The PESO Model Marketing Strategy
For marketing to work as effectively and efficiently as possible, you can't rely on "just one horse in the race." This is where a marketing mix of paid, earned, shared, and owned media come in.
Key Takeaway
Before your prospects engage with you, they are forming their opinion about you by using online search, talking to peers, and reading what the experts have to say.
Regardless of the size or budget, every business and every campaign will need a multifaceted strategy, that includes: PESO (paid, earned, shared, and owned media.
Do not rely on one channel for marketing. You need a marketing mix.
Businesses need to get a little more advanced in thinking about how their potential customers find them, but also how they engage with them either directly or indirectly.
Making an online marketing campaign to be more well rounded and better suited for lead generation in the earlier phases of the marketing and sales funnels is not only ideal but more efficient.
According to the McKinsey Model and research done by Forrester, early in the customer decision journey, your prospects are using online search, talking to peers and reading what the experts have to say to form their opinion before they attempt to call you and generate a lead for your sales team.
This is where the The PESO strategy (a marketing mix of paid, earned, shared, and owned media) come into play. So let's break down to get specifics on what each one of them means.
Paid Media
Paid media is the media you pay for like: Google AdWords or other types of search or display advertising. This segment needs to have clear calls to action, and the use of keywords and content needs to address the problems or solutions your potential customers looking for.
So how can I use paid media without looking like a used car salesman?
This one can be a little tricky. Misuse of paid media is one reason why public relations can have a negative connotation. You don't want to seem like the sleazy used car salesman who talks about your kids for 10 minutes, only to see if he can upsell you. In most cases, media that you pay for is best save for last.
If you're using social media promotions. Always humanize your message to make it more appealing. Add a little humor into your ad. And above all, make the value of your advertisement very clear. Avoid such practices as clickbait. Something such as a headline designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink, especially when the link leads to content a dubious value or interest, which give paid advertisements a bad rap.
Provide valuable information in your content that's worth the click through rate you want. In the end, always make sure that you have a good reason for interrupting your audience’s normal feed.
Owned Media
Owned media is the content that your business creates like a blog, where the free download you can get from the banner in the sidebar. It's where you spend money in search engine optimization.
Business to Business marketers invest over 16 billion per year in creating content designed primarily to produce leads. Too many marketers are failing buyers with overly promotional and overly technical content that doesn't really address market challenges and customer needs. Business to business buyers are looking for content that's original, consultative, and highly pertinent to where they are in the decision making process.
Earned Media
Earned Media is where the customer becomes the channel. The big influencers here are: word of mouth, reviews and ratings, press releases, or any buzz or viral content.
While many business to business rely on “word of mouth” as a primary driver for leads, it's only one small factor. The best place to start in order to gain an overview is by measuring Share of Voice. This will give you an understanding of your earned mentions while placing it in context within the industry. In addition, it will allow you to benchmark your progress against the competition. Here are a few tips to build toward the awareness and trust that you need:
Offer to be a source reporters. This builds good relationships, be known as a gracious person.
Give praise to others on social media when it's due to them.
Show appreciation for the hard work and effort others have put forth and helping to define your industry.
Write your own reviews on podcasts and books. This gives you a connection to the authors who produce these outlets and gives you a reason to reach out down the line (they may be more willing to return the favor).
Be a part of the online community or group.
When others leave you feedback, make sure you respond in a timely way and with grace and appreciation, even if the review is less than stellar.
Engage with bloggers by leaving comments and following them on social media. Whenever you can contribute meaningfully to the conversation do so. Be careful not to flood their feed.
You can also share their published content with your audience. Such a generous gesture won't go unnoticed.
Pitch newsworthy stories to journalists covering your industry, give them everything they need for a slam dunk story, including visuals, fact sheets, quotes, and a summary of your story that features the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your piece.
Shared Media
Shared media is largely influenced by social media activity. Questions to ask yourself are:
Are you following and sharing the content of the primary influencers in your category?
And are they sharing your content?
Are you engaged in LinkedIn groups or other verticals that are related to your category?
Even if you only have 400 people following you, those 400 People have followers and so on. So your network could potentially reach thousands of people that could click or download your content.
Conclusion
Regardless of the size or budget, every business and every campaign will need a multifaceted strategy, that includes: PESO (paid, earned, shared, and owned media. If you don't have a large budget then start small. However, have a strategy for all of these channels. The one trick pony of running just a SEO or a PPC campaign on its own may not get you to your goals. Don't try to just dip your toe in and expect dramatic results in 90 or 120 days. There will be lots of trial and error to see what generates the best results. So keep these key points in mind. Take the time to build your brand awareness and relationships with key influencers to get into earned content.
Build up your content with helpful information that will benefit your prospects. Pay for media to boost your truly great content and avoid sounding like a used car salesman. Leverage social media networks to publish engaging and compelling content that draws people back to your website. Whatever recipe of content you use in your strategy, make sure to incorporate these four forms of media.