What Is A Media Auditing?

Is your change-making organisation interested in securing a regular stream of high-quality media coverage? If so, thinking up a creative pitch which positions your work as newsworthy is not the primary step, nor is building a list of reporters in order to reach out to. Before you even think about your angles, you need to conduct a thorough media audit in order to determine your opportunity relative to your competitors.

What Is A Media Audit?

The term ‘media audit’ is an independent third-party review of a company’s media-buying costs. Advertisers employ media auditors in order to ensure that the money which they have set aside for advertising is being spent sensibly. Media audits verify media delivery as well as placement on a media-by-media basis.

The media auditing process gives the advertiser assurance that they are obtaining fair value from their advertising spend and if not, offers the necessary information in order to negotiate better terms.

Media auditing is utilised in print media, television, radio, outdoor, digital as well as other media channels. Media auditors may provide a competitive advantage to advertisers as well as agencies by allowing them to track and analyse the operation of their advertising across multiple media channels.

What Does A Media Audit Focus On?

If your organisation has received any media coverage at all in the past, no matter how minor, a media audit will analyse that coverage. When auditing past features, it’s very important to assess what aspects of your organisation resonated most with journalists, producers, bloggers and editors.

In addition, the audit will analyse what pieces have been most shared or buzzed about and will evaluate how well past coverage communicated your organisation’s intended key messages. Equipped with this information, it’s possible to identify the parts of your public relations strategy which should be adjusted in order to maximise the quantity and quality of your media hits.

Similarly important is an assessment of your competitors as well as the news or trending issues in your field and market. A first-class media audit pulls your competitors’ media coverage in order to get a sense of the narratives which gain interest in your field. In addition, it reveals which reporters, publications and websites are active in your market and cover topics of interest to your audience. Ultimately, it gives you a sense of areas of the conversation that your competitors are successfully owning, and areas where your organisation has an opportunity in order to become a leading expert.

Brands which don’t currently exercise their rights to audit their media agencies should consider it seriously. Make sure you are clear what you mean by media auditing, take expert advice if you need it to ensure you are making the right decisions for your company’s requirements.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

Media auditing is an integral part of public relations. If you want to learn more about the field then you need to do our Digital Public Relations Course. Follow this link to find out more.