Public relations isn’t just media relations anymore
Public relations and advertising used to live in two different realms, with a solid wall separating paid media -- paid placements like advertising -- and earned media -- publicity gained through valuable content contributions, company mentions, or interviews with journalists.
With changes in the communication landscape, especially the rise of social media, the age of siloed media channels is over. In its place stands the new PESO model that can enormously influence a company’s long-term marketing communications approach.
First introduced by digital marketing expert Gini Dietrich, the PESO model aims to integrate the Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned media, building on each channel’s inherent strengths.
The PESO Model
- Paid media - Paying money to distribute content online and in-person. Examples: sponsored content, social media ads, fan acquisition, paid publishing, and experiential and events marketing
- Earned media – Engaging content delivering third-party validation, such as thought-leadership placed in key trade journals, company mentions in trends articles, interviews with journalists, link building, etc.
- Shared media - Social networking, community- and partnership-building, such as forums, user-generated content, content curation promoted in social media channels, and email marketing
- Owned media - Producing and distributing content via your website and blog to better control messaging, such as whitepapers, videos, webinars, podcasts, customer stories, etc.
Benefits of the PESO Model
Yes, each media type has its benefits and pitfalls, but as Dietrich says, “The PESO model allows communicators to own each of the four media types - and to start properly communicating from a prospective customer’s very first touch.”
PESO allows organizations to
- Streamline the efforts of all communications channels to present a cohesive message
- Gain insights into which content types works best and how to best optimize them
- Both learn and highlight how customers react toward products and services
- Catch all opportunities to reach and target customers with a more holistic approach
- Deliver real business outcomes
- Grow their business by enhancing their thought leadership via a coordinated PESO program
- Maximize content and channels for SEO
It’s time to go holistic, grow your influence, and ensure all your media channels work as one to achieve better business results.