Mainstream media has undergone massive changes over the past decades. Tech advancements replaced traditional media channels with website popups, online ads, social media sites, and video-sharing platforms. Consumers are no longer limited to print mediums.
💡 Read Media Monitoring: The Ultimate Guide
Although innovative, many PR professionals struggle to keep up with these developments. The internet disseminates information worldwide within seconds. Conventional media monitoring protocols might not be relevant in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.
To create accurate media coverage reports, adjust your strategies to suit digital platforms. Otherwise, you’ll overlook most individuals and organizations mentioning your brand. Here’s a comprehensive guide on what platforms PR professionals should monitor and how they can streamline the process.
What are Media Coverage Reports
Media monitoring in the digital age goes far beyond traditional media. 64 percent of the global population uses the internet—expect most consumers to voice their thoughts online rather than on print mediums. For accurate brand research, your media coverage reports should primarily pull data from these digital platforms:
Social Media Sites
Any modern media monitoring strategy requires social media tracking. These sites generate massive traffic every day, and billions of their users share random thoughts, opinions, and stories openly. In fact, social media is a place to voice sentiments. Regardless of the nature of your business, you’ll likely find disgruntled and satisfied alike on these platforms.
The key to social media listening is locating your market. You should know how to use trending hashtags, relevant keywords, and industry-relevant groups to find brand mentions.
Read How to Use Social Media Listening to Humanize Your Brand
Creating a website can also serve as a hub for your social media efforts, where you can direct your audience for more information and engagement.
Vlogs and Podcasts
Monitoring podcasts and vlogs gives you insights into what online personalities think about your brand. They have the power to shape public perception—don’t underestimate them. You should address bad reviews quickly, engage with user comments, and collaborate with those praising your brand.
Gerald Lombardo, Head of Growth at Popl also encourages businesses to utilize influencer marketing. He says, “Build a small team of industry-relevant influencers. Ask them to promote your products/services on Instagram posts, TikTok videos, and YouTube vlogs. They’ll either ask for upfront fees or sales commissions.”
Online Review Platforms
Track online review platforms like Yelp, Google Business, and TrustPilot—they serve as trusted sources of consumer opinions. They’re popular among prospects who are undecided about specific purchases. If your brand draws too many bad reviews, you’ll have trouble expanding your current customer base.
Also, learn to handle negative online reviews properly. Instead of just deleting them, use them as learning experiences, address legitimate concerns, and reassure prospects of your reliability.
News Sites
Routinely check if any news sites mention you. Most of their brand mentions are paid placements, although they also write about relevant businesses that hold sizable events or get involved in controversies. Either way, you should be aware of any media attention.
Likewise, take note of industry-relevant news trends. Linda Shaffer, the Chief People Operations Officer at Checkr, advises reading positive and negative stories. She says, “Monitoring trends and stories about relevant brands will help you understand how the public feels about your industry. You can use these insights to improve your branding.”
Online Publications
Monitor reputable online publications in your industry. They usually ask in-house writers and part-time contributors to submit interesting stories about their target niche. Let’s say you sell burgers. Food and entertainment blog sites might mention your brand when reviewing restaurants within the area.
It’s normal for articles to list a brand’s strengths and weaknesses. But if a piece unfairly gives you a negative review, consider contacting the author or publication involved. Make sure you correct all false accusations and assumptions quickly.
Likewise, connect with journalists and blog sites that praise your brand. There might be room for collaboration—you could offer free trials for in-depth reviews, link-building opportunities, or online promotions.
Forums
Online forums are excellent sources of critiques and complaints. Many consumers feel more comfortable expressing unfiltered opinions on platforms that accommodate anonymous accounts, e.g., Quora, Reddit, and Stack Exchange. Just prepare to sift through baseless rants before finding legitimate feedback.
Efficient Media Monitoring Strategies
You need efficient media monitoring strategies to sift through various digital platforms. There are likely hundreds, if not thousands, of mentions about your brand—manually reviewing them wastes time. Instead, use AI tools and targeted research to streamline the process.
Use Automated Media Monitoring Tools
A quick way to modernize your media coverage reports is to invest in automated work tools. AI-driven media monitoring tools drastically streamline the process. Advanced options like Determ use natural language processing (NLP) technologies to scour thousands of sites for brand mentions—manually doing this process could take days.
They also assist with data analysis. NLP can understand conversational human language—just set the necessary parameters and context for accurate output.
Track Your KPIs and Monitoring Results
Quantify your media monitoring strategy by incorporating key performance indicators (KPIs) into your brand report. Although audience perception and customer satisfaction are subjective, metrics like engagement, conversion rates, and ad impressions are measurable. They’ll break down the intent behind brand mentions.
A good media coverage report includes the following KPIs:
- Number of Mentions
- Total Impressions
- Sites and Sources
- Sentiment Analysis
- Sentiment by Sources
- Locations of Mentions
Jonathan Elster, the CEO at EcomHalo, also advises using custom metrics. He says, “Generic KPIs set unrealistic expectations. You might get disappointed if you fall short of these indicators without even realizing they don’t match the nature of your business. Follow metrics that suit your target market and products/services.”
Plan and Execute Crisis Management Strategies
Again, not all brand mentions will be positive. Every business, from global organizations to local brick-and-mortar shops, receives negative comments now and then. You can’t wholly eliminate them. The best approach is to create an efficient crisis management strategy focused on containing negative narratives, demonstrating accountability, and restoring trust.
Track More Advanced Metrics as You Progress
Basic metrics only give you an overview of your brand visibility. For more accurate media coverage reports, consider tracking in-depth factors, such as the following:
- Mentions Over Time
- Mentions Over Time by Source
- Positive/ Neutral/ Negative Sentiment Ratio
- Sentiment Ratio (Automated Analysis)
- Top Impressions – The Sum of Reach
- Top Influencers by Number of Mentions
- Top Languages
- Top Locations
- Word Cloud
You can use predefined charts as a starting point for your analyses. Look into Determ’s Advanced Reports, see which factors apply to your media monitoring plan, then adjust your strategies accordingly.
Work Toward Accurate and Reliable Media Coverage Reports
The fast-paced, ever-changing conditions of the media industry require PR professionals to adopt more modern monitoring tools. Otherwise, your brand will get left behind by competitors. With information flowing across various media platforms rapidly, outdated PR strategies will show comments, reviews, feedback, and article mentions too late.
But this isn’t to say you should drain your resources by building an entire team of social listeners. You can already generate better media coverage reports by investing in monitoring tools. AI-driven platforms like Determ will constantly scour various platforms for recent mentions of your brand—just collect and analyze data as needed. They can do your tracking of media coverage for you! Book a demo to see if it suits your business.