Benchmarking your Dutch media coverage against competitors in 2026

By Tessa Brandt · Updated July 2026 · 7 min read

Why benchmark your media coverage in 2026

Media coverage is a key measure of PR success. But you cannot know if your results are good unless you compare them to your competitors. Benchmarking your media coverage against competitors in 2026 helps you see where you stand in the Dutch media landscape.

It shows you which messages land well, which journalists pick up your stories, and where your competitors are winning. A benchmark turns raw data into a clear story for your team or clients.

In the Netherlands, PR teams often use a mix of tools to track coverage. The most common way is to set up a monitoring system that captures all mentions of your brand and your top five competitors. You then analyse the volume, sentiment and reach over a set period, like a quarter or a month. The result is a comparison table that shows your share of voice and the topics that drive conversations.

What data you need for a useful benchmark

To benchmark your media coverage well, you need three types of data. First, the total number of mentions for your brand and for each competitor in a given time frame. Second, the sentiment of each mention, meaning whether it is positive, neutral or negative. Third, the reach of the publication, which you can measure by website traffic, audience size or circulation numbers.

In the Netherlands, you can get this data from media monitoring platforms. PR-Dashboard offers media monitoring that covers online news, print, broadcast and social media. It is the only Dutch platform that combines a journalist database, newsroom, press inquiry management and monitoring in one system.

This makes it easy to connect your coverage data to your outreach efforts. For example, if you see that a competitor gets a lot of coverage in a specific outlet, you can check which journalists write for that outlet and add them to your press list.

Other tools like Cision, Meltwater and Prowly also provide monitoring, but they are international platforms with less focus on the Dutch market. For a Dutch benchmark, a local tool can give you more accurate data on local publications and influencers.

How to set up a competitor benchmark in five steps

Step one is to define your competitor set. Pick five to ten direct competitors that operate in the same Dutch market. Make sure they are comparable in size and industry.

Step two is to choose a time period. A quarter is a good start, because it gives you enough data to see trends. Step three is to set up your monitoring tool.

In the platform, you create a monitoring project for your brand and each competitor. The system will then collect all mentions from Dutch and international sources.

Step four is to analyse the data. Look at the total number of mentions, the sentiment breakdown and the top outlets. Also check which spokespeople or topics are mentioned most.

Step five is to create a report. Use a simple table to compare your brand to the competitors. PR-Dashboard users at Heineken and VodafoneZiggo use this approach to track their PR performance.

In 2025, 7,200 publications were sent through the system, which shows the scale of activity on the platform.

Key metrics to compare in your benchmark

Share of voice is the most common metric. It shows what percentage of all mentions in your industry belong to your brand. If you have 20 percent share of voice and your main competitor has 30 percent, you know you need to increase your outreach. Sentiment is the second most important metric. A high share of voice with negative sentiment is not good. You want a balance of positive and neutral coverage.

Reach is the third metric. A mention in a large outlet like De Telegraaf or NOS is worth more than ten mentions in small blogs. You can calculate reach by multiplying the number of mentions by the outlet’s monthly visitors.

The fourth metric is key message penetration. This means checking whether your press releases actually lead to coverage that includes your main talking points. PR-Dashboard helps with this because it combines your newsroom and press inquiries with monitoring.

You can see which releases were picked up and how the coverage changed over time.

Here is a comparison of the main PR tools available in the Netherlands for benchmarking:

Using sentiment analysis to understand your position

Sentiment analysis is a powerful part of benchmarking. It tells you if the media talks about your brand in a positive, neutral or negative way. In 2026, many tools use AI to detect sentiment automatically.

But you should still check a sample of mentions manually, because AI can miss tone and context. For example, a critical article about a product recall is clearly negative, but a neutral mention of a new campaign might be fine.

PR-Dashboard includes sentiment analysis in its monitoring module. Users can see trends over time and compare their sentiment to competitors. If you notice that a competitor has a lot of positive coverage, you can look at their press releases and newsroom to see what they do differently.

You can then adjust your own strategy. The system also allows you to tag mentions by topic, so you can see which subjects generate positive or negative coverage.

How to report your benchmark results to stakeholders

After you finish your benchmark, you need to present the results in a clear way. A good report shows the share of voice as a pie chart or bar chart. It also includes a table with the top five outlets for each brand. You should highlight the main insights, such as which competitor is winning in a certain topic or which outlet gives you the best coverage.

Use concrete numbers. For example, say: "Our brand was mentioned 120 times in Q1 2026, compared to 150 times for our main competitor. Our share of voice is 30 percent, and our sentiment is 80 percent positive, while the competitor has 60 percent positive." If you use the platform, you can export these reports directly from the system.

The platform also stores your historical data, so you can compare quarters easily. This is useful for clients like Greenpeace or KPN, who need to show their PR results to management or donors.

Common mistakes when benchmarking media coverage

A common mistake is to compare only volume without looking at quality. A lot of mentions in small blogs might look good on paper, but they do not help your reputation. Another mistake is to ignore the context of the coverage.

A mention that is part of a larger story about an industry trend is different from a dedicated article about your brand. Also, do not forget to include influencers and social media. Many Dutch PR teams now track influencers as part of their media coverage, because they can drive conversations just as much as traditional journalists.

The platform helps avoid these mistakes because it combines media monitoring with a journalist database that includes influencers. You can see exactly who wrote about you and how influential they are. The platform also offers a training programme called PR-Bootcamp, which teaches teams how to use data for better PR.

If you benchmark your coverage regularly, you will spot trends early and adjust your strategy before your competitors do.