Media Monitoring for
Better Brand Awareness

What Is Media Monitoring?

Before delving into further details, let us first discuss what media monitoring is.

As the name suggests, media monitoring represents the process of observing media, be it print, online, or broadcast, in a targeted manner. The target is usually a keyword or topic, including a brand or a person’s name. These observations can then be recorded and saved to be later analyzed for valuable insights and potential marketing leads.

The process may include blog or social media monitoring as the more popular platforms to get the most relevant and user-oriented results. There are three main types of media monitoring.

• Print Media Monitoring

  Print media monitoring usually involves a department or company that scans print publications or online blogs for the mention of your company’s or your competitor’s name or service. These are then recorded in the form of press reports detailing all coverage, including metrics, trend analysis, publicity value, and brand awareness.

  This type of monitoring is usually used when targeting an audience that focuses more on newspapers, magazines, or online blogs.

• Broadcast Media Monitoring

  With so many radio and television stations broadcasting all over the world, it can be cumbersome to monitor them all. For this reason, companies usually end up monitoring broadcast stations in a local area, only. The ratings for radio stations and TV channels are monitored, and customers are given a chance to share their thoughts about what they like or dislike about a specific brand. This type of monitoring includes voluntary involvement by the customers and is usually more effective than print media and blog monitoring.

  Cisco, MoneyGram, and HP have all used broadcast media monitoring to make their services more customer oriented. Cisco reported a 281% ROI only through its annual trade show broadcast.

  The table above shows websites on which a company “Capital One” was mentioned in, in a two-month campaign, allowing its PR managers to track its brand reputation and stay up-to-date with key elements that affect it.

• Social Media Monitoring

  These days, the news finds its way to social networks before the TV or print media. Social media sites including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and many others have become the prime destination for most people to gather information and also as their primary source of the latest news. Therefore, social media monitoring is, by far, the most promising way to gather information about your brand.

  That is part of the reason why social media monitoring is much more common. Companies like Arby’s, Pizza Hut, Nestle Purina, Gatorade, and Barclays have all used social media monitoring to successfully get promising results and improve their performance according to customer feedback. The media monitoring stunt helped Arby’s find the market for their $10 Meat Mountain Sandwich, which was an immense success since it was based on what the customers wanted.

  These activities not only reinforced the people’s trust in companies but also increased their brand awareness.

Benefits of
Media Monitoring

Other than providing the user with updates on activities about their brand, media monitoring has several other benefits as well.

• You get more control over your reputation

• You can recognize problems before they arise

• Gives you tangible results about how successful your marketing strategies and other communication attempts are

• You can monitor your competitors more effectively, including what customers like and how you can get an edge over them

• You get a direct line between yourself and your customers

• You get another chance to win back lost customers by finding out what you did wrong and rectifying them

Media Monitoring & Brand Awareness

There are many ways to make people more aware of your brand, ranging from traditional ads, aggressive social media marketing, and live customer care; but it’s just not enough anymore. You need to make them remember your brand in a positive light. Media monitoring can help brands do so effectively.

The above pie chart shows that people rely on social media much more than actual store feedback forms to criticize brands and services. That is why social media monitoring can help brands identify the weaknesses in their service and improve much more effectively. When existing customers see that brands actually listen and address their problems in a positive manner, brand affinity and trust rises, something competitors can’t match.

Ex or new customers can be attracted this way as well, as they begin to see the level of attention the brand provides to its customers.

Media monitoring and brand awareness have become intertwined thanks to the role of social media in our lives. Using social media monitoring and blog monitoring can help you get an insight into the minds of your customers and allow you to grow your brand at a much faster pace.