Entrepreneurship - 5.3 Channels

5.3 Marketing Channels

Paid advertisements light up a city square at night. Billboards and digital ads are examples of paid media. Businesses use three main channels to reach customers: Owned, Paid, and Earned. Owned media are the channels you control – your website, blog, email newsletter, or your own social media accounts. For example, a company’s official Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube channel is owned media. Owned channels are free to use (after setup) and let you publish content and information directly to your audience.

Paid media means any marketing you pay for. This includes ads on Google (search ads or display banners), ads on social networks like Facebook or Instagram, sponsored influencer posts, and traditional ads (TV, radio, print). Paid media can target specific audiences quickly. For example, a Facebook ad campaign can show your product to people of a certain age or interest, and Google Ads can put your website at the top of search results when people search relevant keywords.

As SmartInsights explains, “paid media means the content distribution has been paid for”. These high-visibility ads can boost awareness fast, though they cost money.

Earned media is publicity you don’t pay for – it’s earned through good work. This includes press coverage (a newspaper story or TV segment about your business), social media shares, customer reviews, and word-of-mouth. For example, if a popular blog writes about your startup, that’s earned media. If customers tweet or post about how much they love your product, that’s earned as well. SmartInsights notes that earned media is like traditional “word of mouth,” where “content about you [is] shared by others”. Earned media builds credibility, because people tend to trust third-party mentions more than ads. In summary:

Owned media: Your own website, blog, email list, and social profiles.
Paid media: Advertisements and sponsorships you pay for (ads, paid influencers).

Earned media: Free publicity others give you (news stories, shares, reviews).