What Public Relations Tools Are in Your PR Toolkit?
We asked Founders and PR Managers for the top tools and platforms that have transformed their public relations workflows. From utilizing Prowly for media outreach to streamlining workflows with Otter.ai, here are nine innovative solutions for PR professionals to consider.
- Utilize Prowly For Media Outreach
- Manage Media Relations With Muck Rack
- Improve Outreach With Buzzsumo
- Manage Your Online Reputation
- Track Pitch Performance With Prezly
- Embrace AI-Driven Content Generation
- Streamline Workflows With Airtable
- Monitor Media With Cision
- Summarize Meetings With Otter.ai
Utilize Prowly For Media Outreach
For me, it's definitely Prowly. As someone who also spearheads our PR efforts, incorporating Prowly into our toolkit has revolutionized our workflow. Prowly streamlines media relations by allowing us to build and manage a comprehensive media-contact database, which ensures our press releases reach the right audiences efficiently.
The ability to create compelling press releases using its intuitive editor enhances our communication strategy, making each release polished and professional. Additionally, Prowly's analytics provide valuable insights into the performance of our distributions, helping us understand what resonates with our audience and adjust our strategies accordingly.
I think the best takeaway from using Prowly is the significant time saved on media outreach, allowing our team to refocus on crafting impactful narratives and nurturing key relationships.
Manage Media Relations With Muck Rack
One tool I've found to be incredibly helpful in my PR work is Muck Rack. It’s made a big difference in how I manage media relations and track coverage. With Muck Rack, I can easily find relevant journalists, keep track of who’s covering certain topics, and see real-time updates on what’s being written in the media.
It saves me a lot of time when it comes to pitching, as I can customize my outreach based on what journalists are actually interested in. The platform also lets me measure the impact of my PR efforts by tracking media mentions, which has been key to showing results to clients or stakeholders.
Improve Outreach With Buzzsumo
BuzzStream has changed the game for us when it comes to media outreach and relationship-building in our PR efforts. The tool makes researching journalists, tracking conversations, and following up with personalized pitches a breeze. BuzzStream’s ability to create detailed contact profiles with previous interactions, social media activity, and recent articles means our outreach is always relevant and informed. For example, when we were doing a PR campaign for a tech startup, we used BuzzStream to track outreach across multiple journalists and influencers, so we didn’t miss any leads and follow-ups were on time.
Plus, BuzzStream’s campaign management and categorization have made our workflow even more efficient. We can segment outreach by client or campaign. We’re more organized, getting better response rates, and building stronger relationships with media pros—all while saving time on manual tracking.
Manage Your Online Reputation
As a digital-marketing consultant, I've incorporated social-listening tools into my workflow, which has significantly enhanced my ability to manage online reputation for clients. Platforms like Mention or Brand24 allow real-time tracking of brand mentions across various online channels. This enables us to offer quick responses to potential PR issues and identifies opportunities for positive engagement.
For instance, we caught a brewing customer-service issue on Twitter for a client and resolved it promptly, turning a potential PR crisis into a demonstration of excellent customer care. These tools have become invaluable for us in maintaining brand image and fostering positive customer relationships in the digital space.
Track Pitch Performance With Prezly
One tool that has transformed my PR workflow is Prezly. It provides real-time insights into how my pitches are performing by tracking engagement. If I see someone has opened an email multiple times, it’s a clear sign to reach out with a more personalized follow-up.
On the flip side, Prezly helps me identify when contacts are disengaged, allowing me to adjust tactics or pause communication. This kind of data-driven approach has made my follow-ups more strategic and effective.
Embrace AI-Driven Content Generation
In today's fast-paced world, integrating advanced AI tools into your public-relations toolkit can drastically enhance efficiency and effectiveness. One such innovative platform that I've found invaluable is an AI-driven content-generation tool, like ChatGPT. This tool allows PR professionals to create high-quality press releases, social media posts, and blog content rapidly, freeing up time for strategic planning and relationship-building. By automating routine tasks, teams can focus on crafting compelling narratives that resonate with audiences, thus elevating the overall quality of their campaigns.
A while back, my team faced a tight deadline to prepare for a major launch event for our Christian Companion App. We needed engaging content across various platforms, from blog posts to press releases, but the clock was ticking. By leveraging an AI content generator, we not only met the deadline but also produced richer, more varied content than we could have manually. The AI tool analyzed current trends, suggested impactful headlines, and even helped us craft messages that would resonate deeply with our target audience. The experience was transformative; it showcased how technology can become a partner in creativity rather than a barrier.
When considering how to incorporate such tools into your PR workflow, start by identifying repetitive tasks that consume a lot of your time—like drafting standard press releases or social media posts. Train your team on how to effectively use these AI tools to supplement their creativity, not replace it. Establish clear guidelines on how to refine the outputs to align with your brand voice. This strategy fosters collaboration between human insight and machine efficiency, resulting in a seamless workflow that enhances overall productivity.
Adopting AI tools like ChatGPT has proven to be highly effective for us. We've not only increased our output but also enhanced the quality of our messaging. By allowing AI to handle the grunt work, my team can focus on strategy and creativity, driving more meaningful connections with our audience. As I often say, those who resist adopting these innovative technologies will find themselves lagging behind. In the ever-evolving landscape of public relations, the key to success lies in embracing tools that elevate our work, not hinder it.
Streamline Workflows With Airtable
I’ve recently started using Airtable in my PR toolkit, and it has made a world of difference in how I manage my workflows. This cloud-based platform has really streamlined my processes in several ways:
Centralized Project Management: I love that I can bring all project details together in one place, making it so much easier to track progress and deadlines.
Automated Reporting and Analytics: Airtable has simplified data collection and reporting for me, which saves time and reduces the chance of errors.
Enhanced Collaboration: It has significantly improved communication among my team, allowing us to collaborate more effectively.
Social Media Integration: I appreciate how it integrates seamlessly with my social media scheduling tools, which helps in managing campaigns efficiently.
Customizable Dashboards: The customizable dashboards provide me with real-time metrics that help visualize the key performance indicators I care about.
Overall, Airtable's flexibility and scalability have boosted my productivity, allowing me to focus more on high-impact PR strategies.
Monitor Media With Cision
One innovative tool that has made a significant difference in PR workflows is Cision's media-monitoring and analytics platform. This tool enables PR professionals to track media coverage across various channels in real time, analyze sentiment, and measure the impact of their campaigns effectively.
With Cision, PR teams can identify key influencers, track mentions of their brand, and assess how stories are being received by the public. The platform’s advanced analytics features allow for in-depth reporting on coverage reach and engagement, helping teams refine their strategies based on data-driven insights.
Incorporating Cision has streamlined the process of gathering media insights and generating reports, allowing PR professionals to focus more on strategy and relationship-building rather than manually tracking coverage. This innovation not only enhances efficiency but also enables teams to demonstrate the value of their PR efforts to stakeholders.
Summarize Meetings With Otter.ai
Incorporating Otter.ai into my PR workflow has been a game-changer. I've been using it for nearly five years (since its early days), and now I can't imagine working without it. Otter.ai helps me summarize meetings, pull together transcripts, and organize notes quickly. This allows me to craft content for clients that is accurate. I do a lot of writing for executives, and making sure that I am writing for them in their voice and with their language is important for writing an authentic thought-leadership piece that they are happy to publish. The efficiency it brings to gathering and managing information makes my writing process so much smoother and more effective.
