, evergreen content like blogs, email marketing campaigns, and more. Anything that is a platform or property created, managed, and maintained by the brand itself falls under the owned media umbrella, and holds incredible power in the momentum of business.

Today, owned media has become crucial for businesses to establish their online presence and engage with their target audience. With the rise of social media and its commanding presence in business, brands need to have a strong owned media strategy to stand out. Often times, owned media is where companies have an opportunity to differentiate and build meaningful relationships with their customers and stakeholders.

Components of owned media 

Website

A website is like a home-base for your business. It should have all the information your customer is looking for in one spot. Creating an attractive and user-friendly website that aligns with your brand’s identity and provides a seamless browsing experience is integral to positioning your value proposition effectively.

·      Utilize content management systems (CMS) to keep your website updated regularly

·      Be intentional about choosing a domain name with business goals in mind

·      Future-proof your website by choosing a reliable server to host it

Blog

Blogs are a great way to maintain a presence of thought leadership and share valuable information with your customers. Developing a blog section on your website that regularly publishes informative or engaging articles will keep you relevant in your brand’s industry or niche. Creating and managing your blog effectively involves content strategizing and optimization.

·      Be sure to plan and execute content strategies

·      Leverage search engine optimization (SEO) for more site traffic

·      Engage with your readers to build a community around your content

Social Media Profiles

Start by identifying which platforms align with your brand’s target audience and objectives – you don’t need to have an account on every social media channel to have a strong social media presence.

·      Create and share compelling and varied content

·      Engage with your community through comments, messages, and mentions

·      Build relationships and manage your community consistently

·      Use analytics and insights to take a growth marketing approach to the content that is resonating with your audience (or not)

Email Marketing

Implementing strategies to capture email addresses of web visitors, customers, and prospects will give you ample opportunity to market and build customer rapport. Designing and sending newsletters, updates, or informative content to your list of dedicated subscribers keeps your company at the top of their minds (and inboxes).

·      Make your email marketing visually appealing

·      Ensure that the content is valuable and not just “filler” for the sake of sending an email

·      Leverage email marketing tools to streamline the process

·      Segment email lists to deliver targeted messages based on subscriber interest and preferences 

Alternative components include:

·      Online communities and forums – These provide a great space to get specific about niche topics and allow for direct engagement

·      Webinars and online events – An opportunity to share brand knowledge and interact with participants

·      Podcasts – This is an up-and-coming form of media consumption where you garner recurring listeners and industry interest

·      Video channels – An opportunity to show expertise through tutorials, product demos, interviews, etc. that allows audiences to engage and revisit

Benefits of owned media

Investing in owned media is essential for creating a well-rounded digital presence for your company that can be leveraged strategically. The autonomy of owned media is its biggest asset, allowing for control over data collection, analytics, and strategy. It maintains consistent branding and messaging that earned media cannot provide, unifying the brand experience for your audience.

You are in control

Owned media allows for flexibility and agility at your own pace. It is quickly adaptable and can allow you to respond to changing market conditions, trends, and customer needs with experimentation, iteration, and long-term strategies. The flexibility to revise your SEO strategies with the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing is irreplicable.

You also get full control over your brand’s messaging, tone, and visual presence. This consistency across platforms helps establish and reinforce brand recognition and trust within your target audience. You can then leverage this control and personalization through audience engagement and direct communication channels to foster customer loyalty and build lasting relationships across your owned media channels.

Data and Privacy

Insights to your audience behaviour will determine next steps in your growth plan and can be pulled from owned media to provide valuable analytics. This includes tracking key performance indicators (KPI’s) and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of your owned media efforts. You also have greater control over the data privacy and security. By implementing robust security measures, you can protect customer information and build trust. Viewing your owned media as a long-term asset will help you understand its ongoing value and return on investment (ROI). With regular updates, iteration, and optimization, these assets will continue to attract and engage your audience over time.

How owned media attracts earned media

Earned media is coverage or promotion of your brand through content created by people outside of your business. This could be in the form of news coverage, interviews or profiles, reviews, user-generated content, and more. Earned media is a sought-after form of marketing and one of the hardest ones to come by. However, consistent creation of owned media directly impacts your odds of retaining earned media, as your content can be found easier, repurposed, and generate more interest.

Owned media allows you to establish yourself or your brand within your industry or niche. By consistently producing insightful and expert content, you can attract the attention of industry influencers, journalists, and other content creators who may reference or share your content, leading to earned media exposure. When your owned media content is informative, engaging, and relevant, it increases the likelihood of others sharing it, thus generating earned media through social shares, backlinks, and mentions. 

Social and digital earned media

Earned media on social channels can have a domino effect on customer influence and acquisition. Engaging with your audience through owned media will lead to user-generated content (UGC) where followers and customers can share their experiences, acting as brand testimonials. Collaborations are also highly recommended, acting as earned media that you partake in. Joining forces with influencers or industry leaders, you can partner on content (sponsored or simply co-published), which leads to a wider audience seeing and interacting with your brand.

Press and public relations earned media

Owned media assets, such as press releases or media kits on your website, can support your public relations efforts. When journalists, bloggers, or media outlets are researching or writing about topics related to your industry, having accessible and well-presented information on your owned media platforms can increase the chances of being featured and earning media coverage. Leverage SEO for higher visibility, especially during peaks of viral and on-trend topics that relate to your brand.

What’s next?

Once you’ve got a grasp on the creation and execution of owned media, you’ll understand it’s value instantly and start learning where it fits into your overall business structure. Keeping earned media in mind through your strategic owned media will set precedence for your online presence, build a buzz with your engagement, and ultimately drive business success.