What is converged media? - How to make it work for you in your business.
written by our guest blogger Melody Hayes.
Do you feel overwhelmed when thinking about digital marketing for your business?
The online world that once seemed so foreign to many, is now the key to global connection, information, and advertising across multiple platforms, and in real time. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements as we scroll through our social media or surf the web. So, how does a business compete in a cluttered online environment? And how does a young business, or small scale business, compete when large corporations are also operating in the same online space?
The answer? Converged media.
As technology and online media use increases, businesses will also need to increase their awareness and adoption of online advertising methods and work to grow their online presence. As a consumer, one of the first things we often do before we visit a new business, book a trip, or try a new restaurant is to type in a search on Google, see if the business has a Facebook page, search online travel agencies, or look for reviews on Tripadvisor. From a business perspective, if you aren’t easily searchable or able to be found online when potential customers are looking, how can you compete? That’s where converged media comes in.
What is it?
Converged media is the collaborative mix of paid, owned, and earned media of a particular brand or business. In a 2012 report from Rebecca Lieb and Jeremiah Owyang, converged media is broken down into an easy-to-understand model to help us learn the fundamentals of what the paid, owned and earned media mix is:
Figure from: The Converged Media Imperative: How Brands Must Combine Paid, Owned and Earned Media. 2012.
It’s not enough for a business to just have a Facebook page, to just have a website, or just post a flyer periodically. When it comes to digital marketing, the key to success comes when you develop a converged media strategy. This means first understanding what converged media is, and then creating a plan for how to use it.
Three Types of Converged Media
Owned
Let’s first look at the idea of owned media. Owned media is your brand: what your business has put on the web organically, such as your brand’s website or social media pages. Owned media comes directly from you, the business. This is the landing page for where you want to drive traffic and have information about who you are and what you offer. You’ll want to make sure your audience will be directed somewhere that not only represents your business well, but is going to maintain interest and promote quality assurance. Thus, hopefully turning them into repeat customers, and customers who will contribute to your earned media strategy.
2. Earned
Earned media is the promotion that organically comes from others. This is often seen online as customer reviews, customers sharing your content on their own social media channels, commenting on your content and tagging their friends, or even press coverage. Earned media is organic because it is the outcome of what your owned and paid media has spurred into action. If people are talking about you online, that means awareness of your brand is growing. However, the goal is to not only have customers talking about your brand, but talking about it positively (which goes back to your owned media content and deliverables). Some ways to help encourage earned media includes developing an online community management and engagement strategy for your business to help carry and prompt online conversation about your brand.
3. Paid
Paid media includes any paid advertisements that you use to promote your owned media. This can look like boosted ads on Facebook, promoting brand content through PPC (pay per click) advertising, SEO (search engine optimization) for your website, and more. In order to reach your target customer segment you can’t just expect they will find you online, you have to make yourself known, often using a paid media strategy. When this is done well, it leads to greater customer engagement with your brand, product or business (earned), it funnels more leads to your landing page (owned), which then leads to more sales and brand recognition.
Making it work for you…
There are certainly ways to collaborate your paid, owned, and earned media strategies together. Some examples include: sponsoring influencers to promote your product or service (paid and earned), asking existing customers to send you a review to put exclusively on your website (owned and earned), or promoting a blog post you write on your own website through digital advertising (owned and paid). But the overall success comes from developing a winning strategy that fits you.
Knowing your unique selling point, your target customers, and what you can deliver is the primary key to developing a successful marketing strategy in the first place. Once you know this, you can work to develop an understanding of what a converged media strategy is and how to implement it in a way that complements your business. Developing your paid, owned and earned strategy will be an essential asset to your business not only now, but also in the future.
We can help!
If you would like help developing a converged media strategy for your business, or if you’re just not sure where to start, contact us at Canopy Collective. We would love to help.
Melody Hayes specializes in social media management, content creation for social, website and blogs, Facebook Advertising, and copywriting.
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