<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/c9f74b60-bded-4b1b-bea0-7d4eb3de1f69/information.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/c9f74b60-bded-4b1b-bea0-7d4eb3de1f69/information.png" width="40px" /> You must first reach people before asking them to make a purchase. Reach is the very first step along the customer journey. You must learn to balance the interst vs. awareness equation. If your product is not resonating with the intended market, is it because people within the intended market aren't interested or the market isn't aware? Before you can gauge interest in your product, you must first generate awareness. This is the very top of the conversion funnel.

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Nobody will know about your music unless you reach them first. There are only a few different types of media channels that you can use to reach people within your target market: Paid, Earned, and Owned Media channels. Depending on your needs and your current resources, you will use a mix of Paid, Earned, and Owned media channels to optimize your marketing message and generate maximum conversions at the bottom of the marketing funnel.

Here is a fantastic, easy graphic you can use to understand the traditional marketing funnel.

PAID MEDIA CHANNEL

The paid media channel is any marketing channel that requires payment to reach potential customers. Use paid media channels to reach people you can't normally reach or to reach people you can reach via earned/owned channels to reinforce your marketing messages.

Generally, traditional advertising goes here. Examples include: Facebook ads, TV ads, influencer marketing, etc. Traditionally, you use paid media channels to reach people you can't reach with existing channels like email lists or social media. But with the decreasing organic reach of social media platforms, it is becoming increasingly more common to use paid media to reach people who are existing social media followers. This is called retargeting.

Ad advertising agency is a helpful asset when planning your paid media programs.

Learn more here: Paid

EARNED MEDIA CHANNEL

Earned media is a media impression that you earn. You don't own this marketing channel, nor do you pay for it. It is a freebie. Earned media, when it resonates with the correct audience, can be very powerful and effective. An earned media impression can reach new fans by getting someone else to tell their audience about your music. Examples of earned media include: blog review, a retweet, a music video placement, promotional program with a DSP, etc. With earned media, it's possible to leverage somebody else's reach to spread the word about your music.

A publicist is a helpful asset with planning your earned media programs.

Learn more here: Earned

OWNED MEDIA CHANNEL

While you can certainly reach people using your own media channels like SMS lists, email lists, or websites, these channels don't often help you reach new people. You can make the case that great SEO for your website will enhance organic search and increase the chances somebody new might hit your website and begin the customer journey. But, in my experience, once a listener visits your website, they demonstrate intent and they are already deeper down in the fan journey funnel.

However, once someone shares your content (sends your newsletter to a friend, for example), this now becomes an earned media impression. It is in your best interest to make the best content possible that resonates deeply with your most desirable superfan avatar.