If your company is mentioned in the media, you want to know about it. First, you want to know what is being said so you can manage it. Second, you want to use the favorable coverage in your marketing.
The good news is tracking media “mentions” has never been easier or cheaper. Credit, once again, the Internet – and Google.
At www.google.com click “more >>” and then Google Alerts. Fill out the forms and Google will send you, via email, as frequently as you desire, alerts of news articles (and some blog commentary) that contain terms you request to be monitored. For example, request that Google send you anything that mentions your company name. Yes, it’s that simple, and it’s FREE.
What about hard copy publications like daily newspapers? Almost every hard copy publication today has a parallel web or electronic version. As such, Google Alerts finds them too.
Google is far from perfect, however. Google doesn’t search every publication and it doesn’t specialize in locating and providing you with the media mentions you desire. If you want or need a more thorough job, more services and/or more handholding, there are “clipping services” that specialize in these areas. They tend to search farther, wider, more thoroughly and help you organize, analyze and maintain the results.
Here are some helpful links:
www.clippingservice.com: A wealth of information on various print, broadcast and web clipping services and links to scores of service providers. Be aware, however, that this is a “pay to play” site so the data does not necessarily include all suppliers.
www.cyberalert.com: A fully automated, internet-based, worldwide press clipping, broadcast monitoring and Web clipping service. It targets smaller firms. Founded in 1999.
www.intelliseek.com: Offers technologies that create real-time marketing and business intelligence from structured and unstructured data. Primarily monitors consumer discussion for mentions of companies and brands. Founded in 1996.
www.bacons.com: A worldwide leader in public relations, investor relations, marketing, corporate communications and business intelligence. Founded in 1932.
www.burrellesluce.com: One of the oldest and largest of the media monitoring services. Primarily a print clipping service, but also offers an electronic web clipping service.
For more information, search the Internet for Internet Monitoring and Clipping: Strategies for Public Relations, Marketing and Competitive Intelligence by Anelia Kassel.
This article originally appeared in The Business Owner Journal, the periodical of choice for owners of small and midsize private businesses. All rights reserved, D.L. Perkins LLC. © 2012.
This publication is intended to provide general information on the subject matters covered. It is sold and distributed with the understanding that neither the publisher nor any distributor or advertiser is engaged in providing legal, tax, insurance, investment or other professional advice. The advice of a qualified professional should be sought before any reader applies a concept presented herein to his or her particular situation or business.
D.L. Perkins, LLC is solely responsible for this content.
