The paid media guide
Paid media, connected to the business.
A practical starting point for choosing channels, measuring outcomes and finding the right support.
What is paid media?
Paid media is advertising you pay to distribute: search ads, shopping listings, sponsored social posts, video and display. It gives a business a way to reach potential customers beyond its existing audience. Buying reach is only the starting point; the offer, creative, landing page and customer experience determine what that attention becomes.
It works alongside owned media, such as your website and email list, and earned attention, such as recommendations and editorial coverage. A campaign should connect those experiences rather than operate as an isolated ad account.
Which channels should you use?
Paid search can capture existing intent when people look for a product, service or solution. Shopping campaigns depend on accurate product data, pricing and availability as well as bidding. Paid social and video can introduce an offer before somebody searches for it, then help people evaluate it over time.
Choose channels around your customers, economics and capacity to produce good creative. Spreading a small budget across every platform can leave each test without enough evidence. Start with a clear commercial question and decide what result would justify further investment.
Measure the business outcome, not just the platform result.
Clicks, click-through rate and cost per click help diagnose delivery. They do not establish profitability. For ecommerce, review revenue alongside gross margin, returns, fulfilment costs and new-customer acquisition. For lead generation, follow leads through qualification, sales and customer value.
Platform attribution is an estimate of credit, not proof that every reported sale was caused by advertising. Compare it with business totals, consistent reporting periods and the limits of your tracking. Where practical, use controlled tests to understand incremental impact. Agree the definitions before judging performance.
Paid media agency or paid media consultancy?
The labels overlap. An agency may provide ongoing campaign execution, creative and reporting; a consultancy may focus on diagnosis, strategy and helping an internal team improve. Either can combine advice with hands-on delivery. Ask who will actually do the work and which responsibilities remain with your team.
Before appointing a partner, clarify account ownership, access to reporting, the scope of creative and landing-page work, fees, and how recommendations turn into decisions. Ask for relevant examples and the context behind results rather than treating a headline percentage as a forecast for your business.
What should happen first?
Start by agreeing the business objective, target customer and commercial constraints. Check conversion tracking and account access, review existing performance and creative, and identify the most important gaps. Turn that diagnosis into a prioritised plan with owners, an agreed budget and a review cadence.
A useful review explains what happened, why it matters, what remains uncertain and what changes next. That connects day-to-day optimisation to decisions about growth, rather than making the number of account changes the measure of success.
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