Earned Media: Your Window Into Public Perception
A major pillar of effective reporting is earned media: everything published by internet users about your brand outside of your own accounts. Analysing earned conversations helps answer essential questions.How is your brand perceived? Which topics are gaining traction? Who is talking about you?
This intelligence forms the basis for identifying emerging opportunities and potential risks. Whether it’s understanding expert commentary, activist mobilisation, or online press coverage, earned media gives you a 360° view of your public presence.
Tracking Post Volume to Spot Early Signals
Within earned media analysis, post volume is one of the earliest indicators of a growing trend. A sudden spike, whether positive or negative, can act as an early warning sign or signal of momentum. Tracking these fluctuations in real time enables communications teams to react quickly, diagnose unusual activity, and contextualise peaks, such as during major events like CES 2025.
(Visibrain platform - Post volume CES 2025)
Decoding Public Sentiment Through Semantic Analysis
Language analysis is another essential KPI. The expressions, hashtags, and emojis associated with your brand reveal the tone and direction of discussions at a glance. Semantic clouds, for example, help communicators decode the public mood, uncover recurring themes, and understand how audiences frame certain topics. This linguistic intelligence shapes more targeted and resonant messaging.
(Visibrain platform - Top expressions related to running on TikTok)
Identifying the Influential Voices Driving Conversation
Knowing who is talking about your brand is just as important as knowing what they are saying. Mapping user pools allows brands to identify influential voices who are shaping conversation. Whether you are looking for creators, experts, or journalists, with tools like Visibrain, teams can be notified instantly when high-impact users mention their brand, helping them engage or react strategically.
Measuring Owned Media Impact: Impressions, Engagement, and Frequency
Beyond earned media, brands must also evaluate the impact of their own content.
- Impressions: reveal how visible posts are.
- Total engagement measures audience interaction
- Publishing frequency highlights consistency and timing.
Together, these KPIs form the backbone of owned media analysis, helping teams identify top-performing content and optimise scheduling.
The Power of Consistent KPI Tracking
Regularly monitoring social media KPIs is essential for strengthening brand strategy. From crisis prevention to campaign optimisation, each metric unlocks a different layer of insight. By adopting a data-driven approach and choosing KPIs aligned with clear objectives, communication teams can make more informed decisions thus improving engagement and protecting their online reputation.
If you want to discover more on this topic, check out our white paper: The Ultimate Guide to Social Media KPI's
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