Five myths about media monitoring busted

2 Jul 2021

Industry Insights
There are many myths surrounding media monitoring, many of which cause confusion and misinterpretations of what media monitoring actually is.

The best way to combat these inaccuracies is to empower yourself with the correct information.

So, without any further ado, let’s bust some myths!

Myth #1: Media Monitoring can only happen in English

South African brands operate in an environment with many cultures and languages, and the same goes for those with a global reach. Only having media monitoring in one language is limiting, and yet, many still believe that you can only monitor mentions in English.
The truth is that the available languages are determined by the media titles that are monitored. This could be English, Afrikaans, African languages, French, German or any other language that a media monitoring company is able to capture.

Myth #2: Only digital media is monitored

Brands need to know when and where the conversations about them are happening. They also need to know what is being said — that is why media monitoring is so useful! But when we talk about these conversations, they don't just happen in the digital space, do they?

They also happen in editorial and advert content — as well as social media and broadcast environments.

By monitoring the full media landscape, you are able to have an in-depth view of the conversation around your brand across all channels.

Myth #3:Only big publications are monitored

As previously mentioned, conversations don’t happen in an isolated space. Thus, in order to provide your brand with the most optimal results and insights, media monitoring companies have to monitor as many publications as possible — big and small.

To get a bigger picture of who is talking about your brand, you need to track community or small publications too. This includes newspapers or magazines that are circulating in small towns or rural areas, which still contain valuable insight.

Myth #4: It’s like a Google search and I can monitor myself

Have you searched for your brand on a search engine like Google? If you have, you may have seen a bunch — maybe hundreds — of results. Some of which include mentions by blogs or social media users. Not only is this vast amount of data hard to sift through, it is influenced by the search algorithm, which determines what is relevant or not. This means that many relevant results might not even show up in your search!

Media monitoring, on the other hand, has the necessary tools to keep an eye (or an ear) on all the relevant channels — even across the globe. Partnering with a company that can track your company on this level ensures that the information is relevant, accurate and it provides you with a report of all the data that is applicable to your unique brand.

Myth #5: Media monitoring is the end of the journey

So, you have received your report on all your clippings and you know when and where people have been talking about your brand. That’s it, right?

No, not at all. As a marketer, communications officer or PR professional, this is just the beginning in terms of seeing whether your strategies are working.

Media monitoring empowers professionals to identify trends, record sentiment and see the impact their brands are making.

When you receive a report about the data that has been collected through this solution, brands can use the info to adjust their strategies, implement new plans of action or react to conversations — essentially forming a crucial part of your feedback loop.
Now that you understand the truth about this solution, you might be wondering: Who’s media monitoring made for? Find out here.