Media monitoring consists of tracking a topic, company, brand or person in the media. It can fulfil multiple objectives: competition monitoring, online reputation, social monitoring, and more.
Staying informed of the latest trends allows you to better control your environment as well as that of your clients. It also allows you to maintain good relationships with journalists, bloggers and content creators to further the achievement of your goals or those of your clients.
The use of media monitoring
It is strategic for a business to put both traditional and digital media monitoring policies and tools in place, as it ensures an organization knows what is happening with and being said about:
- The organization, its leaders, products and services;
- Its competitors;
- Its existing and potential clients;
- The overall environment of its different sectors of activity.
The use of monitoring reports
The completed monitoring has to fulfil the needs identified by a brand, team, business or organization. It is imperative that monitoring reports be created in order to measure and compare the overall presence and media impressions. Thanks to measurable comparisons over time, media reports allow the identification of changes, growth and, especially, opportunities to communicate messages to targeted audiences.
Monitoring reports allow you to plan impactful integrated campaigns. By comparing the direction taken by journalists, media coverage and current trends, we can better develop potential angles that can interest them. Often, we think that coverage reports are only quantitative, but when we push further, they can bring us qualitative data and identify products and services to improve, which can positively increase market share.
The different media monitoring tools
There are different types of tools for media monitoring. To equip yourself with the best ones, you have to identify your needs. By following these needs, you will be able to properly choose the right tools for this important task. On one hand, there are free tools for media monitoring, like search engines, Google alerts, competitor websites, etc. On the other hand, there are paid tools that can be very effective – such as from Cision, Meltwater and Eureka – that can do part of the work for you.
Five simple steps to establish effective media monitoring
- Define the objectives
You have to define the monitoring objectives for it to be useful, and to identify what you want to do with the media monitoring.
- Identify the topics and the channels to monitor
Depending on your goals, the channels to monitor will be different. Some like to monitor traditional media, while others prefer to focus on the main social platforms. The number of keywords, the topics and the platforms to watch will also depend on the identified needs.
- Choose the right tools and create alerts
Once the goals, topics and channels to monitor are established, determine which tools correspond best to your needs. Free tools or paid? Once again, it all depends on your needs and your budget. Google allows you to put alerts in place for free so you will know what is being said about identified topics, in a reasonable amount of time. Some paid tools even allow you to do live monitoring.
- Compile the report
Compile the collected data and analyze it. Thus, you will have an overview on the topics to monitor and you will be able to highlight key elements.
- Evaluate
Media monitoring can always be made more effective. Evaluate what is being done and optimize the topics that you want to monitor and take action. Identify media trends and use insights to plan campaigns or to prevent issues from developing.
Strategic media monitoring allows you to be aware of trends, to be proactive for campaigns to come and to be better prepared when issues arise. Don’t hesitate to contact us for all your strategic media monitoring needs.