When Infomedia Huset was founded around 15 years ago the media landscape was very different to today. “There were fewer news outlets, no social media, virtually no web and fewer TV channels,” says CEO Thomas Vejlemand. “Our business involved clipping relevant print articles. Then, there were fewer articles but it took greater resources to find them. Today, with so many print media having an online presence, we hardly have physical press clippings anymore. Thanks to internet searches the whole process has been digitalized. I would say that 50% of the information we use comes from print media while the other 50% comes from social media, the internet and other digital sources.”
As a result of the internet revolution, a large part of Infomedia’s content comes from web and social media monitoring. “We sift through traditional print media, web media, radio and television as well as social media to find exactly the right content that is important to our clients,” explains Mr. Vejlemand. “This is information that is invaluable to their organisation, helping them to evaluate the success of activities such as brand communications, product launches and publicity campaigns and helping them improve their performance in the future.”
Knowing what is being said about them or being the first to hear market relevant information or the latest news affecting their business also has an important impact on day-to-day decision making. The media flows being monitored in this way are becoming increasingly global while the demands from clients are for an ever-more tailored yet cutprice service.
“We face increasing pressure to deliver not just raw data but also analysis and insight,” says Mr. Vejlemand. “For example, we were asked by one of the main Danish political parties to monitor how the party was covered in the run up to the elections held last spring. They had identified five key issues on which they wanted to base their campaign and asked us to analyse how the leading politicians were perceived in relation to these issues in order to see how their candidate stood in comparison.”
One of Infomedia’s greatest strengths is that it covers media across all channels to provide a truly full picture of the media flow. It has a wealth of experience in dealing with the media and enjoys unrivalled access through its media agreements. Through a global network of media partners, Infomedia has access to more than 500,000 media sources, enabling their global monitoring. More challenging is monitoring social media channels.
“The flow of information is different across social media than across news channels,” explains Mr. Vejlemand. “In social media, people don’t communicate their opinions via lengthy articles, they tweet in comunication strings of no more than 140 characters. A company name might be mentioned 300 times and still not be significant for the company management. On the other hand, a significant message can quickly go viral and a response can become necessary. That is why monitoring social media is such an important part of our work.”
Understanding how people communicate across the various platforms helps inform a company’s communication strategy. The way that information is communicated can initiate a certain type of conversation that is beneficial to the company. This is another area in which Infomedia excels. “Insight into industries is becoming more and more important,” says Mr. Vejlemand. “The future holds even more challenges and opportunities as we move to 24/7 feedback and new software solutions as part of our own growth strategy.”
