As the importance of earned media continues to grow, PR pros and marketers are seeking alternative ways to drive brand awareness without spending on advertising and then access all of their mentions across the web. Whether you’re part of a team or a solo marketing or communications pro for your organization, it’s important to make sure that you have a bird’s-eye view of your brand across a variety of mediums.
With that said, we’re going to walk you through the key points to check off your list when searching for an earned-media tracking and analytics solution.
1. Establish Benchmarks
Before you jump into completing an earned-media strategy, it’s best to identify your brand goals. Is your organization seeking to monitor and access social posts about your brand or promote mentions in blogs or news publications? Establishing KPIs from the get-go will provide a clear path to creating a successful strategy. A great way to start is to brainstorm ways to measure up to your competition. Observe which of their tactics work and which don’t and see how you can take that information to outperform their digital strategies.
2. Leverage Multiple Media Channels
It’s important to have a diversified strategy approach to your earned media. Your digital strategy should consist of receiving media mentions from all sorts of online resources. When it comes to digital earned-media, it’s important to be able to search, analyze and react to your coverage. An easy-to-use media monitoring platform that offers the ability to search relevant keywords to your company and its industry can help you in this area.
3. Capitalize on Media Sharing Opportunities
There’s no doubt that earned content is a force within the digital media world. It definitely resonates with today’s online users.
Newswire outlined that a Nielsen report stated 83% of consumers trust digital word-of-mouth more than content produced directly by advertisers.
In this regard, make sure your organization has the ability to easily share videos and earned media. Doing so can provide a great level of credibility and authenticity.
4. Access to Analytics
Next, make sure you can identify audience metrics to gauge the reach of your earned content. You can use these metrics to measure and report ROI. Plus, reports offer a great way to demonstrate media results to colleagues and management. In addition, check that you have the ability to track sentiment across your digital earned media. This is a must because every organization should keep tabs on its positive, neutral and negative mentions to make sure that its reputation is kept afloat.
5. Track Earned Media in Real Time
Ultimately, the most important point on your list should be having the ability to set alerts and receive daily emails specific to your search keywords. If you receive earned media, it’s best to leverage that information as soon as possible. If it’s a positive mention, you can share it and continue to get great engagement. If it’s a negative mention, you want to know in real-time and address the issue right away.
Critical Mention
Looking for a way to monitor, analyze and share your coverage from TV, radio, online news and social media sources?
Get a closer look at the most robust media monitoring and intelligence platform in the industry by scheduling a free, custom demo.
Priscilla Osorio
Priscilla is the marketing coordinator for Critical Mention. Early on in her career, she developed a passion for marketing, writing and anything within the communication field. During her leisure time, she loves to watch her favorite sports teams and explore new restaurants with friends and family.
