The first modern grain silo was constructed in 1873 and since then, the breadbaskets of the world have utilized them for storing every kind of grain imaginable. The symbolic icon in the American Midwest embodies harvest, abundance, success, and often, traditionalism. The function is simple: to isolate and store grain until it can be dried and sold. But grain silos are made for grain, not marketing or advertising agents who need to collaborate and share ideas. Yet, it’s so common to hear about companies confining channels and preventing this facilitation, especially when it’s imperative to adapting to the changing faces of media and technology.

One of the greatest challenges in the advent of new technology and marketing avenues is ensuring coordination and integration of techniques. This is particularly important when working with various forms of content media. The major types, paid, owned, and earned, have been used in various ways for ages but like customers change, so do the methods to reach them. While McKinsey & Company suggests sold and hijacked media deserve part of the conversation, others suggest that converged and shared media are more relevant.

The Three Major Forms of Media:

Paid Media

Almost everyone has donned the curtains and disappeared into the Litchfield Pen for at least 13 episodes of Netflix’s most popular series, Orange Is The New Black. The incredibly popular women’s prison dramedy has infiltrated the psyches of everyone and the hype is everywhere. The series teamed up with Gilt, a fashion e-commerce site, to promote season 2 with a flash sale, elaborate video content, all while donating money to the Dress for Success Program. The entertaining and native paid media was so successful that it earned 30 million impressions, driving many new customers to both Netflix and Gilt.

Owned Media

Starbucks’ blog is insightful and personable, giving customers transparency and a connection to one of the largest and most successful drink corporations in the world. By highlighting the company’s own agenda on issues like Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices, as well as news and updates on its own website, this form of owned media is effective by strengthening the core values that Starbucks portrays. It further promotes the brand with call-to-action buttons to social media sites that fans can interact with and share.

Earned Media

Going viral is efficient at getting content out by using consumers to do the legwork. In it’s fiercest form, it starts with good content and then is shared via social sites and/or word of mouth. Purina’s Dear Kitten Video Series did just that. The creators used anthropomorphization to create a series of letters read through YouTube, in which a deadpan adult cat talks to the new kitten of the household, giving him the rundown of living with humans. Using humor and great imagery,  the pet food company took earned media to the next level by connecting with all the feels by connecting with pet owners everywhere.

Risk and Rewards

As mentioned in an earlier blog, 92% of consumers trust earned media over all others while paid advertising continues to lag. When it comes to current trends and buzzwords, earned media is the fire that everyone is kindling, trying to ignite. Paid and owned media sometimes just the kindling and the sparks. It can be a slow smolder in a field or the combustible dust in a grain elevator. With risk, comes reward, and so does the momentum. Earned media and social media go hand in hand and everyone knows the power of ‘going viral’, good or bad. Done right, companies increase profits with high conversion rates and amplified reach.

Holistic Integration

The excellent article from Moz emphasizes the importance of the three major medias and why companies should use them. However, integrating the three holistically, and not focusing on each as an autonomous part, is essential for several reasons. It creates consistent messaging across all channels and meets customers wherever they are for whatever the need. A consistent message implies that a brand is “prominent and powerful” and it speaks volumes in a saturated market.

Converging Media

Developing the content for earned media relies on the other two forms, and here lies the importance of converged media. In order for content to be shared, it needs relevance that usually develops in the paid or owned channels. Matthew Gratt of Convince & Convert suggests that the content should be cited with references and easily retweeted or shared. Other options can include making content with the appropriate metadata and adjusting content to match themes of target publications. Visual themes should also be easy to embed or licensed with creative commons.

Budgeting for Success

Most companies already have tight budgets and kicking in additional funds for earned media can be challenging. Liz Bedor at NewsCred has a straightforward approach for budgeting content marketing. She suggests that before anything else, a company needs to calculate the costs of unused content and weed out what isn’t working. Next, borrow from underperforming channels like advertising, which has seen click-throughs dwindle. Then, look for symbiotic opportunities with heavy hitters that have big budgets and can mutually benefit from sharing content.

Burn and Run!

As converged media shifts online and away from the monopoly of offline PR, your interaction with customers is only as limited as the creativity hindered by weak cohesion between departments. Consumers are eager to interact with your brand but is your brand ready for the cornucopia of success? Burn down the archaic silos decaying in the heartland and allow the best minds to converge to create brilliant, entertaining, and thoughtful marketing content.