Coverage reports are part and parcel of an agency/client relationship but are so much more than a metric to show press engagement (and agency!) success. If written well, they can be a treasure trove of insights used to inform media strategy moving forward and help clients take a more data-led PR approach. The question is how? Here, we outline key information to look for and how to apply learnings to future media plans.
Turning metrics into momentum
When pulling a media report, the numbers play an important part in top-level analysis and must be included. Metrics might include:
- Number of editorial mentions – how many pieces of individual coverage there are
- Estimated reach – the number of people who have seen a piece of coverage
- Impressions – how many times a piece of coverage has appeared on screens, but not necessarily clicked on
- Geographical span – which countries and regions the coverage has been seen in
- Sentiment – a score that indicates the tone of a piece (positive, neutral, or negative)
- Top 10 outlets – the highest quality or reaching outlets
- Competitive share of voice – how coverage tracks against competitors
For example, it is very helpful to see how reach compares from one press release to another or from one quarter to the next. What we ideally like to see is maintained or growing numbers, and, if there is ever a drop, we can look further into why.
Quality over quantity
While high numbers of editorial mentions or impressions might look impressive, they’re only valuable if they reach your target audience. Are the publications covering your brand those that resonate most with your audience? A smaller number of mentions in the right outlets – those read by your customers and other stakeholders – can have a far greater impact than widespread but untargeted coverage. We’ll analyse where your coverage is appearing and if it isn’t aligned with your goals, it’s a clear sign to refine the media strategy and focus on more targeted outreach.
Building stronger media relations
Analysing coverage also reveals patterns in your media relationships. Is your coverage concentrated in a small group of publications or is it spread across a broader spectrum? Are there key outlets missing that you’d like your brand to be featured in? By identifying gaps, we can pinpoint where more attention is needed to strengthen relationships with editors and publications in sectors critical to your business and build a more balanced and robust media presence.
Message pull-through: Are your priorities reflected?
It’s not just about where your brand appears, but what its being recognised for. Coverage is most valuable when it reflects your key messages – the main topics and themes you want your target audience to associate with your brand. We’ll dig into the substance of your mentions. Are the messages aligned with your goals? If not, it’s time to refine the messaging strategy to ensure your priorities are better represented in future coverage.
Gauging brand perception through sentiment scores
Sentiment analysis is one of the most insightful metrics in a coverage report as it offers a direct glimpse into how your brand is perceived externally. This score reflects not only general perceptions but also opinions tied to specific topics or messages. Tracking sentiment over time helps gauge your brand’s reputation and how this crucial asset is developing so you can nurture it proactively. A positive brand reputation influences stakeholder decisions, builds loyalty, and creates goodwill, which puts your brand in a better position to handle crises effectively and maintain trust with key audiences.
Understanding geographical spread
For global or pan-regional campaigns, geographical insights are crucial. Coverage reports can reveal how well your brand is performing in each target market, highlighting both strongholds and areas needing more focus. It’s important to remember, however, that each market has unique dynamics. Some territories may have fewer media outlets relevant to your business or a predominantly ‘pay-to-play’ landscape, which can influence coverage. That’s why a good coverage report should always provide context, ensuring you understand the nuances behind the numbers and can tailor your PR strategy accordingly.
Analysing coverage for smarter content creation
Much of the team at SE10 are trained technical writers, often with backgrounds in journalism. That means we can write press content and releases that we know will cater to the needs, of and pique the interest, of editors. So when we develop coverage reports, it’s important for us to track how mentions have been covered. Have press releases been directly copied and pasted or cut down/rewritten? This shows us whether they have been written with enough information included, or if they are too long, or not detailed enough. Has the headline been copied or edited? All of these questions inform how we approach our next piece of press content, and what we recommend to clients.
Assessing the success of certain types of stories
As agency professionals, the SE10 team is well-versed in writing press releases, disseminating them, pitching and following up with editors, and monitoring/reporting on coverage. We can therefore apply our knowledge of the market to why or why not press activations have been successful. For example, we may warn clients that award-win press releases or new team appointments may not do as well as a product launch or partnership announcement. We then apply this market knowledge to our coverage reports, providing some commentary on whether the numbers are tracking against our expectations, or if there is anything we are surprised or interested about.
To AVE or not to AVE?
AVE stands for Advertising Value Equivalency and is a calculation of what media coverage would cost if it were paid advertising. It’s been a long-standing and nuanced debate in the PR industry. For C-suite teams and decision makers, including AVE might be a quick way of showcasing the “value” of press engagements. However, at SE10 we have started to take this metric out of our coverage reports unless our clients ask for it to be included. The AVE can distract from the true value of PR which goes beyond the ad value equivalent but can be harder to track. Instead of AVE, we’d recommend digging into sentiment analysis, engagement metrics, and message delivery.
Competitor benchmarking
One of the most exciting aspects of coverage reports is competitor benchmarking. What topics or angles are competitors getting coverage for? Which publications feature your competitors that you’re not reaching? What’s their media sentiment – and, therefore, brand perception – compared to yours? There is so much to learn from competitors to incorporate into your media strategy. Don’t be too focused on the numbers, however. While a competitor might have a greater media share of voice overall, you might be outperforming them in strategic areas, such as specific products or key messages. So it’s important to dig into the detail and focus on the analysis that matters most to your business.
Competitive and market intelligence
Finally, coverage reports aren’t just about tracking performance – they’re also a window into industry trends and PR opportunities. Monitoring competitor coverage and broader industry keywords can spot gaps in the conversation that your brand can authentically fill, positioning you as a thought leader. It can also identify emerging industry topics and developments that could inform your messaging and provide your C-suite with valuable market insights to guide overarching business strategies.
Turning insights into strategy
Coverage reports are much more than a retrospective tool – they’re a strategic asset. At SE10, our coverage reports dig deep, looking not just at the numbers but the ‘why’ that helps refine approaches to create greater success in other activations. By thoughtfully analysing coverage reports, we can turn insights into actionable strategies for the future.
Would you like SE10 to develop your media reporting strategy? Contact us today for a free consultation.

By Rosie Hopkins
Account Director
About the author
Rosie is an account director at SE10 based out of the London office. She has over a decade of PR experience that spans agency and in-house communications roles across London and Singapore. She uses her experience to help clients strategise and deliver on PR campaigns across the globe.