Over the past 12 months, as part of our commitment to providing universal coverage on Pulsar, we have introduced numerous new data sources and upgraded some existing ones. Whilst this expansion ensures Pulsar provides a diverse and comprehensive range of data sources across social and news media platforms, this has also provided Pulsar with an opportunity to revisit and enhance some of the metrics we offer, specifically Media Reach.
We are therefore thrilled to announce that as of today, we now have an updated Media Reach metric available on TRAC. This new metric is more precise and industry-recognised, making your performance reporting clearer and more comprehensible. The updated Media Reach metric is derived from SimilarWeb, a trusted source in the industry. And in addition to this, we have also introduced a brand-new metric: Media Impressions, also derived from SimilarWeb.
We hope that these updates will significantly improve the accuracy and reliability of your performance reports, making it easier for you to analyse and understand your media impact.
So, what’s changed?
Media Reach
We have updated our Media Reach metric to leverage Similar Web’s unique monthly visits to a website. This widely-used metric offers a more accurate assessment of a website or outlet’s reach, enabling users to evaluate exposure and quantify the effectiveness of their PR campaigns.
You’ll notice the updated Media Reach figures across Online News and Online Print data in your TRAC searches from the beginning of July onwards. In addition to this, you will also notice the following changes:
We have retired the 'Actual Media Reach' metric, and have simplified this to just 'Media Reach'.
As Media Reach is an attribute of the outlet publishing the content, and therefore refers to a website, we have revised how we display the metrics in the results side panel, making a clear distinction between content-specific metrics and outlet-specific metrics.
Refining the Media Reach has also enhanced the Visibility metric for news content, so you will notice a significant improvement in Visibility.
Lastly, all relevant charts, sorting, filtering and exports have also been updated to reflect the updated Media Reach.
Media Impressions
Introducing Media Impressions, a new metric available for Online News data sources. Based on Similar Web’s total monthly visits to a site, Media Impressions provides insight into monthly traffic trends, complementing the Media Reach metric.
The following features will be updated to reflect this change:
We have added a new ‘Media Impressions’ metric to Online News and Online Print articles.
Visualisations in Narratives, Snapshot, Timeline, and Content sections on TRAC now feature Media Impressions as a new toggle option.
As Media Impressions is an attribute of the outlet that is publishing content, we have revised how we display this metric in the results side panel - making a clear distinction between content-specific metrics and outlet-specific metrics.
Social Impressions
We have retired the concept of “Actual Social Impressions” and “Potential Social Impressions” and simplified this to just Social Impressions, which is derived from Potential Social Impressions and this should simplify the way you analyse your data. There will be no changes to how we calculate Social Impressions, apart from the naming convention.
The following features will be updated to reflect these changes:
As we have deprecated the 'Actual Social Impressions' metric, and have renamed ‘Potential Social Impressions’ to simply ‘Social Impressions’, you will only see the one metric - Social Impressions, going forwards.
All relevant charts, sorting, exports and filtering options have also been updated to reflect the updated name for Social Impressions.
Pulsar API and Exports
We will also be applying these changes to the Pulsar GraphQL API and Exports.
In the Pulsar API, the old metrics will still be available but marked as deprecated, with the view to remove them in the near future. We will inform all clients using the Pulsar API about the new fields (mediaReach, socialImpressions, mediaImpressions) and provide a timeline for deprecating the old metrics. This information will also be updated in the API schema.
The old metrics will be removed in Pulsar XLS exports and updated with the new Media Reach, Media Impressions and Social Impressions metrics.
These updates will be reflected on data collected from the beginning of July onwards, and are designed to simplify your analysis and reporting capabilities and help you make more informed decisions. And if you missed the email we sent out to all clients prior to this release, then please reach out to your Account Manager for more information on the options available to re-analyse your older data across your TRAC searches.
To learn more about the updated metrics, check out these articles: