When it comes to driving successful public relations and communication plans, various strategies can be used to produce desirable results. The media landscape has constantly evolved as digital content continues to rise and audiences are now consuming their news and media in multiple ways.
Some successful campaigns may only be based on paid advertising opportunities or internally developed materials such as blogs or webinars. Instead of relying on a single avenue for your business, an integrated campaign may be the most impactful.
Companies in nearly all industries sometimes try to apply The PESO Model™ to their communications plan. This model is what assures organizations a robust way to gain media exposure for their brand in four different arenas – Paid Media, Earned Media, Shared Media, and Owned Media.
Like most industries, financial and fintech brands shine in their storytelling when they apply one or more aspects of this framework. Below we’ll take a deeper look at a few companies in the financial and fintech spaces that are showcasing their stories in the different categories of The PESO Model™.
Read More: Earned Media vs. Paid Media vs. Owned Media
Paid Media
Whether it is through billboards seen on Interstate 5, ads you listen to while tuning into your favorite podcast, or boosted advertisements you’re seeing while scrolling through your social media feed, paid media can come in multiple forms.
Take Capital One and their recent commercial from this year’s NCAA March Madness commercial as an example – this is an excellent instance of a paid advertisement that uses actors (in this case celebrities such as Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, and Charles Barkley) to hopefully build consumer trust and push for a growth in leads and customers.
Earned Media
Whether a brand houses an internal team of PR professionals or receives support from an outside agency, securing earned media is definitely influential when it comes to executing marketing and communication campaigns. Especially within the finance and fintech industries where thought leadership and expert knowledge are valuable towards building brand equity and customer trust, earned media such as product reviews, organic social media coverage and mentions in positive articles from a journalist can be some of the biggest wins for a business.
An excellent example of the power behind earned media is Noble Gold Investments. With an increased focus on thought leadership and promoting the company’s chief executives, the brand was able to secure multiple inclusions in articles from top publications like – Bloomberg, U.S. News & World Report, and Reuters. The increase in earned media coverage not only helped the public become more aware of the company, but also positioned the brand as market leaders and industry experts that journalists can go to for insights.
Read More: Thought Leadership for Alternative Investments
Shared Media
Social media continues to have a major influence as brands try to earn the trust of everyday consumers and improve their engagement with current and new customers. Shared media is largely contingent on if you are creating engaging content, and also sharing it with the right audiences.
Look at fintech company, Acorns. With a combination of informative posts, graphics, partnership announcements and short videos, the brand is generating social bites that are quick to view, and easy to digest. As more individuals find themselves scrolling through their social media for up-to-date news and announcements, shared media is becoming increasingly important for brands as they figure out their ideal marketing strategies.
Owned Media
Owned media is defined as the created content that you control as a business. From your website to your blog and social media, owned media are very important to crafting a brand’s messages and telling the story to the public. Fintech company, Wealthfront, houses insightful content on their website’s blog.
From simple “how-to” blog articles to in-depth guides, the brand boasts a collection of owned content that helps the general public access knowledge. Wealthfront also provides content that can be potentially used for earned opportunities with journalists, or messages that can be promoted via paid and shared media.
What Did We Learn?
Based on the above examples, there is no question The Peso Model™ can be a reliable framework for executing an integrated marketing campaign. Producing compelling owned media can help produce a wide array of opportunities for a brand as the owned content can be attractive angles that can be pitched to journalists for earned media opportunities. The same content can also serve as key messages for paid social advertisements that can ultimately help generate leads and traffic to your brand.
Next time you are working on an integrated marketing and communications plan, remind yourself of The PESO Model™ and get creative with how you want to share your key messages.
