Earned, owned, and sponsored media all play important roles in establishing a strong digital communication framework in a social media ecosystem. Social media relies on the mutual contribution occasioned by strengthening each other by relying on the features of one form to cogently launch the best output.
The three models function as a tripod because they work in tandem to ensure the success of a digital marketing framework. Owned media serves as the point of origin for communication, whereas earned media serves as a conduit that connects individuals to the point of origin in order for them to acquire relevant information interactively (Baetzgen, and Tropp, 2013, 7). Earned media works as a platform that consists of reposts, shares, mentions, and reviews while owned media provides the platform for hosting the information that will allow for the interaction through the earned media (Stephen, and Galak, 2012, 627). Paid media on the other end drives the commercial interest through the promotion of content that drives earned media and directing traffic to owned media platforms (Edelman, and Salsberg, 2010, 4).
A network model of influence is the number of people within a network that determine the influence rather than the availability of people with a considerable influence (Watts, & Dodds, 2007, 444). The digital channels offer a platform that allows for the people to interact with each other and yield tremendous influence through the sharing of information in a given network (Hanna, Rohm, and Crittenden, 2011, 268). The influence forms the building blocks that makes the channel effective in informing the people and through the establishing of a given item that goes viral thereby reaching a large audience. The numbers of people that are influenced through the network make the model an important tool of sharing information.
References
Baetzgen, A. and Tropp, J., 2013. “Owned Media”: Developing a Theory from the Buzzword. Studies in Media and Communication, 1(2), pp.1-10.
Edelman, D. and Salsberg, B., 2010. Beyond paid media: Marketing’s new vocabulary. McKinsey Quarterly, pp.1-8.
Hanna, R., Rohm, A. and Crittenden, V.L., 2011. We’re all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem. Business horizons, 54(3), pp.265-273.
Stephen, A.T. and Galak, J., 2012. The effects of traditional and social earned media on sales: A study of a microlending marketplace. Journal of Marketing Research, 49(5), pp.624-639.
Watts, D. J., & Dodds, P. S. (2007). Influentials, Networks, and Public Opinion Formation. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(4), 441-458. doi:10.1086/518527
