Paid Media
Paid media is any marketing exposure a company pays for, such as search ads, social media ads, display ads and sponsored content, as opposed to owned channels or earned coverage.
Also called: paid advertising, paid channels
Why it matters
Paid media buys reach that a company has not yet earned. It can put a message in front of a precisely targeted audience quickly, test offers and messages, and support other channels, for example by warming up accounts before outbound or retargeting people who visited the website. In B2B, platforms with job title and company targeting are especially useful.
Paid media is often described alongside owned media (a company's own website, email list and social profiles) and earned media (press coverage, reviews and shares). Paid results stop when spending stops, so teams usually combine it with owned and earned channels and measure it on pipeline and revenue, not only on clicks or cost per lead.
Example
A company targeting finance leaders at mid-sized manufacturers runs LinkedIn ads to a list of 600 accounts, search ads on phrases about closing the books faster, and retargeting ads for people who visited its pricing page. It tracks which campaigns produce opportunities in the CRM and moves budget toward those.
Questions people ask
What are examples of paid media?
Search ads, social media ads such as LinkedIn sponsored content, display and video ads, retargeting ads, sponsored newsletter placements, paid podcast reads and paid listings on review or directory sites. In each case the company pays for the placement rather than earning it.
Is ABM different from Paid Media?
Yes. Account-based marketing is a strategy that focuses sales and marketing on a chosen list of accounts. Paid media is a set of channels. ABM programs often use paid media, for example ads targeted to the account list, alongside outbound, events and content.
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