Paid or Earned? PESO in PR and Why it Matters

How many times have you been approached by a media outlet wanting to ‘run a feature’ on you?

Have you received seemingly superb offers to spotlight your product or service as part of a themed content focus?

And have you then, perhaps, been told that by signing up you’ll need to pay a few hundred, or thousand pounds, for the privilege of doing so?

If indeed you have found yourself in this situation, you’ve already encountered the curious and sometimes complicated landscape of what’s ‘paid for’, vs what’s earned.

In PR, we define content and output as falling into one of the following four categories (this is dubbed the PESO model):

PAID – advertising, advertorials, pay per click

EARNED – influencer references, advocacy, media relations, editorial

SHARED – retweets, social mentions, reviews

OWNED – printed collateral, websites, blogs

As you can see, these are very different areas, and you can understand why each has merits, and each brings with them specific benefits.

For example, PAID content is more assured. Where our clients want to know that they’re getting a page in a specific publication on the day their product launches or their firm makes a big announcement, they’re achieving a guarantee that this coverage will happen.

In such cases, advertising features should ALWAYS be listed as such, so that readers know that payment has changed hands.

And then there’s EARNED.

This is what many of you come to see as the media relations and editorial activity you’re keen for your PR agency to achieve.

You would hope it would be perceived as more ‘credible’ because it doesn’t come with a price tag, and yet references in an authoritative light or grants you recognition.

SHARED, meanwhile, is something we’re all used to participating in. This is the idea of how, in an age of social media, we’re all capable of onwardly broadcasting the content or brand identities of others.

Again, it feels credible because others are making a conscious choice to share about us.

OWNED is hugely valuable – and it’s where you’re in the driving seat.

This is content YOU create, be it in your brochures, on your website, or in blogs. It’s an asset and resource you own, and which you choose to share with your audience.

So, now you understand the PESO mix a little more, what does it make you think about your current approach to your marketing and PR output for your brand?

Do you think you should be considering more earned or owned content?

Let us know if we can help as you deliberate on this matter. Email us on hello@lexiaagency.co.uk