This article is part of SWOT Team, a series on Mashable that features insights from leaders in marketing, brand-building and public relations.
Earned, owned, and paid media are how we typically slice up our communications mix. Back in 2009, as social media started changing the way we approach our communications programs, Forrester defined those terms.
While the unbiased authority of influencers has always been coveted by marketing, social gave rise to a new holy grail: Authenticity.
In stark contrast, paid media can be seen as purely driven by economic motives -- as well as an interloper in the social media landscape.
Does that mean paid media is out? I've heard people say so, but I disagree.
I believe paid media still has an important role to play. All three types of media have their strengths, and those strengths need to be examined in the context of today's messaging landscape.
Earned media is the most sought after in corporate communications. Ostensibly, this is free media. But in reality, when we think about the time it takes for an executive or agency to cultivate a relationship with a customer, or an influencer to garner earned coverage, earned media may not be cheaper than a direct spend.
Owned media is where we usually spend most of our energy, and for good reason. It's our real estate. Or is it? We call it "owned," but it might be more accurate to say some of it is just rented. While we control the content that we ourselves put on our own social pages, our analytics and reach are still at the mercy of the platform provider.
That said, we're on Twitter and Facebook for another good reason: The content on these platforms can lead to plenty of earned media. On the other hand, as our message spreads or even goes viral, there's a good chance it will change in the process.
Paid media is similar to owned in that we have more control over the initial message. But message consistency isn't the only upside of paid.
Here are five reasons that paid still matters.
1. Content doesn't know you paid for it Content is content -- and there are plenty of paid channels that enable social sharing. Good content adds value for its consumers regardless of whether you paid for the placement. Make it good, and they will consume and share it.
2. Paid leads to earned Some content might be educational rather than newsworthy. A great educational video probably won't be picked up by a website as news, but they may use it to help make a point in a news item after they come across it on a paid channel.
3. Tracking results is much (much) easier When you're paying for placement, platform providers will share results, making reporting easier on our end. We can easily see which paid content received the most clicks, shares, favorites or retweets. Third-party tools will even track engagement across multiple platforms and centralize reports in a single location.
4. Paid can amplify owned and earned If we know that something's already earning us engagement, we can use paid to get more eyeballs on that content (thus leading to more earned). In today's marketing mix, owned, earned and paid play very nicely together.
5. You have to break the ice Paid gives us access to a new audience. If our content is relevant to this audience, they will share it, giving us access to their personal networks. It's okay to buy a ticket to the party at the door; if your content provides real value, you may be on the guest list next time.
Of course, paid media comes with additional challenges beyond budgets. Expectations are growing for highly personalized content that's delivered in the right place and at the right time.