This article addresses marketing overwhelm faced by small and medium-sized business owners by breaking down three distinct media types.

Three Types of Media

Involves purchasing advertising through channels like radio, TV, billboards, and social media ads. While these reach established audiences, they carry high costs and declining response rates.

Owned Media

Encompasses content businesses create and control directly—websites, social media, email lists, and in-store materials. This approach offers cost efficiency and message control but requires significant time investment to build audience.

Earned Media

Refers to unpaid publicity through customer testimonials, reviews, and word-of-mouth. This is “seen by customers as the most credible,” yet businesses cannot control the narrative or guarantee positive coverage.

SMS Marketing: The Owned Media Advantage

Text message marketing is an owned media strategy with unique advantages:

  • Direct sales attribution: Know exactly which messages drive sales
  • Precise timing: 98% of messages are read within 3 minutes
  • Growing audience: Access to 286 million U.S. mobile users

SMS marketing combines the control of owned media with the immediacy and engagement rates that other channels simply cannot match.