Zen Media - B2B Marketing & PR Agency for B2B Brands

Why the Mixed Marketing Model works.

By combining paid, shared, earned, and owned media, every platform, medium, and network is addressed in our digital marketing and PR strategy.

Each of these four categories represents both types of media and communication methods.

paid media

  • Advertisements
  • Pay-per-click content
  • Sponsored content
Paid media is important in a digital marketing strategy because it can extend your brand’s reach to audiences that would not have been able to find you organically. Paid media helps brands target the right people at the right times, so they can cut through the noise online and increase brand awareness.

shared media

  • Social media channels
  • Streaming sessions
  • Original content posted on branded platforms that are easily shared

Shared media is about putting content out there and the exchange you have with your audience. Interaction through shared media—or social media—can boost your trustworthiness. This can be through Instagram or Facebook Live sessions, through discussions in the comments on LinkedIn, and so on.

earned media

  • Mentions in newspapers, trade publications, magazines, podcasts, radio, TV, etc.
  • Media hits

Earned media might seem like a very traditional or typical strategy, but it’s certainly not outdated. A feature in an earned media outlet both augments your brand’s reputation and trustworthiness, while also extending the reach of your brand.

owned media

  • Website
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • White papers
  • Email marketing

These assets fuel the other three types of media, and they’re equally as important in building a successful marketing strategy. Owned media is essential because it is the most direct way that potential customers come in contact with your brand.

Buyers are in a constant loop of exploration and evaluation before deciding to purchase.

It takes ~27 interactions before a B2B buyer makes a decision.

Buyers can be in the decision phase for as long as 2 years. That’s why producing content consistently and often is essential to stay top-of-mind.

Mixed Marketing Model

How does the Mixed Marketing Model work?

Each element relies on the others. For example, in order to create social posts that drive sales, brands need content to share online—what we would call owned media. In order to grow a following for this owned media, brands need earned media to direct potential buyers to the content. And to direct potential buyers to the content, companies and brands need to share their work online, which is shared media. Each element is connected.

Curious about what this could look like for you? Send us a note — let’s talk it through.

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Our clients have seen success with our Mixed Marketing Model.

ATB Ventures came to Zen Media looking for a partner to establish our lab’s brand and raise awareness of the emerging technology products and services we were building.  The team at Zen had a strong track record, a deep understanding of our space and a shared passion for our mission.  Their media and communication support have been so invaluable.  Every activity and interaction with Zen accelerated positive outcomes and a return on our investment – a testament to their expertise, creativity and quality of work.  It’s been an amazing experience partnering with Zen Media.  They’ve exceeded our expectations and know how next-generation businesses need to operate in the future.

Sue McGill,
SVP of Innovation, ATB Ventures

Working with the team at Zen Media felt like a true partnership in every sense of the word. Each project was met with enthusiasm, care and extreme attention to detail. We saw direct positive impact from our efforts together and the team continuously went above and beyond to drive the best possible outcomes for us. I look forward to collaborating with Zen again in the future!

Stacy Woloschuk,
VP, Customer and Partner Experience, Brim Financial

We spent an incredible amount of time doing our due diligence when selecting a PR and comms firm to work with. As ATB Ventures works on seeding growth at the edges of innovation and explore opportunities outside of financial services, we needed to find a unique partner who would be able to understand and then communicate what we do. Working with Zen Media was an easy and exciting decision to make after our initial meetings with Shama. The team at Zen bring a unique blend of creativity, optimism, and effective workflow to the table which – coupled with their extensive partnership network – has seen us featured in Forbes and Fast Company to name a few. The team at Zen feel like a true extension of our in-house team and we are grateful for the work we’ve done together thus far, and are excited for future opportunities.

Siobhan Owen,
Brand & Content Strategist, ATB Ventures

Zen Media has been absolutely wonderful to work with — they’ve truly gone above and beyond! Within the first 3 months, we have spoken with The Wall Street Journal, NBC, The Harvard Business Review, Digiday, Ad Age, Ad Week, The Financial Times, Forbes, and many others. Our article in the Harvard Business Review took off and was trending on LinkedIn and our contribution to AdWeek got us the visibility we needed to secure ourselves our own column in the publication.

Kayla Siegmeier,
Sr Manager, Communications Strategy, Cheetah Digital

Shama and her team have provided our firm expert advice that has significantly improved our marketing and business development practices. More than once, I have found myself saying to Shama: “I wish we had known you years ago!” They are very easy to work with and quite personable. I highly recommend them to any professional services firm that needs marketing advice and consulting.

Steve Hoffman,
CEO, Hoffman Marcom

Zen is creative about the approach to gain new business—Here at Nouveau/ImageWear Frame Company we are a B2B organization delivering eyewear to the eye care professional. Zen was able to direct us out of our normal marketing routine and help us get closer to the consumer by developing a “find your Frame” personality quiz allowed the quiz taker to have brand awareness for the brands we were promoting—The entire project was thoughtful, fun and full of promising results.

Shout out to the entire Zen team—Erica for great project management and communication…Brandy for her mad writing skills—Stephanie for always keeping the ship going in the right direction and so many more on the team that pull together and show us best practices—- We are so happy to work with team Zen.

Teri Fittz,
Director of Licensing, Nouveau/Imagewear

I had the pleasure of working with Shama and her team. They are the ultimate professionals. They do their research. Ask the right questions, and develop the ideal solutions. They deliver on schedule and on budget. They boosted online visibility for Allegiance Capital and helped us secure new clients.

Bruce Condit,
VP, Allegiance Capital

The feedback has been amazing! Working with Zen has been a fabulous experience. Not only do they come up with great ideas and wonderful concepts but I will say they were super patient. We had a LOT to get done and needed to get it done in a very short time frame. They got us right to our deadline and we have a fabulous product now!

Vinita Kochhar,
Head of Events, JPMorgan Chase

We’ve worked together for 3 years. It’s been an absolutely phenomenal partnership. We went from 7 leads to a month to over 100 leads a month, and what’s really amazing about these leads is that they are qualified leads versus the tire kickers we used to get. I’ve worked for more than 30 years in business with all kinds of vendors. I can’t recommend anyone more than Zen.

Malcolm Gilvar,
VP, The Trade Group

Shama has the rare ability to not only provide wonderful results through her company’s marketing efforts, but does them in a way that makes everyone feel comfortable and secure in every decision. Her confidence and expert knowledge shine through in each project. I rely heavily on Shama and the Zen team to help grow our business, but she’s also helped me grow personally as a marketer. I would recommend Shama and her team to help any company grow to its full potential!

Krista Short,
Director of Marketing, Falcon
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