Best PR Software For Results
First, the list we share is not comprehensive, just a few ones to get you started if you aren’t already using them, and some more to try if you haven’t yet done so. Here’s a few good ones:
Prezly is a very popular program. The company was started in 2010 in Belgium. The software offers users contact management, email distribution, press monitoring, press release builder, campaign planning, campaign measurement, and auto-update media lists.
They offer training through documents, demos, website videos, chats, and personal training as needed. Some of the customers raving about this program include Ogilvy, Hill+Knowlton, Sony, Brussels Airlines, and Ketchum. They are a subscription service starting at $100 per month. They offer 24/7 customer support.
Their bio on getapp says, “Social media newsroom: get more and better coverage because you can publish rich content online and integrate it on your site, share it via email, and post it on social. CRM: get more influencer engagement and stronger relationships because you’ll have a better grip on your contacts. Bye bye Excel spreadsheets. Email distribution: your media and blogger contacts will see the complete story because multimedia gets previewed in the emails. You’ll learn what works via the email tracking.”
Newsbox by Connectus is a U.S. company formed in 2002, but they also have international locations. They provide article author database, contact management, email distribution, press monitoring, press release builder, communications calendar, clippings manager, and auto-update media lists.
They offer a free version, but paid versions start at $49 per month. Their training is done using documents, webinars, and online training. Having over 10,000 users and hundreds of thousands of submissions made, they provide a service to small and medium-sized firms at a more reasonable cost than some.
According to g2crowd.com, “Newsbox delivers a way for you to distribute news to social channels, contacts, journalists, and Newsbox subscribers by enabling you to share a message on multiple platforms simultaneously and measure the results.”
Cision is a U.S. company and has been around for a long time, always staying current in the products they offer. Their product has all the bells and whistles, providing article author database, contact management, email distribution, press monitoring, press release builder, ad value calculator, communications calendar, campaign planning, campaign measurement, clippings manager, and auto-update media lists.
Training can be received through documents, demos, website videos, chats, and personal training as needed. Some of their customers include Linhart PR, Kellogg, Coleman, SparkPR, Seattle University, and McCoin and Smith Communications, They come at a higher price, starting at $499 per month. Technical support is available 24/7.
One reviewer at trustradius said, “It is the most forward-thinking service I was able to find. Vocus offered similar services, but it felt designed for the publicity of yesterday and today. Cision took into account yesterday, today, and 3 years from now and that is something not offered by many. Yes, you have campaigns now, but you will have a plethora coming down the pipeline. Cision knows that and helps you plan for those too.”
Businesswire does not provide as much information online about their product, but those trying it and Cision showed similar ratings and reviews across the board on all areas including meeting user requirements, ease of use, support, maintenance, product direction, and setup. They have offices in New York and San Francisco, as well as several international locations. The price is more about “per use” than monthly fee – in general they charge $400 for a 400-word press release.
One of the people at g2crowd said, “Business Wire is a nice service for distribution of news, but it does not replace one on one media relations work, and I’d like to see outgrowth in non-traditional media sources. … this service does allow for the appropriate distribution of news. It simplifies the distribution process to probably three-quarters of the people we need to reach.” And this user said she uses the software most for press release distribution.
Coveragebook gets top marks, but they provide a much more limited service – offering only clippings management and campaign measurement. The company was founded in the U.K. in 2003. Their training is strictly through documentation. And the pricing starts at $29.99 per month.
If you are just starting to add such a program or service to your business, this may be a good one to start with allowing you time to learn, grow, and gather information into one place, especially since they offer a free trial. Some of their customers include MSEC, Sync NI, as well as several individual PR professionals.
One user at capterra.com reported, “The most time-saving piece of kit in my PR armoury. Hours spent number-crunching stats and painstakingly clipping pages are now magically condensed into a few faff-free minutes. Chuck in your links, press go and voila – you have a beautiful report. Ingenious piece of kit that paid for itself in one (lightning speed) quarterly report. Oh, and clients love it… in fact, it’s completely eradicated pesky requests for AVE figures.”
What software have you found most helpful? Have you tried any of the above? If so, what’s your opinion?
