One of the benefits of hiring a PR agency is access to sophisticated monitoring tools for media. Our team does extensive research each year to find the tools that best meet our clients’ needs. My personal favorite is BuzzSumo. This tool provides us with content insights to generate ideas, create high-performing content, monitor the performance of published articles and identify relevant influencers.
In addition to providing some of the best monitoring available, it has a content analyzer tool to indicate which topics are getting the best traction on social media and most references across the internet.
For example, let’s take a big topic from 2021: supply chain logistics.
Using BuzzSumo’s content analyzer, we can see the most popular piece on this topic in 2021 was from CNBC: How Amazon Beats Supply Chain Chaos With Ships and Long-Haul Planes. It was shared 34K times across several platforms.
Here’s how we use this information from BuzzSumo when thinking about media outreach strategies:
- Add this reporter to the media list for our supply chain client. We know they’re a prime target with a ton of influence
- Consider ways to tie this topic to our own content marketing strategy. This angle is fostering discussion, and we might want to get in on the conversation
- Look at the other top results to see which keywords and hashtags we need to use to get reporters’ attention
- Deep dive into the conversation to determine what platforms our buyers are paying attention to. This article happened to be very popular on Reddit
- Check other related keywords to brainstorm potential angles, getting creative and using the headlines as a jumping-off point
- Measure whether the content is “evergreen” and likely to surface in results for a long period of time. To BuzzSumo, this is indicated by an article being referenced more than 30 days after its original publish date
The content analysis tool can also be used to search our own clients and see what pieces of their media coverage have the most social impact. What we find influences our messaging and story building. Sometimes, the findings are surprising! For example, a YouTube video might be outperforming traditional media outlets.
We also look at trends over time. In an ideal world, we’re using buzzwords on the upswing. These are words that haven’t been overused to the point of becoming useless, where there’s room for a fresh viewpoint and thought leadership opportunities. It can also tell us when a rapid-response opportunity has peaked.
When it comes to content monitoring, BuzzSumo is a goldmine for a combination of social and media insights. It’s a great starting place for brainstorming and provides data-driven insights to back those decisions.
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