As I’m currently studying for the CIPR PR Certificate, I’ve decided to write a series of blog posts looking at some of the terminology and concepts I’ve come across during my studies. My hope is that they can help others who are either studying the PR Certificate or similar courses. So this week I’m looking at the PESO model.
What is the PESO model exactly? Good question: when I first heard the term, I thought of pesto, as in the pasta sauce. However, PESO is not a cooking sauce but a marketing/PR model. Created by Gini Dietrich, the author of Spin Sucks, PESO stands for Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned media.
Paid media is pretty much what it says on the tin, media that is paid for, such as adverts. This could be adverts on social media, TV adverts or adverts on public transport.
Earned media is media that is earned, such as press releases sent to journalists, link building such as backlinking or word of mouth. For example, getting social media influencers to talk to their followers about the product or service you are marketing.
Shared media is content that is shared. This is usually done via social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This is also where content curation comes (link) into play.
Owned media includes content such as blog posts, videos, and podcasts, and this is content created by the company you’re representing. Despite being last in the acronym, owned media comes first in the PESO process, and it is essentially the building block on which the rest of your campaign is based.
PESO is one of the most common frameworks in marketing/PR today. One of the reasons for this is that it integrates both offline and online content in today’s increasingly digital world.
For more info on the PESO model:
Stephanie Potter Writing 