The Role of Media Intelligence in Public Relations

The integration of media intelligence, an upgraded form of media monitoring, to a brand’s communications strategy is no longer optional; rather, it has become a vital component. However, this information isn’t the only benefit. It’s also helpful to know who is saying what about your brand or that of your client.

In the next paragraphs, we explore what media intelligence is, why it is important and what the advantages are for professionals.

What Exactly Is Media Intelligence?

Who you ask could influence the result. In spite of this, media intelligence is a service that offers proactive “listening” across numerous mass media and digital/social media sources, keeping you updated on what’s being said about your brand, industry trends, competitors and other relevant issues which is the Monitoring part.

The Intelligence aspect involves the synthesis of millions of conversations into relevant information, allowing organizations to measure and manage content performance, understand trends, and drive Public Relations, communication and business strategy.

Why Media Intelligence Matters

Media intelligence is a valuable tool that allows PR professionals to interpret media coverage, understand the impact of that coverage, and demonstrate the true value of public relations efforts. So, while it makes sense that monitoring is often thought of in the context of Public Relations and as a crisis communications or reputation management tool, in reality, it’s much more powerful than that!

Communications and PR professionals in any industry can rely on intelligence gleaned from local and national print, online, broadcast, and social media sources to stay informed about what is being said about their organization or client in the media. This includes tracking and analyzing news articles, social media posts, and other online content to understand how the organization is being perceived and to identify any potential issues that may need to be addressed.

Media intelligence can also be used to track the organization’s own media coverage as well as that of its competitors. It can help PR professionals understand what topics and themes are getting the most attention in the media, and it can also help them identify opportunities to pitch stories or generate positive coverage for their organization.

In addition to tracking media coverage, media intelligence can also be used to measure the effectiveness of PR campaigns and to identify areas where the organization’s messaging or media strategy may need to be adjusted.

In a nutshell, media intelligence can greatly assist PR professionals to:

• Gain actionable insights into your brand or issue, including share of voice analysis.
• Uncover the topics and matters that are significant to you or your clients.
• Assess brand awareness and sentiment.
• Promote product releases for your organization.
• Spot upcoming trends in your industry.
• Identify fresh business opportunities.
• Detect potential trademark misuse and/or copyright violations.
• Establish yourself as a leader and thought influencer.
• Make sure your messaging is comprehensive.
• Take prompt action in crisis situations, correct false information, counter propaganda, manage and protect reputation, as well as monitor progress of relevant campaigns prior to launching them.
• Utilize qualitative evaluation measures in addition to quantitative ones for strategic planning and decision-making purposes—be it marketing, advertising, user-generated content, customer service inquiries or journalist & media mentions of you or your customers’ brands.