• by Skip Brand , October 7, 2014

The terms “paid, owned, and earned media” (POEM) have become the best way to describe the digital media space today. In fact, many argue this is the only way for thought leaders in programmatic to ultimately prioritize all the real-time media options that are currently available.

These three types of media work best together and not in media silos.  Paid media is moving more toward measuring engagement along with huge increases in programmatic spending. Owned media, thanks to many new channels available to brands, is seeing large investments in native and content marketing as brands become publishers.  Earned and word-of-mouth marketing (social) is exploding with hockey stick-like growth.  

For POEM to reach its full potential, these efforts need to be automated and evolved into programmatic brand advertising.

Paid (Advertising)

Paid digital media traditionally consists of display, video, mobile, and also covers both paid search and sponsorships. There is no argument on paid media’s move to programmatic. The most recent transition of brand spending is beginning to be automated and traded programmatically, predominantly in video and mobile media. The evidence of the new top 25 brands utilizing programmatic represents this change (CPG, Financial, Auto, Retail and Travel’s top brands).

Almost half the transactions around the globe this year will occur through real-time-bidding methods for banner display ads. Not very far behind is video and mobile, which are catching up quickly as programmatic becomes the preferred method for all paid media buying.  According to a just-released Forrester study, programmatic video and mobile growth will drive all U.S. display to over $37 billion by 2019.  The advances in programmatic video platforms and mobile exchanges are driving the premium media marketplace.

Owned (Digital Properties)

Owned media leverages channels that brands create and control. Use of these channels, along with branded content distribution, has exploded, representing some of the biggest new investments in marketing over the last few years. Today, brands as publishers encompass company blogs but also YouTube channels, Facebook, Twitter, Instragram, Tumblr, and the traditional Web and mobile sites.  It is widely believed that social channels like Facebook, Twitter, and the like have substantial influence on buying decisions and brand perception.

The biggest and most recent programmatic development has been Facebook’s relaunch of Atlas from Facebook. This is moving toward a full-fledged programmatic media platform, which will rival Google’s and AOL’s growing programmatic efforts.   

On top of all this, Twittter, Instagram, and other owned and social media channels for brands are adding programmatic and data capabilities as well as in-stream purchase abilities to capture holistic branded response (brand + DR) campaigns.

Earned (Partner Networks)

Word-of-mouth, buzz, and viral marketing are the central tenets of earned media. This happens when the customer becomes the channel. Earned media sometimes is referred to as free media and is thought of as the most trusted by consumers.  Customer blog posts, reviews, Facebook likes, fans and shares, along with Twitter followers, and YouTube views all fall under this realm.

Social feedback really matters in a programmatic world to both amplify and scale the earned media message.  Programmatic is on the efficiency side of the media spectrum and native marketing is on custom brand content side.  Both programmatic and native -- thought of as opposites -- are looking to marry in ad exchanges with custom branded content sold programmatically. Ultra-custom branding companies like BuzzFeed are even talking about moving to programmatic to achieve scale.

The perfect premium programmatic world is where paid media leverages the power of all digital channels for display, video, mobile, search and sponsorships for brands. The “nirvana” for owned media will be reached when brands speak to consumers dynamically and authentically across all of the brands’ on-site and off-site properties. This can only be done with the help of programmatic scaling and publishing platforms.  Enhancing earned media through programmatic methods can build conversations, engagement, and content sharing across all of the brands’ customer channels.

Digital marketing’s trifecta is to get POEM fully automated and programmatic.  We can no longer silo media in a premium programmatic environment. POEM is the programmatic holy trinity!