When to Use Paid, Earned, and Organic Media to Connect to Your Audience?

You’ve built a wellness brand to bring balance, relief, and a better life to your customers. But your e-commerce sales don’t reflect your efforts. 

You’ve spent hours fine-tuning your site, experimented with content strategies, dabbled in ads, and even turned to tools like ChatGPT to churn out blog posts. Yet, the leads trickle in slow, and you’re left wondering why your marketing isn’t working. 

The truth is, no single strategy can do it all.

  • Paid media gives you immediate visibility with targeted buyers.
  • Earned media builds trust through reviews and third-party validation. 
  • Organic media strengthens loyalty by nurturing, authentic lasting connections 

Relying on one leaves your business stuck with gaps, overshadowed by louder and more separate out competitors.

But when paid, earned, and organic media work together, they create a self-sustaining cycle of visibility, trust, and loyalty driving the leads and sales your brand deserves.

Paid Media: Fast Visibility That Converts

Use targeted ads to reach audiences who don’t yet know your brand. Set clear KPIs like click-through rates, cost per acquisition, and return on ad spend (ROAS) to ensure your campaigns directly drive traffic and generate sales.

Paid media is your go-to strategy for immediate results. By targeting your ideal customers with precision, paid campaigns you get your wellness products get in front of the right people at the right time.

This is especially powerful for ecommerce businesses looking to drive traffic, launch new products, or create seasonal promotions.

Paid ads on platforms like Google or Meta deliver quick visibility, directing qualified leads to your site.

Reach specific audiences based on demographics, behavior, or interests, ensuring your message hits the mark.

Paid media grows with your goals, allowing you to expand campaigns as your brand gains traction.

Use retargeting ads to reconnect with customers who’ve visited your site but didn’t complete a purchase, turning abandoned carts into sales.

In short, paid media is the fastest way to boost visibility and drive conversions for your wellness brand.

With clear goals and smart targeting, you can consistently attract the right customers, maximize your ad spend, and turn clicks into lasting sales.

Earned Media: Credibility You Can’t Buy

Highlight customer reviews, influencer partnerships, and third-party features to create credibility. Track KPIs like customer referrals, review volume, and media mentions to measure how these efforts contribute to overall revenue.

Earned media is how you build trust and authority in your niche. It’s the validation your customers need to feel confident about choosing your brand.

Testimonials, reviews, and word-of-mouth referrals carry more weight than any ad because they come from real people with no financial incentive.

Customers trust reviews and referrals more than branded messages.

Positive press and testimonials reassure hesitant buyers that your product delivers results.

Unlike paid ads, earned media has staying power and it keeps working for you without ongoing investment. Encourage happy customers to leave reviews on platforms like Trustpilot or Google, and feature testimonials prominently on your site and social channels.

Earned media is the lasting proof that your wellness brand delivers on its promises. By spotlighting real reviews, trusted voices, and authentic experiences, you build the kind of credibility that keeps customers coming back.

While you can’t buy this type of trust, you can nurture it and let it fuel long-term growth without the constant spend.

Organic Media: Loyalty Through Lasting Connections

Publish blog posts, videos, and social media updates that provide value and keep your audience engaged. Tie your organic media KPIs to website traffic, email engagement rates, and customer lifetime value to ensure these efforts drive long-term growth.

Organic media is the foundation for creating long-term relationships with your audience. Through blog posts, social media content, email campaigns, and SEO, you provide value that keeps your brand top-of-mind without feeling pushy.

Organic content gives you a chance to educate, inspire, and connect without the pressure of a hard sell.

Blogs and videos optimized for SEO continue to bring in traffic long after they’re published. Regular social media updates and email campaigns build a loyal audience that feels connected to your brand.

Use storytelling in your organic content to make an emotional connection. Share customer success stories or the mission behind your wellness brand.

When launching a new product, set KPIs for each media type:

  • Use paid media to achieve a 20% increase in first-time purchases.
  • Leverage earned media to increase referral traffic by 15%.
  • Create organic content that boosts returning customer revenue by 25%.

When paired with paid and earned strategies, organic media drives sustainable growth and keeps your brand part of the conversation long after the first purchase.

By consistently sharing valuable, authentic content, you create a community around your wellness brand that keeps people coming back.

How to Combine Paid, Earned, and Organic Media

No single tactic drives growth on its own. But when you combine paid, earned, and organic media, you create a full-funnel strategy that supports every stage of your customer’s wellness journey from discovery to repeat purchase.

Here’s how health and wellness brands are making it work:

1. Attract New Customers with Paid Media

Start with platforms that are proven to work for wellness e-commerce:

  1. Choose Your Platforms
    • Meta Ads (Facebook + Instagram) – Perfect for lifestyle products like supplements, teas, and skincare.
    • Google Search and Shopping Ads – Great for capturing people searching for solutions (“best vegan protein powder” or “natural sleep remedies”).
    • Pinterest Ads (optional) – Ideal if your brand has beautiful visuals and recipes.
  2. Build Your Target Audiences
    • Inside Meta Ads Manager:
      • Create audiences based on interests like:
        • Holistic health
        • Functional medicine
        • Organic food
        • Yoga and meditation
      • Use Lookalike Audiences based on your email list of past customers. Exclude people who already follow your brand to maximize reach.
  3. Design High-Converting Ads
    • Your ads should feel like part of your customer’s wellness journey. Focus on: Lifestyle imagery (show your product in action—like adding greens powder to a smoothie). Headlines like:
      • “Beat Afternoon Slumps Without Coffee”
      • “Gut Health, Simplified”
    • Clear calls to action:
      • “Get 20% Off Your First Order”
      • “Discover Your Daily Ritual”
  4. Build a Campaign-Specific Landing Page
    • create a landing page that:
      • Highlights the problem your product solves.
      • Features 3-5 benefits (with icons).
      • Shows real customer testimonials.
      • Includes an “Add to Cart” button above the fold.
      • Displays trust badges (“As Seen In MindBodyGreen”).
  5. Launch and Monitor
    • Start with a $50–$100/day budget.
    • Optimize for Conversions.
      • Run 2-3 versions of your ads to test different images and headlines.
  6. Use Meta Ads Manager and Google Analytics to track:
    • Cost per purchase
    • Add-to-cart rates
    • Return on ad spend (ROAS)

2. Build Trust Through Earned Media

Highlight reviews, testimonials, and features in blogs or publications. Social proof helps turn curiosity into confidence.

  1. Partner with Micro-Influencers
    • Find influencers with 5K–50K followers who:
    • Focus on wellness, nutrition, fitness, or self-care.
    • Have highly engaged audiences.
    • Post authentic, educational content.
  2. DM them: “Hi [Name], love your content! We’d love to send you our [product] to try. No strings attached—if you love it and want to share, amazing! Can we send you a package?”
  3. Track outreach in a spreadsheet and follow up.
  1. Collect and Feature Customer Reviews
  • Use software to automate review requests.
    • Email customers 7 days after delivery asking for feedback, photos, or videos.
    • Offer a 10% discount code as a thank-you for submitting a review.
    • Repurpose 5-star reviews on your website, product pages, emails, and ads.
  1. Get Media Coverage
    • Pitch editors at outlets like:
      • MindBodyGreen
      • Well+Good
      • Healthline
  2. Your pitch should include:
    • Why your product matters (with stats, if possible).
    • What makes your brand unique.
    • A link to high-res product images and a press kit.

Example subject line:

“New Adaptogen Blend for Busy Professionals Looking to Ditch Coffee”

After publication, showcase media logos on your site and ads.

  1. Launch an Affiliate Program
    • Use LeadDyno or Refersion to invite:
      • Nutritionists
      • Fitness trainers
      • Health coaches

Offer 15–20% commissions and provide pre-written emails and social captions to make sharing easy.

3. Nurture Loyalty with Organic Media

Publish valuable content like blogs, videos, or newsletters to keep your audience engaged, informed, and coming back for more.

  1. Set Up Automated Email Flows (via Klaviyo)
    • Create a 7-email post-purchase sequence:
    • Thank you and order confirmation.
    • How to use the product.
    • Common troubleshooting tips.
    • Educational content (like “How Ashwagandha Supports Stress Relief”).
    • Cross-sell recommendations.
    • Customer success stories.
    • Loyalty program invite with an exclusive offer.
  1. Create SEO-Optimized Blog Content
    • Publish articles that answer the questions your audience is already Googling:
      • “Best vegan protein powder for muscle recovery”
      • “How to balance cortisol naturally”

Use Ahrefs or Surfer SEO to find high-potential keywords.

  1. Build a Social Media Routine
    • Weekly content plan:
      • 3 Instagram Reels or TikToks: How-to demos, recipes, or expert tips.
      • 2 static posts: Testimonials, educational graphics.
      • Daily Stories: Polls, behind-the-scenes, or UGC reposts.
  1. Build a Community
    • Launch a private Facebook Group around a topic your customers care about, like:
      • “Better Sleep, Naturally”
      • “Holistic Gut Health Tips”

Post conversation starters and host live Q&As with experts once a month.

Setting KPIs Tied to Sales and Revenue Goals

  1. Install tracking tools:
    • Add your Facebook Pixel to your Shopify store.
      • In Shopify Admin: Go to Online Store > Preferences > Facebook Pixel ID and enter your Pixel ID.
    • Install Google Analytics 4 (GA4) via Google Channel app in Shopify.
  2. Set up conversion events:
    • In Meta Events Manager and GA4, confirm the following events are tracking:
      • ✅ Add to Cart
      • ✅ Checkout Started
      • ✅ Purchase
      • ✅ Subscription Sign-Up (if applicable)
  3. What to check weekly (in Meta Ads Manager):
    • Cost per Purchase (CPP) → Goal: Keep this under your profit margin.
    • Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) → Goal: 2x minimum (spend $1, make $2).
    • Click-Through Rate (CTR) → Goal: Above 1%. Low CTR = weak creative.
    • Frequency → Goal: Below 3. If it’s higher, people are seeing your ads too often and getting fatigued.
  4. How to optimize:
    • Pause ads with CPP higher than your average order value (AOV).
    • Duplicate high-performing ads and test small changes (like a new headline or image).
    • If CTR is below 1%, refresh your creative with new angles (e.g., focus on “before and after” outcomes).

Use UTM links for tracking

When giving links to influencers or PR outlets, add UTM parameters.
Example link:
https://yourbrand.com/products/sleep-gummies?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=wellnessjane

Track these in Google Analytics 4 under Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition.

What to check monthly:

  • Top revenue-driving influencers and affiliates.
  • Media features that are driving traffic (check Referral Traffic in GA4).

How to optimize:

  • Give your top 3 influencers exclusive bundles or early access to new products.
  • Repurpose influencer content into paid ads to amplify reach.
  • Stop gifting products to influencers who aren’t driving traffic or sales.
  1. For Email (Klaviyo):
    • Check these metrics per email campaign:
      • Open Rate → Goal: 35%+
      • Click Rate → Goal: 2%+
      • Revenue per Recipient (RPR) → Goal: $0.50+
  2. For Blog Content:
    • In GA4, go to Engagement > Landing Pages:
    • Identify blog posts driving the most traffic and conversions.
    • Track time on page (goal: 2+ minutes) and bounce rate (goal: below 50%).
  3. For Social Media:
    • Check Instagram Insights:
      • Reach (are new people seeing your content?)
      • Saves and shares (are people finding value?).
      • Link clicks (is traffic coming from bio and stories?).
  4. How to optimize:
    • For low email open rates → Test new subject lines that create curiosity.
    • For blog posts with high traffic but low conversions → Add product CTAs and opt-in forms to the article.
    • For social posts with low engagement → Post at your audience’s peak times (check Insights for “Most Active Times”) and use trending audio on Reels.
  5. How to Run a Weekly Optimization Routine:
    • Every Monday:
      • Open Meta Ads Manager → Pause underperforming ads, duplicate winners.
      • Check Klaviyo → Review last week’s emails and plan tests (subject lines, offers).
      • Open Google Analytics → Identify which traffic sources and pages drove the most sales.
  6. Review influencer codes in Shopify → Plan follow-ups with top partners.
  7. Meet with your team to discuss the numbers and decide on actions for the week.

This is the heartbeat of your entire strategy. Without measurement, you don’t know where to spend more, what to cut, or how to scale.

When you combine paid, earned, and organic media, you create a complete system that drives traffic, builds trust, and nurtures loyalty that are all working together to grow your brand.

Paid, Earned, and Organic Conclusion

As a wellness business owner, you already know your products make a difference but to grow your eCommerce sales, you need a strategy that works as hard as you do.

Paid, earned, and organic media each play a vital role in reaching your audience, building trust, and driving loyalty. When combined, they don’t just increase sales they create a sustainable system that helps your brand thrive.

Ready to align your paid, earned, and organic strategies for maximum impact?

Start building the system your business deserves today.

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