What is press clipping
Clipping is an inventory of your media coverage over a given period. It tracks every article, interview, mention, or quote in which the brand, its products, or its executives are featured, whether in national press, trade publications, online media, or podcasts. Clipping can be manual (research and compilation by a person) or automated (via monitoring tools). It forms the foundation of any serious PR reporting.
How to compile a clipping report effectively
A well-structured clipping report specifies the following for each piece of coverage: media name, publication date, article title, URL or screenshot, audience reach, and sentiment (positive, neutral, negative). Categorizing coverage by media tier (Tier 1: major national media, Tier 2: trade media, Tier 3: blogs and local media) helps qualify the actual reach of your media presence. A single article in Les Echos is worth more than a dozen mentions on secondary sites.
Metrics associated with clipping
Clipping alone is not enough: it is the interpretation that creates value. Key metrics to include are: reach (cumulative audience of all outlets that published the content),AVE (Advertising Value Equivalency, which translates editorial space into equivalent advertising cost), and the Share of Voice (your share of mentions compared to those of your direct competitors). These three indicators transform raw clipping into a decision-making dashboard.
Automated clipping tools
For startups, the rise of affordable tools is significant. Google Alerts allows you to receive free alerts for every new mention online. Mention and Brand24 automate collection across the web and social media starting from a few dozen euros per month. For more advanced needs (print press, international coverage, competitive benchmarking), platforms like Meltwater or Cision offer turnkey solutions, albeit at significantly higher price points.
What we see with our clients
Most of the growing startups we work with have no clipping system in place when they join us. They may have saved some links in a Drive folder, but without any structure or associated metrics. As soon as we implement a formalized monthly clipping report with reach and media tier, executives have concrete arguments to justify their PR budget to their board.
