All the sources of media can be monitored and for that one needs a company. Questions can crop up frequently as one may try to know about when it is going to show up online, on-air, or print or it could also appear elsewhere.
It is necessary to have a media monitoring service and one needs to first figure out a way to find the best possible one. Before cherry-picking from a given set of options, a lot of research has to be done and questions are needed to be asked. There is a qualitative difference between every monitoring service and before choosing any one of them one has to answer some of the most important key questions.
What Exactly they Monitor?
Some of the companies are going to monitor online publications and social media. This is not going to be fruitful as some vital information can be missed. A company is needed to monitor every other source of the entire media. One must know exactly when they are going to show up online, on-air, and print or it could also be elsewhere. These are going to be the most beneficial and most comprehensive to your brand and your company.
Is Outsourcing Done to Third Parties?
It is not going to be very fruitful to go for a company in media monitoring services who are into outsourcing the work. It would just cost half the money by hiring a third party. Some in-house work can be done by companies and the rest of it can be outsourced. This is going to be very confusing as client services problems are created with the monitoring functions of core news that are into partial outsourcing as there is the involvement of multiple vendors as part of the backend operations. So, it is beneficial to pick a company where the monitoring is done all by itself. Also, a company is needed that is going to provide a team of people who can help you out with your questions. Until something happens, automation is great and automation is required with backup.
What Is The Accuracy Rate?
The media monitoring services have to be tested to see whether it meets the ends. For monitoring the media, it has to be compared with the current solutions. One must make sure that a complimentary trial is asked for. One has to be dead sure about receiving mentions that are relevant for the media coverage making the least possible false hits and less amount of noise that showed up in the reports of media monitoring.
What are The Things That are Allowed to Be Kept?
Some news monitoring services will not allow you to have any kind of long-term data about the company. News clips and limited data are allowed to be kept. Nevertheless, one always wants to hire that company that is going to give historical access to the news. If one visualizes the entire thing at a glance that they are getting the same kind of coverage every year, more or less at the same time, that particular trend can be used in marketing.
The media coverage reports have to be accessible through an online archive that has permanent existence as well as access to the radio and TV news clips that are featured in the search terms. More often than not, radio and televisions remove those clips to make enough room for the most recent news. One has to pick up a service that is going to provide the relevant tools that are going to procure and permanently archive the news clips as part of the cloud so that one has the power to access them at any point in time of the day through any device.
Should A Contract Be Signed?
Those companies should be avoided who force the issue by going into a contract that is long-term and renews automatically. One must search for those companies that allow the buying process based on ‘as needed’. For instance, after a press release is sent, one wants to monitor the acceptance of the release and also whether the story is aired or written. If a contract is signed that is long-term to find the information, too much money is going to be spent on the services.
What About The Quality of The Video?
A company should not be chosen that provides poor streaming quality of the video. One must ask for the TV news clips that have got a high-definition format and not something of a video stream that is compressed. Presenting and sharing the clip on large screens makes for a clearer vision with high-definition. More value is added to the clip and those people who are watching the clip.
Whether The Services Make The Entire Job Easy or Not?
The needs along with the workflow have to be discussed and everyone wants a service like that. The job could be made very easy as the best media monitoring service will be able to demonstrate the various ways and in the process make it more efficient and ensure the fact that the media coverage is never missed and get the job done very easily. A PR representative is also needed to be hired who is going to send the press release, monitor the pickups, and also follow up.
