CHICAGO – Put your money where your mouth is. That’s the new mantra of digital ad execs who believe gaining free audiences by building viral social audiences is over.

“There is an urban myth of organic reach, of something going viral,” Mindshare digital innovation and strategy MD Jim Cridlin says in this interview with Beet.TV. “If you’re not prepared to pay to put media support behind any content you’re creating, then there’s absolutely no reason to create that content.

“Social channels have either already changed or are becoming paid models – the idea of organic reach is non-existent. For years, particularly with Facebook, we told everybody it was about engagement. We counsel our clients now, ‘Stopping doing that’ – stop trying to acquire fans, try to focus on fewer, better pieces of content, all supported with paid media.

He was interviewed by Gian Fulgoni, co-counder  and executive chairman emeritus of comScore at the Beet.TV leadership summit presented by the Jun Group. You can find more videos from the summit here.