You’re looking to track media mentions. How can you do it most effectively?

The first question I'd put to someone who wants to measure their media mentions is "why?" – which isn't purely a glib remark. What's the problem you're trying to solve by being mentioned in the media and by counting your mentions? If you can't define and articulate that, you risk wasting time and money on something that has little or no lasting value. Raw data on the number of mentions can be easily captured by the likes of Meltwater and other tools. But if you don't know why you're tracking mentions and don't know how to interpret the results you get, what's the point? Seriously. You'd do better to invest in a customer review strategy and listen to the folks buying your products/services.

Ideally don't include "mentions" as a goal. That would mean a bad review would carry as much weight as a good one. A better idea might be to look at the actual business goal - increased sales, collateral for a round of funding, whatever it is - and then see whether it correlates with positive and negative mentions in the media. That will tell you a lot more about whether your strategy is working and what you need to develop.

Since it's relatively easy to set up a service like Google Alert to notify you when a tracked word appears, the more important first step is to determine WHAT you want to track, WHY you want to measure it and HOW you plan to impact or "move the needle" in a way that also moves your organization along it's planned path to fame, fortune and glory (not always in that order!). Are you building overall BRAND or are you driving revenue? Are you raising capital from High Net Worth Individuals or are you seeking to shape public opinion and by extension public policy? We generally hit what we aim at...choose your targets first and foremost. Set your strategy for how to get there, THEN track mentions.

Kick off by setting solid goals. What’s your endgame – boosting brand awareness, racking up leads, or shaping public opinion? Pin down your KPIs to track progress. It could be the volume or quality of mentions, audience reach, or how these mentions drive conversions.

Two good platforms to use: BuzzSumo - set up an alert for your brand name and/or Google Alert - same thing. Every time your brand name is mentioned you will get notified via email.

Google Alerts and Meltwater are both great for tracking mentions. But the more important part of the equation is whether those mentions carry the messages you want — and whether the mentions enhance your brand or company image. Whatever system you use, and there are many, be sure to see if those mentions carry the payload you want.

Next, choose your battleground – which media sources and keywords will you track? Think online articles, social buzz, or traditional media. Zero in with filters like language or location. Keywords are your secret sauce – your brand name, industry buzzwords, or even competitor names. Get crafty with search modifiers for precision tracking.

A great tip, if your business name or keyword is common or shared with other businesses, is to tag on other relevant keywords that might help you find relevant coverage for your campaigns. If your campaign work is often survey and research-based, for example, try: "(brand name) survey" "(brand name) research" "(brand name) report" "(brand name) statistics" etc...

Remember that not all media outlets are searchable by search engines. Good ways to provide backup on monitoring include regular visits to target publications' websites, subscriptions to print or digital editions, and utilization of clipping services, including Burrelle's. Make sure you have a conversation with your clipping service regularly to ensure they are clipping for the right things at the right time. An example of what not to click that can easily backfire is the death of a spokesperson affiliated with your brand. Clipping services often charge a monthly fee and a per-clip fee. Set a monthly maximum of clips so you don't blow past your budget allocation for clipping services.

To effectively monitor and track media mentions, use a range of media monitoring tools. There are some great options out there for both free and paid tools. Personal favourites, due to their accuracy are Google Alerts and Prowly's monitoring option. Ahrefs is also another great option to track new backlinks specifically.

To track media mentions, start with Google Alerts for basic brand mentions. Dive deeper with social listening tools like Hootsuite or Mention for real-time insights across social media. Don't overlook PR software like Cision for extensive media analysis. Engage directly on social platforms to encourage positive mentions and monitor competitors for strategic insights. The key is not just tracking but analyzing these mentions to refine your strategies and enhance brand reputation.

A media monitoring tool is for sure the easiest and most efficient way to track media mentions. It comes with a price though, but the opportunity cost you saving time by not searching manually (and then missing stuff) is very high. Good example of making the life for professionals/clients easier in this regard is for example our agency @TheRightStreet based in Brussels. We offer our EU clients "Digests" to certain topics/keywords/policies etc. on daily/weekly etc. basis which hence cuts costs and time for clients. They don't need to buy a tool, don't need to spend time to learn how to use it and only receive for them relevant info.

Maybe an unpopular opinion here…but I despise these platforms. Here’s why: - very costly - don’t catch everything - use fluff metrics to calculate media value **Great for clients that need corporate reporting for execs. The platforms are the epitome of why, for years, brands didn’t prioritize PR due to not trusting quantifiable results. Invest in a strongly optimized affiliate platform instead and see genuine ROI.

There are some great media monitoring tools out there - Cision, Meltwater, Agility etc. They're great for widespread coverage and getting generalised data for reporting. There really is no substitute for getting good at manual searching, though. Google's advanced search tools are quite easy to use once you know your keywords and target media. Sometimes, you just need to head directly to media you expect coverage from, too! Search engines don't always index pages immediately, so it's super important to remain vigilant and actively seek coverage manually.

Flipping this over to add a different perspective, how about measuring the coverage you didn't see? Did you manage to stop or change any potentially negative and reputationally damaging stories? This type of PR can often be hidden and forgotten. The "what you didn't see" slide can be very powerful to show your true value as a function.

Las herramientas de monitorización de medios son de gran ayuda para nosotros, responsables de PR. Pero de nada sirve si no se hace una correcta lectura y evaluación de los datos para tomar después decisiones acertadas en nuestra estrategia. Y en este punto, no nos debemos quedar solo en la parte cuantitativa: el número de medios, número de impactos, soportes, audiencia, AVE… sino que es necesario analizar también la parte cualitativa de los impactos como la calidad de la cobertura, el sentiment, la reputación del medio el contexto o el impacto en la reputación de la marca.

Many of us in the PR industry use software like Cision or Meltwater, but Google Alerts are generally the most useful for tracking mentions. These platforms provide us with real-time media trends reporting and go far beyond Google Alerts.

Remember that the tracking tools are just indicators. They show you which way "the wind is blowing"...either positive or negative. The key is the stategy you will implement for moving it in the direction that is beneficial to your work. Sometimes...the stories that get squashed before they are ever written...or the pitch that influences coverage to be positive in a situation that could have been negative otherwise. THOSE circumstances would never really be indicated clearly no matter what media tracking monitors were in place. In my experience, media monitors by themselves tend to be passive in nature...it is putting the positive and negative mentions into strategic direction that matters most.

Many PR teams generate an automated report with brand mentions compared to competitors, but it’s meaningless without doing the hard work of properly filtering the data for sentiment and quality mentions. For example, mentions in syndicated articles, wire releases, or market reports can greatly inflate results. You need to ask yourself, “So what?” Why does it matter where your brand is mentioned (quality of the placement), how is your brand talked about (quality of the mention), and at what frequency? Compare these to what’s meaningful to your brand. Once you’ve pinpointed these answers, you can better glean valuable insights. And most importantly, these insights can guide strategic decisions and drive business outcomes.

Technology like Meltwater can help you track media mentions as it crawls online sources such as social media, blogs, forums, news etc.

Mentions are a poor metric on their own. Agree a target media list, agree impact measures such as key messages, mentions alongside competitors (or indeed sole mentions for your brands), look at higher domain authority publications and also consider inclusion of backlinks, headline mentions etc. Most of the major media intelligence platforms allow you to build dashboards that take mentions as the starting point and then add these 'impact measures' to the same chart so you can see the coverage that makes a difference alongside the general noise. Benchmark your progress against these metrics and you'll be well set.

Track media mentions effectively by using media monitoring tools like Google Alerts, Mention, or Brandwatch. Set up specific keywords related to your brand and industry to receive real-time notifications. Monitor social media platforms, industry forums, and news outlets for relevant mentions. Centralize tracking through a dedicated dashboard for efficient analysis. Regularly review and respond to mentions to maintain a positive brand image and engage with your audience.

Active Engagement: Actively engaging with mentions, whether through thanking individuals for positive mentions or addressing negative feedback, can significantly enhance your brand's perception. But don't get into a flame war. Even if you're "right," it doesn't end well for your brand's reputation. Crisis Management: Quick response to negative mentions or potential crises can help mitigate any adverse effects on your brand reputation. Be honest (as much as you can). Take responsibility. And most important, actually do better and learn from your mistakes.