By João Pedro Andrade
Currently, one of the most efficient methods for measuring results in communications is PESO – created by Gini Dietrich, CEO of the american PR company Arment Dietrich and author of the book Spin Sucks: Communication and Reputation Management in the Digital Age, which discusses how companies can communicate in a more honest, responsible and open way, without compromising the trust of its stakeholders.
PESO consist of the initials of the different types of media that are generated through PR and marketing. That is: Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned. The concept shows the intersection between the results of PR work, social media and digital communication.
- Paid: refers to bought space. This can be traditional advertisement or activities in platforms such as Google AdWords, Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter ads. One the one hand, the price of paid media is usually quite high. One the other hand, the advantage is that you completely control what information gets published.
- Earned: refers to all third party coverage (by journalists, bloggers, trade analysts etc) that is published in the media. Here, we can include the PR agencies that get their clients’ press releases published with the help of media relations activities with reporters, bloggers and influencers.
- Shared: refers to articles and other types of material that are shared, liked or commented on by stakeholders of the company through social media. It is an opportunity to reach the audience where it spends a lot of its time. This way, the company’s followers help in reaching other potential clients.
- Owned: refers to material that is produced and published by the company itself, such as the corporate blog, social media and other so called house organs.
In a time where new technology and the fast development of digital inclusion is profoundly transforming the communications industry (among others), new evaluation methods are necessary. Assessing PESO, you can see what information is the most important to be evaluated, which work methods should be used and which are obsolete, as well as what methods to use to integrate PR actions with marketing and branding actions.
