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The world of PR is changing rapidly and it’s hard to have the right tools to stay on top these days. In the past, you could define a provision and calculate it as a budget item that both parties agree is necessary. However, in today’s global media reach, this is not enough. Content distribution and other areas have an aspect of technology and analytics that is essential to the success of a business. Ignoring this reality will result in falling behind competitors who use the most current and efficient resources available. Below is an updated list from one I wrote in 2018 that should help you identify some of the best tools to help you navigate and thrive in this new world of PR.
1. Manure rack
I knew Greg Galant from when he started the Shorty Awards, and he was always dedicated to building a solid tool with Muck Rack. With their recent increase of 180 million and the resources of the company, they are well on their way to becoming a complete public relations tool. Muck Rack’s robust capabilities can provide a comprehensive database of journalists, allowing you to search for relevant contacts and access their contact information, social media profiles, and recent articles. With this database, you can identify the right journalists for your media coverage, create media lists and manage your press relations well.
2. Prowess
Prowly is a company I have worked with in the past and was immediately impressed. Through their efforts, they have built a PR and content marketing platform that streamlines PR workflows and improves media relations. Later, they were acquired by SEMRush, which is a well-known SEO tool. The combination of the two should yield strong results by combining research and public relations resources. It offers features for managing media contacts, creating visually appealing press releases, and distributing content.
3.OnePitch
Onepitch is a PR platform that simplifies the media pitch process for PR professionals. Because while pitching to reporters is a relatively simple process, it can take time. OnePitch helps users create and send concise and targeted pitches to journalists. Not only does it reduce the time and effort spent on traditional outreach methods, but it can help achieve a higher success rate through its database of journalists. The database analyzes and displays journalists’ preferences, making it easy to identify the right contacts for specific stories. As an added benefit, its streamlined interface is user-friendly and easy to master.
4. Exclusive
Some public relations tools allow you to be more effective and successful in executing your strategy. Others give you vital, data-driven insights into whether or not your strategy is working and how to improve it. Onclusive specializes in the latter. I haven’t worked with Onclusive, but used them when they used to be AirPR. It provides advanced analytics and insights to help you understand the reach and impact of your PR campaigns. Onclusive tracks and analyzes media coverage, social media engagement, website traffic and other key metrics. These hard numbers can better enable you to make data-driven decisions and assess the value of public relations to your organization.
5. Propulsion
PrPropel is a media outreach and relationship management tool designed to streamline your PR efforts. It lets you find relevant journalists and influencers, pitch stories, and manage your media relations all in one place. Propel provides features for personalized email distribution, campaign tracking and media response management, helping you build strong relationships with journalists and maximize your media coverage.
6. Grammar
Although not specifically a PR tool, Grammarly is an essential tool for any PR professional or communicator. Good writing is at the heart of effective PR, and Grammarly helps you improve your writing by checking things like grammar and spelling. It doesn’t just flag glaring errors either. Grammarly has more refined features such as passive voice flagging and identifying ways to make your written voice more active. Since it’s often not cost-effective or quick to get every email and word written by a human editor, Grammarly is a quick way to check before you hit send. The extra click or two is worth it. Keeping your press releases, presentations, and other written communications crisp and error-free improves your credibility and professionalism.
7. Split
Cision offers a complete platform for media relations, media monitoring, and content distribution. With Cision, you can identify and reach relevant media contacts, track media coverage across multiple channels, and issue press releases. It also includes analytics features to measure the effectiveness of your PR efforts. Cision’s software is proven and trusted by PR agencies, corporations, and government organizations around the world.
I’m not going to lie and say that the world of PR isn’t harder than ever. This is a sad reality, as the nature of journalism and media has changed with the evolution of technology. There are fewer journalists in more publications, and there is a lot of noise. However, on the bright side, there are tools specifically designed to help you craft better pitches, reach journalists, and track results. As these tools evolve, there are ways for you and your staff to incorporate them into your processes with fantastic results. By being selective and getting the best PR tools for your specific needs, you can see greater success and stand out in the industry.