How VisitErie Cut Daily Media Review from 30 Minutes to Two Minutes with Truescope

At a Glance

Challenge: VisitErie switched from their previous media monitoring provider to Truescope to gain media intelligence across platforms that their existing provider could not deliver despite promises.

Solution: Truescope’s AI-powered daily reports cut Christine’s morning media review from 30 minutes down to a two-minute read, a critical efficiency gain for a lean team.

Impact: During the 2024 total solar eclipse, VisitErie used Truescope to track media mentions, capturing an “insane” combined reach and producing a comprehensive report that was well received by her stakeholders.

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The Company

VisitErie is Erie County’s official destination marketing organisation, based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Christine Temple is the Director of Communications and the most senior employee on staff. She runs what she describes as a “department of one,” handling all media relations and communications.

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The Challenge

Previous provider couldn’t monitor TikTok or Reddit

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Before Truescope, VisitErie relied on an established media monitoring platform for media monitoring. While the platform covered traditional media, it fell short on the channels that mattered most to a modern destination marketing organisation. Their existing platform could not track mentions on some social media platforms, and there was no indication that support was on the horizon.

The situation became contentious when VisitErie purchased an add-on from the existing platform with the understanding that it would enable monitoring of these channels she needed. It did not deliver. As Christine puts it, “It was not the best of breakups.”

As a one-person department, Christine needed a media intelligence platform that covered more sources and a placeform that was easy to use.

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The Solution

Broader coverage, AI-powered reports, and real human support

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Christine first heard about Truescope through a peer at another destination marketing organisation. She evaluated Truescope alongside two other providers, and Truescope stood out on several fronts: integrated and comprehensive social media monitoring; competitive pricing that matched what VisitErie had been paying for their previous platform; and an intuitive, user-friendly interface.

Implementation was straightforward. Over two training sessions, Christine’s customer success manager walked her through the Truescope platform, tailoring everything to VisitErie’s needs as a destination. Together, they set up customised keyword searches for the daily media mention report, along with two monthly reports for board and stakeholder reporting.

The daily email report has become the cornerstone of Christine’s workflow. Each morning, she opens her Truescope report and starts with the AI summary, which captures the key mentions along with reach, audience, and sentiment data. Before the AI summary feature, reviewing her daily mentions took 30 minutes. Now it is a two-minute read. “I absolutely love it,” Christine says. “It saves me a ton of time.”

She also generates customised monthly reports with sentiment charts, word clouds, and top posts for her board and staff, and runs ad-hoc searches for other departments like the Sports Commission, which uses Truescope data to measure media attention around events like the annual Lake Erie Cycle Fest.

When Christine runs into something she cannot figure out, a quick email to her customer success manager gets an almost immediate response. “I’ve never had a company where the response time is almost immediate, and it’s a person,” she says.

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“Every morning, that’s one of the first things I do. I go through my daily Truescope report. With the Truescope AI, it is now a two-minute read.” — Christine Temple, Director of Communications, VisitErie

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The Impact

Solar eclipse coverage quantified, daily reviews cut to minutes

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A high-stakes example of Truescope’s value came during the 2024 total solar eclipse. Erie was the only city in Pennsylvania to experience full totality, and the media attention was, in Christine’s words, “insane.”

VisitErie created a dedicated Truescope report tracking media mentions from a year before the event through to two months aft er. The report captured coverage from local, state, national, and international outlets, and the media data from Truescope was integrated into VisitErie’s comprehensive final report on the eclipse, which went to the board, partners, local media, and business leaders.

“It summarises things and it’s a time saver. It gives me a sense of relief because it’s so easy to use.”

When asked how she would describe Truescope, Christine’s answer is succinct: “A complex, easy to navigate media monitoring platform.”