Take your communication to the next level! With IMWF's media analyses, you know exactly how your organisation is perceived by the public and how you can achieve your goals faster.
Media Analysis F.A.Q.
Whatis a media analysis?
Media analysis (also called communication analysis) is a term from communication and media science. It examines reports in various media (for example online texts, print or YouTube videos) and analyses them according to various criteria and a specific topic or question. For example, you can check the tonality of reports about your organisation or company, or how your reputation or image values are developing. In other words, you do not only receive information about how much is being said about your company, but also about what and in which contexts.
This gives you the following advantages:
The findings are summarised in a report at the end. Data and results (also called "hits") can be prepared in graphics such as charts and diagrams and the data interpretation can be simplified with supplementary explanations.
What makes the IMWF media analyses so special?
Most providers offer you standard solutions. With such tools, you can only minimally adjust the parameters and basically always receive the same analysis - no matter what question you want to answer with your media monitoring and communication analysis. IMWF takes a different approach: With us, you get customised analyses based on media science standards for your questions with concrete recommendations for action.
Our media analyses therefore always start with a simple question:
What do you actually want to know?
Do you want to analyse your brand image? Do you want to measure the success of a campaign? Do you want to analyse your communication in the context of a specific event? Or something completely different? Media analyses can differ widely depending on the question. Instead of looking for the right standard analysis, our first step is therefore always to comprehensively understand your goals. Then we design customised methods and content analyses according to the quality criteria of media science. Only in this way can we offer you valuable insights and recommend measures that actually fit your goals.
For whom is a media analysis suitable?
Whether it's a start-up, an established SME or a global corporation: an analysis of your own communication is suitable for every organisation in order to make PR measures measurable and to optimise your media work. For example, do you want to check how a PR campaign is received by your target group? Then you need a communication analysis that collects data and evaluates it in terms of content. This will not only tell you who reported when, where, how and on what topic – you can also answer questions regarding context and tonality.
You can answer this and more with a media analysis. Whether for the press department, for the marketing team or for product development: such a scientific view provides your organisation with all the important data to make communication success measurable and to improve it in a targeted way.
What is the difference to the press review?
Scientific media analysis is a PR success measurement. It goes one step further than the press review because it not only collects reports but also analyses their content. In contrast to the press review, the media analysis also derives correlations and suggests trends. This gives you a better overview, more control over your communication and clear recommendations for action. A good media or content analysis therefore often leads to a real competitive advantage. You can improve your corporate communication in a targeted way and achieve individual goals more quickly.
By the way: Media analysis is known by many terms. It may also be referred to as market analysis, communication analysis, media resonance analysis or content analysis.
What can I use a media analysis for?
・Analyse the status quo
The situation analysis often takes place before the actual media analysis. Here the status quo is determined and it is analysed which measures have been successful so far. In this way, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks of one's own communication can be identified - also in comparison to competitors.
・Evaluate complete media presence
A scientific media analysis can capture the entire media presence of your organisation. You can do this by compiling all public mentions in a given period. This gives you an overview of how strongly your organisation is represented in the media and what the basic tone of your company mentions is. You can also evaluate your media presence in comparison to a competitor.
・Analyze reputation
A good reputation is crucial for business success. After all, a bad reputation discourages customers from buying, investors from investing and scares away qualified professionals. It is not only the actual performance that counts, but also the perception of the respective stakeholders. Their statements can be evaluated on the internet using artificial intelligence. In a media analysis, you can see, among otherthings, in which reputation dimensions you move and how you stand in comparison to the competition.
・Analyze brand image
What does the public think about your company? A scientific media analysis can provide you with valuable insights into your image and help you to shape your external presentation specifically according to your wishes. Such content analyses are particularly useful at regular intervals: For example, you can check every three months how your image is developing and - if necessary - take appropriate measures. Or you can keep an eye on your image with a regular review at the end of the year.
・Measure campaign success
How is your current media campaign being received by the target group? A media analysis can answer this question in realtime and evaluate campaigns according to certain success factors. For example, you can find out in how many articles and with what coverage your campaign is being reported. Or which core messages are most strongly represented in media and what the general response to your campaign is. If the observation extends over a certain period of time, you can also identify trends - for example, whether interest in your product/service is decreasing or increasing over time.
・Mastering crises
What publicity do you receive during a crisis? Recognise whether your company is emerging in the context of explosive issues and initiate appropriate measures if necessary. With the right data, you can also analyse how certain topics develop and which opinion leaders position themselves with which arguments. In this way, you can identify crises at a nearly stage and adapt your measures with foresight.
・Analyse events
How is your company reported on in the context of a particular event? Whether it is a sporting event, a cultural festival or a political event, you can answer this question with a media analysis. For example, a brand for football boots might be interested in how its media presence was during the European Football Championship. Or a car manufacturer wants to analyse its presence during Formula 1. There are many possibilities!
・Analyse opinion leaders
Do you want to position yourself as an opinion leader on a specific topic? Identify and analyse current opinion leaders, media formats and content-rich articles as well as important trending terms, keywords and content opportunities. This allows you to design a customised strategy and place targeted content and messages that will make you an opinion leader.
How do qualitative and quantitative media analyses differ?
Quantitative and qualitative media analysis answer different questions. Therefore, they already differ in their basic methodology and the type of data analysis:
・Quantitative media analysis
How often is your company/organisation talked about in the media? This question can be answered with a quantitative approach. For this, key figures are collected -for example, the number of relevant texts, images or clips, the volume of these texts, the form of presentation, the circulation or the media reach. In this way you find out, for example, how many customers they reach and in which media they are particularly present. At the same time, you create the basis for more in-depth analyses.
・Qualitative media analysis
How is your company/organisation talked about in the media? Instead of collecting key figures, the qualitative survey analyses the various contents. For example, you can find out whether the media reports positively or negatively about you. You can analyse in which context target groups talk about your company or how your brand image is perceived compared to competitors. Qualitative media analysis offers valuable approaches to steer your measures and your image in the desired direction
Bythe way: The term media analysis originally comes from communication and media science and encompasses a variety of different forms. In media science, for example, a distinction is made between presence analysis, topic analysis or tonality analysis. There is also input-output analysis, actor analysis, issue analysis, benchmark analysis or reputation analysis. In the vast majority of cases, several forms of analysis are combined. What makes a good media analysis?
What makes a good media analysis?
Simply collecting media contributions is no longer enough. If you want to target your communication, you have to go beyond mere media observation - and understand the messages behind the reporting and the respective dynamics. A good media analysis therefore combines quantitative and qualitative methodology and examines as broad a panel as possible according to various criteria. The criteria and metrics may differ depending on the analysis. From coverage (local, regional, national) and media channels to the number of contributions, tonality and resonance to topics and topic contexts. Previously coded criteria such as competitors, brand, products or target media can also be important.
A good media analysis should then above all fulfill the following points:
The most important point: the survey should always be individually adapted to your company and your goals. Standard solutions are rubbish because they cannot answer individual questions. At the IMWF, we therefore not only provide you with customised analyses according to media science standards, we also derive concrete recommendations for action for you from our analyses.
What role do social media channels play in the analysis?
Media analyses usually also include social media channels. The importance of these social media analyses varies depending on the company: While communication at a young hipster start-up often runs primarily via social media, Facebook, Instagram & Co. probably play a rather minor role at companies with older target groups. Nevertheless, the survey should also take social media into account in such a case. It can also be interesting to find out how the reporting of journalistic online media and social media differ. Acomparative analysis is suitable for this.
What does a media analysis cost?
The price of a media or content analysis according to media science standards should depend on your budget: The bigger the budget, the more in-depth and comprehensive the analysis. Many of our clients invest around 7 percent of their budget in success measurement - and often save twice that amount because they only use their money through media analysis where the greatest added value can be expected. Feel free to contact us and let us advise you free of charge.
Tip: An important factor when setting your budget is the environment. If you are active incrisis-prone subject areas, you may want to invest a little more in order to recognise and avert crises at an early stage. This quickly results in a real competitive advantage.
Can't I do a media analysis myself?
Theoretically, press offices and departments can do their own media or content analysis. The problem? Acomprehensive survey is enormously time-consuming and cost-intensive:
That is why outsourcing the survey is worth while for the vast majority of companies. Since 2013, we have been providing media analysis for companies and organisations in a wide range of industries – replacing the labour of hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of employees with artificial intelligence (AI). This saves you valuable resources and enables the highest quality media analyses at affordable prices.