Owned, earned, and paid media
FundamentalsOwned, earned, and paid media describe how information about your brand reaches people. Owned media includes your website and official channels you control. Earned media includes reviews, news coverage, and organic mentions from others. Paid media includes ads and sponsored placements. Reputation work improves all three by increasing accuracy, credibility, and consistency where buyers look.
Earned media often carries the highest trust, while owned media is the easiest to fix and keep accurate.
You publish an FAQ (owned), earn citations from a trade publication (earned), and run brand protection ads for high-intent queries (paid).
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