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In this blog post we will take a closer look at what PR clipping is, what is the importance of PR clipping, and how it should be done to gain the maximum ROI on your media coverage.
What is PR Clipping?
PR clipping, also known as media clipping or press clipping, is collecting and getting information about media coverage that mentions whether your brand, product, service or spokesman. These "clippings" can be from newspapers, magazines, blogs, TV, radio or web news sites.
PR clippings initially meant cutouts from newspapers or magazines. These days the process is more digital, leveraging tools that effectively scan the web for any relevant mentions and compile these into a report.
Why PR Clipping Matters
So why is tracking your media mentions through PR clipping so important?
- Track the Success of a Campaign: Ensure you know your best-performing press releases or PR campaign.
- Find Influential Media Outlets: Learn what channels put you on the map.
- Track Brand Names: Media monitoring can help you detect positive news as well as critics regarding your product or brand at the earliest.
- Give Something to Stakeholders: Give clients, executives, or investors something concrete they can point to.
Organizing your PR clippings well, you will be able to show your media coverage impact and pinpoint areas to develop.
PR Clipping: The Secret Sauce to Implement it right
Effective PR clipping goes beyond simply gathering links or screenshots after a campaign. So here's how to make it simple:
- Use the Right Tools
Rather than hunting high and low for your mentions, automate using media monitoring tools. Popular tools include:
- Google Alerts (Free)
- Mention
- Meltwater
- Cision
- Brand24
Such platforms crawl the internet, blogs, forums, and social networks Live.
- Track the Right Mentions
Set up alerts for:
- Your brand name
- Product or campaign names
- Executive or spokesperson names
- Industry keywords
- Competitor mentions (for comparison)
Your search should be different if you see how some people mistake it for, and also perfect.
- Evaluate the Coverage
Media coverage is not a one size fits all thing. Analyze each clipping based on:
- Niche of the outlet: What is a platform that has pretty good authority?
- Is the mention positive, neutral, or negative?
- Exposure and interaction: What was the reach?
- Backlinks – Is there a backlink to your site in the article?
This allows us to identify the high impact mentions and know what’s working.
- Organize and Store Your Clippings
Set Up a Central Repository For Your Clippings in a Folder, Spreadsheet or PR Tool Dashboard.
If you want to do things a little bit more professionally, try a press kit maker. Your best press clippings are what a media kit is for, and it is also an element of credibility whenever you pitch them to a journalist, blogger or investor.
- Create Regular Reports
Use monthly or campaign level reports to communicate your findings. Include metrics like:
- Number of clippings
- Top media sources
- Estimated reach
- Engagement stats
- Sentiment analysis
It reflects the value of the PR efforts to internal stakeholders and also guides future strategy.
- Bonus PR Clipping Tips to Improve Your PR Clipping
- Easier report generation by tagging mentions by campaign or product
- Get a weekly digest of your monitoring tools to know the game.
- Share the media mentions that the event receives on social media, and thank the journalists involved.
- Collect and archive clippings related to long-term brand perception and PR trends.
Conclusion
In basic terms, PR clipping is a way of getting verification that your brand is being mentioned at least once in the news, blogs, magazines or social media. And it helps you track who is talking about you, what they are saying and how often your name is being mentioned in the news!
Why it Matters: It provides an indication if your PR tactics press release, media outreach, brand campaign, etc are effective. Are people noticing you? Do they speak positively about your business? Are you being highlighted in the right areas? PR clipping can provide you with such insights.
That puts you in the right zone, which is using the right tools, having an organized mentions management and really analyzing what they mean to your brand. You really do not need to be a PR expert to get going, yes, even Google Alerts can get you started tracking your brand mentions.
Once you have a good set of media clippings, you want to package that in something easy to share. And this is exactly why an creator media kit builder
can help. With it, you can conveniently display your best press mentions, articles, and brand highlights ideal to send to journalists, potential clients, investors, or partners.
Well, there you have it: the ultimate PR hack for millions of dollars in media coverage. So if you want to step-up your PR strategy, track your media coverage starting today. By far, one of the simplest methods to understand your public image, develop your credibility and give the world a front-row seat to why your branding deserves attention.
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