In the sprawling landscape of advertising and marketing, juggling paid, earned, and organic media can feel like herding cats. Each channel offers unique strengths, but without a central point of coordination, your efforts risk becoming fragmented and inefficient. That's where the hub strategy comes in, positioning your website as the nucleus of all your communication efforts. 

Understanding the Synergy of Paid, Earned, and Organic 

Before diving into the hub strategy, let's briefly define these three key pillars: 

• Paid Media: Advertising channels where you pay for placement, like Google Ads, social media ads, magazine ads and online display advertising. 

• Earned Media: Publicity gained through word-of-mouth, public relations and social media shares. 

• Organic Media: Unpaid traffic generated through online search, content marketing  and organic social media reach. 

The hub strategy succeeds when each of these channels is optimized to drive traffic and engagement back to one central place: your website.  

Why Your Website Should Be the Central Hub 

Your website is the only digital property you fully own and control. It's the canvas where you paint your brand's story and dictate the user experience. By making it the hub of your communications, you gain: 

• Unified Brand Messaging: Ensure consistency across all channels, reinforcing your brand identity. 

• Maximized ROI: Centralize conversion efforts on your website for better tracking and optimization. 

• Data-Driven Insights: Gather comprehensive data on user behavior and preferences. 

• Enhanced SEO Performance: Drive organic traffic through relevant, high-quality content. 

• Improved User Experience: Create a seamless and engaging experience for your audience. 

• Long term asset: Unlike paid ads that stop when you stop paying, your website is a long-term asset that can be built upon. 

 

Implementing the Hub Strategy: A Channel-by-Channel Approach 

Paid Media (Driving Targeted Traffic to Your Hub): 

• Create targeted landing pages on your website for specific ad campaigns. 

• Use compelling calls to action that encourage users to explore your website further. 

• Retarget previous visitors with relevant messaging to re-engage. 

• Leverage UTM parameters to track the performance of each paid campaign and understand where traffic is coming from. 

Earned Media (Amplifying Your Hub's Content): 

• Publish shareable content on your website that encourages social media engagement. 

• Link press releases and media kits to drive traffic to relevant website pages. 

• Gallagher, of AirDNA, suggested that worried Airbnb hosts in the US could promote themselves as sympathetic to Canadian travelers.  

• Highlight customer reviews and testimonials and feature them prominently on your website. 

• Engage with influencers and bloggers to promote your website's content. 

Organic Media (Building Authority and Driving Traffic): 

• Develop a comprehensive content strategy to improve your website's search engine rankings. 

• Create high-quality, informative blog posts and articles that address your audience's needs. 

• Optimize your website for mobile devices to enhance user experience and SEO. 

• Build backlinks to your website from reputable sources. 

• Use organic social media to drive traffic to blog posts, and other relevant website content. 

The Synergistic Effect 

The true power of the hub strategy lies in the synergistic effect of these channels. Paid media drives initial traffic, earned media amplifies your reach and organic media builds long-term authority. All roads lead back to your website, where you control the narrative and drive conversions. 

A Working Example 

A boutique clothing store is launching a spring collection of shirts and hats. They issue a press release (earned) to announce the new product line and use local magazines, OOH billboards and online display ads (paid) to drive traffic to a dedicated landing page on their website. Simultaneously, they engage local fashion bloggers (earned) to review the products and link back to the website. Their blog (organic) features how-to articles about styles using the product line, attracting organic search traffic. Social media posts across all platforms, paid and organic, drive users to the website for more information. 

In Conclusion 

In a world of digital noise, the hub strategy provides a clear and effective way to consolidate your marketing efforts. By placing your website at the center of your paid, earned and organic media strategy, you can maximize your ROI, build a strong brand and achieve your business goals. 

To find out more about centralizing your marketing resources and executing a communications plan built on the hub strategy, contact us.