The Story of “O” (part two of a three-part series)

When last we met, I was musing about the three-part paradigm that has come to dominate the public relations landscape. I’m talking about EOP – earned/owned/paid – a winning PR trifecta if there ever was one.

My last installment focused on the “E” of the acronym, “earned media,” which no doubt is the progenitor of our profession. Placing stories in the news media is where public relations first took root, and it continues to be an effective strategy for raising clients’ visibility while amplifying it all with an insignia of credibility. 

Today, I’m turning to the “O” leg of the stool – the “owned” component. “Owned” refers to the content that we (being the consummate storytellers that we are) create ourselves – the articles, blogs, videos, photos, infographics, white papers, podcasts…the list goes on. While owned content does not intrinsically carry the third-party validation that comes with earned media placements, it does have advantages that media hits do not. Here are some.

Control

When you pitch a story to the news media, you are ceding control of the narrative. Sure enough, reporters often may be in sync with the newsworthy elements of your pitch, but not always. Earned media placements come with a concession that you’ve sold your rights to the story, and now the director can tell it any way he/she likes. 

Not so with owned media. You lay out the story in whatever way you think works best. You can bring in your own experts (e.g. your internal subject matter experts who can validate your organization’s expertise and experience). You determine the platform. Should the story be a blog or a taped interview with that SME? What images or video work best, not only in telling the story, but also in creating engagement with your target audiences? (When I was a press secretary on Capitol Hill, the Associated Press had a photo of the congresswoman I worked for that she hated, but there was nothing I could do, save for some ineffective entreaties.)

Timing

Another great benefit of owned media is timing. Unlike earned media, where you are at the mercy of the outlet as to when your story will run, owned content allows you to dictate the when. And how often. You can time your story to coincide with breaking company news and dial-up frequency as you build momentum. We don’t recommend oversaturating the airwaves with too much content, but we do see the benefit of creating content that works on different platforms. For instance, your blog could be repurposed as a podcast, excerpts of which could be posted as images or video on various platforms. 

Targeting

Owned content allows you to create storylines that resonate with key target audiences. We like to create personas that personify the audiences we are after – Susie Soccer Mom or Retiree Roger, for example. In that way, we can write stories that appeal specifically to them, rather than one overarching narrative. We develop editorial calendars that help guide our content strategy, making sure that we’re reaching each target audience in a regular cadence with stories meant specifically for them. 

One last point about “owned” content, which may be counterintuitive, and that is that “owned” content doesn’t necessarily have to be created by you. You might, for example, find an article or podcast or video that echoes your position or approach. Go ahead and share it with your constituencies on your various platforms, but do so with some additional context, overlaying your own expertise and point of view. You can point out areas where you are in sync with the author but also raise issues where you think the original content creator got it wrong. 

OK, it takes three legs to make a working EOP stool.  Next time: “paid.”