Media intelligence is the act of listening to the media and paying attention to what they are saying about your brand, products, and competitors. It’s something that has existed since the dawn of big business, but it has become even more relevant in the digital age.
In fact, media intelligence has had a pretty big impact on the digital age and influences many of the things that you take for granted as a consumer and a business owner.
New Trends Become Saturated Quickly
You see a brand-new product online. It’s innovative. It’s original. It explores an area that no other brand has touched upon.
A few weeks later, another brand appears offering the same thing. Several months later, the industry is practically saturated.
What happened?
Well, it’s largely the result of competitor analyses.
In the old days, people still jumped on the bandwagon, but it took time. If a new company appeared and began offering a new product, you needed to monitor them, wait for sales reports, and speak to their customers. If you determined that it was worth replicating or doing something similar, you could look into supply lines, speak with your marketing teams, and then progress.
In a year or so, you would be ready to launch.
Today, all of these things happen in the blink of an eye. Social media and website analytics will tell you what kind of sales your competitors are achieving while media intelligence will tell you how customers are reacting.
Not only can you get a read on reactions and sales, but you can also hear about complaints and negative reviews, allowing you to fix those issues and do something better.
Of course, there are downsides to this. It’s why there are so many cheap product copies on eBay, Amazon, and other marketplaces. But from a business perspective, it gives capable, hard-working brands the chance to fully evaluate their competitors and explore new niches in a short space of time.
Customers are Much Happier
A key component of media intelligence is monitoring customer feedback and listening for negative comments, complaints, and requests. In an ideal world, customers would send these directly to the company, but that’s rarely the case. Instead, they talk to their friends or discuss issues openly in public forums.
Companies can grab all of this information, analyse it, and then use it to improve their products or services.
For instance, media intelligence might gather information relating to the usability of a product. That information could include complaints about the way it looks, praise about the way it works, and negative comments about its price. The company can then use this information to tweak the design and re-think the price.
After making significant changes to a product or service, a company can also see how those changes are received and then improve as needed. Imagine if the same technology had been in place decades ago when Coca-Cola launched New Coke. If so, they might have avoided one of the most disastrous product launches in history.
All of this means that improvements are made quickly, products and services are better, and customers are much happier.
It Has Changed the Way That Businesses Communicate
Businesses want a direct line to their customers. That way, they can see how those customers react to promotions and they can get their thoughts and opinions directly. As a result, nearly 94% of modern businesses uses social media for marketing and/or engagement purposes.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Businesses also use live chat, support tickets, video testimonials, and more. Not only do these methods make life easier for consumers, but they can all be tracked, monitored, and analysed, making media intelligence so much easier.
After all, if you know who your customers are and where they congregate, you can hear what they are saying and make adjustments that improve their opinions.
It Has Made Everyone More Reputation Conscious
The digital age gave the general public a direct line to the opinions of celebrities, entrepreneurs, and business owners. Before the internet came along, stars hid behind PR teams and we only heard from them during carefully scripted interviews.
There are both upsides and downsides to this.
The upside is that it provides an unprecedented connection between fans/customers and brands/celebrities. The downside is that it puts those brands/celebrities at risk of initiating a PR disaster following a single misguided social media post.
We’ve seen many such posts in the past, resulting in everything from boycotts to lost sponsorships, and more.
The result of all this is that everyone is paying more attention to what people are saying. They listen to the rumour mill, pore through bad reviews and complaints, check what their competitors are doing, and generally do everything they can to stay on the right side of the cancel culture mob.
Reputation is everything, and while that seems like a scary prospect—especially when you consider how quickly and easily things can go wrong—it’s ultimately a good thing.
After all, businesses and celebs of the past didn’t care what they said or how they acted, even if it resulted in a journalistic hit piece or some unfortunate paparazzi shots. They would just pay for some more pleasant publicity, wait for the good to overshadow the bad, and then get back to normal.
These days, the general public demands authenticity and honesty and they don’t settle for anything less.
Summary: Media Intelligence in the Digital Age
It’s clear that media intelligence has had a massive impact on the digital age, and it continues to shape the way that businesses interact with social media and their consumers. If you run a personal or professional brand, it’s imperative that you utilise social media intelligence.If you’re new to this field, don’t worry, as we have all of the experience and expertise that you need and can do the heavy lifting for you. Take a look at our services related to media intelligence to learn more, and contact us to see what we can do for you.
