A big part of PR for your business is keeping up with the latest news and trends in your industry. It’s important to be on top of the breaking news so that you can be betterprepared to engage journalists and the public. Here are some advantages to monitoring the news in your industry:
- Craft better pitches. It’s important to be on top of what reporters are talking about in your industry so that you can craft pitches that lend themselves to new trends.
- Make new contacts. Monitoring the latest news can also help you identify new journalists to add to your media list – people that are covering your issue. Take the opportunity to reach out to the journalist when a story that you could have or should have been asked for a comment is written—introduce yourself and offer your expertise for comment in the future.
- Respond to news stories. When you are aware of the newest stories, you have the opportunity to respond to articles in the press, by either writing comments on the article online, submitting a letter-to-the-editor, or even an op-ed if it’s appropriate.
Now that you are aware of the benefits of monitoring the news in your industry, I bet you’re wondering if there are any services that can help you do so. Well you’re in luck, because there are!
First of all, you should keep in mind that there are many different types of news and media monitoring services. Back when all media was written, media monitoring services were clipping services that physically cut articles out of print sources and mailed them to their clients. Nowadays, however, monitoring services can specialize in print media, broadcast, the internet or all of the above. You can even get specific services that track social media, product placement, commercial mentions, infomercials, and more.
Some services you may want to consider trying are:
Google Alerts
Google Alerts is free and is very good for tracking mentions of your company’s or spokesperson’s names. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer anywhere near the options as some of the paid services listed below.
Cision
Cision is sometimes considered a little bit outdated, but it’s great for identifying traditional press contacts information abroad.
Vocus
Looking for good news monitoring as well as great press release distribution? Try Vocus! They continue to buy up smaller companies who offer additional services that they turn around and offer to customers.
Meltwater
Meltwater has a variety of services available, but their “buzz product” is very popular for social listening, which is the when you identify and assess what is being said about a company, individual, product, or brand on the internet.
Traackr
Traackr is a little bit costlier than comparative services, but it’s good for finding news about niche influencers that you wouldn’t normally look for.
Radian6
Looking to focus on social media monitoring? Radian6 is a great social media tool that helps you monitor brand mentions across the social networking world.
Brandwatch
Brandwatch is a great media monitoring services that monitors the news about your industry or brand across the internet and social media.
Burelles Luce
Burelles Luce has it all – media outreach, media monitoring, media reporting, and social media monitoring services.
Many others!
There are many, many news clipping and media monitoring services to which you can subscribe—most require a yearly commitment. The bottom line for media monitoring services is they all offer very similar stuff. The trick is to figure out how to negotiate the best price and combine services. Sometimes you can bundle media monitoring in with, say, the company you use for media lists. Most importantly, make sure you are also getting exceptional customer service.
No matter what services you choose, it’s important to keep your goal in mind. You want to monitor the news in your industry so that you can be more effective in crafting relevant pitches, making new journalist contacts, and joining the conversations centered around breaking news.
What’s your favorite media monitoring/news clipping service? Tweet us @PawsPR