What are the most effective ways to measure media sentiment for your organization?

1 Manual analysis

One way to measure media sentiment is to manually review and rate each media mention based on a predefined scale, such as positive, negative, or neutral. This method can provide you with a high level of accuracy and context, as you can capture the nuances and subtleties of human language and emotion. However, manual analysis can also be very time-consuming, labor-intensive, and subjective, as it requires a lot of human resources and consistent criteria to analyze a large volume of media mentions across different platforms and languages.

2 Automated analysis

Another way to measure media sentiment is to use automated tools and software that can scan and score media mentions based on natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI). This method can provide you with a high level of speed and scalability, as you can process and analyze a large volume of media mentions across different platforms and languages in a matter of minutes or hours. However, automated analysis can also be prone to errors and limitations, as it may not be able to capture the nuances and subtleties of human language and emotion, such as sarcasm, irony, humor, or slang.

4 Key metrics

No matter which method you choose to measure media sentiment, it's essential to define and track some key metrics that can help you evaluate and compare media performance over time and across different channels. Sentiment score, distribution, polarity, trend, and drivers are all key metrics to consider. Sentiment score is the overall score that reflects the tone and emotion of a media mention, usually ranging from -1 (very negative) to +1 (very positive), with 0 being neutral. Sentiment distribution is the percentage of media mentions that fall into each sentiment category. Sentiment polarity is the degree of difference between the positive and negative media mentions. Sentiment trend is the change in media sentiment over time, usually shown by a graph. Lastly, sentiment drivers are the factors that influence media sentiment, such as topics, keywords, sources, authors, or events, usually shown by a word cloud or a pie chart.

5 Best practices

To measure media sentiment effectively, it is essential to have clear goals and objectives, select relevant sources and channels, establish criteria and scale, use the right tools and software, and analyze and interpret the results. Defining your goals and objectives will help you understand what you want to achieve and why. Choosing your sources and channels will allow you to capture representative media coverage. Setting criteria and scale will provide a way to rate each media mention. Utilizing the right tools and software can help you measure media sentiment accurately and efficiently. Analyzing and interpreting your results will provide meaningful insights that can be used to improve your media performance. By following these best practices, measuring media sentiment can be a powerful way to monitor and manage your organization's communication strategies and outcomes.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?