The media is all around us. Your company, and potentially even your brand, is being discussed somewhere on a platform, blog, news site, social media, or podcast. For anyone into public relations or reputation management, it’s very crucial to keep a watch on what is said or will be said. Media monitoring is useful in this situation. But the big question is: Should you continue with manual monitoring or use a media monitoring PR solution?
Let’s take a deep look at it.
Media observance: What is it??
Media monitoring observes all types of media, including social media, television, radio, and online newspapers, to inform you when your name, industry, or competitors appear. It helps organizations by tracking PR initiatives, early detection of trends or crises, and public sentiment understanding.
It can be either manual or automated with tools.
Manual Monitoring: Time-honored but ideal?
The traditional way is to monitor by hand. You read newspapers, browse social media, check Google, and perhaps even create free alerts. It’s easy and initially costs nothing. Those who favor manual monitoring typically claim to enjoy complete control. They want to read it all for themselves and decide what is important. It may be beneficial for newcomers or small enterprises.
The problem is that it takes time. Many times. Managing a brand that gets mentioned a lot can make doing this every day too much to handle. Additionally, because you’re not online all the time, you can overlook something crucial.
However, manual monitoring may feel more intimate and hands-on for certain extremely specialized businesses or personal brands with few mentions.
PR Solutions for Media Monitoring: The Insightful Improvement
A PR solution for media monitoring is software that does the labor-intensive work for you.The searching tools are employed to scan all possible sources, which may be the internet, news sources, and even social media, for mentions of your organization’s name, keywords, rivals, or industry terms. Cision, Mention, Brand24, and Meltwater are a few popular tools.
Which is more beneficial for time saving?
Let’s be honest. Money is time. You’ll likely spend hours looking over several platforms and taking notes if you use manual monitoring. You may utilize that time for content development, client meetings, or strategy.
All of that time is cut in half or more using media monitoring software. You can see the whole picture on a single dashboard. You can immediately receive alerts by setting filters and keywords. Anyone who has ever worked in public relations will tell you that’s a win.
Speed and Accuracy: Human vs. Tool
Although manual approaches are not always quick, they can be considered. If it appears in a foreign-language news source or is buried deep on Twitter, you might miss a mention.
On the other hand, media monitoring technologies are made to record everything. Some are so sophisticated that they are able to identify popular hashtags or local coverage before they become widely known.
Although they aren’t always accurate and occasionally you will receive irrelevant warnings, the accuracy gradually increases with the use of custom keywords and smart filters.
Cost: Free or Paid
In essence, manual monitoring is free. No money is needed to search on Google, Instagram, or Twitter. However, even if you value your time, which you do, you are still spending effort and energy.
PR monitoring services typically have a monthly cost. However, that charge frequently covers capabilities like competition tracking, historical data, and comprehensive reports.
Some affordable choices are available for single PR professionals or small firms. And this investment pays off quickly once your brand begins to expand.
Expertise and Perception: Who Contributes More?
You can see your brand mentions in their raw, direct form by manually tracking them. However, it is not analytical. You’ll need to determine emotions, trends, or yourself.
Smart elements are included in media monitoring software. You receive engagement analytics, geographic reach, sentiment scores (positive, negative, and neutral), and more. You may quickly make well-informed decisions with the aid of these insights.
Power and Development
Additionally, your job will appear more professional if you use professional tools. Reports produced by reliable tools are trusted by clients or teams. It lends credibility to your PR efforts.
It can seem like all you’re doing is gathering links through manual monitoring. However, presenting data-supported outcomes from a platform demonstrates your seriousness, readiness, and knowledge.
Establishing your authority in the field through clear reports and insights is a good way to demonstrate your competence if your agency or brand wishes to expand.
How Simple Is the User Experience?
In theory, manual monitoring is easy, but in reality, it is taxing. It quickly gets exhausting to switch between platforms, copy links, and save screenshots.
Software for media monitoring is designed to be simple. After you log in and configure your settings, the program takes care of the rest. Everything is in one location. Some even have smartphone apps so you can receive warnings from anywhere.
Overall, that is a better user experience.
So, Which One Is Better?
Let’s be honest. If you are only starting or if the company does not get much mention, then a manual approach may suit you just fine. However, on an expanding stage with several clients, campaign launches, and foresight for crisis, the smartest approach would be a media monitoring PR solution. This approach saves your time, enhances insights, expedites actions, and displays the worth to you through useful data.
Final Thoughts
While it gives you information on the brand, media monitoring will also let you know the conversation initiators involved, along with how the world perceives you. Reputation can fly fast today in the fast-paced digital world.
While manual monitoring keeps you in touch and intimate, a clever PR solution offers you speed, clarity, and assurance. Being present in the conversation is more important than using a tool or doing it by hand.
Because while you’re not looking, what is being stated about your brand? Your story may succeed or fail based on that.
