Owned, earned and paid media are three terms you might come across a lot these days. In fact, if you read marketing blogs, you will come across them all the time. Since this blog is about conversion and conversion is function of user engagement (or, at least, should be), time to take a look at them.

Engagement marketing success comes from understanding it's core basics: earned, owned, and paid media. These terms are fairly new buzz words for marketers looking to attract customers in new ways, and they are on the cutting edge of where engagement marketing will be in the future years.
Forrester Research, pointed out on their blog an while ago that these terms for engagement marketing are "a simple way for interactive marketers to categorize and ultimately prioritize all of the media options they have today." The Forrester post  pointed out how crucial earned media is for engagement marketing  to work. But how do they all work together?

Owned media can be defined as a channel a brand controls, such  as a web site or Twitter account, in order to build a relationship with existing customers.

Paid media is when a brand pays to leverage a channel such as by displaying ads or paid searches. But both owned and paid media filter into earned media, creating potential and profit via that format.

Earned media is when customers become the channel, giving you a chance to gain insights from customers.

So how do these types all work together? It was hinted at that owned media and paid media all funnel into earned media. The Forrester post points out that this will happen even when budgets are tight. It also points out some  ways to start your 2010 engagement marketing strategy.

1. Create a solar system of owned media

Since you control owned media,  you can now create brand portability. This means  you can use your web site, Facebook page, and Twitter account fully to expand across static pages. In short, the best part about this is you're creating a new, dynamic way to find leads, maintain customers, and define your brand.

2. Earned media is about brand behaviour

Earned media is where you're not directly paying for this free way to market yourself. It's an old public relations term where you get free advertising. There are many routes to success with earned media, but the key point is to respond to both good and bad behaviours of your customers.

3. Paid media is king

While paid media may seem to be going downhill with more free media tools becoming prominent, for engagement marketing it's still king. This is where you directly pay for media advertisements to create sales and brand awareness.