2. Vocus White Paper 1
Analyzing the Media Landscape for Strategic Advantage
Analyzing the Media Landscape for Strategic Advantage
Ever have a reporter tell you they loved the information you sent, which is why they posted the news earlier that day? Watched
your product director get blindsided by a new product from your biggest competitor? Seen the look of surprise from your CMO
when he realized the company’s reputation among key influencers has slipped? Been there when the CFO missed hearing
about investors looking for companies in your industry?
Scanning the headlines and reading industry articles has always been an integral part of everyday public relations. In fact,
it has been engrained in most PR professionals from the day they began their career to “read your publications,” “track your
industry” and “look for trends.” While the traditional value of news monitoring is clear--identify new opportunities, increase
coverage and know your reporters--the value to the company is much greater.
While traditionally media monitoring has been used to track the company’s news coverage, including how many mentions it
has received and how much buzz has been generated, when used correctly, today’s media landscape provides the means for
a much more powerful assessment. The information gathered through the news, such as new products on the market, effective
messages with consumers and the organization’s ranking within the industry, can prove to be invaluable in other areas of the
business as well.
So how can news monitoring be used to gain a competitive advantage for the company? Monitoring the news and current
headlines keeps the company in-tune with the industry, the big players and the current trends. Through media monitoring,
PR professionals can uncover new trends for product directors, gather market and competitive activity for the executive team,
discover customer satisfaction blogs and messages for the head of customer service and demonstrate a value to the business
beyond their traditional role.
This whitepaper will offer tips and techniques to analyze the media landscape and how to apply it not just to public relations
campaigns but to gain a strategic advantage for the company.
The Growing Media Landscape
As media has moved online, PR professionals are not only monitoring what traditional journalists have to say but are also
getting feedback directly from their consumers.
With company perceptions flowing onto the Internet, it is now possible to get insight into all aspects of the organization
through monitoring both online and offline media. PR professionals can not only track their own reputation but also that of
their competition. The rise in consumer-generated media in blogs and other social media forums has led to added insight
into customer service problems and other corporate image issues and with no lead time and 24/7 availability, this online
move offers access to the information before it reaches the mainstream media. As consumers post entries on everything from
customer service to new product announcements to general observations, savvy PR professionals are able to take that valuable
information and distribute it throughout their organization to not only gauge the industries’ latest announcements but to learn
from the reactions.
While PR professionals are learning to maneuver the new media landscape and manage their online reputation, recent studies
show that more understanding of the benefits of this new online information source may be necessary:
• 72% of PR professionals say they have NO formal system for monitoring buzz in the blogosphere, only 19% say they do
(Kent State/BurrellesLuce survey)
• 53% agree that measuring and monitoring their reputation is a strategic priority in 2008 (Reputation Management for
New Media Survey, Paul Dunay, 2008)
• 58% do not have a strategic plan in place to manage its online reputation (Reputation Management for New Media
Survey, Paul Dunay, 2008)
The information that can be gleaned from the Internet as well as traditional media is invaluable to the company and its position-
ing. As companies put solid media monitoring strategies in place, they will find the information necessary to help gauge their
current strategies as well as develop a plan for their future approach.
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Analyzing the Media Landscape for Strategic Advantage
Understanding the Landscape
Many key areas need to be taken into consideration to develop a sound strategy employing the information PR professionals
gather. It is important to establish an understanding of the landscape itself and your organization’s place in it to see what
information will be most influential to the company’s future direction.
• Competition - Monitoring not only the coverage your company receives but that of the competition will provide a fair
evaluation of where the organization falls within the industry. As competitors emerge as the clear “media darlings,” it is
important to identify their strengths. Are they using more compelling messages, have they focused on a newsworthy trend?
The information you learn can identify what the competition is doing well and why it is working.
• Industry - Monitoring the industry as a whole can accomplish two goals, to see how the industry is shifting as well as
what trends are emerging. As the industry and trends shift, so do the players within it. For example, new players emerge
as industries break into niches. By tracking the industry and these shifts, your company can stay one step ahead of the
curve and adjust its message and approach accordingly.
• Message and Reach - Traditionally, news coverage has been monitored to see the number of clips and impressions for
companies. In today’s world, it is not just about the clips themselves, but the message that resonates. While getting cover-
age is important, getting targeted clips that drive home the right message to the right audience is more important to the
company’s success. With the addition of social media and online publications, those key messages are now able to reach
even further and permeate throughout key industries. Monitoring your company messages will allow the organization to
evaluate its media and online perception.
Monitoring, Tracking and Evaluating
As media has become a 24/7 source of information with new online publications and blogs appearing daily, the importance
of determining and understanding what is important to the company is growing. Sifting through articles and postings can
sometimes lead to more questions than answers without clearly defined values and an understanding of what is most important
for your organization.
• News by Source - Print, online publications, broadcast,
blogs etc… the media universe is rapidly expanding and
with it, so has the coverage area for monitoring. Most PR
professionals are familiar with the general tactics for moni-
toring traditional media such as print and broadcast, as
well as the complications with each. However, monitoring
online publications and blogs presents a new challenge.
With 1000’s of new outlets appearing online, it is increas-
ingly overwhelming to monitor and evaluate each. But,
managing and defining the process offers some relief. Get
started with a small subset of blogs that are important to
the company and/or industry and use them to move forward and grow your online universe. As new blogs are discovered
in the company’s industry, determine the impact on the business and therefore, the impact on your strategy.
• Announcements to Monitor - Look for insight into the industry as well as into the competition’s strategy. As new
products are unveiled and launched, evaluate their effects on the industry and gauge the reaction. This information will
serve as reference points for future development for the organization as new services and upgrades are evaluated. Ad-
ditionally, monitoring the organization’s news will also provide a gauge of the messages in the market. Has the company’s
message resonated? Is the organization gaining momentum with the media? Are your spokespeople seen as authorities?
• Monitoring Frequency - The online shift has turned the media into a 24/7 source of information. How frequently
you monitor the news depends on your resources and priorities. Every company is different and needs to evaluate their
resources. While monitoring in real-time is ideal for the most accurate picture, it is important to set a system that works
for your organization. While print and broadcast will appear with less frequency and follow a schedule, online news can
happen at any time. Doing a thorough media check each morning and distributing a report to the executives and other
interested parties is a good start. Using readily available technologies, PR professionals are able to check throughout the
day to stay on top of breaking news that may affect the company.
• Evaluating Importance - As with anything, value is determined by the goals of the company. While it is important to
get quantity, that cannot replace the quality of the message. Each article must be evaluated for both tone and prominence.
As we know, not all outlets and articles are created equal, so why would the front page of a daily newspaper and a brief
in an obscure blog with limited readership each count the same? Additionally, not all news is good. What if that front
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Analyzing the Media Landscape for Strategic Advantage
page article spells disaster? The prominence and tone of your coverage makes all the difference. Companies need to not
only track where and how often their news appears in an article but assign a value based on the importance of the outlet
to the organization and determine if the stories are positive, negative or neutral to get an accurate read for the company.
Whether using technology to identify and evaluate articles based on set criteria or having individuals sift through the
articles to determine their value, it is important to take the tone and prominence into consideration when deciding on its
ultimate impact.
Analyzing the Opportunity and Refining your Program
Once all the information is gathered, how can it be used to both improve your public relations program and gain control
over the media landscape? News monitoring is an integral component to determine where your message has penetrated.
Determining which coverage has had the greatest impact and influence shows where efforts are working. By then tracking
and comparing the activity and efforts against results, you can gauge what activities are most effective in helping land those
messages in stories. Gathering this information allows you to adjust your strategies to mimic the results and maximize your
impact. By looking at the outlets and Designated Market Areas (DMA), you can see where they have succeeded and, more
importantly, where they need to focus.
As PR continues to grow and change, media monitoring will offer you new opportunities with outlets or journalists. Addition-
ally, recognizing emerging trends identifies new avenues to pursue to increase your coverage.
Sharing Business Insight
Distributing a comprehensive report that not only highlights the
coverage but puts it in prospective allows the company to truly
reap the benefits of media monitoring.
• One size does not fit all - Just as with preparing a
pitch, it is important to understand your audience’s needs
when distributing your reports. Consider what is most im-
portant for each audience—PR, sales, product managers
and executives—and customize your reporting for what
is relevant to each of them. The reports should take into
consideration what impacts each business area and offer
them insight on doing their job better. While the PR team
will be interested in specifics of the coverage, it is less likely
that your CEO will be as interested in where the article
appears as what it means to the business. It is important to
note, reporting not only demonstrates your value but also
highlights your understanding of the business.
• Put it in Perspective - Packaging and sharing your
results correctly will help the different departments within your organization gain insight into their individual goals.
While it may be easier to simply forward articles, providing commentary adds context for the news and gives others an
understanding of the media landscape allowing them to put the news in perspective.
• Quick reference graph and charts - A picture is worth a thousand words and saves a lot of time. Using charts when
possible to illustrate your points in the report will provide a quick reference for the results. Graphs and charts also offer
powerful reinforcement to the text you provide.
• How often to send - The news will dictate the frequency. In other words, send the information as necessary. Base the
frequency on both your audience’s needs and the information’s impact. Daily reports are great and will offer insight, but
are not always necessary. In fact, deluging your audience with emails can have a negative effect and lead people to
begin ignoring valuable content.
Getting Started with Today’s Tools
Today’s environment offers PR professionals a variety of options for effective media monitoring ranging in cost and benefits.
1. Google and Online News Feeds - Google and other online services provide free tools that will help you monitor
your online news. These services offer you the ability to receive email updates based on your choice of query or topic.
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Analyzing the Media Landscape for Strategic Advantage
The service will automatically email you the latest relevant web and news results based on your search terms. These free
services offer an affordable way to keep up with online news throughout the day.
2. Professional Service Agencies - Hiring an agency to monitor your news for you offers a very hands-on approach
for companies. Typically, these companies perform ongoing searches to track the news you have requested. While not
inexpensive, these companies provide a human element to news monitoring. A very thorough method of media monitor-
ing, in many cases, they are able to offer human analysis to look at the tone and prominence of each clip.
3. PR Management Systems - Combining elements of the free services and the agencies, today’s leading PR man-
agement solutions enable PR professionals to monitor news for the current landscape. PR management systems offer
immediate, personalized news results delivered straight to your in-box. With Vocus, for example, you can monitor all of
your news from Vocus as well as 3rd party sources such as Google, to get a complete and comprehensive view of the
media landscape in one place. These systems also allows PR professionals to easily produce customized reports complete
with charts and graphs that dissect news coverage to create a comprehensive picture of the organization’s place within
the industry.
Conclusion
While monitoring the news can seem like a daunting task, when applied to other areas of the business, it can not only boost
your public relations campaign but actually help the organization gain an understanding of the position of the business.
Monitoring the different mediums using the available tools provides companies with the information they need to stand out
from the competition and stay in-tune with the industry, the big players and the current trends.
PR professionals are able to use the information they find to paint a complete picture of the industry and their place within it.
By sharing that information among other departments, they are able to help give the organization a strategic advantage in its
future planning to stay ahead of the competition.
About Vocus
Founded in 1992 by two entrepreneurs and best friends, Vocus (NASDAQ: VOCS) has grown into one of the world’s largest
and fastest growing public software companies. More than 30,000 organizations around the world, ranging from Fortune
500 companies to one-person start-ups, use Vocus products and services to generate publicity and grow their businesses.
Vocus software was awarded the prestigious SIIA’s CODiE for “Best Business Productivity Software” and has been featured in
The Wall Street Journal and Fortune. We deliver our solutions over the Internet using a secure and scalable platform that allows
our customers to eliminate expensive up-front hardware and software.
