4 Reasons Why Paid Media is a Viable Shortcut When You Expand to New Markets

When a brand enters a new market, marketing teams often rely on the same three tools: performance marketing, SEO, and PR. However, each comes with its own drawbacks. Performance marketing is becoming increasingly expensive, while SEO typically requires several months to gain real traction. Thus, traditional PR seems the most logical, yet unpredictable way. 

Based on my current experience launching a product in a new market, relying solely on organic media is becoming nearly impossible, as it demands too much time. The numbers speak for themselves. According to the Cision 2024 State of the Media report, newsrooms are under immense pressure: 60% of respondents report staff cuts and a lack of resources. Meanwhile, the workload is frantic. One in four journalists receives 50-100 pitches a day, of which less than 25% are even relevant. 

In this climate, I see paid media placements as a vital solution. Often underestimated, they can actually bridge the gap between prohibitively expensive advertising and painfully slow organic growth.

1. Saving time when speed is critical

As an entrepreneur, I view time as a direct financial indicator. During expansion, speed is everything: your marketing window might close before the PR team manages to secure a free article. This is especially true for seasonal launches. For instance, if you’re entering a market with an EdTech platform just before the back-to-school season, you cannot afford to wait for an editorial opening that may never come.

Paid formats remove the dependency on slow editorial calendars, providing full control over time-to-market. You decide when to appear in the information landscape — whether on the day of a local office opening or at the moment of a global release. This guarantees your presence precisely when it will yield the maximum result. 

Speed is also critical for another reason: the way AI systems like ChatGPT or Perplexity learn about your brand. In the new reality, where users get answers directly from AI rather than search results, you need to "feed" these algorithms correct data as quickly as possible. If you can’t secure earned media immediately, paid media becomes a tool for influencing AI itself. By the time your competitors manage to get their first organic mention, AI models will already be recommending your brand based on the data you proactively placed. 

2. Guaranteed message distribution, even for non-viral topics

Today, a journalist’s success is measured almost exclusively by traffic. For 79% of publications, the number of views per article is the primary success metric. Let’s be frank: not every business has viral potential. If your news doesn't promise thousands of clicks, you can pitch indefinitely, but you likely won't get picked up.

With smaller newsrooms and constant deadlines, journalists lack the resources to deeply explore a new player if they don't bring immediate clicks. For a solid B2B service or a niche tech product, this creates an invisible barrier. You risk spending months trying to capture their interest while your marketing window in the new market gradually closes.

Paid placements remove this "virality filter." You gain guaranteed space in the media, regardless of how "hot" an editor deems your topic. This allows you to bypass the hype-chasing and go straight to the point: delivering your value proposition to the market.

3. Full control over your own narrative

Even a successful organic media hit is always a risk. I have seen situations where a complex IT infrastructure was reduced to a "handy app" and unique logistics models were labeled as "just another courier service." One misplaced emphasis in a text leads to months of positioning work vanishing from the reader's view.

This is supported by Harvard Business School Professor Sunil Gupta, who notes that control is the primary differentiator between media types. In earned media, a brand loses power over the narrative. You are at the mercy of the journalist’s interpretation, which may not align with your business goals.

Ultimately, this is a matter of predictability. Paid placement transforms PR from a chaotic process into a clear business function. I know exactly where, when, and with what message we will appear. This allows us to plan development in a new market based on the facts we want to highlight, not on the hope that someone might "get us right."

4. Quick direct access to target publications via AdTech platforms

When speed is crucial, the last thing I want is "manual management": searching for local contractors or trying to navigate opaque pricing. This is chaos that cannot be scaled. Today, I am convinced: the success of an expansion depends not only on how many journalists your PR manager knows personally, but on technology itself.

My approach is confirmed by figures from Statista: by 2026, global advertising spending will reach $1.25 trillion, and by 2030, nearly 85% of this market will be driven by automated purchasing via platforms. This means that PR has officially become part of the MarTech stack.

To me, this is a signal that businesses are finally recognizing paid media as a vital technological complement to PR. When we pair the credibility of earned media with the predictability of paid media, PR ceases to be a "black box." One specialist with the right tool is more effective today than an entire department trying to negotiate every publication manually.

Build your own infrastructure of presence

Traditional PR remains the best way to build trust with your audience, but it has ceased to be a reliable tool for rapid expansion. In a world where journalist attention is scarce and AI algorithms shape reputations in seconds, a business cannot afford the luxury of waiting for an "organic miracle."

In my experience, the winner is the one who builds their own infrastructure of presence. This infrastructure is a strategic mix of the long-term credibility of earned media and the authenticity of owned channels with the speed and predictability of paid placements. In this ecosystem, paid media acts as the stabilizer. While the PR team works on building strategic relationships, paid formats ensure your voice is already active in the market.

This is an updated version of the article that was first published in Forbes Council on April 9, 2026.