Some guy called Bob Dylan wrote how “the times they are a-changin” over 50 years ago, and still, they are a changin'. We're pretty sure when he wrote this, he was looking into the future and seeing what was happening in digital marketing.

Gone are the days where TV, radio, and print dominate the media landscape. No longer do you have the undivided attention of people, with nowhere to look but to your commercial. Billboards, classifieds, you name it, traditional mediums are as useful to marketers as polaroid cameras. Sure they're nice, but are they the most effective option?

The climate has a changed. The saturation of the market and the rapid growth of technology have forced the hand of businesses to change and adapt, or end up like countless failed businesses around them. As Dylan expanded:

"You better start swimming, or you'll sink like a stone"

As the digital and social media revolution continues to mature, the conversation between company and customer becomes even more complex. Sure it can seem overwhelming, but the sooner you embrace it, the sooner you'll start nailing it.

One of the most simple and effective classifications for media are these three categories:

• Owned media
• Paid media
• Earned media

Owned media

Owned media, as the name suggests, are the channels you have ultimate control over. This your core, the foundation for your business. This is where everything you do starts from and comes back to. We often see companies worry so much about paid and earned media before they even have ensured their owned media is in order. You don't leave your house before you get dressed (well, at least not without a little unwanted attention), so this is no different. Your owned media is one of the biggest reflections of your business, you want to be proud when people see it.

Your website, your blog, your social media profiles. These are all yours to own and show off exactly what makes your brand special. You need brand consistency across your channels. Social media profiles are not just there for the sake of it, they are an extension of your website. They also allow you to directly communicate with your customer and engage with them instantly. You need a clear and well designed content marketing strategy as well as a strong social media strategy to bolster your efforts. PwC reported in 2014 that 66% of marketers reported a shift in budget, with more spending being directed to owned media and less towards paid media.

Paid Media

Paid media encompasses “traditional advertising” such as print, TV and radio, as well as more direct advertising such as social media advertising, search Pay Per Click (PPC), retargeting and display ads. Simply, paid media is designed to create brand awareness or new customer acquisition. It provides access to a mass market at great speed. However this can be expensive, especially in more competitive markets, but certainly does hold a lot of importance. For social media advertising spend in particular, it's predicted that advertisers around the world will pump in over US$23 billion in 2015.

Earned media

Earned media is the response and interaction to your tireless marketing and branding efforts. It could be simply described as the modern form of ‘word of mouth’ advertising. In today’s landscape that is normally seen through getting your business promoted by key influencers. The weight of word-of-mouth influence is seemingly as tremendous as ever, and in the current content saturated climate, it's value should not be undersold.

You need only think about your own experiences to see the value of earned media. I personally ignore almost anything that resembles an ad. If you're anything like me, you're the perfect example for why this area is worth investing your effort in. According to Nielsen, 90% of people trust peer recommendations, compared with 33% trust for ads. SMB owners will empathise with this even more, with 82% reporting their main source of new business being referrals.

It all comes back to trust. Pumping all your money into adverts rather than utilising your owned media or gaining brand advocates is not just wasteful, it ignores the new consumer and how we want to engage with products and brands.

That's not to say paid media isn't valuable, obviously it is powerful and the targeting abilities we are afforded with modern technology is amazing, albeit creepy for some people. The key here is to devote time into all three of these categories, and figure out how owned, paid, and earned media fit into your marketing strategy.

Now that you have a clearer understanding of the current media landscape, you can make some decisions on the direction you want to go. The market is so saturated with brands and content and it is imperative for the survival of your business to keep up with the herd.

Digital or inbound marketing can be overwhelming, but being informed on the landscape ensures that your business has a consistent message across all media channels. The times may be a changin', so what are you waiting for? Start swimming.