PESO model for PR Tech is all about innovation that solves problems and drives better results. If your tech marketing and PR need a boost of that as well, consider the PESO Model.

PESO brings together four media types — paid, earned, shared and owned — that are often segmented in traditional marketing. Integrating your media efforts can increase the effectiveness of communications programs, particularly your social media strategies. In an insanely crowded market, tech companies can leverage the PESO Model to amplify their social audience and gain traction as thought leaders.

Created by the CEO of Spin Sucks, the PESO Model can build more value into your marketing efforts. For tech marketing in social media, PESO’s integrated media approach can be a helpful way to engage influencers as brand advocates.

As Spin Sucks founder Gini Dietrich sees it, “When the PESO Model is working at its best, it can help you establish authority. Others see you as an expert… even your competitors. And Google links to you on the first page of results because it also sees you as an expert.”1

4 types of media for your tech marketing

Each type of media – paid, earned, shared and owned – has its own unique structure and uses, critical for marketing success.

  • Paid Media: Content you create and pay to have others distribute. Typically, marketers used it for print and digital ads. However, more and more, paid media focuses on social media campaigns and sponsored posts, or email marketing. It’s an important way to get in front of targeted audiences.
  • Earned Media: While this PR is free, it takes work to earn it. PR professionals cultivate relationships with journalists and offer industry advice to earn media space. For example, newspaper mentions, TV interviews, and trade publication articles.
  • Shared Media: Content shared in social media, where you communicate directly with your established audience (followers). For self-publishing with rapid, broad exposure, social sharing is now the heartbeat of digital marketing. Ideally, your content inspires people to share onward (e.g., a viral video, retweets) and to comment, which expands the visibility of posts to all of their connections.
  • Owned Media: This is the content marketing your business develops and publishes on your website and blog to promote brand awareness and engagement. Owned media can be re-purposed for social posts, articles, newsletters, and more. Creating your own content also helps build your reputation as a thought leader.

Why PESO matters

Though the PESO Model came from the world of public relations, it can also be an indispensable tool for all marketing professionals, regardless of your marketing background or specialty.

Source: Steven Robinson, Iterative Marketing

In many companies, the functions of creating owned media content, distributing paid or shared media, and getting press attention (earned media) all happen disparately. Yes, they are all marketing, but the efforts are usually managed by different teams who often don’t share and repurpose each other’s content.

The PESO Model was designed to change that. With the rise of social media and the crumbling walls between advertising and editorial, modern PR teams were looking for new ways to market to consumers. The PESO model provided a path forward.

PESO provides a model for integrated marketing and business communications that can work well for enterprises, entrepreneurs, and agencies of all sizes.

Using PESO for tech marketing and PR

Communicators have learned that while traditional aspects of PR are still used today – e.g., press releases, by-lines and whitepapers – a large percentage of PR is now driven by digital. We must now consider how, where and what consumers interact with via these networks, restructuring entirely how we as PR professionals reach our audiences.”

Source: Kristina Victor, Account Executive, WE Worldwide

PESO is about using all four media types and finding the areas of intersection to maximize audience impact and marketing potential. Many tech companies have a complex story to tell, and often need to market multiple solutions. In a typical structure, that can result in a lot of duplicated marketing efforts and inconsistent messaging.

With the PESO Model, technology marketing and PR can build more value into content creation and distribution. For example, suppose you write a blog article about your AI-powered solution (owned media). To increase awareness, you might also post that article or related graphics on social media (shared). You could amplify exposure with a sponsored social media ad (paid) that links to your blog or website, and expand distribution through influencers with whom you’ve developed relationships (earned).

This integrated approach can help you accelerate efforts by rechanneling a single piece of content in multiple ways. It enables more cost-efficient marketing, and speeds the path to potential sales, influencer engagement, and even partnerships.


How Beyond the Arc can help power your PESO

Does your technology marketing need a retooling?  For over 20 years, our team has worked at the forefront of tech innovation. We know that success often relies on engaging the right audiences with relevant, compelling stories — and we can help you do that. Let’s start a conversation about what you need >


1 Why Communicators Must (Finally) Embrace the PESO Model, SpinSucks, Jan 2021