I have been helping business owners and the leaders of nonprofits raise awareness through media coverage for many years now. I am always proud to see clients in the pages of local newspapers, in online news sites, to watch my clients on television, or hear them on the radio, and know I made it possible for them to get there.

Part of my work has also been helping to alert clients when they appear in the news, so they don’t miss the mentions.

Two things have been a frustration for me in this media relations work:

• I have not been able to send press releases outside the Valley because I am not familiar with the critical contacts outside this region.
• I have not been able to adequately track clients’ online mentions that result through my PR work with them.

Now, I can.

This year, I have expanded my services to include digital media reporting as well as broad-scope media relations.

I am now a subscriber to Meltwater, an online software program that provides me with the means to show clients where they are appearing online and send their press releases out across the country.

Using Meltwater, I can:

• Monitor the online presence for clients’ own businesses or that of their competitors by tracking mentions in online media, on websites, in blogs, and in social media in the United States and the United Kingdom. I can provide clients with the link for each specific digital mention and create reports that compare a client’s online presence to that of competitors; track trends in coverage to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing programs; and estimate the approximate monetary value of a client’s online presence in a given time period.
• Send press releases to writers or editors in the United States. Because I’m a former journalist, I can use this aspect of Meltwater effectively, ensuring that targeted editors are relevant recipients either because of topic or geography. I know better than to send a press release about a new service at a retirement community to sports editors, for instance. The Meltwater tool will have power and meaning in my hands.

When I was considering a subscription to Meltwater, I reached out to many of my clients in larger organizations and was surprised to discover nearly all of them were already using the software themselves. This knowledge affirmed that I was on the right track.

Meltwater is not a must-have tool for every business. It is useful for organizations with a wide geographic reach or online footprint. Colleges, universities, private high schools, nonprofits who serve clients far and wide, museums with a national or international interest, and businesses for which online sales are critical. These are good candidates for Meltwater because they have alumni, students, parents, board members, volunteers, customers, visitors, and staff who are likely talking about them on social media, in blogs, and in the news.

Meltwater gives you a window into all these online conversations. And you can track the presence of your competition as well and receive reports that show how you are faring in comparison.

I used Meltwater in January to create digital media reports from 2017 for several clients and to send several press releases out across the country. I will tell you these stories in future blogs.

I can provide Meltwater services to clients at a fraction of the cost of subscribing directly. Contact me for cost estimates. I know you will be pleasantly surprised.

It seems fitting to me that this expanded service comes in my 20th year in business. If you would like to hear more about how Meltwater could help you raise or track your visibility, please contact me. I’m a big fan of this software and would love to talk with you about it.

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