Media coverage: what should I monitor?

Media Monitoring platforms are hugely beneficial but it can be difficult to set priorities and goals when first using them. To really make the most of a platform, you need to monitor more than just general media coverage.

What should I monitor?

To reap the most benefits, a comprehensive strategy is key. This may sound complex, but here we answer the important question: what should I monitor?

Find out below what to monitor for the best results and to prove the value of your PR efforts.

Monitor your Brand

Tracking relevant keywords can help you understand how the public perceives you. You can see how your company is being discussed, and public awareness of your brand and offering. This allows you to take the necessary steps to correct misconceptions about your brand. And it makes it easier to build a strong brand identity, refine your tone of voice, and solidify brand reputation.

Reputation is vital for your brand and media monitoring can help preserve your business in times of crisis. Closely tracking words associated with crisis enables you to catch a potentially disastrous situation early. This allow you to respond with definitive action to limit bad publicity, solve the issue, and preserve brand reputation.

Good spokespeople are vital for any company that wishes to maintain its reputation and build its profile in the media. Media monitoring allows you to have a firm grasp on your spokespeople – how they are quoted and the public’s opinion. This enables you to conduct media training and keep them on message.

Measure your PR Strategy

With the help of media monitoring tools it is easier than ever to prove the value of your PR and marketing campaigns. These tools can give you measurable insights that were previously unthinkable. It’s now a simple matter of setting up real-time alerts and daily reports. Through these you can track the success of your campaigns and show tangible results.

Social media and media tracking allows you to measure the effectiveness of your message. These insights can then be utilised to inform later campaigns. In addition, geographical insights will inform you as to where your messages are best performing in global campaigns. This is without the need for complicated or expensive market research.

Measuring publication reach is another functionality which many media monitoring tools now provide. It gives you a solid estimate of the potential number of impressions your efforts have earned. Making it easier to target larger publications where your message will gain the most exposure.

Furthermore, monitoring your PR efforts can surface constructive criticism or praise for campaigns. As a result, you can see the measurable impact of your efforts – allowing you to react as you see fit.

Stay ahead of your competitors

With business becoming more and more competitive, it’s crucial that you can stay ahead of your competitors. You can improve your competitive intelligence by monitoring the media. This will allow you to understand your competitive landscape do.

Tracking competitor media coverage will keep you abreast of activity in your industry and provide a useful head start. You won’t be surprised by major product launches, new features, partnerships or corporate events. This level of competitive tracking will give you the time to comment or adjust your strategies accordingly.

Tracking competitors can still be beneficial, even when they aren’t making announcements. Understanding public perception of your competition and their weaknesses can guide future reactions to them. Armed with these insights, you can reach out to dissatisfied customers for feedback or to offer them an alternative.

Expand your media relationships

In today’s media environment, it’s not enough to just exist and hope for media coverage. Businesses need to be able to grab, and keep, the media’s attention for that 15 minutes in the spotlight. Media monitoring can help you identify who you need to form relationships with. Further insights can help you leverage those relationships and your knowledge of the media landscape to great effect.

To excel, monitoring media coverage by journalists to identify those interested in your brand is vital. It is a great way to improve and expand your relationships with the media. Because knowing who to contact when you’ve got something worth sharing greases the pitching process. It also facilitates coverage in third party publications.

Targeting editors is another way to open up the daunting pitching process. It allows you greater insight into what the editorial team are looking for when selecting features or guest-writers. This knowledge allows you to influence their decision making. Knowing who your pitch is going to will help when tailoring content to suit publications.

Finally, tracking Influencers is vital in today’s media. Industry social media influencers form the trends of business leaders across the globe. Thought-leaders on LinkedIn, Twitter, and popular industry blogs can lead C-suites to flock to services and brands. Being able to track trend-setters can help you position yourself in the right place at the right time.

Address negative feedback and criticism

Unfortunately, in the face of negative feedback you can’t afford to just say nothing and hope it goes away. Today’s media is increasingly democratised and you are expected to respond to criticism that comes your way. This is especially the case when it comes to you via social media.

Media monitoring can help you find where the majority of negative feedback is coming from in the media. It allows you to address the issues accordingly, showing critics that you’re listening and eager to improve. Actively engaging in this process and being seen to be proactive will reflect positively on your brand’s reputation.

By reacting or responding to criticism, you can turn negative comments into positive feedback. Nobody likes being told what they’re doing is wrong but if a lot of voices are saying the same thing, they’re probably right. By listening to criticism and reacting appropriately, your product improves and you can turn your biggest critics into your greatest supporters.

The benefits of media coverage

So, if the eternal question is “what should I monitor?” the answer is everything. In all seriousness, by monitoring your brand, PR strategy, competitors, journalists, and public feedback, you can race ahead.

We have covered just a few tips and tricks that will help you improve your media monitoring strategy. But the tool you select for your media tracking is absolutely crucial. There are media monitoring platforms available that will supercharge your media tracking strategy and finding the right one for your business is paramount.