The process of scanning public information on print or digital platforms for keywords on a certain topic is known as media monitoring. The necessity of media monitoring has grown in parallel with technological advancement. They have expanded access to information via the internet. But fortunately, media monitoring techniques have progressed as well.\

Seeking articles and conventional media for a specific topic is no longer necessary. There are now a variety of social media and media monitoring providers out there. You can choose any of them for your business. Some companies are still unwilling to invest in media monitoring. This is because they believe it is too costly or they don't see the value. The truth is that media and the channels have changed, so has the way media monitoring is used. In the early 2000s, media monitoring might refer to watching television shows. The way we track has evolved as we have moved to digital media like Facebook, Twitter, media sites. \ \ Nowadays, monitoring mentions on social media, and the web is more important. It has become far easier than monitoring mentions on television, radio, or newspaper. If your company collaborates with others, such as customers, partners, or investors, media monitoring should be a key component of your marketing and public relations strategy.

Brand monitoring products have eliminated the need for media and communications people to work. Also, to guide how products should adapt and evolve. And also learning more about competitors and even finding the micro-influencers. They can help you break into a new market. We'll go over seven advantages of media monitoring in this primer and why it's a no-brainer to invest.

1. Competitor analysis

You're going into combat blind if you don't know what people are saying about your competition. You may add your competitors' keywords and campaigns into media monitoring tools. You can also follow public perception surrounding them daily. Compare your brand to the ones you want to stay ahead of. Discover patterns and determine when they are working and when they are not. You can observe what your target audience is buying into using a media monitoring tool. It will provide you a competitive advantage. It always comes out on top.

2. Measuring marketing effectiveness that matters

With a smart media monitoring tool, you can stop measuring vanity metrics. And you can start measuring what matters to observe results and progress.

Mentions, full coverage, and sharing are all acceptable. Using a media monitoring program, though, you may delve deeper. Learn more about your content's true reach, who is referencing it, and who their target audience is. Learn more about the people who consume it and their demographics so you can benchmark and compare it against them. You can be more agile with a tool than you could before. With so many answers at your fingertips, you can quickly and easily assess what's working for your various teams and adjust your strategy accordingly.

3. Dealing with a catastrophe

The worst nightmare for any public relations team is to have their brand go viral for the wrong reasons—a poorly phrased tweet, a lousy customer service situation, and a campaign that failed miserably. A media blitz can turn a brand's fortunes around; sales can plummet, and a previously positive reputation can be shattered.

You must be aware of the situation as soon as it begins to grow to respond quickly. You can track if your brand is discussed more than normal using media monitoring solutions that provide intelligent and automated 'alerts' when your brand is mentioned in the media. This knowledge of increased media attention allows you to jump right in, grasp what others are saying, and make sure you're responding appropriately.

4. Newsjacking

Newsjacking is a technique for manipulating the news. Newsjacking is something that would have been impossible before media monitoring. When you see something trending on social media (or in the news), you jump on it right away, allowing your business to join the conversation. However, be aware that doing it correctly can be difficult. Many brands have tried to cash in on a hot topic that has nothing to do with their target audience, market, or message. This is where things may go wrong. However, if done correctly, it may be a big success.

5. Make improvements to your product

Consumer intelligence feeds your product teams. They want to know all there is to know about your clients, including what they like and don't like, what other products they use, and their motivations and desires. With media monitoring software, you can go deep into what customers are saying and figure out exactly what you should be working on.

You can find out that a lot of people are talking about a need for a product that doesn't exist yet, or that the product your competitor just introduced isn't quite right. Your product teams will never be left wanting by giving them a complete picture of what the rest of the world thinks about your landscape.

6. Determine the right influencers 

There has already been a lot published on employing media monitoring to locate influencers. That isn't to say it shouldn't be taken into consideration. You can find journalists and business influencers who have the audiences and networks you need. Then you can use them to become brand advocates - one of the most significant marketing breakthroughs in recent years.

Influencer marketing has exploded in popularity, allowing firms to cash in on the trend. And use public relations to reach the same number of individuals. These audiences are significantly more engaged, and they are far more likely to interact with the brand that an industry influencer is promoting.

7. Translation in real-time

It's great to have access to millions of news sources and receive real-time alerts when your brand is mentioned. You can't act on them if you don't understand them. Let's say your company's name is all over the news in Indonesia. You need a team that speaks the language to provide you with useful insights.

But some more intelligent media monitoring tools even offer real-time translation. Meaning you can instantly understand the global conversation about your brand.

By monitoring news internationally in this way, you're not limiting your brand to the languages you speak in-house. Allowing you to instantly see how your brand is performing across the world.

8. Lead Generation

When it comes to media monitoring, generating leads isn't the first thing that springs to mind. But, believe it or not, it is possible. This activity combines some of the advantages of media monitoring that have already been mentioned:

• Investigate your competitors' products/services to see if any clients are dissatisfied with them so you may present yours.
• Look for people who are looking for recommendations or advice on products or services similar to yours.
• Look for customers outside of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
• Look for people who are asking questions about your product or service and respond to them.
• Create appropriate content based on media monitoring data to generate leads.
• Find the right influencers for your brand and connect with their followers.

If you want to build a long-term brand and become a household name or a major player in your business, you need to stay on top of what's going on in your sector. There is no such thing as an island, and the same can be true of a brand. Media monitoring can help you stay one step ahead of a crisis or keep tabs on your competitors. Here are a few of the many ways that smart media monitoring may help your business succeed.

Take control of your brand's image.

The most valuable resource for a company is its reputation, which can be protected with proper media monitoring.

You can remain on top of challenges to your brand's reputation by monitoring the media. It can help you build your brand's reputation by keeping you informed about what's being said about it and who's saying it. Data and sentiment insights on the media coverage you're getting will provide you a quick snapshot of how your brand is perceived.

Monitor your competitors

Markets are fiercer than they've ever been. According to the 2019 status of competitive intelligence report, 87 percent of companies believe their market has become more competitive in the last three years. Another 49% stated that it had grown significantly more competitive. You can track your competitors' press releases, product launches, corporate events, and media coverage with effective media monitoring. Providing you with the information you need to make more educated decisions about how and where you compete.

Keep up to date with crisis management.

A brand's reputation takes years to develop, but it just takes seconds to destroy it. When confronted with a catastrophe, it is critical to respond fast and be proactive in your recovery. Real-time media monitoring enables you to stay one step ahead of the press and manage public relations without unpleasant shocks. As a result, you may be able to avert a disaster or construct the ideal answer to emerge undamaged from one.

As a result, you may be able to avert a disaster or construct the ideal answer to emerge undamaged from one. It's not easy to demonstrate the worth of your effort. In the field of public relations and communications, determining the effectiveness of a campaign can be difficult.

You can track the success of your campaign and provide measurable evidence to back it up with media monitoring. This will lead to a better understanding of campaigns' beneficial impact and success.

Keep track of your accomplishments and reactions

When it comes to PR optimization, sentiment is crucial since it helps you to see the direct and quantitative effects of your campaign on brand perception. Furthermore, it allows you to sense the public's pulse. If you want to track success, you need to have access to or receive up-to-date information. Real-time alerts are an excellent resource for providing you with immediate feedback on your efforts. Continuous learning is facilitated by timely knowledge, which allows you to improve and optimize your PR and communications production.

Look for new business possibilities.

It doesn't matter if you're a well-known company or a newcomer wanting to make a name for yourself. If you're looking for fresh business opportunities, media monitoring is a must-have tool. You might look into industry influencers and thought-leaders to see if they can help you promote your goods. You can strike while the iron is hot if you identify fresh magazines and firms to collaborate with. Smart media monitoring can aid in the discovery of fresh marketing opportunities for your company.

Getting to know your customers and trends

You can better inform your advertising, content, and social media by following media trends in real-time. This will ensure that you are always on top of the latest trend or breaking news. Monitoring social media can help you figure out what genuinely engages your customers and how to improve your social page's click-through rate (CTR). Keeping an eye on viral trends will allow you to take advantage of smart in-the-moment marketing chances and respond quickly to what's going on in the globe.

Media monitoring can take many forms, but it is an important aspect of any PR and communications plan, whether you are a DIY master, a self-serve aficionado, or a full-service obsessive. Some PR professionals use free tools for a completely DIY approach, while others pay considerably in full-service media monitoring, depending on their goals and available cash. Then there are the numerous PR companies and in-house teams that fall somewhere in the middle, investing in a media monitoring tool that allows them to track and report on their own coverage.

While a self-serve monitoring tool is less expensive than a full-service solution, it is still a substantial financial investment for many businesses and one that users will want to maximize. There is numerous information available on how to make the most of your media monitoring tool's full capability, but suppliers are less likely to fix issues with self-serve systems.

That's why we've compiled a list of the most typical hurdles to maximizing self-serve media monitoring, as well as what can be done to overcome them.

1) Search results with irrelevant mentions

The amount of "noise" and the number of duplicate mentions appearing in users' search results are two prominent complaints. The cherry on top is that customers can set up a coverage alert, which floods their mailbox with unnecessary emails.

If your media monitoring results leave you scratching your head—or shaking your head—then it's time to take action.

Solution

Going back to the drawing board is usually the best way to reduce irrelevant remarks. Examine the filters on the searches you've already created. When analyzing your search structures, keep the following in mind:

Create a new search from an existing one. One by one, add the filters, starting broad and narrowing in. This may enable you to see something you didn't see the first time you set up the search. Use the CTRL + F shortcut to identify the search keyword in the copy when you come across an apparently irrelevant media mention. This will assist you in easily determining the keyword that brought this article or transcript into your search results. After reading a few articles in this manner, you'll have a good idea of which keywords in your search are problematic.

From there, you may add negative keywords to your search to exclude any mentions that aren't relevant. 

Consider how and where your search can be divided up into a series of smaller, more targeted searches if it gives an overwhelming amount of results. For example, if you've established an industry news search, you could divide it into two sections: regulatory updates and developing industry trends.

Make sure you include quotation marks around any phrases that need to be kept together. If you're looking for ice cream, for example, you'll want to spell it out as "ice cream" so you don't get results that only include the words "ice" or "cream."

Examine all of the filters offered in your tool. Some are less evident to novice users, such as scanning only the headline for keywords or activating case sensitivity for abbreviated terms. If case sensitivity isn't enabled, a search for "IDA" can return a lot of useless results.

The expert mode will be available in some media monitoring programs, allowing for new features such as more creative term grouping and proximity searches.

If you're still getting irrelevant remarks, get in touch with your customer service team or account manager. Make sure to give an example of a time when a search yielded a result that you weren't anticipating.

2) Media mentions that went unnoticed

Nothing is more irritating than failing to capture important media references in your findings. A missed mention could result in you missing an early warning sign of a problem, a critical competition update, or a significant placement your brand or client earned that you would have liked to emphasize. While some users may rely on Google or social media to fill in the gaps, this is far from ideal. It adds to your workload and means that your media coverage will be split among multiple tools, which is inconvenient for reporting.

Solution

It adds to your workload and means that your media coverage will be split among multiple tools, which is inconvenient for reporting.

Missed mentions should be handled during the purchasing or renewal process. Make sure you're asking your vendor the right questions and getting the most accurate information about the capabilities of the tool you're using or considering.

Not all platforms are made equal, so be sure yours has an excellent track record of providing a comprehensive picture of coverage. It's a good idea to start by reading internet reviews of media monitoring services. Make a point of reading both favorable and negative feedback. Keep an eye out for reviews that point out missing mentions as a problem.

If you aren't ready or able to switch media monitoring technologies, there are several strategies you may use to ensure you have a complete view.

Print and internet news pieces are more likely to be overlooked than references on television and radio. Transcript sources for TV (closed captioning) and radio (voice to text) are never perfect, and you may see misspelling brands, names, and locations that are important to you. Ikea, for example, is frequently referred to in transcripts as "Eye Kia." We propose that you become familiar with these misspellings and use them as search terms.

Double-checking your search methodology can often help you avoid missing mentions. You may find filters that can be changed to ensure more important mentions come through if you recreate a previous search and layer on one filter at a time to assess the results.

Applying geographic filters to social and online information should be done with caution, as the platforms/outlets themselves do not always define geography adequately. If you restrict geography too severely, you can miss out on essential references.

Consider whether your brand's logo shows in situations when it isn't referenced by name. If your company is an airline, for example, your logo may appear on planes in online news photographs related to aviation, transportation, or tourism. We propose incorporating an image monitoring search to get a complete picture of your coverage.

3) Saved coverage that is disorganized

It can feel like you've wandered once you've set up your searches and started sifting through coverage. The sheer number of media references can be intimidating, especially if you're looking for a wide range of keywords or media kinds.

"How can I organize all of this, synthesize the data, and explain its worth to my stakeholders?" comes to mind as you scroll through a seemingly infinite list of publications.

It becomes even more difficult when you wish to report on your coverage from different perspectives, such as all of your brand's individual items as well as its product lines.

Solution

It might be frustrating to be bombarded with media attention. Fortunately, it's one of the simpler media monitoring problems to solve.

Here are some suggestions:

Make your searches as specific as possible. You'll still need some broad search terms, but you can save a lot of time by conducting a series of highly targeted searches. If you work at a bakery that sells three different sorts of baked products, for example, you can conduct individual searches for "cakes," "pies," and "muffins," in addition to a general search. Once you've narrowed down your searches, some solutions will allow you to automatically tag the coverage and organize it into various reports.

If your media monitoring technology allows you to tag each media mention with numerous tags, use it! Returning to the bakery example, in addition to the type of baked food, you may have tags for tastes. You can, for example, tag objects with the types of components used, such as "blueberry" or "carrot." In this manner, you can track media attention for cakes, pies, and muffins, as well as things with blueberries or carrots. This will allow you to not only report on your bakery as a whole but also to find specific and useful information.

Some media monitoring systems allow you to save your coverage into folders, allowing you to organize mentions by topic. For in-house communications teams at large corporations and agencies that work with several brands, this can be extremely beneficial.

Well-organized media briefs are possible with a series of precise searches and a system for tagging your media coverage. You may be able to pull in all recent mentions with a certain tag into a media brief or a segment of a media brief, depending on the tool you use.

4) Difficulty reporting is becoming increasingly important in PR measurement.

Regrettably, several media monitoring programs have failed to keep up with the demand for flexible reporting. Online reviewers frequently complain that their tool is difficult to use and set up. When you consider that many reports are difficult to customize, it's easy to see why this is a major issue for PR professionals. Sometimes the reporting options in a media monitoring tool are so limited that PR professionals resort to spreadsheet tools like Excel to achieve their objectives, which takes more time and effort.

Solution

It's quite beneficial to have an in-depth presentation of reporting capabilities before signing on if you're in a favorable position to investigate media monitoring companies. Make sure to inquire about how you may tailor reports to meet your specific requirements, as well as how simple it is to share them.

If you can't move vendors, here are some suggestions for making the most of your current tool's reporting capabilities:

How you set up searches and organize mentions can have a significant impact on how you report on coverage. If you simply have a few major topics, your reporting capabilities will be severely limited. To understand more about how to organize your mentions, go over the guidelines in the previous section.

Send feedback about your issues to your support/account management staff to see if there's anything they can do to satisfy your reporting requirements.

5) Inability to use own searches

Surprisingly, several media monitoring systems still do not allow users to create their own queries. This can be aggravating for people who are unable to update their searches quickly or frequently enough, as all changes must be made by an account manager.

This is not only inefficient, but it is also inconvenient for users who must wait for information on new topics.

Solution

Being unable to access your own searches, like most concerns, can be simply resolved by having a frank chat with the media monitoring company before signing on. Some suppliers may try to downplay this feature and the inconvenience it causes users, so be sure you obtain a clear answer on whether you will have control over your searches.

Other than notifying your supplier that this process is inconvenient, there may not be much else you can do except transfer vendors.

Regardless of which media monitoring tool you use, your company should have a dedicated team ready to assist you in addressing and overcoming any issues. If you missed something throughout the purchasing process, it's worth bringing it up now to see what may be done. If they value your business, they'll go out of their way to keep you satisfied. However, if you aren't receiving the degree of customer service you require, it may be time to move tools. Before renewing your current agreement, we recommend establishing a reminder for yourself to investigate various media monitoring tools.

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• We have discussed all the major challenges above and also their solution to your business.