What is Media Monitoring?

As the media world continues to grow and evolve, it can be more difficult to stay in touch with what is going on in the world. It can also be more difficult to know when your brand or company is being mentioned in the media. And yes, people do miss media mentions. It’s a missed opportunity to be sure and it doesn’t have to happen.

Media Monitoring is a Solution and a System

Media monitoring is the practice of monitoring both print and broadcast media, as well as social media. The information is often gathered with the use of technology, and then filtered by a human. It’s something that you can outsource. You can hire a media monitoring service. They’ll deliver the data to you based on your specifications. You can also leverage existing technologies and monitor the media in-house.

A simple example…

A very simple example of media monitoring is a Google Alert. If you have a free account with Google then you can set up alerts. They can notify you every time your business name, or your competition’s name, is mentioned online. Every time someone blogs about you, writes an article and mentions your business, reviews you online or talks about you on social media, you’ll receive an alert.

Google Alerts is a useful and simple system.

Here is an excellent quick video tutorial from AVG Academy:

So what can you do with this information? What can media monitoring actually do for you?

Media monitoring helps you stay on top of the conversation that your prospects and customers are having. Keep in mind that you can monitor more than your own organization. You can monitor your competition, keywords in your industry, and influencers. Monitoring helps you create a solid product catalog that keeps up with the needs and demands of your audience. It also helps you stay engaged with your audience.

For example, if you learn that your company is being covered by a blogger, you can connect with the blogger on social media. You can comment on their blog or reach out to them privately. It’s an opportunity to build relationships. And last, but certainly not least, media monitoring helps you create a strong press and PR strategy that is pro-active rather than reactive. It gives you the information that you need to strengthen your overall marketing strategy and ultimately your business.

Anthony Santiago is Director of Marketing at Newswire. With over a decade of experience in PR, he helps ensure that clients understand the value of brand messaging and reach.

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