Questions such as “Huh? What should I do?” arise during daily work.
Rather than asking people, it is easier and easier to get knowledge by searching on the internet.
Many of the sites used to solve questions are excellent, containing a variety of knowledge and opinions from experts.
In fact, some of these sites are used by companies to disseminate information as owned media.
Therefore, this time we will explain about owned media, what it is, its contents, and the goals that companies aim for.
Understand the content of owned media
Owned Media
literally means “media owned by a company.” In other words, it refers to websites operated by companies, company brochures, etc.
Specifically, it is classified into the following four categories.
・Corporate website, company information pamphlets, etc.
Disseminating information such as company business details, IR, news releases, etc.
・Brand site
Disseminating information that establishes the characteristics of products and services and brand image
・Content sites
Disseminating unique information from your company to users and consumers (useful information related to your company’s products and services, useful information unrelated, etc.)
・EC site
where you can purchase products and services
As you can see, the scope of owned media is wide and includes a variety of media.
In general, owned media in the narrow sense often means “sites that transmit unique information that is useful to users” (this article also assumes owned media in the narrow sense).
The content of owned media should change depending on the purpose!
Now, the difficult part of running owned media is deciding what kind of information to send out.
Even when it comes to “proprietary information from your company to its users,” you need to set a broad framework and establish a central axis.
What is important here is the goal (purpose) of owned media. The goals that are set can be categorized into the following three types.
・The purpose of corporate branding
<br/>The purpose is to get people to know about the company itself and to raise awareness of its products and services.
Furthermore, as part of a company’s branding strategy, it can also focus on the company’s corporate culture and worldview.
By increasing awareness, your goal is to gain fans for your company and keep existing customers from leaving.
・For the purpose of recruiting human resources
<br/> The purpose is to make people want to work here by letting them know about the company, such as by introducing the company’s workplace from multiple perspectives.
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・The purpose is to increase sales and develop new customers.The
purpose is to provide users with various useful information, even if it is not related to their own products and services, and to have opportunities to contact potential customers. Masu.
It is also expected that this will lead to the development of new customers and sales.
Based on the above goals, you must start by narrowing down what your company needs. The content will be considered according to the objectives you have set.
Benefits of owned media unique to BtoB
Especially for B2B companies, owned media has the potential to be a highly effective marketing strategy.
I will explain this from two perspectives below.
Generally, when a company purchases products or services, the person in charge of the purchase will often gather information by searching on the Internet.
If the person in charge of the company has a specific image in mind, “I want this kind of product or service,” a traditional corporate site or EC site owned by a BtoB company may be sufficient. This is because information about the company, products, and services is sufficient.
However, if a company is well-known, it will get hits when searching for the company name or product name, but this will be at a disadvantage for companies that want to expand their market share.
Therefore, in order to expand market share, it is first necessary to increase awareness of the company itself and of its products and services. “Owned media” plays this role.
As a branding strategy, by launching a website that explains your company’s worldview, you can not only increase your name recognition but also gain fans.
Owned media is also extremely useful for BtoB companies, as it allows them to differentiate themselves from other BtoB companies.
On the other hand, what if the person in charge of the company does not have a concrete image of what they want for the product or service?
If anything, this case may be more realistic.
The premise that people want a product or service is that there is some kind of “problem” or “issue.”
As a clue to the solution, the person in charge may search the Internet. Traditional BtoB companies that only have a corporate site or an e-commerce site will not even be searched.
However, if you have a site with unique content such as useful information for consumers and users, there is a possibility that you will be able to get people to visit your content site.
As a result, even if you are not interested in the product or service, just being able to find the site useful will lead to a situation where you will visit the content site regularly.
By visiting them regularly, there is a high possibility that they will eventually become interested in your products and services.
For the above reasons, we recommend that you actively utilize owned media because you are a BtoB company.
The success of owned media for BtoB companies is largely related to the setting of objectives.
Rather than looking at what kind of sites are launched in general, you should dig deeper and think about what your company is lacking.
Once you have set the exact objectives your company needs, you will be taking a big step towards owned media success.
summary
◆ Owned media in a narrow sense refers to sites (content sites) that provide unique information that is beneficial to users ◆ Owned media has multiple purposes, including branding, acquiring human resources, and developing new customers. ◆ Owned media can be said to be a more effective marketing strategy for BtoB companies.