Take Control: Why Your Own Media Matters When Social Media Fails
What happens when social media platforms change their rules overnight, cutting your reach and disrupting your communication? If your brand relies solely on these platforms, you’re at their mercy. The solution? Invest in your own media. It’s the only channel you truly control—but building a strong, future-proof media presence requires strategy and ongoing effort.
The media landscape in 2025 is off to a turbulent start. With X and Meta platforms becoming increasingly unpredictable, many organizations are re-evaluating their reliance on these channels. This shift highlights the growing importance of owned media — the only platform fully under the organization's control. But how can businesses build owned media that truly supports their strategic goals?
Versatile media design ensures stability
In communications, it is worth making versatile use of different media spaces, each of which has its own logic:
Your own media (websites, blogs, newsletters) are under your control and enable a long-term relationship with your audience.
Paid media (advertising, sponsorships) quickly brings visibility, but requires a budget.
Shared media (influencer marketing, keynotes) helps to expand the reach, but the control is limited.
Earned media (media coverage, PR) is credible, but getting it is not in your own hands.
Often, social media channels have been included in organisations own media, but in reality, they are only partially under our control. We share content through them, but these platforms can change the rules at any time. Media space borrowed from in-house experts only costs the time spent on it, but the organisation's opportunities to influence the content are limited. This also applies to media borrowed from or shared with influencers.
Understanding the differences between each media type and planning your organisation’s communications holistically, covering as many media spaces as feasible, is key to a strategic communication approach that withstands change.
Journalistic reliability in a changing media landscape
Earned media has traditionally been a factor that increases reliability, but the media field is changing in this regard as well. For example, in the United States, the White House press room will be able to host new media alongside journalists, i.e. influencers, bloggers and podcasts. While traditional media is bound by strong journalistic principles, you can become a representative of new media as long as you produce "legitimate news content". This begs the question: who defines what is credible or even true in the future?
For organizations, this means that your own media must be not only strategically planned, but also reliable and knowledgeable. The credibility of one's own content requires expertise in content production. This means professionals in content creation, delivery and engagement. Reliability can be increased, for example, by utilising independent experts in addition to the organisation's own views. Content production based on journalistic principles has never been more important than it is now.
Distribution is key to success
But what to do if social media has been the most effective way to reach your target audience? It's time to think about alternatives. Newsletters have made a strong comeback because they enable direct contact with the audience without the intermediaries of social media platforms. But they only work if carefully planned and delivered with user-centricity in mind. At the same time, search engine optimization (SEO) as part of content design has become increasingly important. If the audience can't find your content through a search engine, its value will be low.
Digital distribution is not a one-time process, but continuous optimization and care. It is a good idea to go through the content of the organizational media regularly and make sure that the whole is coherent and user journeys from content to another are in order. Even old content can be valuable, as long as it is relevant and can be found. To put it in food metaphors, well-conceptualized organizational media is like a good soup base: when the base is strong and made with quality ingredients, it can be seasoned and developed endlessly.
A strong home base can withstand storms
The only way to protect yourself from the constant changes in social media platforms is to build a solid foundation on your own media. It is not a quick fix solution, but the sooner you invest in it, the more likely it is that the organisation's communication will not be at the mercy of external platforms.
Building a good organisational media is not fast food, but a slow-cooking gourmet dish. It requires planning, resources and continuous optimization – but the end result is worth it. Are you ready to invest in it?
A shorter version of this blog post was originally published in Finnish in the blog by Procom ry: https://www.procom.fi/viestijat/media/oma-media-tuo-turvaa-kun-sosiaalisessa-mediassa-kuohuu/
