POEM digital marketing framework
The POEM model is a digital marketing framework that
helps marketers plan their efforts to achieve business goals.
POEM stands for paid, owned, and earned media. This
model helps identify the types of content used in a
marketing campaign.
The POEM framework represents paid, earned, and owned media
in a digital marketing strategy.
Businesses use the POEM framework to get more attention,
generate more online traffic, and make more sales.
Let’s dive into these different types of media and learn how
they work together to create a complete strategy.
Paid media
The “P” in POEM stands for Paid Media. As the name
suggests, paid media involves distribution that you pay for. It
includes sponsored advertising in various places across the
internet. Any time when you exchange money to put your
message in front of people, that’s paid media.
Examples of paid media
Paid media can come in many different forms. Some
common examples of paid media include:
Facebook ads
Google search ads
Display ads
Sponsored influencer posts
Offline, paid media could include billboards, radio spots, and
television advertisements.
Benefits of paid media
One of the main benefits of paid media is its ability to target
specific users with a specific message. Platforms like
Facebook and Google have billions of data points that
they’ve collected that will help you reach a specific
audience. These companies offer you the opportunity to
advertise to the exact demographic or psychographic group
that you’re interested in.
Influencer marketing also allows you to reach a specific
audience. For example, if you want to target people
interested in yoga, you’d work with a yoga influencer. This
influencer would have an engaged audience of yoga that
you want to reach.
Another benefit of paid media is that it can help jumpstart
your marketing efforts. Owned and earned media take
longer to reach the ideal audience and produce results. Paid
media cuts down on that time by getting directly in front of
the eyeballs you want.
Paid media offers another advantage for businesses when it
comes to PPC advertising. With this approach, advertisers
only pay when someone actually clicks on their ad. This
helps businesses manage their costs and get a good ROI.
Drawbacks of paid media
One of the main drawbacks of paid media is just that.
It’s paid. This means that you’ll always have to spend money
to get your message out there. This can be an issue for
businesses that are starting out. Not every business has the
budget to invest in paid media.
Another potential drawback of paid media is ad blindness.
Ad blindness occurs when someone simply ignores things
that they know are advertisements. Think of how many times
you’ve been on a website with banner ads and looked right
past them to the content you actually want to see.
People don’t always like being sold things. Even if your
product or service would be perfect for someone, they could
ignore your message because they don’t trust ads.
Owned media
The “O” in POEM stands for owned media. Owned media
includes all the assets that your business owns and controls.
Examples of owned media
Owned media can be one of the best ways to promote your
product or service. Some of the best examples of owned
media are:
Websites
Email lists
Mobile apps
Blog posts
Benefits of owned media
The two greatest benefits of owned media assets are
freedom and control. You can make them how you want and
do with them what you please. This isn’t always the case
with paid and earned media.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to owned
media. You can have your website designed to your exact specifications. You
can send whatever message you want to people on your
email list. This isn’t always true when it comes to a
business’s social media profile, for example.
Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have terms of service. You
can only use the platforms on their terms. If you stray from
those, they have the right to throttle your reach or even
delete your account.
That may be an extreme example, but it’s important to
consider who’s really in charge of the platforms that you’re
using.
Another benefit of owned media is that it’s cost-effective.
You don’t need to fork money over to advertising platforms
to create it.
Drawbacks of owned media
One of the drawbacks of owned media is that it can be hard
to get distribution for it. No matter how great your website is,
if you can’t get the right eyeballs on it, it won’t make a
difference for your business.
Another downside to owned media is that it can be difficult
to create and manage. Designing an awesome website or
developing a slick mobile app is a big undertaking. Not
everyone has the time and talent to create and continually
update owned media.
Earned media
The “E” in POEM stands for earned media. Earned media is
exposure that a business receives as a result of organic
attention. The best way to increase earned media is to
create valuable content that people want to share.
Many marketers consider earned media to be inbound
marketing. This is because the content attracts potential
customers to your business without you doing outreach
(outbound marketing).
Examples of earned media
Word-of-mouth
Publicity
Viral marketing
Search engine optimization
Benefits of earned media
A benefit of earned media is that it can attract potential
customers to your brand without you having to go out
searching for them. Earned media works like a magnet,
attracting the right kind of people to your business. You
know that these people are more likely to buy your product
or service because something you’ve made has already
resonated with them.
Earned media also helps increase your credibility. If lots of
people are talking about and sharing your business, that
buzz means something. Earned media can help you position
yourself as an expert within your niche.
Drawbacks of earned media
One drawback of earned media is that you don’t necessarily
have control over it. You can make awesome social media posts and do
great work, but that doesn’t guarantee that people will talk
about your business. You can do your best to create content
that resonates, but it’s ultimately up to the people to decide
whether or not to engage with or share it.
Another drawback when it comes to earned media is that it
can be hard to replicate. If you are fortunate enough to “go
viral,” it’s hard to strike gold twice. Because you don’t have a
lot of control and don’t always know what will be a hit,
earned media isn’t always scalable.
