What your CFO needs to understand about investing in your brand vs investing in media

It’s easy to get caught in the endless cycle of paying for clicks, impressions, and engagement. Platforms offering immediate, measurable results seem like a smart investment—after all, they give quick returns in terms of clicks, impressions, and engagement. But as businesses continue to pour billions into paid media, we need to ask ourselves: Are we building something lasting, or are we just renting attention?

In today's digital landscape, relying too heavily on any single platform for your marketing efforts can be a risky strategy. The landscape of digital marketing is constantly changing, and when you place all your eggs in one basket, you leave yourself vulnerable to fluctuations in platform performance. Whether it’s rising ad costs, changes in algorithm behaviour, or shifts in user engagement, dependence on a single channel can quickly lead to downturns that negatively affect your visibility, traffic, and, ultimately, sales.

So, how do we break free from this cycle? The answer lies in diversifying your marketing spend. By shifting some of your focus from paid media to owned assets and customer experiences, you’ll build a more sustainable foundation for the future. Let’s explore why this shift is not just necessary but the smartest move for the future of your brand.

Diversify Your Marketing Spend to Avoid Downturns on Specific Platforms

Diversifying your marketing spending across multiple channels is a powerful way to safeguard your brand. By balancing your investment between paid media, owned assets, and earned media, you’re less reliant on the whims of any one platform. Here's why it matters:

As more brands flock to digital advertising, platforms increase prices, and competition for visibility becomes fiercer. The more you depend on a specific channel for customer acquisition, the higher your costs will climb as you compete with others for space. For example, the cost per acquisition (CPA) can skyrocket in markets where paid ads are highly saturated. By diversifying, you avoid putting all your budget into an increasingly expensive channel, ensuring more cost-effective strategies in the long term.

Another risk is the uncertainty surrounding platform algorithms. Social media platforms, search engines, and ad networks frequently update their algorithms, significantly impacting your visibility and ad performance. If you’ve been investing primarily in paid ads on one platform, a sudden algorithm change could cause a sharp drop in results, leaving you scrambling to adjust. By diversifying across different channels, including SEO, content marketing, and email marketing, you reduce your exposure to these unpredictable changes.

Why Investing in Brand, Owned Assets, and Experience Pays Off

So, what’s the alternative? The answer lies in investing in things that you actually own and control, unlike unpredictable algorithms and platform downturns. While paid media can drive traffic in the short run, building a strong, sustainable brand requires a shift in focus to long-term assets: your brand itself, your website, your email list, and, most importantly, the customer experience you deliver.

Building Brand Equity That Lasts

Think about your favourite brands for a moment. Why do you trust them? Why do you keep coming back? For companies like Dove, Lego, Starbucks and McDonalds it’s not just about selling products—they’ve built entire ecosystems around their brands. Their messaging resonates with people on an emotional level. They’ve invested decades into creating a brand that isn’t just seen as a logo, but as a reflection of a set of values.

Brand equity is one of the most powerful assets you can build. It’s the emotional connection that consumers have with your brand, and it’s what keeps them loyal, even when a competitor might be offering a cheaper alternative. When your brand is built on trust, value, and authenticity, you don’t have to fight tooth and nail to grab someone’s attention; your customers come to you.

The Enduring Value of Owned Assets

Paid media is, by its very nature, temporary. Once the ad spend runs out, the visibility disappears. But owned assets? They have long-lasting power. Investing in your own digital real estate—whether that’s a well-optimised website, a robust email marketing list, or even an app—creates a foundation that can serve your brand for years to come.

Take your website, for example. Sure, it requires an initial investment in design, SEO, and content, but once it’s built, it becomes a permanent hub for engagement. When you publish valuable content, optimise for search engines, and provide helpful resources to your audience, you’re building up something that will continue to work for you, long after any paid campaign ends.

Likewise, your email list is a goldmine of potential. Email marketing isn’t just about sending promotions; it’s about nurturing relationships and delivering real value directly to your customers’ inboxes. This is a space where you’re not at the mercy of an algorithm. It’s your direct line to your audience.

Investing in Customer Experience

Let’s not forget one of the most important assets you have: your customer experience. In a world filled with ads, pop-ups, and constant distractions, customers are seeking more than just products—they want memorable, immersive experiences. They want brands that engage with them on a deeper level, offering personalisation, ease, and a sense of connection.

Take ASOS, for example. Their online shopping experience goes beyond simply browsing and purchasing. The platform’s user-friendly design, intuitive search functions, and detailed product descriptions make shopping easy. However, what sets ASOS apart is its commitment to creating a personalised experience through features like the "Style Match" tool, which helps customers find clothing based on images they upload and a tailored feed that highlights products that are aligned with their previous purchases. ASOS also integrates social proof through customer reviews and photos, allowing shoppers to see how items look on real people, creating a sense of community and trust.

Similarly, Gymshark, a fitness apparel brand, has built its online presence on a foundation of engaging and authentic customer experiences. Through their social media platforms, Gymshark creates an online community where customers feel like they’re part of something bigger, whether that’s through influencer collaborations, workout challenges, or engaging with the brand’s fitness content. Their website reflects this sense of belonging, with interactive features like fitness guides and customer stories, and a simple checkout process that feels effortless. Gymshark isn’t just selling clothes; they’re selling a lifestyle—an experience that customers want to be a part of.

Customer experience isn’t just about a one-off interaction; it’s about creating a journey that feels seamless, rewarding, and memorable at every touchpoint. Whether it’s a personalised email, a thoughtful customer service interaction, or an engaging website experience that feels tailored to individual preferences, these moments matter. They build trust, foster loyalty, and, ultimately, turn customers into brand advocates who will return time and time again.

Overcoming the Fear of Moving Budgets

One of the most challenging aspects of shifting your marketing strategy is overcoming the concern that reducing investment in paid media will lead to a decline in sales or visibility. This is a valid concern, paid advertising does drive traffic, and there is a certain reassurance in knowing that your budget is being spent to attract customers. The fear is understandable: What if my competitors outspend me? What if my traffic drops and I can’t recover?

However, the key here is understanding that continuing to pour money into paid campaigns to maintain visibility is not the only option. The solution is not to go cold turkey on paid media entirely but to rebalance your strategy. Begin by allocating a portion of your budget toward building your brand and investing in owned assets. This approach allows you to create sustainable growth while still benefiting from paid channels. From there, closely monitor the results, experiment with different strategies, and refine your approach to align with your long-term objectives.

It's important to remember that metrics like click-through rates and impressions only tell part of the story. Rather than focusing solely on short-term success driven by paid media, shift your attention to more meaningful indicators, such as customer lifetime value, organic traffic growth, and how effectively your brand is engaging with and resonating with your audience.

The Future of Marketing Is Balance

The most successful brands aren’t just relying on one channel or strategy. They’ve found a balance between paid, owned, and earned media—a balanced ecosystem that drives both short-term results and long-term success. Companies like HubSpot do this exceptionally well. While they invest in paid media, the backbone of their success lies in their owned assets, like blogs, eBooks, and software tools. This creates a cycle of sustained growth, with paid ads driving immediate results and owned assets building long-term customer loyalty.

The beauty of striking the right balance between these three types of media is the flexibility it offers. When you invest in a combination of paid, owned, and earned media, you’re not reliant on any single channel to sustain your growth. Rather than being at the mercy of Google or Meta’s algorithms, you can craft a brand experience that customers actively seek out. For example, your owned assets—whether it’s your website, blog, or email list—become key touchpoints that customers return to, independent of paid ads or search engine rankings. This creates a more sustainable marketing foundation and lessens the impact of external disruptions like changes in advertising policies or rising ad costs.

Moreover, a diversified strategy enhances your resilience in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Relying on paid media alone makes your brand vulnerable to fluctuations in platform costs or changes in consumer behaviour, but when you build a strong, content-rich ecosystem, you empower your brand to continue to grow and thrive. By ensuring your owned media is well-established and your earned media (through customer reviews, social media engagement, and PR) is growing, you’re building a long-term presence that customers trust and seek out organically.

In short, finding the right mix of media spend isn’t just about allocating your budget wisely—it’s about creating a brand ecosystem that’s flexible, resilient, and sustainable. When done right, your brand will not only survive in the face of rising costs and evolving platforms, but it will also thrive by becoming a brand customers actively choose and engage with, independent of where they first discover you.

It’s Time to Break Free with Cadastra

At Cadastra, we’ve spent years guiding businesses through the complexities of the digital landscape, helping them overcome the fear of moving away from traditional marketing approaches.

We know that diversifying your strategy can feel like a leap of faith, but that’s where we come in. Our proven process helps you take calculated steps toward creating a more balanced, sustainable marketing strategy that provides both short-term results and long-term success.

With years of experience working across different industries, we don’t just guess what will work—we measure, analyse, and refine strategies to ensure that every part is performing optimally. We track the success of your paid campaigns, monitor the growth of your organic reach, and assess how well your brand resonates with your audience. This allows you to confidently make informed decisions about where to allocate your budget, without the fear of taking risks or missing out on potential growth.

It’s time for your business to take the leap. Get in contact with us today to learn about how we can help you diversify your strategy for long-lasting success.