Have you spotted Paid Media creeping into your scope of work in recent years as a way to increase reach? Paid Media and PR form a symbiotic relationship. Here’s why…
Paid Media is now part of the PR mainstream. We’ve become advertisers almost by accident and as a result can now gain a holistic view of activity that was often siloed in separate departments.
The rise and rise of Paid Media in PR
How did we get here?
There are several drivers behind the rise of Paid Media in PR. As social media platforms such as Facebook sought to make money, so the chance of organic reach fell markedly. The message from the gatekeeper: If you want eyeballs and attention, you have to pay for it.
Online news sites and bloggers seeking to monetise their properties have explored various routes, from classic banner ads to sponsored content (‘native advertising’), affiliate links and monetising the point-of-exit via the likes of Outbrain and Taboola.
Since PR has traditionally been the department driving content and placement, as well as social media, Paid Media has inevitably crept into its scope.
While paying for attention might sound out of PR’s typical remit, there are some clear benefits, and some Paid Media training can really help.
Five reasons to love Paid Media
Paid Media should be viewed as a really good opportunity to reach an interested audience and also to test how effective your content is. Benefits include:
- Increased Targeting: PR is fantastic at reaching a target audience, but Paid Media offers real segmentation and increased relevance. Always look to target interest over demographic
- Brand Awareness: As you can target effectively, new audiences will be exposed to your brand and offering. The challenge then is to get the creative and the messaging right to encourage click-throughs and brand recall
- A/B Testing: Learn what resonates and what doesn’t. The findings may surprise you. I ran a Facebook ad campaign for an international brand last year and found – quite by accident – that a particular type of ad image drove more conversions than others, probably as it appeared aspirational and people could identify with it more
- Access to Data: What works best and for whom, and at what time of day? Couple your ad click-through data with your website or channel-specific analytics to understand how effective content was at achieving its singular objective or its contribution towards wider business goals
- Research: Paid Media doesn’t just help us build audiences. We can use the data it provides us with to better hone our wider marketing messaging and tactics, and measure that effectiveness over time. Ad spend could also be viewed as marketing research budget
The ‘PESO’ model
Adding Paid Media to PR’s wider remit has given rise to the term ‘PESO’ (Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned Media) model in recent years.
I am a big advocate of taking this integrated approach; it means PR is truly the valued hub at the heart of all communications. It is absorbing elements from marketing, such as search engine optimisation (SEO) and advertising, to create an all-round more complete service.
Are you up to speed with Paid Media? We run basic Paid Media training for PR professionals and agencies, so if your team needs a basic overview or some strategic brainstorming, please contact us.