Why Media Monitoring is Crucial for Effective PR

Being aware of the latest news and growing trends in the media can boost the number of potential opportunities for businesses.

Here at Motive, we regularly monitor the news to see if there are any opportunities where our clients can provide valuable insight.

This has helped us to achieve valuable backlinks to our client’s websites and has improved their SEO.

We make sure to check multiple media platforms, whether it’s Sky News, BBC News or The Guardian, so we have a full understanding of what’s going on in the world.

However, we don’t just throw everything all at once for any given topic, we take a step back and digest whether the topic is something which fits in with a client's brand so we aren’t missing the mark on relevancy.

Otherwise, it can worsen or even taint a client’s image as it can look like a somewhat desperate attempt to get noticed in the eyes of a journalist.

Why it’s important to monitor the news

For a PR professional, it’s not just important, but it’s necessary to check the news regularly.

The best way to think of the news is as the golden source of information, providing insight into global events through stories, updates and reports.

Keeping informed of what journalists are writing about and the topics they’re most interested in can help tailor the content being sent out for media outreach to increase brand awareness and valuable backlinks.

What to look out for in the news

It’s not just a case of clicking the front page of a news website, having a quick scroll and then jumping on the first news story in eye view.

It’s also important to delve into each section of the news websites to get a full understanding of the latest updates and reports across multiple sectors of the media.

Firstly and most importantly, read the article in depth. Don’t just skim read as it may misconstrue the message of what the story is about.

Whether it’s travel reports or financial news, there’s always an opportunity hidden between the pages.

The dangers of poor media monitoring

Not keeping on top of the news agenda is one of the biggest mistakes to make in digital PR.

If you're not aware of the current news agenda, don’t be shocked if a campaign fails to land in online publications.

This also extends to being too late in a potential newsjacking opportunity.

There’s no use identifying a trend if it’s at the end of its news appeal unless there’s an intriguing angle which can re-spark a conversation.

Then, of course, there’s the issue of sending out an irrelevant press release. If a press release does not correlate with the story, it’s a waste of time for yourself, the client and the journalist.

A campaign which isn’t relevant is less likely to have success in landing media coverage.

It can also give journalists a negative image of the agency and the client as it can put them off picking up any future press releases sent over to them as they could automatically think it’s not relevant.

How media monitoring can help a PR strategy

If a PR strategy fails to generate the results it was expected to receive, strong media monitoring can be used to steer the outcome in a positive direction.

PR strategies should be adapted as and when needed to ensure higher chances of success.

This is because there are multiple opportunities to hop on which can drive up coverage and links.

One of which is offering expert comments for a client. If a recent news story has been published in a client’s field, get in touch with the journalist and offer them additional comments on the subject matter.

A separate press release could be sent out on the subject which is offering the client’s comments to other publications in order to generate media coverage.

Hopping on a news hook or emerging trend can result in valuable backlinks to a website, which can also lead to great success in boosting SEO.

If the journalist has received a strong and relevant comment on a subject matter, they may even be inclined to return for future articles.

This is due to them being able to trust that the comments that’ll be sent over to them will be relevant and factual. It’s important to build reliable relationships to prevent tainting the agency and brand’s reputation.

Keep checking the news regularly to ensure commentary and information are suitable to be sent over to achieve desired results for the client.

If you want to find out more about how we use media monitoring to get top results for our clients, please get in touch.