Proactively sharing news and speaking with reporters is what most people think of when they think about public relations, but monitoring mentions of your brand in coverage and social media channels is a key part of being a PR professional.
Tracking results in coverage and social media can help you evaluate the success of a campaign, raise awareness of potential crises or rumors being spread about your brand, and can help you keep an overall pulse on how your company is being portrayed in the media. We want to share a few tools that can help you accurately track mentions of your brand in news coverage, social media channels and more.
For Big Budgets ($1,000+ per month)
If you’ve allocated a thousand or more dollars of your PR/marketing budget each month to coverage tracking, a professional coverage monitoring service, like Meltwater, could be up your alley. It offers an extensive and international search service, detailed reporting, and has a consultant or two on duty to assist you and customize your reports. High-end services like this tend to run a few thousand dollars per month, especially if you want to add social media tracking to your package.
While Meltwater offers a comprehensive solution, the price point makes tools like this out of reach for most of our clients.
For Moderate Spenders ($10 – $999 per month)
If your budgets aren’t sky-high, tools like BrandsEye or trackur might be more your speed. They offer thorough, accurate tracking for monthly fees that total less than a thousand dollars (including a few plans that are less than $100 per month). Solutions such as these usually have some limitations, such as the number of search terms you can enter or the level of customer support you’ll receive from the company.
While you may not get the VIP treatment as you would with the more expensive solutions, these mid-range tools do the job for most of the customers we work with, offering straightforward reporting and easy-to-use interface that makes coverage monitoring intuitive and more fun.
For Penny Pinchers (free options)
Let’s face it; most of us don’t want to spend anything on brand monitoring. We’d rather use those dollars for proactive campaigns or the development of a strategic story pitch. But don’t worry,there are still tools that get the job done for those looking for a free ride when it comes to coverage monitoring.
Google Alerts remains one of the most popular free tools to track mentions and keywords in coverage. You can opt to receive notifications in real-time or once per day, making it easy to review coverage when you want. Also, you can use Google Alerts whether you have an account with Google or not.
There are some free social media monitoring tools out there too, such as SocialMention that not only show you what people are saying about your brand, but also provide some basic analytics and reporting.
What are the downsides to these free tools? They aren’t always as thorough or accurate as paid services. They also don’t always have the robust measurement tools or reporting your organization might be looking for, like sentiment reports or being able to monitor for a specific timeframe. But if basic coverage tracking or social mentions is all you need, these options are great.
Has your organization tried any other tools that you like or don’t like? Do you think the investment in brand monitoring tools is worth the investment? Let us know in the comments.