Within Social Media Marketing there are three categories under which content falls. These include earned media, paid media, and owned media. Each category plays a significant role to help determine and grow the current market the profile is reaching.
Earned Media
The first part of the trifecta is earned media. This is exactly what it sounds like. Earned media are the fans your profile has that come from mentions, shares, reviews, and posts. Having a strong backing with true fans for a profile help the account excel significantly. Word of mouth, along with shares becomes the driving factor to improve and grow a social media profile. Having earned media is important for profile growth.
Owned Media
Owned media are the channels and profiles that you control. This goes hand and hand with the earned media, except this can include retail stores, company website, fan pages, etc. Owned media is important in order for the earned media to excel and perform at the level you intend it to perform at. This is a direct correlation for a social media profile to becoming successful.
Paid Media
Lastly, paid media is exactly what it sounds like, the media the profile pays for to be advertised in order to gain more followers, sales, and spread your desired image. Paid media can become a powerful tool when first starting a profile to jumpstart the picture you want to depict.
