Although they may look random, these four images share a particularly interesting connection.
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If you're trying to sell something — whether it's printer paper or luxury cars — you need to work hard to convince potential customers to choose your brand specifically.
There are many ways to do this, and they can be grouped into four distinct approaches:
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**Paid Media:**
The familiar, conventional form of advertising, in which the advertiser pays for ads to appear on social media, television, and billboards.
A prime example is Apple's hugely successful *Shot on iPhone* campaign, which showcased stunning photographs taken with the iPhone 6 and highlighted its camera quality.
The advantage is that the advertiser has full control over the marketing message and where it appears.
The disadvantage is, of course, the high cost of advertising — and the fact that customers who know an ad is paid for are less likely to be persuaded by it.
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**Owned Media:**
Advertising through a medium owned by the advertiser themselves.
The most obvious example is a company's own website, where it presents its products or services.
But printed in-store displays at a supermarket or a post on social media also count as advertiser-owned media.
A rather extreme example is Elon Musk's X account, through which he promotes various financial interests — and where he is not only the owner of the account, but of the entire platform.
The advantage is free advertising with full control over the marketing message.
The disadvantage is that it is very difficult to build an audience that will voluntarily engage with that content and then make a purchase — even knowing they're being sold to.
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**Shared Media:**
A form of advertising based on collaborative activity between a brand and its customers, designed to get them to spread the word about the brand without any financial compensation.
A classic example is Spotify Wrapped — Spotify's annual year-in-review presentation for paying subscribers, summarizing their musical tastes and listening habits.
Users share their Wrapped results online because they want to express something about themselves — but in doing so, they're also advertising Spotify.
The advantage is increased brand awareness in a way that doesn't feel like direct advertising.
On the other hand, for a campaign like this to succeed, the advertiser must invest heavily in creating something compelling enough that customers will actually want to share it.
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**Earned Media:**
This is arguably the most coveted form of advertising for marketers.
It happens when people promote a company of their own free will, with no compensation whatsoever.
If you post a photo of your meal at a restaurant with a glowing caption, you've given the restaurant owner free advertising.
Companies sometimes go to great lengths to earn this kind of coverage — through charitable donations, event sponsorships, and even deliberately unusual paid campaigns in the hope that they'll go viral.
The tweet *"You Can Still Dunk in the Dark"* posted from Oreo's account during the power outage at the 2013 Super Bowl is a textbook example.
The tweet exploded online and gave the brand tremendous exposure without a single cent being spent on it — and it remains a landmark case study in the advertising world to this day.
Beyond being free, this type of advertising is also considered the most effective, because the fact that it isn't presented to users by the business owner makes it feel more credible and authentic.
The downside is that the advertiser has no control whatsoever over the content or its placement — so if the person singing your praises online happens to be a particularly bad photographer or a controversial figure, you'd probably rather pass on that exposure.
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When marketing content floods your feed, at least know which sales technique is being used on you.
And if you're a business owner, hold on to your paid marketing budget and focus on Earned Media — it will deliver the greatest return on your investment.