Vocabulary
8 key words for this lesson
PAID MEDIA
Any channel where you pay to place your message in front of an audience — ads, sponsored posts, and paid search.
Paid media gives you speed — you can be in front of 50,000 targeted prospects tomorrow. The trade-off is that the moment you stop paying, the visibility stops too.
EARNED MEDIA
Attention and coverage you get for free because someone else chose to share, mention, or feature you — PR, word of mouth, and organic shares.
Getting featured in an industry publication is earned media — you did not pay for it, which is why it carries more credibility than an ad.
OWNED MEDIA
Channels you fully control — your website, email list, blog, and social media accounts.
Your email list is your most valuable owned media asset — you own it completely, no algorithm can take it away, and it converts better than almost any paid channel.
OMNICHANNEL
A strategy where all channels work together to give the customer one consistent experience — regardless of where they first encounter the brand.
An omnichannel campaign means someone who sees your LinkedIn ad, then reads your blog, then gets your email all feels like they are having one continuous conversation with your brand — not three separate ones.
ATTRIBUTION
Working out which channel or touchpoint actually deserves credit for a conversion — which part of the journey made the sale happen.
Attribution is one of the hardest problems in marketing — a client might see a LinkedIn ad, read a blog post, open an email, and then book a call. Which one gets the credit?
ORGANIC
Content or traffic that reaches people without paid promotion — through search rankings, social algorithms, or genuine sharing.
Organic reach takes longer to build than paid, but once it is working it brings consistent traffic without a media spend behind every piece of content.
REACH
The number of people who see your content or campaign — how wide your message spreads.
The campaign had a reach of 180,000 people — but reach alone tells you nothing about quality. What matters is how many of those 180,000 matched the target persona.
TOUCHPOINT
Any moment when a potential customer comes into contact with your brand — an ad, an email, a blog post, an event, or a sales call.
Research shows B2B buyers need an average of 7 to 10 touchpoints before they are ready to have a serious conversation — which is why a single-channel strategy almost never works.
Phrases
6 phrases and their meanings
CUT THROUGH [THE NOISE]
To make your message stand out in a crowded environment where the audience is bombarded with competing content.
The only way to cut through the noise on LinkedIn right now is specificity — a post written for one person always outperforms a post written for everyone.
DOUBLE DOWN ON [A CHANNEL]
To increase your investment in a channel that is already working — rather than spreading budget equally across everything.
LinkedIn is generating 80% of our leads for a quarter of the budget. We should double down on it and pull back from the channels that are underperforming.
DRIVE TRAFFIC TO [A PAGE]
To use marketing activity to send people to a specific destination — a landing page, a case study, or a booking form.
The LinkedIn campaign will drive traffic to the case study landing page — that is where the conversion happens, not in the ad itself.
DROP OFF [IN A FUNNEL]
To lose a potential customer at a specific point in the journey — when they stop engaging before completing the desired action.
Our analytics show a significant drop-off between the landing page and the booking form — which tells us the page is not doing its job.
TEST [A CHANNEL] BEFORE SCALING
To run a small, controlled campaign on a new channel to validate results before committing the full budget.
Never scale a new channel before you test it — run a 30-day pilot with a limited budget, check the cost per lead, and then decide whether to invest more.
MOVE [SOMEONE] ALONG THE FUNNEL
To use the right content or channel at the right moment to take a prospect from one stage of the buying journey to the next.
The email sequence is designed to move prospects along the funnel — the first email builds awareness, the second shares proof, and the third invites a conversation.
Videos
Watch these terms used in context
Dialogue
Read the dialogue and hover the blue words for definitions
Marcus
RileyRiley — before we approve the budget, I want to understand why you chose these specific channels. Walk me through the logic.
Of course. The strategy is built around three types of media working together. Paid media gives us speed and precision — we can get in front of your exact target market from day one. Earned media gives us credibility — when someone else says you are good, it means more than when you say it yourself. And owned media gives us control — particularly the email list, which no algorithm can take away from us.
How do you handle attribution across all three?
That is the honest challenge with omnichannel marketing. A prospect might see a LinkedIn ad, read a blog post, then open an email and book a call. Each touchpoint played a role. We use last-touch attribution for reporting — the email gets the conversion credit — but we track the full journey so we know what started it.
What about organic — how does that fit in?
Organic LinkedIn content runs alongside the paid activity — three posts a week that build credibility and reach the people who follow you. It takes longer to build, but it reinforces the paid media so prospects see TechFlow in multiple places. That repetition is what helps us cut through in a crowded market.
And the reach — how many people are we talking about?
The LinkedIn campaign has an estimated reach of 40,000 people in your target persona — operations and supply chain directors in UK and DACH manufacturing. But I want to be honest: reach alone is not the goal. We want the right 40,000 people to see it enough times — enough touchpoints — to move along the funnel. Seven to ten interactions before a B2B buyer is ready to talk.
What if one channel is not working? How do we adjust?
We review at 30 days. If a channel is dropping off or underperforming on cost per lead, we double down on what is working and reduce or pause what is not. We test before we commit the full budget — so we are never locked in. The first month is always data-gathering. The real decisions come at week five.
Exercises
Complete all three exercises to see your final score
Matching
Click a word, then click its correct definition.
Click a word on the left, then its definition on the right.
Words
Definitions
Fill in the Blank
Drag the correct words from the word bank to complete each sentence.
Sentence 1
— — —gives you speed — you can be in front of 50,000 targeted prospects tomorrow, but the moment you stop paying, the visibility stops.
Sentence 2
Getting featured in an industry publication is— — —— you did not pay for it, which is why it carries more credibility than an ad.
Sentence 3
Your email list is your most valuable— — —asset — you own it completely and no algorithm can take it away.
Sentence 4
An— — —campaign means a prospect who sees your LinkedIn ad, reads your blog, then gets your email all feels like one continuous conversation.
Sentence 5
— — —is one of the hardest problems in marketing — working out which channel actually deserves credit for the conversion.
Sentence 6
— — —reach takes longer to build than paid, but once it is working it brings consistent traffic without a media spend behind every piece.
Sentence 7
The campaign had a— — —of 180,000 — but the number alone tells you nothing about quality without knowing how many matched the target persona.
Sentence 8
B2B buyers need an average of 7–10— — —before they are ready to have a serious conversation — which is why a single-channel strategy almost never works.
Tip: Think about the meaning of each word and what makes sense in the sentence.
Multiple Choice
Choose the best answer for each question about the dialogue.
1.A client has a limited budget and wants to choose between LinkedIn ads and organic LinkedIn content. What advice should you give?
2.What is the difference between earned media and owned media?
3.A B2B campaign uses LinkedIn ads, email nurturing, and a webinar. How would you explain attribution to a client asking 'which channel generated the most leads?'
4.What does it mean to 'double down on a channel'?
5.Why do B2B buyers typically need 7–10 touchpoints before converting?
6.What is the most important thing to check when a channel is underperforming?
7.Which of these best describes an omnichannel marketing strategy?
8.A client says: 'We want to be on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, paid search, email, and run a podcast.' What is the most useful response?
Group Activities
Role-play scenarios and discussion questions for group classes
🎯 Choose the Best Response
Work in groups. Read each situation and choose the best response. Discuss why before clicking.
Customer says
“Client: 'We tried LinkedIn ads last year and they did not work. We do not want to use LinkedIn again.'”
Salesperson responds…
Customer says
“Client: 'Our competitor is getting a lot of attention on TikTok. Should we be there too?'”
Salesperson responds…
Customer says
“Client after month one of the campaign: 'The email open rates are great — 38% — but we are not getting many bookings from it. What is wrong?'”
Salesperson responds…
Customer says
“Client: 'We want to measure which channel is generating the most leads so we know where to invest next quarter.'”
Salesperson responds…
🔗 Customer Profile Match
Read the three campaign scenarios. Match each to the channel mix that fits it best. Discuss as a group before clicking 'Check Matches'.
Plans / Options
LinkedIn paid + email nurture
LinkedIn Sponsored Content targets the exact persona with precision. A 5-email nurture sequence moves warm leads — those who engage with the LinkedIn content — towards a booking. This combination gives targeted reach and high conversion at a manageable cost for a €15,000 budget. The case studies go on a landing page that both the ads and emails link to.
Organic content + podcast
The founder writes two thought leadership posts per week on LinkedIn and produces a short-form podcast or audio series on a topic the target audience cares about. This builds earned media and credibility without a large paid spend. For a company that does not need leads this quarter, organic content keeps the brand present and generates inbound interest over time.
Heavy paid media + PR campaign
LinkedIn and display retargeting ads run at maximum frequency for 30 days to drive awareness. Simultaneously, a PR campaign targets three to five industry publications with the launch story — earned media that amplifies the paid activity. This combination achieves fast, wide reach and is appropriate when the goal is maximum visibility in a short window rather than efficient cost per lead.
Customers — which plan fits each one?
TechFlow — Q4 Launch
TechFlow needs to generate 75 qualified leads in 90 days. Target persona: Operations Directors at manufacturing companies, 100–500 employees, UK and DACH. The company has good case studies but low brand awareness. Budget: €15,000 for the quarter. The team has capacity to produce 3 pieces of content per week.
ClearPath — Thought Leadership
ClearPath is a well-known analytics platform. They are not actively selling this quarter — they want to build thought leadership, stay top of mind with existing prospects, and generate inbound interest. Budget: €5,000. They have a founder who is a strong writer and speaker.
NovaSpark — Product Launch
NovaSpark is launching a new product next month. They need maximum awareness as quickly as possible — they want everyone in the target market to know about it within 30 days. Budget: €30,000. Speed matters more than efficiency at this stage.
✏️ Finish the Salesperson's Line
The marketer has started explaining a channel decision. Finish the line clearly and practically. Use vocabulary from this lesson.
Customer
“Client: 'Why are you recommending LinkedIn over paid search for this campaign?'”
Salesperson
“Both can work, but for your specific goal and audience, LinkedIn is the stronger choice right now. …”
Customer
“Client: 'We want to track exactly which channel is driving the most revenue.'”
Salesperson
“We will track as closely as we can — let me explain how attribution works in a multi-channel campaign so you know what the data means. …”
Customer
“Client: 'Month one data is in. Email is working well. LinkedIn is expensive and we have not seen direct bookings from it.'”
Salesperson
“That is a really important distinction to explore before we make any budget changes. …”
Customer
“Client: 'We have been doing organic LinkedIn for six months with no real results. Should we give up?'”
Salesperson
“Before we give up on organic, let us look at what 'no results' actually means — because that tells us what to fix. …”