The media is the area where key business conversations take place. Because of this, it is important to know how your brand is being portrayed so that you can build a positive perception of your brand and ensure that key messages are conveyed correctly.

Media monitoring not only allows you to track the conversations around your brand, but it also lets you measure the performance of PR campaigns, identify leads and build relationships with the media. Because of this,media monitoring should be considered a necessity.

Not convinced? Here are six reasons why media monitoring is a must for any business:

1. Media monitoring lets you keep an eye on all marketing channels

With the high volume of data that is available today, sifting through it to find mentions of your brand is just about impossible to do on your own. This is precisely why media monitoring is vital.

A media monitoring provider will be able to access and sift through an enormous range of publications, radio and television stations, websites, blogs and social media platforms to ensure that all of your brand mentions are captured.

The more data you have to work with, the more in depth your analysis and reporting can be. That’s why choosing the right media monitoring service can make all the difference.

2. Media monitoring helps you track and analyse competitor performance

A media monitoring provider allows you to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing and analyse their campaigns and marketing activities. These insights can serve as valuable competitor research, and with it, you can avoid repeating the mistakes your competitors are making. You can also identify where your competitors are lacking and strategise to fill that gap.

By tracking your competitors, you will also be able to see where their PR coverage is being published. This will tell you what journalists are worth adding to your own media lists.

3. Media monitoring identifies and analyses the sentiment of your coverage

A sentiment analysis can identify whether your media coverage is positive, negative or neutral, which, in turn, can be used to determine the attitude towards your brand or service.

You can then use these insights to quickly identify unhappy customers and nip any harmful comments or potential crises in the bud. This makes it easier to protect your brand’s reputation.
Additionally, you can also pinpoint what media is posting negatively about your brand in order to reach out and forge better relationships.

4. Media monitoring allows you to measure the effectiveness of your communications strategy

Media monitoring is a great way to measure — and improve — the effectiveness of your communications strategy. You can closely follow how much media attention your communication efforts receive. Did your press release reach your target audience? Did you get the engagement you intended?

The data, derived from media monitoring, works as a reliable source for decision-making. Take the insights from past campaigns, events and product launches and apply them to your future strategies to ensure success.

5. Media monitoring saves you time when reporting

A good media monitoring provider can make reporting to your clients extremely convenient; it does all the manual tasks on your behalf.

It collects and analyses the data for you, and even compiles reports for you. Once your reports are compiled, you can get them delivered straight to your inbox, ready to forward to your clients. Because of this, media monitoring saves you time; it does  the menial tasks for you and lets you focus on developing your strategy.

6. Media monitoring helps you prove return on investment

Media monitoring is a great tool to use when it comes to proving that your brand’s latest communication strategy, PR campaign, product launch or event has met its objectives.

To prove that it was a success, you can look at the data compiled in your reports. The reports’ data will give you a comprehensive overview of all the media coverage that was generated over the course of your campaign or event. You can then use this information to check that your brand generated enough publicity, got coverage in the right media and if it was portrayed positively.

With this information, you can prove that your investment has been profitable and that you have achieved concrete results.

The use of a media monitoring provider is no longer reserved for large PR and marketing companies with huge budgets. With the tools and services available to small businesses today, acquiring a media monitoring provider is well within the reach of every communications professional.

For more information, visit www.newsclip.co.za. You can also follow Newsclip on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.