We live in a digital landscape with an abundance of quite a lot of poor-quality content. The widespread content fatigue speaks volumes and imposes new demands on content created by any company. But many struggle with coming up with creative and engaging content ideas. If so, it’s time to befriend your media monitor and start producing best-in-class content. Here is how you do it.
There is an overwhelming amount of poor content available online, mainly due to the internet granting everyone the opportunity to have their voices heard. It’s a noble thought that we all have an equal opportunity to be heard, unfortunately, it can often lead to the production and distribution of poor content. This abundance of low-quality content overshadows meaningful contributions and leads to content fatigue and saturation. Somehow, the idea that quantity trumps quality gained traction. Luckily, Mynewsdesk’s latest annual PR report shows that 59% believe there will be a development toward higher quality content with less frequency/in fewer channels.
Higher expectations, less time
The expectations of content creators or PR professionals today are grand. You are required to generate ongoing content that not only demonstrates a high level of creativity but also effectively engages your target audience. Furthermore, numerous companies have expanded their communication channels beyond their capacity and each channel requires a different type of content. Not to forget a bunch of KPIs to keep track of such as reach, mentions, brand awareness, etc.
Ask any content creator or PR professional about their biggest daily struggle, and you’ll probably hear how they are struggling with coming up with ideas. According to our latest report, 72% wish there was more time to be creative with content production. When time is scarce and creativity falters, one of the most common traps is getting stuck in an inside-out perspective. You start looking for ideas within the company’s walls. So the product department is really proud of their new update? Sales has this new offering with a cool name? Great! And suddenly, content that might be great stuff internally but completely irrelevant to your target audience is somehow created.
This is where media monitoring comes into play. It is the best source of inspiration and idea generation. By actively monitoring the media you’ll stay informed about external occurrences, competitors, industry trends, and the impact of your own communications. It provides valuable insights and data that will make you a content star for sure.
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Identifying trending topics and news
Media monitoring keeps you updated on the latest news and trends within your industry but also “on the pulse” news. By knowing what is going on around you, you’ll know what people want to talk about and are interested in. Don’t be afraid of piggybacking a great news story. Do you remember Dear Dukes? That was a bit of phenomenal piggybacking. During a time when every news outlet was covering the story that Prince Harry’s and Dutchess Meghan’s plans to renounce their royal titles and leave England behind to become financially independent in the USA. Burger King took the opportunity to offer the royal couple ‘a new crown’ and a job at one of their restaurants, where thousands of others have had their first jobs.
(image: Hoy/Burger King) -
Consumer insights
Media monitoring allows you to understand what your audience is discussing, their preferences, and their pain points. By monitoring social media platforms, online forums, and customer feedback, you gain insights into topics and issues that hold importance for your audience. This information guides the content creation process, ensuring it resonates with the target audience.
A few years ago, the expression “hangry” started trending, a contraction of the words hungry and angry. Snickers picked up on this pain point and launched content featuring situations where individuals were acting out of character due to hunger, causing humorous and exaggerated scenarios. By showcasing relatable moments of people being “hangry” and then providing the solution of eating a Snickers bar, the campaign effectively tapped into a universal customer pain point and presented the product as the solution. And the campaign led to thousands of comments but also customer-created GIFs and memes too.
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Competitive analysis
Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer is a common saying. Maybe a bit drastic, but you should for sure keep an eye on your competitors’ activities and content strategies. How do you do what? You guessed right, by media monitoring of course. By monitoring their press releases, social media posts, and content campaigns, you can identify gaps or opportunities where you can offer unique perspectives or create content that sets you apart.
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Content validation
Media monitoring provides valuable feedback on existing content. With Mynewsdesk you can monitor metrics such as engagement, sentiment analysis, and media coverage, so you can assess the success and impact of our content efforts. This feedback loop helps refine your content strategy and create more effective and engaging content in the future. In addition to in-tool dashboards, Mynewsdesk also lets you easily generate reports for internal distribution. The tool also gives the ability to create and distribute press releases, blogs, and newsletters.
In conclusion, media monitoring is one of the most powerful tools for content ideation. By leveraging the insights gained through media monitoring, you can identify trends, understand your audience, stay updated with industry news, analyze competition, and validate your content strategy. These insights enable the creation of compelling and relevant content that resonates with the target audience. This will hopefully put an end to the poor-quality content era, and help you stay connected to the external landscape and produce content that truly adds value.
