9.1: Writing for Owned Media

Owned media are those channels over which an organization – a company, a nonprofit or a government agency – exercises complete control. Owned media can include both channels intended to reach those within the organization and those intended to reach people outside the organization. Using owned media often increases the effectiveness of both paid media and earned media.

There are two main channels:

• Content you host, such as websites and blogs, and
• Content you share, such as social media or email marketing.

Using earned media is a smart move. It has staying power. The content on your website, in marketing emails and, if you publish them, magazines reaffirms key messages to your audience. They help build brand awareness. And they encourage consumers to be committed to you. Owned media can increase your search visibility, which helps you reach new audiences. And you can promote your own news and messages.

The fact you exercise complete control over it is extremely important. News media are driven by fashions. When classified documents were found at former President Donald Trump’s residence, that dominated television news coverage for days. During the Covid pandemic, mainstream media focused on the need for everyone who could to get a Covid vaccine. Academics with a different viewpoint found it almost impossible to be heard. But on their own media, they could exercise thought leadership, share insights, etc. For a company, college or university, or nonprofit, owned media cannot only enable it to exercise thought leadership but also ensure communications are in line with a company’s business messaging.

You can also boost the chances of your message getting out by seeding your content with keywords and topics, helping to reinforce key messages and align your brand with key sectors.

Share your news first with your customers and friends who check your website or receive your marketing emails. It keeps audiences involved and up-to-date. A few craft brewers are particularly good at this, sending out an email every week announcing specials, contests, charitable activities, etc.

Social media is not owned media. The only people who own social media are the big tech social media websites. They can remove content whenever they want, which is why it is so important to build your own privately owned media assets. The big tech companies don’t enable brands to access their own data.

There are two downsides to owned media. First, blogging can be a slow process, and sometimes it can take months or even years to build an audience. Second, you may have to use Google or Twitter or some other social media platform to drive an audience to your website.

The foundations of an owned media strategy are the (1) content channels an organization owns – the way it delivers content to audiences directly, unmediated by a third party. The most common are websites, catalogs and newsletters. Some hospitals also produce magazines that tell patients stories. Whatever the channel, it should be relevant and valuable and personalized for the user using data.

The second foundational element is community. Using discussion forums or peer benchmarking can help you create your own community.

The third foundational element is context. Paid and earned media give an organization strictly a transactional relationship. An organization that can capture customer data can turn it into a connected experience. Nike+ Run Club at no cost helps athletes, regardless of their level, to be their best. Members get access to products, services and experts to help improve their performance. The Wall Street Journal has a similar program, WSJ+, for subscribers. They get access to complimentary ebooks by notable authors, the opportunity to attend various events such as fireside chats with motion picture directors, book authors, discounted tickets to some festival, profiles of WSJ journalists, discounts on wine, cooking lessons, etc.

How does owned media work? It creates some value for people beyond the products being sold; it uses data not just to target a message but to create a useful service, and they treat people not as passive consumers but active co-creators.