Week 2: A Conversation with Matt Meeks by Michael Castillo

By UCLA X469.21 Student Michael Castillo

During Matt Meeks’ visit as our Week 2 guest speaker, he spoke about the different types of social media content.

We learned there is Earned, Paid, Shared and Owned content, and that each type can help achieve your social media goals in its own unique way.

Owned content is the content you create and control in terms of its messaging and distribution. In contrast, shared content is content that conveys your message but is shared by your audience across social media channels. Earned content is news stories, reviews and other types of third-party content about your brand that is created by others. Lastly, we have paid content, which is content promoted with a paid spend to amplify its reach over a certain of period of time.

Matt next shared his experiences with various social media campaigns, providing real-world examples of how the four types of content relate to one another. He also discussed strategies involving influencers and celebrities.

Matt’s wide-ranging experience includes working at companies such as Warner Brothers, as well as leading PR agencies and large-scale nonprofits. He shared an example of a campaign involving Kia and the NBA All-Star Dunk final competition. His agency created a media event featuring NBA star Blake Griffin slam dunking over a new Kia. That particular stunt generated massive publicity and social media buzz for Kia, which in turn raised awareness and conversions.