BuzzSumo vs. Cision PRWeb

Pros

• The real-time data unmatched and Buzzsumo is continually improving their tools and dashboards every year (we've noticed that their team listens to suggestions and often implements new features based on how our industry is evolving).

Cons

• The price is a little steep for us. We are a small advertising agency and have a lot of tools to consider to improve our efficiency. We just wish it was a little less expensive.

Incentivized

Wire press release distribution is often a luxury purchase, especially at the price point. In my experience Cision acts as if it's destined to win everyone's business just because of its name. Too often we've found ourselves being turned off by the arrogance and taking our business (and our clients' business) to alternative companies that are happy to have us.

Incentivized

• Monitors for client PR placements and notifies via email and Slack alerts
• Helps us research potential journalists writing about the topics relevant to our clients
• Displays trending web and social content clearly with relevant metrics
• Allows us to view what's working for our clients' competitors in the media

Incentivized

• PRWeb is fairly easy to use to issue press releases. They have a review process that will look over your release before submission although this review is not going to catch spelling and grammatical errors.
• I've seen our press releases posted on industry relevant websites thanks to the reach that PRWeb provided us.
• Although I never used it because we subscribed to a different service, PRWeb allows you to create and send email blasts within their OutMarket marketing platform.
• I enjoy the ability to add a quote call out in the release.
• I also like that images or videos can be added to the release.

Incentivized

• Although I think it's hard, I'd like to see it being used for other mediums as well such as Twitch, etc.
• It could have better backlink data to include more backlinks that each content piece has.
• One or two more pricing tiers might work.

Incentivized

• Increasing the volume of media that can receive communication would help - going from 5,000 to 7,500 or 10,000 would be a massive help.
• Providing a social media platform in which to send out either X posts, LinkedIn, and Facebook posts to media as an alternative communication would help
• Increasing the number of podcasters and there contact details would help.

Incentivized

We are unlikely to renew PRWeb because I feel that the costs outweigh the benefits of the service. For a company like ours (small business with about 60 employees) we don't have enough press that warrants monthly coverage. We may look at using PRWeb on an as needed basis, 3-4 times a year for single submissions, but that would be the extent of it. I could see PRWeb being much more beneficial for large companies that are constantly needing to issue press.

Incentivized

The interface is a little clunky for me, especially on mobile. However, the directions are clear and it didn't take long for me to figure out how to use it. I just wish that things were a little more streamlined.

Incentivized

The Cision PRWeb platform is mostly intuitive. It is broken into Monitoring, Social, Insights, and Outreach sections. The way Mention Streams are set up and organized has confused employees who are new to the dashboard. Under Outreach, the Launchpad and Activities tabs are a little bit redundant and could probably be consolidated.

Incentivized

The support we have received over the years has been wonderful. They have definitely demonstrated excellent customer service. We find the chat support to be the quickest and most useful for the day-to-day questions. A rep always responds very timely, answers our questions, and sends a follow-up to ensure we're maintaining success

Incentivized

I have only required support from PRWeb on two separate occasions and they handled my issues without any problems. I was a bit confused at first not sure if they had received my requests but shortly after I received responses and was able to move forward with my press release.

Incentivized

Implementation of PRWeb required very little of Strouse. It was a quick process and we were almost immediately ready to use the platform.

Incentivized

Buffer is a tool that can be very useful for certain uses of Twitter, but in reality, it is very limited when you want to demand a little more. The pros actually weigh a lot, but the serious limitations in several regards do not allow us to give it a higher mark.

I consider that Buffer is a very useful tool that allows you to have an active presence on social networks without having to be glued to them all day. There are others, among which Hootsuite stands out.

Incentivized

It is not an "either-or" situation. If a company really wants to put a release out on the wire, one service might be better suited for it than the other. For when a company wants to target certain countries or vertical markets (e.g. Latin America), PR Newswire would be the proper choice.

Incentivized

• It has had a positive return as it has allowed us to create better content and gain popularity online.
• Though the cost is relatively high in my opinion, it has allowed us to make better organic content than we would have paid this cost on ads.
• Helps us find influencers for campaigns.

Incentivized

• It was definitely a cost decision for us, but the ability to have access to their media database was by far the most useful and needed tool for us.
• For tracking media hits, it saved us time tracking the majority of hits. Where it didn't save us time was with smaller, more niche media.

Incentivized