If you have been thinking about marketing your company or brand, you have probably heard these buzz words: paid media, owned media, and earned media. You might be asking yourself “What is the difference?” It is mind boggling trying to understand what is going on in marketing these days.
Last month, we discussed paid media—referring to the type of advertising for which one would pay. Hence the word “paid.” This can be an ad in the paper, a commercial spot on TV, or a video on a webpage. Buying or paying for media guarantees that you will be reaching a certain number of impressions, views, or clicks.
Owned media refers to the media properties that, as you may have already guessed, one owns. If your company has a website, Facebook page, blog, or Twitter, these would all be examples of owned media.
And finally, there is earned media. The good news is that this media is “free.” You still have to put in your own time or pay someone to plan and execute, but your hard work will “earn” you this free media. This month I will focus on how you earn free media through PR.
In business, PR is a strategy that builds mutually beneficial relationships between the public and a brand. PR focuses on the promotion of goodwill and the conversation between the company and the consumer, rather than selling of goods and services. Of course, the company will ultimately become more profitable if a good relationship with its customers is established. Therefore, you can say that PR is an essential component of a company’s marketing strategy.
The basis behind PR is simple—people’s actions are based on their perception of facts. Bearing this in mind, PR professionals use different strategies to manage, control, or influence people’s opinions about the company or an issue that relate to its business. Some of the PR objectives consist of positioning a company in the industry, managing reputation, establishing relationships, resolving crisis, etc. Ideally, a successful PR effort will spark behaviors that will lead to achieving the company’s marketing objectives.
A basic PR strategy makes use of media to generate publicity. To start off, the company needs a captivating press release that tells an interesting story. Since the mission of PR is to place free spots on media channels, the story has to provide a news angle that will interest the media and compel them to cover it. When consumers hear a positive story about a company from a third party, they often find it more credible and are more likely to engage with the business.
PR may also include community outreach activities, corporate social responsibility programming and sponsorships, government relations, etc. It is important to bear in mind that no PR strategies will work if there are no consistent ethical actions to go hand in hand. After all, PR efforts are all about getting the word out about the company and its products and services to potential buyers and investors. As a less direct way of marketing, PR has its merits of cost effectiveness over advertising. In the next column, I will talk about event marketing.
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Giancarlo Pacheco is the President of PCA, a full-service marketing and communications agency with offices in Los Angeles and New York. For over a decade, the agency has been a leader in providing integrated campaigns for Fortune 1000 companies. PCA has served a wide array of clients including Verizon, Gilead Life Sciences, Pernod Ricard USA, Jollibee Food Corporation, AARP, City National Bank, Philippine Airlines and Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. For more information, please visit www.plancagency.com.
