Why You Need a Media Monitoring Service?
Although media are digital now and finding a mention is as easily accomplished as searching via Google, companies still need media monitoring services.
Many years ago, before everything was online and digital, companies had to hire clipping services that would send them mentions of their brand in the paper. These clipping services also would send clips of broadcast or radio stories if they mentioned a company. PR representatives would search papers and listen to stations to put together a compilation of mentions. They did this to justify the expense companies paid them and to show value to having public relations to promote a brand.
Although media are digital now and finding a mention is as easily accomplished as searching via Google, companies still need media monitoring services. In fact, it is more crucial today than in the past because there are so many more places your brand could be mentioned. Business owners lack time to search all the places where their brand might be.
What Is a Media Monitoring Service?
Media monitoring service is a company that is searching on your behalf for your brand and name. They are searching for your name, company name, logo, and story. Although they will start with a Google news search, they do more than that. Many media monitoring companies have ways to capture the data and sort automatically. It links a particular press release to a story that was aired or run. They also have relationships with journalists and will call to determine if a story has run. Media monitoring sorts through thousands of data and finds your brand’s mention. Therefore, business owners can do what they do best.
Why Is Media Monitoring Important?
When your brand is mentioned in a newspaper or online, you can use that story for more marketing. For example, you could post that story on your social media sites. You could send it in an e-mail marketing piece. You also can put it on postcards to hand to people. When you go to Walmart, the store has a section “As Seen On TV.” When you have a notice of a story about your company, you could do something similar – “Read About Our Company in X Publication.” However, you won’t be able to do any of this without knowing about the story in the first place. The media monitoring service will send you notice of the story.
It is important to know what others are saying about you. If the story that appeared in a paper or online is negative, you have to do damage control. If it is positive, you can begin to build trust with your clients and potential clients. If the story is about a competitor and mentions your company too, you can respond accordingly. The media monitoring service will send you notices of all stories, not just ones you initiate. Media monitoring services will help you manage your reputation online.
For more, visit Faselis.
by Louise Harris
