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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cision Communications Cloud

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ACIsion Communications Cloud is used for identifying key media and influencers, connecting with audiences, monitoring traditional and social media, and analyzing outcomes.N/A

    Muck Rack

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AMuck Rack is a public relations offering from Sawhorse Media.

    $5,000

    per year

    Pricing
    Cision Communications CloudMuck Rack
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Muck Rack
    5,000
    per year
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cision Communications CloudMuck Rack
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cision Communications CloudMuck Rack
    Considered Both Products
    Cision
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    Our team has recently started a Muck Rack trial. While there are a few things they can offer that Cision can't, Cision still proves to be the most robust platform currently available. Cision allows for detailed searches that you simply can't get with other platforms, or are …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    Muck Rack has a better database of contacts and the media profiles seem to be more comprehensive and detailed than Cision's. However, distribution and building lists are more time-consuming on Muck Rack over Cision and the platform takes a longer time to learn than Cision does.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    I used Meltwater for a number of years and I felt like the database wasn't as good as Cision. Also, the salespeople at Meltwater were overly aggressive and unpleasant to work with. I've also used Muck Rack in the past, and while the media database is about as good, I didn't …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    Cision has a stronger, more widely reached database and is great for enterprise teams, not just smaller PR teams. We prefer it over the other platforms.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    While platforms like Meltwater seem impressive, functions like the "zip code radius" were important to us and weren't offered through those platforms. In addition, the price point seemed a lot higher with other platforms, especially if we wanted to track print clips (via …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    We've used Gorkana in the past, however, it was acquired by Cision. We've also used Meltwater which has a lot of Cision's core capabilities but at a lower price point.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    Cision Communications Cloud combines all three of these but it is hard to just search broadcast or just search online, or just print. I always receive errors and it just constantly tries to refresh itself. Think the platform has a lot of data and a lot going on but it should be …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    Cision Communications Cloud was superior when it comes to media analytics.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    Purely from a media research (media list) database perspective, Cision provides the best, most robust results in the industry. Most important, however, is that the database is kept current. This is a big deal as reporters and producers tend to move around quite a bit. In …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    We liked the cost of Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* against its competitors. We also felt the platform was more advanced and intuitive. It was easier to use and included more features. They're always adding something new - even the little things make a difference. I …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    Cision's dashboards, reporting, and breadth of capabilities stood out to us, plus the competitive pricing and high level of customer support.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    Cision is the gold standard of PR software. It's the original and it's usually the best. However, as they've gotten bigger and acquired more tools, it can be difficult to use. MuckRack usually has more up to date information about reporters' actual beats, and their contact info …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    Cision has more descriptive information and more capabilities for building media lists through the platform, but Muckrack and Gorkana are easier to use and also usually include people that Cision does not have in its database.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cision Communications Cloud
    Cision is an incredibly strong competitor because it allows the user to customize their reporting in a way that works for them. They also understand the need of PR professionals today, and don't rely on a small number of updates that don't make sense in the outdated context of …
    Incentivized
    Muck Rack
    Chose Muck Rack
    Muck Rack has the most up-to-date contact database and the most common-sense functionality. It works like google to easily find, source, and sort contacts. It is much more user-friendly, whereas Meltwater and Cision don't perform regular updates and still have contacts that …
    Incentivized
    Chose Muck Rack
    Although it is sold as an all-in-one solution, my experience is that Muck Rack does not come close to comparing to the quality of a combination of Cision and Critical Mention. Comparing costs, Muck Rack's price tag is about the same as what we paid for both of the others, so …
    Incentivized
    Chose Muck Rack
    Overall, Much Rack's search features are more robust than other products we've tried or currently use. The ability to customize and do advanced searches allows us to surface better insights about our brand. The interface is also very intuitive and does not require much …
    Incentivized
    Chose Muck Rack
    Aside from broadcast coverage, Muck Rack offered similar functionality at a lower price point for more unique monitoring situations.
    Incentivized
    Chose Muck Rack
    Muck Rack is the most modern tool available for PR professionals. It is both user friendly and extremely intuitive for anyone to navigate. The platform is collaborative and allows multiple members of an in-house team or agency to work together on a media list and track updates …
    Incentivized
    Chose Muck Rack
    Muck Rack is very specific to social media and was first to market with their service. The other platforms offer more capabilities and "products" but Muck Rack stays true to monitoring social contacts and conversations.
    Incentivized
    Chose Muck Rack
    Muck Rack tends to have contact information for a wider range of individuals, and the search feature in the Muck Rack interface is very easy to use. It has a lot of different filters that enable specific and effective searches. I do wish though that I could save location based …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    45 Answers
    85%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    86%
    Delivers good value for the price
    32 Answers
    89%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    44 Answers
    85%
    Happy with the feature set
    11 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    37 Answers
    63%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    36 Answers
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    8 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Cision Communications CloudMuck Rack
    Small Businesses
    Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
    Score5 out of 10
    Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
    Score5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Critical Mention
    Score8 out of 10
    Cision Communications Cloud
    Score8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Meltwater
    Score7.6 out of 10
    Meltwater
    Score7.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cision Communications CloudMuck Rack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (280 ratings)
    5.6
    (15 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (17 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (54 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (192 ratings)
    9.4
    (4 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cision Communications CloudMuck Rack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cision
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    Muck Rack has been well suited for me when reporting and providing value add and ROI reporting to clients who are investing in publications. Not only has it been great creating media lists, drafting, sending out, and tracking pitches, but the ability to track coverage and export a report that showcases the reach, impact, and media value has been so beneficial for me. So, if you are working with clients in an external communications capacity, then the Muck Rack tools are very flexible and can fit your needs very well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cision
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    • Muck Rack offers a robust and highly targeted media research tool that allows you to build a customized media list to launch a media relations campaign.
    • Muck Rack's customer support team is quite good and is very responsive.
    • Muck Rack's sales team does a great job of explaining how their solution will effectively address the needs of the organization.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cision
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    • Creating coverage reports is time-consuming and it is difficult to filter out unrelated coverage with the Boolean operator-driven functionality
    • Muck Rack does not integrate with our other monitoring and reporting tools, so for sharing reports everything needs to be manually exported and added to our reporting software.
    • Muck Rack does not include broadcast coverage monitoring in its normal package, and the functionality of the added broadcast tool is limited compared to other coverage monitoring tools.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cision
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    It's the best tool we've found for this type of product. It is not 100% critical to our daily responsibilities, but as a corporate tool made available to us, it is something we leverage on a weekly basis.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Cision
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    Little training was required to leverage the tool. It is a very intuitive platform. The only troublesome aspect of the tool has been the email integration features, but that may be more of a security/IT issue with our corporate requirements than a Much Rack problem. Overall, it is a tool that anyone can leverage without much effort.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Cision
    Easily accessible 24/7.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Cision
    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
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Cision
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    I'm sure it's fine. I have never used their customer support, not even when a list does not save. I just figured there isn't much they can do since it was a search. They do have live chat to get answers quickly but most of the time I'm working on lists after hours (since it's a lot of admin and I can do it front of the TV) and no one is available.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Cision
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cision
    There is no implementation at the customer's end so this doesn't really apply to my instance of Cision (possibly to all instances of it).
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    I was not involved with the implementation.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Cision
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    Cision Media Contact Database. Honestly, it has been a long time since I used it, but I do remember being unhappy with the service. I thought its UI/UE was clunky at the time, but I didn't complain because I had free access to it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Cision
    Easy to use, but still room for improvement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Cision
    • Cision has a net positive impact on time savings for staff so we can be quicker to market
    • Cision has a positive impact on internal savings as it is used internally across multiple accounts and with the internal PR team
    • Cision is extremely useful when it comes to resourcing and conducting outreach in those DMA's where our agency doesn't have a physical presence
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Muck Rack
    • It's hard to measure ROI but I can say this: I have discovered and build relationships with media I may have had a hard time locating before. MuckRack has probably increased my efficiency by 50 percent and doubled my effectiveness.
    • I haven't looked a media databases in about 2 years but it is a much more cost effective media database than the big, traditional ones that everyone else has.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Cision Communications Cloud Screenshots

    Screenshot of Media Monitoring and Analytics are just part of the complete Comms Cloud. It combines deep data dive with a database of journalists and influencers, and a media relationship management tool.Screenshot of Track brand mentions in real time across the millions of online stories on the internet. Monitor millions of stories and breaking news happening daily across the web. Professional services consultants teams are in place to ensure best practices while setting up a monitoring account.Screenshot of Cision’s media and influencer relationship management tools include audience insights, combined with a pitchable database that enables brands to uncover the best media contacts and social influencers to reach their target audience.Screenshot of Identify the social conversations and influencers that are impacting a brand. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube monitoring capabilities track brand mentions across all major social channels. Analyze results for social mentions or campaigns on the fly with its reporting features.