Top 5 reasons to measure & analyze tone

Not all press is good press, as the saying goes, especially when that coverage is negative in sentiment or tone. Negative coverage can mean a loss in potential customers, where positive coverage can mean gaining or retaining customers.

There is so much focus on the total audience who might have seen the piece and very little on tone. You can have millions in reach but, if most of the of coverage is negative, that could spell disaster for your client because now those millions have seen the negative coverage.

Analyzing for tone means you can respond to negative coverage as soon as possible and celebrate positive coverage.

How do you define tone? What is considered positive or negative and what about the middle?

• Positive/Favourable – Was the key message promoted or supported? The reader/listener be would more likely to do business with, support, recommend or endorse that product or company.
• Negative – Was the key message debunked, or challenged? The reader/listener is less likely to do business with, support, recommend or endorse that product or company.
• Balanced – The story had both negative and positive sentiment express – where neither was more dominant.
• Neutral – Conveys no tone or sentiment at all.

Top 5 reasons to analyze tone in your results

1. Allows you to gain actionable insights.
2. Real-time analysis helps you act quickly in identifying looming issues or crises.
3. To understand brand perception/reputation and attitudes.
4. Track changes in attitudes and behaviours.
5. Course correction with rapid responses.

Tracking tone as your coverage comes in is critical

If you wait to analyze everything until the end of the campaign, it will be too late to course-correct if needed. Analyzing for tone as coverage comes helps you stay on top on any potential issues.

Using AI to track tone can help practitioners quickly assess whether a story is positive, balanced or negative. However, not all automated tone analysis systems are equal; knowing the data behind the tone analysis is important. Simply using a database of negative and positive adverbs and adjectives may not be enough to properly assess tone.

Not all press is good press, but you won’t know for sure if you are not analyzing your coverage for tone.