Shared Media: Definition, Significance, and Strategy in the PESO Model
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What Is Shared Media? Definition and Significance
Shared media encompasses all content, mentions, and interactions that arise from users actively sharing, commenting on, or reposting content, rather than being produced or paid for by the brand itself. This includes reposts, comments, user-generated content, and viral sharing via private networks, which together develop their own momentum beyond official corporate communications and thus often come across as more credible than any direct brand message.
Practical tip: Shared media cannot be forced, but it can be strategically encouraged. Content with genuine value, emotional appeal, or the potential to spark discussion is shared significantly more often than pure product advertising that offers no discernible added value to the person sharing it.
Unlike owned media, which is entirely under the brand’s control, shared media depends on the community’s willingness to actively engage. This willingness, in turn, is strongly influenced by past engagement: Brands that have already built an active, interactive community benefit significantly more from shared media effects than brands without an established culture of interaction, since trust and habit are already in place and the barrier to active sharing is much lower.
- Arises from user behavior, not the brand
- Includes reposts, comments, and UGC
- Depends on the community’s willingness to interact
Classifying Shared Media Within the PESO Model
Unlike earned media, which arises primarily through editorial coverage, shared media is driven by the general public, not by individual journalists or newsrooms. However, the two categories often overlap: An article that achieves earned coverage is frequently shared on social media as well, thereby generating a second, often underestimated wave of impact as shared media—one that frequently lasts even longer than the original coverage itself.
- Shared Media: A Broad User Base as the Driving Force
- Earned Media: Individual Editorial Teams as the Driving Force
- Both effects reinforce each other
How Does Shared Media Come About? Drivers and Mechanisms
For content to be shared at all, it must provide a clear reason to share it—such as entertainment value, practical utility, strong emotions, or a sense of belonging to one’s peer group. A single engaged influencer with a large, loyal following can make the difference between content reaching a critical mass and spreading organically, or remaining unnoticed despite its high quality.
- A Clear Reason to Share Is Essential
- Emotion and Utility as Drivers
- Influencers as the Initial Spark
- Peer-group affiliation as motivation
Strategically Promote Shared Media
Companies cannot directly control shared media, but they can actively encourage it by specifically producing shareable formats—such as checklists, comparisons, or emotional stories—and by prominently featuring easy-to-use sharing functions. Equally helpful is engaging in a conscious dialogue with your own community: By responding to comments and acknowledging user-generated content in an appreciative manner, you increase the likelihood that this community will continue to actively share and recommend content in the future, rather than just passively consuming it.
- Develop Shareable Formats Strategically
- Place “Share” Features Prominently
- Actively respond to community reactions
- Engage with user-generated content in an appreciative manner
- Monitor success over the long term
Those who consistently follow these principles will establish shared media as a reliable complement to the other three pillars of the PESO model, rather than relying solely on one-off viral hits.
Shared Media in Practice: Examples of Shareable Formats
Checklists and simple comparison charts are shared particularly often because they offer direct, practical benefits to the person sharing them—not just to the brand. Emotional short stories or surprising statistics also reliably elicit reactions, especially when they’re easy to comment on in one’s own words. Another proven format is the targeted involvement of organically grown communities that share their own experiences rather than simply reposting pre-made brand content. Contests with simple entry requirements—such as tagging another person—use the same mechanism but should be used sparingly to avoid attracting participants who are solely motivated by winning.
- Checklists and comparisons are often shared
- Emotional short stories trigger reactions
- Community experiences rather than just brand content
- Use contests sparingly and strategically
Common Mistakes in Shared Media Strategies
A common mistake is trying to artificially force shared media—for example, by offering financial incentives for sharing—which platforms are increasingly recognizing and penalizing. It’s equally risky to rely solely on a single viral hit instead of consistently producing shareable formats, thereby increasing the likelihood of organic spread over time—much as is the case with viral content in general. Another mistake is a lack of engagement with shared content: Those who fail to respond to the community’s reactions miss the opportunity to turn a one-time share into a lasting habit of interaction.
- Don’t artificially force sharing through purchase incentives
- Focus on consistency rather than one-off hits
- Don’t neglect engagement with shared content
- Turn a one-time share into a habit
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