Back to the basics: Earned, Owned and Paid media can help build trust, likability

Lots of great presentations and conversations at the SIMEngage conference in Cincinnati. Got me thinking about the basics.

Sometimes, I find my mind swimming in facts and details. It seems I’m always reading a half-dozen books about PR and marketing, attending meetings and conferences, viewing blog posts and videos… My mind feels like it’s on overload.

Then, a brief chat with someone will bring me back to the basics. That happened during a break in the fantastic SIMEngage conference this week in Cincinnati. While sipping coffee and connecting, a friend and I agreed on these points:

Basic No. 1 — People do business with those they know, like and trust.

Basic No. 2 — Earned, Owned and Paid media are great avenues for achieving No. 1. Earned media is traditional PR — pitching stories to TV, radio, magazine, digital journalists and bloggers. Owned media is going direct to your audiences via your own blog, newsletter, YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc. And Paid media is advertising. (By they way, the speakers at SIMEngage did a great job of explaining the confluence of all three under the umbrella of Content Marketing.)

Basic No. 3 — If you want to understand how social media works, you need to set up a LinkedIn account (or Facebook, or Twitter, or whatever) and devote some time to it. You can’t have someone just tell you about it. You have to participate to learn.

Sounds pretty, eh, basic. Not for some people outside of the PR, marketing and digital worlds. We can provide great value by helping them better understand the basics.

In fact, if anybody wants assistance with any of the above, please contact me. I’d be glad to help you achieve your goal.