CIsion Communications Cloud is used for identifying key media and influencers, connecting with audiences, monitoring traditional and social media, and analyzing outcomes.
N/A
LeadLander
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
LeadLander is essentially an IP reverse look-up tool. It does a reverse look-up of the IP address to distinguish between corporate visitors and “home/ISP” users.
Although having somewhat similar functionality as web analytics products like Google Analytics and WebTrends, it is actually designed for a different user base. While web analytics tools are typically designed to provide metrics such as bounce rates, unique visitors, and length/depth of stay to help marketers optimize website content,…
For a small start-up, the cost-benefit to add lift to press releases [and] particular milestone accomplishments is definitely there with the Cision [Communications] Cloud. Much of what we do, by necessity, is done internally without the benefit of outsourced press folks, so the Cision [Communications] Cloud ease of use and reporting is very important.
LeadLander is great for sales reps who are looking for additional insights when attempting to get the right message to the right audience at the right time via the right medium. Nevertheless, the tool is basically fairly simplistic in terms of what you get. Data is delivered via email and can be tailored in terms of frequency and territory, but the overall information presented is fairly simple. The links to websites visited and accompanying information pertaining to frequency and duration are incredibly helpful. Nevertheless, if you have a lot of users visiting sites that utilize a free version of your tool, care is required to ensure that your messaging is not falling on deaf ears. Overall, the tool is very useful for accomplishing awareness of baseline insights pertaining to prospective clientele visiting your company's website in order to craft more meaningful messaging.
Their upgraded press release templates and ability [to] pull in an entire, completed release makes the [process] faster and easier, and allows for more graphics, such as company mastheads, [are done well].
The media tracking offers the ability to find relevant placements across the entire country.
The journalist database streamlines the process of finding relevant reporters to directly connect [to] on news releases that are relevant to their beats.
The process of setting up, creating, and distributing a release is seamless, easy to use, and not labor-intensive.
Leadlander has an excellent database of IP addresses. Often the address is registered to some unknown cable company but leadlander seems to identify them.
Leadlander is well designed and intuitive to use.
Leadlander captures page data and referral that we wouldn't otherwise have.
In the media influencer database, the classic Cision allowed us to do a zip code radius search to really drill down to the neighborhood level. That's because we do localized media advisories and press releases for events at neighborhood schools. One part of a big city like Chicago really doesn't care what's happening in another part of Chicago that's too far away. The zip code radius search was a feature in the classic Cision but not with the current Cision Communications Cloud. We've asked for this to be restored several times, but nothing's happened. In fact, we were told to use DMA — which actually goes wider in a search (bigger than a city), not more narrow as needed. This reflects a basic misunderstanding of what we need.
Another missing feature involves a merge field when sending out an email press release through Cision. This is the "select insert field" button in the upper right that's used to personalize a release with the media contact's name and other information. This is key for localization of the release. Many media outlets won't run a release unless it's local. While "county" is a feature in the influencer database when putting together a media list in Cision, "county" is not available to insert into a press release as a merge field. Counties are important because this is how many newspapers and health departments are organized and identify themselves. I've asked for this to be implemented, to no avail. As a workaround, we've had to use "contact city" or "outlet city."
After refining a media list in Cision using filters, I've had to download the list and take it offline to see the big picture, screen for duplicates, etc. While there is a button on the bottom left intended to help with this, it doesn't do the trick. That's because there may be multiple contacts with the same email address. In addition, one media contact may represent numerous media outlets, so this same contact could show up several times. It would be nice to have a better way to see the whole list online and eliminate both duplicates as well as those who previously opted out.
While I am happy with the product performance overall, TrendKite's recent merger with Cision is cause for concern. When we first signed on with TrendKite, I spoke with several users and the best response I received was that the company was a startup and we could expect there to be hiccups along the way as the company grew and the platform got more robust. That has certainly been the case. However, now that they have merged with Cision — a company that has grown too fast, has not focused on improving its product and has poor customer service — I have concerns that TrendKite will lose some of the qualities that have made it a great company and great product to work with.
Currently, we have not went out to look for another tool because we are happy with LeadLanders' performance. If we were to be approached by any of their competitors, we would look to investigate the difference and similarities between the tools. In the past, we used a tool that provided images and steps taken to show the route a prospect takes and I found that to be very interesting.
The flexibility and customization of Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* is among its most important features. Changing the dashboards, using keywords in the saved searches to pull out the best stories and the integration with marketing automation tools gives me confidence that I will able to continue using this tool well into the future. The future implementation and integration of the media contact database will complete the suite, making list management and email marketing programs much smoother. *This review was written before Cision acquired TrendKite. TrendKite is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.
Generally, Cision performs well day to day, but it's got some annoying bugs that slow down usage/require user workarounds which is inefficient. More seriously, a few months ago, as a result of a major system upgrade, certain critical functionality was not working and I was unable to use the service for more than a day when I had time-sensitive work to execute
For Cision TrendKite in particilar, support always responded, but it was sometimes slow. For some of our booleans and search queries, we would need help refining and excluding terms/phrases that weren't relevant to our client or campaign. This sometimes took 1-2 days just to get a response back, which sometimes was too late when a last-minute report was due. This was only with the support staff, not necessarily our customer success manager or sales rep.
The online training sessions available for the Cision Communications Cloud are helpful and informative. There's more than one option - initially, I signed up for the live webinar classes on basic functions and that is what I recommend other new users do as well. If I have specific questions or something I want to learn more about, I can search the online database and find article or online training videos to get the information I need.
It's a similar product. I think Meltwater sells itself as being a bit more niche, but I have not found many significant differences between Meltwater and Cision. Meltwater's sales process is a very high pressure and their prices are inflated.
ActOn also provides website analytics, however if we have a contact in our CRM - it will tell us each morning if that specific contact visited our website rather than just a company name. It is interesting to note that both ActOn and Leadlander often have different results and companies. I'm not sure why there is a discrepancy, however overall, both tools are fairly comparable.
Our Demand Generation team primarily uses this tool and has been wildly successful! Their entire office area is covered in wins, including amounts. One of the larger deals found on LeadLander was 4.2 million. A current opportunity is set at 2.5 million. I think the ROI speaks for itself with those deals.
