Earned, Owned, Paid and Shared Media Explained

Earned media is attention other people choose to give you, such as press coverage, reviews and recommendations. Owned media is the channels you control, such as your website, email list and social accounts. Paid media is space or reach you buy, such as adverts and sponsored posts. Shared media is content people pass on to others. Strong campaigns plan all four together, so each strengthens the others.

For organisations in Ghana deciding where to invest, this framework helps separate what you can control from what you have to earn.

Earned media

Earned media includes news coverage, interviews, reviews, mentions by creators who were not paid, word of mouth and awards. It carries credibility because someone else chose to talk about you.

You cannot buy it or control it, but you can make it more likely by having a genuine story, building media relationships and being a reliable source. See how to pitch a story to journalists in Ghana.

Owned media

Owned media is every channel you control: website, blog, email newsletter, social media accounts, podcasts, printed materials and your physical spaces. You decide what appears and when.

Owned media is where interested people go to learn more and take action, so it must be accurate and current. It also lasts: a useful article on your website can keep answering questions for years. Our guides to email campaigns and social media strategy cover two of the most important owned channels.

Paid media

Paid media is any placement you pay for: radio spots, television adverts, billboards, print adverts, search and social adverts, and paid creator partnerships. It offers control over the message, timing and reach, within the limits of each medium.

Paid creator partnerships should be clearly disclosed to audiences. See how to coordinate digital, radio and outdoor advertising and how to choose influencers for a brand campaign.

Shared media

Shared media is content that people pass on: posts shared in WhatsApp groups, videos reposted on social platforms and recommendations between friends. It extends reach through trust between people.

You cannot force sharing, but you can create content worth passing on and make it easy to share. In Ghana, messaging apps are an important part of how information spreads; see how to use WhatsApp for business communication.

How they work together

The four types reinforce each other:

• Earned coverage can be shared on owned channels and boosted with paid promotion
• Paid media can drive people to owned channels where they sign up or buy
• Owned content can be pitched to journalists and become earned coverage
• Shared content can attract media interest and new followers

A campaign that relies on one type alone usually leaves value unused.

Planning with the framework

For each campaign, ask:

1. What story could earn coverage or recommendations?
2. Which owned channels will carry the full information and the call to action?
3. Where is paid reach needed to meet the objective or deadline?
4. What content is people likely to share, and how can we make that easier?

Then make sure every channel points to the same reliable information. See how content and paid media teams can work from one campaign brief.

Measuring each type

Earned media can be measured by relevant coverage and message accuracy; owned media by visits, sign-ups and engagement; paid media by delivery and cost per result; shared media by shares and referrals. Relate all of them back to the campaign's objective. See how to measure a PR campaign beyond reach.

For an introduction to how these disciplines differ, read PR, advertising and social media explained for business owners, and for the full picture, our complete guide to PR in Ghana.

PR369's Strategic Communications and PR service plans campaigns across earned, owned, paid and shared media. Email info@pr369.com with your objective and current channels. We will begin with a strategy conversation.