The two requirements for online business are something to sell and people to sell that to.
People to sell to is, online, called traffic.
When you are choosing different marketing strategies to implement in your business, it’s important to understand the choices you have for generating traffic and how they differ.
Essentially, you have three choices for traffic generation- namely “owned,” “paid” and “earned” media.
You’ll very likely use a combination of all strategies for the very best results. The key, always, is to test which of these leads to the best returns for your investment.
Owned Media
This consists of your own website, blog posts, social media accounts, and articles you write and own.
Owned media is very important for business owners because it is something that you can control and use the easiest. Your content on your website needs to be top-notch, taking into consideration search engine optimization. Your content on your blog needs to be updated often with relevant content directed toward your audience. Engage often on your social media accounts.
Paid Media
This consists of promoted posts, pay per click campaigns and anything that you pay for to receive impressions or exposure.
One good use of paid media is to engage in a remarketing campaign. For instance, if someone has come to your website to view a page and then leave, you can use remarketing (also known as retargeting) to bring the viewer back to your website.
Sponsored articles, advertisements, email marketing, paid search, promoted video are all examples of paid media. This is another important element for most marketers and it’s important for you to use these opportunities. You can get started easily with promoted posts on Facebook.
Earned Media
This consists of information about your business that is owned by a third party and not controlled by you.
Whether you want earned media or not, you’re going to have it. It can be both good and bad, and it’s still earned media if a third party put it out there without your permission and without payment from you. You can have some measure of control over earned media by providing the best customer service you can, having top-notch products and services, and staying aware of what people are saying about you and your company.
At times, there is crossover between owned and paid media, as well as with owned and earned media. For example, if you own a blog post (owned media) and you pay to promote it (paid media). Or if you created a video (owned) that happened to go viral (earned) -because once it goes viral you essentially lose control of it and what is said about it.
For the most well rounded traffic strategy, consider using a combination of all three forms of media for your marketing efforts. You don’t have to use multiple methods in each category; even just one from each might be enough, depending on your goals and objectives.
A combination of owned, paid, and earned media is the sweet spot for getting your business and its offerings out in front of people who can benefit.
