What is the PESO model®?
The acronym PESO® stands for paid, earned, shared, and owned media. The PESO Model® was created by Gini Dietrich, founder of Spin Sucks, who first introduced the framework in her 2014 PR book of the same name, advocating for honest and transparent communications in public relations.
The whole idea behind the PESO model® is to give a structured means for businesses to navigate and integrate the various media types in such a way as to amplify their marketing and PR efforts. Let's give a quick overview of the media types.
- Paid media is investing in paid promotional efforts, such as PPC advertisements or other sponsored content.
- Earned media refers to those acquired organically through trust and credibility; for example, attaining a backlink to your site or getting publication in an outlet you targeted.
- Shared media is when others share information or content created by you such a a blog post or useful infographic, often via their social media.
- Owned media is comprised of wholly-owned assets: your website, blog, social media channels, and so forth.
Why is the PESO model® important in PR?
The main purpose of the media types is to boost sales and grow reach within the digital field. The model gives PR a strategic and outcome-driven perspective. Thus, using all these media together will help you build credibility, tell better brand stories, and drive business outcomes.
The PESO model® effectively sells and promotes your thought leadership capabilities and increases brand awareness while showing the importance of choosing the right tactics to resonate with targeted audiences.
The PESO model® emphasizes the combined possible outcomes of utilizing the four different media types in public relations, and how they interlink.
We’’ll take a closer look at how.
The PESO model® explained
The PESO model® emphasizes creating impact by integrating all four media types. In the model, the four media types support each other.
Owned media often provides the content to fuel the rest, providing a content foundation that shared media can distribute to engaged audiences. Paid media extends reach and targets specific demographics, while earned media adds credibility and third-party validation.
As an example of this integration, a company could produce a comprehensive industry report, share the key findings across social media, use these to secure media interviews and run targeted ads to build off the momentum of the report.
SEO, community building, lead generation, and pay-to-play are also included in the PESO model®. SEO will produce quality, optimized content that organically drives audiences to owned channels. Community building involves the audiences' interaction and engagement with one's brand through social media engagement and other ways such as CSR. Lead generation uses email nurturing and lead capture to transform audiences into potential customers. Pay-to-play methods such as social media advertising and sponsored content amplify reach and visibility.
Each component will work together, from which measurable insights can be gained.
Our next step will be to go over the four main pillars of the PESO® PR model in more detail.
What is paid media?
Paid media is when you pay for media exposure on a platform or space owned by another company. This can be good if you want to control when, where, and how your product or service gets seen by people.
This form of media can get you in front of a bigger audience who will become aware of your offering and may, over time, adopt it.
Paid media can be super effective, particularly if well-timed, but it can just as well not be. Paid ads do not guarantee success. They do guarantee you spend money, though. Without a carefully planned strategy, it could waste valuable resources.
Another drawback is that audiences are now all too aware of how advertising works and that you paid for your product to appear on a certain channel or website. Some websites, such as Forbes, display banners stating that an ad is paid for. This can reduce its trustworthiness and authenticity in the eyes of some and is something you need to consider if you decide on this route.
Examples of paid media
Traditional methods previously focused on TV, radio, billboards, and newspaper ads. But, as the digital sphere has evolved, so have the options for paid media. This list now includes social media ads, press release distribution, and sponsored posts. Here are some further examples:
Native and contextual advertising
Native and contextual advertising are sometimes used interchangeably. However, there are a few differences in how you advertise on a website based on the content on the page. A page's ad and content should complement each other.
For example, if you're reading an article about the advantages of outdoor calisthenic exercises over regular gym membership, you might see an advertisement for gym resistance bands on the same website. This type of advertising focuses on where the user is now rather than where they were before.
Native is a specialized form of contextual advertising in which the ads are designed to look like the content on the website the viewer is viewing.
Therefore, your ad appears to naturally fit in with the existing content. They can appear as recommended content on a webpage or social media feed. While reading an article, you may see a native ad below the text. By using this type of advertising, your brand fits into the user's current experience and doesn't differ from it.
The beauty of native advertising is there is a natural flow of information, and the person reading the original content is probably already interested in the topic. It avoids banners or annoying pop-ups and is a more discreet way to advertise.
PPC, pay-per-click, sometimes called search engine advertising (SEA)
PPC is a digital advertising model. Using paid (not organic) search can help businesses generate traffic by analyzing what their target market is searching for online.
How? Well, paid search can help you outrank the competition by targeting relevant keywords.
Unsurprisingly, the price increases with the demand for a particular keyword. However, demand isn’t the only factor; the relevancy of your ad to the customer query is important, so the landing page must convince them to stay.
Affiliate marketing
Purchasing leads is called affiliate marketing. Often, affiliates use search engine advertising (pay-per-click) to capture the lead.
You can generate a lot of sales quickly using this approach and control your advertising's KPIs by paying only for leads instead of a click.
What is earned media?
Earned media is any form of media exposure for your business that your business doesn’t pay for. In earned media, third parties publish information voluntarily. And without payment.
When it comes to media types, earned is the holy grail. It offers social proof to potential customers and can ease their anxiety. You may have a great product that solves a customer's need or pain point, but your mission is to get someone else to say this. Nothing is more authentic than someone else saying nice things about your brand. Nothing hits quite like an authentic review. Reviews can go a long way in increasing trust in you and solidifying your reputation. These are key components within PR. Once achieved, you can leverage it on your media to amplify your authority.
There are some things to be aware of, however. The lack of control over what is said can mean misinterpretations or incorrect information in the public domain. It’s also very hard to attribute the results of this to your marketing strategy.
Examples of earned media
Earned media can be very effective in garnering attention and increasing sales. It covers various platforms, such as online, print, and social media.
Media coverage
If a journalist or output picks up on your company and writes a piece about it or a topic that links to you, and they mention you, then this counts as earned. It could be a general-interest article or an industry-specific one.
Media coverage can reach audiences you might otherwise struggle to reach relying just on owned media.
This also includes press releases (owned media) that get picked up and published (earned media). If a journalist adds a link to your website, or even better, your product page, then this is the strongest signal of authenticity and trust.
Learn more about how to get media coverage
Influencer relations
In the age of YouTube and TikTok, influencers can be useful agents for promoting your brand. They also don’t always need to be paid. Very often, they will do this organically. This is important as for many consumers in specific age demographics, influencer ‘influence’ is very high. Having them speak positively about your brand to their audience can be a great way to raise brand visibility and credibility.
Word-of-mouth
As it implies, this refers to personal recommendations made by people during normal conversations with friends or by mentions on social media. A consistently good customer service experience can lead to word-of-mouth referrals and online traffic as word spreads about your product.
What is shared media?
Shared media is media content that is distributed across social media platforms. This could be from individuals, outlets, or other brands.
Because the shared content is yours, the definition blends into owned media somewhat. You can increase your brand awareness and website traffic by purposefully creating insightful and useful content that is easily digestible and shareable. It's also a great way to stick your head above the sand as an important contributor to your industry. It can make you a go-to source of information and give you credibility and much needed trust.
However, like earned media, there is little control over how or where it is shared. However, another plus is that there are tools for measuring how often your content is shared, helping you fully realize the effectiveness of your content and its ROI and inform future strategy.
Examples of shared media
The shared content could be social media posts, social mentions, or curated content, such as webinars. Here is more about the examples:
Social media
This can also relate to comments, discussions, and interactions with the public. Likes, comments, and retweets still go a long way to getting brand exposure. This can also humanize your brand and make you seem more open. It can create a dialogue between you and your audience.
Learn more about social media PR
Multimedia
You can create shareable, helpful material, such as videos and infographics, for a low investment. Someone in the company can also produce charts or graphs that emphasize a key point you’re trying to make. Visual elements such as multimedia add to overall readability.
Webinars
These offer a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and expertise in a given area. It could be an idea to include a shorter version or a highlight reel on your website that others can easily share and promote on social media. It’s a real plus when others in your industry or a related industry mention you this way. Community sentiment can be very powerful and authoritative. Just think about LinkedIn.
What is owned media?
Owned media is media that is yours. You can include your website, newsletters, and storytelling in this category. Social media is no longer included in this, since if these platforms were removed, so does your content on them.
Unlike paid, which costs money, or earned where you rely on others, you can always create owned content. A downside of this may be audience reach and overall effectiveness. It can take a lot longer to generate an impact.
But it's not all bad. An effective website offers the chance to create long-term relationships and give you the chance to demonstrate your thought leadership in your industry.
Examples of owned media
Owned media is content you can publish at a very low cost or free and covers anything you directly own. See the examples:
Website
Your website is how you persuade people to use your products and services. Organizations often forget this and fail to see the importance of their words. While you may spend ages picking the perfect logo design, you must think carefully about written content. Without a logo, would people know it was you just from what you say? Ideally, they should be able to.
Many markets provide fierce competition. Your owned media gives you the perfect opportunity to stand out here. Don’t use jargon. Communicate succinctly. Think about the length of any blogs you have.
Internal newsletters
You can email people with internal information, including company newsletters or updates. This reminds them of your company and your services. As owned media within the PESO model®, internal communication is essential to an engaged and informed workforce and is also important for reinforcing public perceptions and the organization's broader purpose.
Brand journalism
First introduced in 2004 by McDonald’s to share its brand message, brand journalism works to create content that delivers value to your market. It does this by conveying your company’s brand story and sharing how people use your products or services, but in a wider context so it does not read like an advert. In short, they employ a journalistic approach to talk about the company itself.
Is public relations paid, earned, shared, or owned?
Successful PR (public relations) primarily falls under earned media. This is because it is earned when people pick up on your press release, products or services, thought leadership, or brand. You may pay for PR services but haven’t paid for independent third parties to say positive things about you or your brand. They did that as a result of your efforts.
At the same time, PR can also meet with shared media when content about the same is discussed and shared on social platforms, and with owned media when PR materials are published on a company's privately owned channels. But while PR doesn't get thought of as paid media, as we’ve seen, some activities-such as sponsored content-blur the distinction between them.
Conclusion
Whether paid, owned, earned, or shared, the PESO model® offers the foundations for a comprehensive communications strategy. Here, we’ve looked at each model segment, given examples, looked at how they differ, and seen where PR fits into the puzzle.
How much time you devote to one element may depend on your product, goals, or market position. It is important to formulate a detailed strategy to measure your efforts' success and adjust it if needed. Your audience is unique. Test what works for them. There are many other factors to consider, also. You must examine your resources, capabilities, and what will get you the best return on investment (ROI).
A quick dive into the history of the model shows it's open and responsive to change. This evolution reflects the model’s responsiveness to new challenges and opportunities in media strategy.
