Media evolution has led to a notable trend: the convergence of paid, owned and earned media. Once distinct disciplines, now these types of media work best when we use them together — creating a holistic approach to communicating with whole humans.
As you’re creating your plan, consider ways to put AI to work. Computer brains can help you make media in all three categories feel, maybe surprisingly, more personal to your audiences.
Making paid media more personal.
Paid media advertising is facing major disruption in 2024. Changing privacy regulations are challenging advertisers to rethink their strategies.
Casting a wide net to catch audiences doesn’t work so well anymore. But leveraging creative and precise ad targeting to reach your intended audience, with assists from AI, can work very well.
“Contextual targeting” is one way to achieve this. Contextual targeting means serving ads based on the content of the page they’re displayed on — like when a spice company serves ads on a cooking website. This lets advertisers reach a more relevant audience without relying on people’s personal data.
AI can be a valuable partner for writing contextual ads. For example, it can start with one piece of creative you’ve produced and spin off different versions for different platforms — so the specific content and style best suits the intended audience, boosting click-through and conversion rates.
Owned media that connects.
Owned media refers to the content and channels that brands control directly, such as their websites, blogs and social media accounts. Owned media helps build brand awareness and stronger relationships with audiences, which contributes to customer loyalty.
Focus on creating high-quality, informative and engaging content to distribute via owned media channels. AI can help here, too — by making content recommendations for different audiences segments that makes your blog post, for example, resonate more with each group.
Earn trust with earned media.
Earned media refers to the coverage that brands receive from third-party sources, such as news outlets, social media influencers, and bloggers. Earned media has a lot of credibility with audiences.
In 2024, focus on building relationships with social-media influencers and journalists. AI can help by identifying reporters, publications and influencers relevant to your business and your audience.
After you share newsworthy content with them, AI can help you track earned media coverage and measure its impact.
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