Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the amount of content investment firms are producing and distributing. Even among the most reticent businesses there has been an exponential increase in the volume of insights and thought leadership being produced. Very few do not have a LinkedIn presence. And, going further, growing numbers of investment businesses are embracing the role that profile-raising via media relations can play in supporting commercial objectives.

Media relations can be an exceptionally valuable commercial tool, allowing businesses to trumpet their USPs, capabilities and insights. Further, as it is the job of the media to address topical trends and events of relevance to the audiences it is writing and broadcasting to, it can provide context for a business’ capabilities or views that in turn can demonstrate their credentials as a “solutions provider” able to meet investor needs.

However, media relations for its own sake – simply to appear in the press with frequency – is highly unlikely to prove beneficial in the long-run. Good media relations requires a clear strategy, aligned to business development objectives and underpinned by a fundamental understanding of which audiences are being targeted and why.

This makes media monitoring and measurement all the more important. How else can you know if your strategy is effective and you are getting sufficient return on investment for not only budget but also the time you are putting in? Historically, the temptation has been to assess media relations success with volume of coverage. While this might have been sufficient in the past, the complexity of today’s environment means that analysis needs to go beyond this. That’s not to say that volume of coverage doesn’t have a place in media analysis metrics – a key aspect of a good communications strategy should be to increase the frequency with which a business appears in the press over time.

But media relations success can now only be considered by metrics that are more nuanced: the quality of media coverage being secured, the extent to which coverage will be seen by the audiences a business is targeting and, critically, the sentiment being shown towards that business. A company could be in the national press every single day but there is little benefit if the coverage appearing is negative!

Data is obviously critical in making these assessments and it’s here that AI is a huge benefit in gathering the necessary information. However, AI can only go so far and more broadly, data alone will only tell part of the story. Qualitative assessments are also needed to determine if a communications strategy is doing what it should be – whether media coverage is appearing in the right channels, reaching the correct audiences, is of sufficient quality and conveying a business in a positive light to support commercial goals.

And this, critically, is perhaps where sophisticated and nuanced media monitoring is most important – it shouldn’t simply be a backwards-looking assessment of success, but a tool that can be used to adapt a communications strategy to ensure it is delivering what a business needs. All of which ultimately begs the question – do you know how effective your media relations are and the extent to which you’re getting sufficient return on the investment your business is putting in?

JPES offers proprietary media monitoring tools that assess coverage across a range of metrics to ensure long-term communications and commercial success. This includes working with clients’ roster of communications agencies to provide a full and complete view of a business’ media profile. For more information about our services, please contact matt.rogers@jpespartners.com or miles.donohoe@jpespartners.com.