Public relations (PR) is also known as strategic communications. Successful brands strive to create a positive reputation and dialogue with external and internal audiences. Good PR can lead the way to accomplishing those goals.
Our team partners with clients to gain awareness for your brand or organization through a thoughtful strategy, compelling storytelling, and relevant media channels.
Why do we do it?
At CossmanPR, we’re passionate about what we do for our clients and have tons of fun along the way. There’s always something exciting to share —whether it’s securing media placements, establishing relationships with reporters and influencers, arranging public speaking opportunities, or crafting innovative communications to internal and external stakeholders. We constantly strive to amplify our clients’ brands by providing fresh ideas that elevate their businesses and help them reach new heights.
Breaking down media channels and where PR lives
Wait, there are different types of media? Absolutely! This is a birds eye view of different media types from the most recent 2024 update. Read on to learn which are PR activities that CossmanPR has to offer.
A common framework for understanding media in PR is the PESO Model, which breaks down media into four different categories: paid, earned, shared, and owned. Each media type can help elevate your brand and reach your target audience. The model has evolved since its inception in 2014 but still offers a valuable overview of media types.
Content is often integrated and repurposed for multiple categories, successful campaigns often use all four types. The PESO high-level view can give your team a better understanding when implementing PR campaigns.
Paid Media
Starting with the ‘P’ in the PESO model, paid media in PR allows us to secure guaranteed placements and an immediate reach for your brand. It also lets us be more precise in the audiences we are targeting.
The press release is a method of paid content syndication that remains a popular and effective tool for spreading company news. Press releases are informative, help drive brand awareness, and are a great way to reach target audiences. They are used to convey newsworthy information such as new products, or company milestones. Press releases are published to a service called a newswire which distributes news to the public and media outlets for a set price.
Other examples of paid media include sponsored social media posts and influencer partnerships. Take a look at this example of a collaboration between Bonchon and Fort Worth Love List. This post highlights the restaurant’s location, new menu items, and signature offerings.
Earned Media
Now onto the ‘E’ in PESO. Earned media is the heart of what we do at CossmanPR. Unlike paid media, earned media is an organic way to secure placements for our clients. This includes pitching your brand’s news to online or print publications and building relationships with journalists, bloggers, editors, podcasters, etc. While earned media doesn’t guarantee an immediate reach or placement for your brand, it can be extremely valuable to driving awareness and hitting your target audience in key markets or reputable publications. Landing earned placements is always a win—it’s rewarding for us and exciting for our clients.
Shared Media
The ‘S’ in PESO stands for shared media. Shared media refers to content that is distributed across third-party platforms or between multiple owners. Social media posts about your brand that are not directly posted by you are included in this category. Shared media often happens organically when consumers post about your brand, share their experiences, or follow trends involving your product. This can also entail partnerships with other brands or sponsored posts and articles shared between creators and your brand. Shared media can also be repurposed for your owned channels to boost awareness and show how consumers feel about your brand.
Owned Media
Finally, the ‘O’ in the PESO model refers to owned media. Owned media entails any content or media channel your company owns and controls, such as a website, blog, and social media accounts. When pitching to publications or journalists, we often provide them with owned content such as images, videos, and backlinks to your company’s website. These assets improve your brand’s search engine optimization (SEO) and ensure high-quality content is being shared alongside the news. Ensuring your owned media is up to par with your brand’s vision is crucial in building brand awareness, boosting credibility, and improving your SEO.
So how do I implement the PESO Model?
- Prioritize your stories
Using the PESO model, we can develop a strategy for your brand that prioritizes the stories you want to tell and determines where they fit best within the realms of paid, earned, shared, and owned content. Whether it’s company announcements, strategic partnerships, or product promotions, each type of quality content has its place and can be used to amplify your brand. This approach makes leveraging the power of media more efficient by allowing you to tailor your content for different platforms and audiences.
- Create valuable content.
Whether it’s paid, owned, earned, or shared, the steps to successfully leveraging the PESO model involve recognizing quality content and learning how to produce it. This requires being selective about the content you publish and when you publish it, understanding your audience, and creating meaningful content they can relate to. By combining these strategies effectively, you’ll maximize interest in your brand, drive greater engagement, and align your content across all channels.
- Track and Adjust
Media monitoring is key when it comes to tracking the progress of your campaigns using the PESO model. This tactic allows you to better understand how your campaign affected consumer engagement, sales, and media coverage, and how your brand performs alongside competitors in your industry. Using PR analytics and social media insights, you can gauge what areas your brand is exceeding expectations in and where it is falling short. Such insights provide valuable guidance on what works best for your brand, allowing you to refine your approach and adjust future campaigns to achieve a greater impact. This ensures continuous improvement and helps align your marketing efforts with your brand’s goals and audience preferences.
Conclusion
By leveraging the PESO model—Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned media, we can amplify your brand’s visibility, credibility, and reach. At CossmanPR, we’re here to help you harness the power of PR to take your brand to the next level. Learn more at www.cossmanpr.com.