Should communicators pay attention to the SOEP model?

The PESO model — paid, earned, shared, and owned media — remains one of the most widely recognized frameworks in integrated communication. Over time, some academics have introduced an alternative ordering: SOEP (shared, owned, earned, paid). This is not a replacement for PESO, nor a new industry standard. It’s a reflection of how some practitioners and researchers interpret the evolving priorities inside organizations.

This post explains:

• What SOEP represents
• Why certain researchers use this ordering
• How this shift reflects deeper changes in communication practice
• What modern PR leaders should actually take from it

This is not a new or breaking concept. It dates back to 2016 academic research and occasionally resurfaces in scholarly discussions. Our goal here is to clarify the thinking behind it and provide practical guidance for your communication strategy.

What is the SOEP model?

The SOEP model is simply a reordered version of the familiar PESO categories:

• Shared media
• Owned media
• Earned media
• Paid media

The underlying media types remain identical. The shift is about priority and sequence, not about redefining the categories themselves.

The SOEP order emerged from academic studies showing that many communicators — particularly in Asia-Pacific research cohorts — expected shared and owned channels to play a more central role in future communication programs.

Shared and owned media sit “upstream” in the model: the places where organizations first publish, engage, and build audience relationships before earning or paying for additional reach.

Why some researchers prioritize shared and owned media first

The rationale behind placing shared and owned media at the beginning reflects three long-term industry trends.

1. Organizations increasingly act as publishers.

As brands build publishing infrastructures — blogs, resource hubs, newsletters, podcasts, webinars — they rely more heavily on their own channels for audience engagement. Owned content gives organizations:

• Direct control
• Immediate reach
• Long-term authority building
• Evergreen visibility

This shifts the center of gravity away from a media-relations-only mindset.

2. Shared media became the primary arena for public dialogue.

Social platforms and community spaces reshaped how audiences interact with brands. For many sectors, the first layer of audience engagement now happens in shared environments:

• Social conversations
• Communities
• Influencer interactions
• Third-party engagement loops

By placing “shared” first, the SOEP ordering mirrors the reality that reputational moments, positive or negative, often begin in shared spaces.

3. Earned and paid media still matter but are increasingly downstream.

The SOEP model does not diminish earned or paid media. It simply reflects that:

• Earned media relies on compelling stories, proof, and content that often originate from owned channels.
• Paid media supports amplification once a foundation of clarity and content already exists.
  
  

The sequence reflects workflow more than hierarchy.

Should PR leaders replace PESO with SOEP?

Short answer: Maybe.

The PESO framework remains widely used, intuitive, and industry-standard. The SOEP ordering is an academic lens — a way to look at shifting practitioner priorities, not a wholesale replacement.

Strategic communicators benefit from understanding why the sequence was rearranged, not from abandoning the PESO terminology that clients, executives, and agency teams already recognize.

Think of SOEP as an insight into how organizations behave today, not as a prescriptive or competing model.

What the SOEP discussion reveals about today’s PR landscape

Here are the real takeaways that matter for organizational leaders:

Shared media now drives real-time reputation.

Audience sentiment, misinformation, and opportunity often begin here. Monitoring, engagement, and issue management increasingly start in shared spaces.

Owned media determines authority.

Clear explanations, strong messaging, and high-quality content on your own hub influence everything upstream and downstream, including how generative AI summarizes your organization.

Earned media remains a credibility engine.

Third-party validation continues to be essential. The rise of shared and owned media does not erase the importance of authoritative journalism.

Paid strategically amplifies.

Paid media supports scale, targeting, and momentum, but it should reinforce — not replace — earned, shared, and owned foundations.

Where Axia Public Relations stands

At Axia, we treat PESO as the foundational framework for fully integrated communication. However, we recognize the reasoning behind the SOEP ordering and incorporate its insights into our work:

• Strong owned content strategy
• Real-time monitoring and shared-media engagement
• Deep earned media expertise
• Smart, selective paid amplification when appropriate

Our goal is to help organizations build a modern, resilient communication ecosystem — one that reflects how audiences behave today, not how the media landscape looked decades ago.

Action steps for your team

If you want to operationalize the SOEP insights without abandoning PESO, start with three actions:

Build a consistent owned media hub.
Clear messaging and authoritative content strengthen everything that follows.

Develop a shared-media listening posture.
Conversations often begin before newsrooms become aware of them.

Use earned and paid media strategically.
Treat them as layers, not starting points.

This hybrid mindset blends the strengths of PESO and the practical ordering suggested by SOEP.

Conclusion

The SOEP model isn’t a new industry standard, nor does it replace the widely adopted PESO framework. It’s one lens, based on empirical research, that highlights how organizations increasingly rely on shared and owned channels before earning or paying for attention.

The value isn’t in the acronym. It’s in understanding how your audience consumes information today and how a strategic PR program adapts to that reality.

Next step

For more information on how we can elevate your PR strategy, explore our services today or book a one-on-one consultation.

Photo by Pixabay