Media monitoring on the front foot

We’ve recently discussed the lack of accountability in delivering a consistent, reliable media monitoring service by the traditional providers and how this can cost time and money for busy Communications professionals.

Our next target is the general passivity of the industry and how it is set up for the benefit of the big traditional players, rather than the clients they are meant to be serving.

With profit margins often very low in the industry, in great part due to price gouging and a race to the bottom orchestrated for market share by the industry leaders, there has been an inevitable steep decline in quality and client service. In order to make money at such deflated prices, traditional large vendors have to cut corners and look for ways to extract more money from existing clients.

This is done in a number of ways, from per clip pricing (as covered in our previous post here), to volume overage charges, to outsourcing or full automation of services which inevitably erode quality.

The most pernicious manifestation of this corner-cutting comes in the passivity that is endemic in the industry, especially in the call-centre mentality of the client services teams.
What this means for clients is that media monitoring briefs are left unchanged, with unused keywords or search terms charged for when they provide little or no value. It means that little or no attempt is made to limit the cost impact of a big story for a client who is on a per clip pricing deal. It means that client services is essentially query handling – deal with the issue and move on.

In a previous post, we’ve likened the industry to a utility – and that attitude of allowing customers to remain on expensive tariffs and failing to proactively protect and enhance their interests is a parallel that rings true for many of the clients that have moved their media monitoring to us.

At alva we have solved this challenge by implementing a “concierge” service for all our clients. Our clients are our “members” and our role is to always be there to support their day-to-day lives.

This means we are constantly thinking of ways to enhance our clients’ experience and the value they receive from us.

In practical terms, that can range from alerting clients to abnormal spikes in content for themselves or a competitor using our Volumetric Alerting technology, to proactively providing a second or third news round-up on big news days to help the Communications team deal manage an emerging issue or respond to an event.

We maintain a regular dialogue with our clients to understand what they’re working on and what’s coming up for them in the coming days so we can adjust and adapt the service as needed. Our clients tell us that this way of working means they see us as an extension of their core team.

To be clear, a concierge service shouldn’t be an opportunity to rack up monitoring fees, but a genuine focus on ensuring that clients are always looked after by a reliable and dependable partner.

If your current monitoring agency doesn’t give you the peace of mind you need, do contact us for a complimentary trial, we would love to welcome you to our concierge service.