There are essentially 5 main types of media that data-driven marketers can harness in a self-funded marketing campaign: owned, paid, earned, participatory, and sponsored media.

So what’s what?

Owned Media is essentially that which we control. Think of it as any object you design, which can include distribution channels. That can means Blogs, YouTube, Twitter accounts, standard web pages, any community presence where a brand audience, i.e. customers, prospects, influencers, etc, can come together.

Paid media includes purchased visibility. This can include:

  • Display ads
  • Paid search
  • Sponsorships

Paid media can complement and reinforce a brand’s  directives when paired with owned and earned media programs.

Paid media, rather than branding programs, can benefit initiatives where action and experiences are defined and promoted through the click path. Moreover, paid media can be tracked and measured through cost per action.

Earned media is favorable publicity gained through promotional efforts other than advertising. Earned media comes as a result of owned, paid, and participatory media programs and can be seen in actions of our consumers, peers, and influencers on blogs, social network updates, and any attention gained from reporters, bloggers, influencers or analysts..

Participatory media can be blogs, wikis, RSS, tagging and social bookmarking, music-photo-video sharing, mashups, podcasts, participatory video projects and video blogs.  It is an extension of earned and owned media.

Sponsored media is a new category that fuses owned, paid, and earned media. Sponsored media puts advertising in social channels and can take the shape of supported Twitter ads, paid blog posts, appearances, etc.

Using these five types of media in strategically can raise brand awareness and support a data-driven marketing campaign.