For brands, the Covid-19 pandemic has meant trying out new avenues of conducting business in order to keep their head above water. Many rightfully considered enlisting media monitoring services to gain a clearer understanding of how they are perceived in the media and how to find loopholes on digital platforms to gain audience reach, among other things.
But the types of crises that brands have experienced over the past year has changed, meaning their strategies had to change as well.
Some brands had never even heard of media monitoring and some are still not aware of how these services can actually boost their reputation. The team at Newsclip explains.
Types of crises clients experienced during Covid-19
The impact of the pandemic has affected just about every industry, including media, as we saw when
Media24 shut down some of its newspapers and magazines due to financial strain. Newsclip’s Melissa Pasch says, “Another industry that was hard hit was the tourism industry. In particular, the industry suffered a substantial financial loss in income since most of its activities are outdoor-based and involve a lot of human-to-human engagement and activities clash with Covid-19 regulations.”
It’s clear that the global pandemic led to brands either having to cancel or postpone their events, which most brands relied on for product launches and campaigns that could help them generate profits.
But, through media monitoring services, businesses can still get an in-depth competitor analysis, which helps them see what their rivals are doing and measure business success by knowing who’s seen their brand content, who's talking about it and whether the results gained from brand measurement are favourable outcomes.
Most importantly, insights gathered from these services during times of crisis can be useful when dealing with future crises, enabling brands to predict the potential damage and allowing them to come up with solutions to deal with the disaster.
How crisis communication changed during the pandemic
Prepared for a crisis or not, it is imperative that brands always keep aside a crisis management plan to put out fires. And it’s ideal for businesses and organisations to prepare themselves for the inevitable public relations fallout.
Pasch warns that, “PR crises such as negative reviews, failed events or badly executed marketing plans need to take swift action to turn them around by crafting a response to defuse the crisis and to protect their brand’s reputation.”
Crises have expanded due to Covid-19, which means it’s no longer just an issue of corporate scandal or negative news about the brand. That is why companies need to relook at their PR and marketing strategies and incorporate media monitoring services so that they can follow what’s being said.
Media monitoring alerts clients about a crisis
The big question is: How does a media monitoring service provider alert clients about a crisis?
“If you want to be alerted to early warning signs of possible PR issues, you have to be listening,” says Pasch.
“The client can provide us with a list of key things to monitor, such as their brand, trending topics, products, competitors and key personnel such the company CEO and spokespeople. Newsclip’s keyword-matching system will automatically allocate any content that pertains to the brand or entity.”
Knowing about trending topics and products will allow your brand to better understand the way in which new messages are being received and what to include in their own communications. They’ll also get a better insight into audience segmentation during these difficult times, essentially giving them an overview of what they should change in their strategy to stay in the loop of the
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