Media monitoring tools are software applications that help you track and analyze your PR campaigns across various channels. They can help you measure your reach, engagement, sentiment, and impact of your PR efforts. In this article, we will show you how to use media monitoring tools to track your PR campaigns effectively.
When selecting a media monitoring tool, you need to consider several factors that will ensure it meets your goals, budget, and preferences. These include the coverage and quality of the sources monitored, such as online, print, broadcast, and social media. Additionally, the ease of use and customization of the tool should be taken into account - for example, its ability to create alerts, dashboards, reports, and filters. The accuracy and relevance of the data and insights it provides should also be looked at - this includes sentiment analysis, tone detection, keyword tracking, and topic analysis. Lastly, consider the integration and compatibility of the tool with other platforms or software you use - such as your CRM or analytics software.
Finding the right software / program for monitoring is only the beginning. Generally, it's better to be scanning from multiple sources - print and digital monitoring is different than broadcast monitoring. And any software or service needs to be backed up with established search functions such as Google Alerts. Often, an individualized keyword search will deliver results that the "crawlers" may not find.
Brand24 is a media monitoring tool that focuses on preserving a strong brand presence and gleaning consumer insights from social media conversations. Brand24 employs an AI algorithm that crawls through social media platforms to find mentions of a keyword. That same AI then measures the sentiment of the mention to determine whether it is positive, negative or neutral.
Many businesses fail to capture all relevant news. If you use a mainstream media monitoring tool, you may discover that it does not collect all of the news that mentions you, particularly if you live in a culturally and media diverse region such as Asia Pacific. This is where you must put in the effort to source out all of the news you have pitched and the media has covered, and if you do utilize a media monitoring tool, collaborate with the tool suppliers to catch news sources they were unaware of. There are many new and developing media for every business, in never-before-seen forms such as podcasts and video channels which can be very influential.
Choosing your tool? Think coverage, ease, and smarts. Does it cover all media types you're interested in? Can you set up alerts and customize reports easily? Check how savvy it is with data - like sentiment analysis and keyword tracking. And hey, make sure it plays nice with your other software.
Once you have chosen your media monitoring tool, you need to set up your queries to track your PR campaigns. Queries are the keywords or phrases that you want the tool to search for in the media sources. You can use queries to track your brand name, products, spokespersons, competitors, industry trends, or any other relevant topics. You can also use advanced operators, such as quotation marks, Boolean operators, or filters, to refine your queries and get more specific results.
Before you select a monitoring tool or premium service, be sure to specify what data you want to receive from the tool. The software helper tool should also be user-friendly and give you different customization options. You want to be able to tailor and filter what you want to monitor and also customize the final report.
Got your tool? Time to get specific with your queries. These are your magic keywords - your brand, products, maybe even competitors or industry trends. Use smart operators to sharpen your search. It's all about zeroing in on the info that matters most to your campaign.
After setting up your queries, you can start monitoring your media mentions. Media mentions are the instances where your queries appear in the media sources. You can view your media mentions in different formats, such as lists, charts, graphs, or maps. You can also sort, filter, or export your media mentions according to various criteria, such as date, source, channel, sentiment, or impact. You can also set up alerts to notify you when there are significant changes or spikes in your media mentions.
Now, watch the mentions roll in. You'll see them in lists, charts, whatever floats your boat. Play around with filters to see what's making waves. And set up alerts - you'll want to know when your campaign is hitting it big or needs a tweak.
Monitoring your media mentions is not enough; you must analyze your media performance to evaluate the effectiveness of your PR campaigns. Media performance is the measurement of how well your PR campaigns achieve your objectives, such as increasing awareness, reputation, or sales. To measure this, you can use metrics and indicators like reach (the number and percentage of people exposed to your media mentions), engagement (the number and percentage of people who interact with your media mentions), sentiment (the attitude and emotion expressed towards your media mentions), and impact (the influence and outcome on your business goals).
AVE is outdated, it's now time for PRs to analyse metrics that matter. Setting clear goals and expectations first is a great place to start before analysing, that way you know what you're working towards and what you can change or do differently next time. You might also want to analyse channel-specific performance. One that we track for online coverage is domain authority to ensure that our campaigns are being picked up by credible, reputable and quality websites.
The last step is to report and optimize your PR campaigns based on your media performance analysis. Reporting involves presenting and communicating your results to stakeholders, such as team members, clients, or management. Different formats and tools can be used to create and share reports, like slides, PDFs, or online dashboards. Optimizing is the process of improving and adjusting your PR campaigns based on the feedback from media performance. To do this, you can test and experiment with different messages, channels, or audiences; leverage and amplify positive media mentions like testimonials, reviews, or case studies; and address or mitigate negative media mentions such as complaints, crises, or controversies.