Cross-Department Alignment Maximizes All Content: Paid, Owned & Earned

When multiple departments involved in a brand’s messaging operate in silos, opportunities are lost because competition—for results, for budget, and for other resources—squeezes out cooperation.That is why we emphasize an integrated approach to PR and marketing, the same conclusion reached by this infographic from the CMO Council. The question shouldn’t be “Which is better: paid vs. owned vs. earned?” It should be “How can my paid, owned and earned media amplify each other for greater overall results?”

A complete campaign should include all three types of media or content, planned in ways that maximize the use of content and data while reach as much of your target audience as possible.

In the full campaigns we develop for clients, this often means developing an overall theme, which is then deployed in multiple ways:

• Thought leadership articles or press releases are placed with industry media (earned).
• Social media and the company’s own blog promote those thought leadership placements, while also linking to landing pages for lead generating offers such as whitepapers or webinars (owned).
• Outbound email or carefully targeted paid social is used to amplify that reach (paid).

When campaigns are designed from the beginning to include all types of media, building on the strengths of each to complement the others, results improve and your teams are happier.

More thoughts and resources: 

• Watch the video: How To Plan Complete Integrated Marketing & PR Campaigns
• Read the post: Lessons From 15 Years: Integrate PR & Marketing To Maximize Results
• Download the template: Campaign Planning Calendar template

Sometimes bringing in an outside perspective can help the various teams in your company see how working together benefits everyone. If you’d like to chat about how to better align the departments involved in your marketing, PR and communications efforts, schedule a no-obligation consultation here.