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Cision Communications Cloud vs. Percolate, now part of Seismic

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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

    Percolate, now part of Seismic

    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Percolate was a content marketing platform designed to help large brands create content and manage marketing campaigns. The product's capabilities have been integrated into the Seismic platform's digital marketing capabilities, and Percolate is no longer available for sale standalone.N/A
    Pricing
    Cision Communications CloudPercolate, now part of Seismic
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cision Communications CloudPercolate, now part of Seismic
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cision Communications CloudPercolate, now part of Seismic
    Considered Both Products
    Cision
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    45 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    86%
    Delivers good value for the price
    32 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    44 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    37 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    36 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Cision Communications CloudPercolate, now part of Seismic
    Content Creation
    Comparison of Content Creation features of Cision Communications Cloud and Percolate, now part of Seismic
    Feature
    Cision Communications Cloud
    -
    Ratings
    Percolate, now part of Seismic
    8.5
    13 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Ideation00 Ratings7.011 Ratings
    Approval workflows00 Ratings9.013 Ratings
    Content collaboration00 Ratings9.011 Ratings
    Content calendar00 Ratings8.013 Ratings
    Network for content licensing/production00 Ratings9.34 Ratings
    Content Publishing
    Comparison of Content Publishing features of Cision Communications Cloud and Percolate, now part of Seismic
    Feature
    Cision Communications Cloud
    -
    Ratings
    Percolate, now part of Seismic
    7.8
    13 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Content hub00 Ratings8.012 Ratings
    Content distribution00 Ratings8.012 Ratings
    Content promotion00 Ratings7.010 Ratings
    Content automation00 Ratings8.012 Ratings
    Content Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Content Reporting & Analytics features of Cision Communications Cloud and Percolate, now part of Seismic
    Feature
    Cision Communications Cloud
    -
    Ratings
    Percolate, now part of Seismic
    7.3
    13 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Closed-loop tracking and reporting00 Ratings7.011 Ratings
    Content performance analytics00 Ratings7.013 Ratings
    Campaign optimization dashboard00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cision Communications CloudPercolate, now part of Seismic
    Small Businesses
    Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
    Score5 out of 10
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Critical Mention
    Score8 out of 10
    CoSchedule Marketing Suite
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Meltwater
    Score7.6 out of 10
    PathFactory
    Score8.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cision Communications CloudPercolate, now part of Seismic
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (280 ratings)
    9.0
    (14 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (17 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (54 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (192 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (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 CloudPercolate, now part of Seismic
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Very useful for the management, planning, and programming of all social networks, as well as marketing campaigns. One of the best tools to make life easier for community managers and automate daily tasks such as content publishing. It is my favorite for managing my clients' networks.
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • Create social content from briefing all the way through to the approval process.
    • Social planner for managing topics and content streams across multiple channels.
    • Robust API and integrations.
    • Image library (with cost-free access/rights to stock photo libraries).
    • Frequent updates to the platform.
    • Built-in community management.
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • A lot of the features in Percolate are very well built, but only provide the bare minimum as features go. Its editorial calendar for example lacks export/import features and its multimedia repository only supports images. In many ways, Percolate is trying very hard to be too much at the same time.
    • At the moment, Percolate lacks user level management. We can add users who need to be moderated before posting, but it is for example not possible to add users just for one specific function (like the multimedia database).
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Percolate is a great tool for us, because we need the approval process workflows. The training was great when we first signed on, and the interface is very user friendly. We have trained our interns to use it as well with no issues. It makes keeping up with our content calendar a breeze and we can easily see what posts have been approved and which ones are still pending at a quick glance
    Incentivized
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Easy to set up approval flows, but not always necessary to follow all the requires steps
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Cision
    Easily accessible 24/7.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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
    Discontinued Products
    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
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Discontinued Products
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Rarely has a company shown this much support during implementation. This almost got to the point where it was too much hand holding. Sometimes, social teams just want the keys to the car so they can drive it themselves instead of waiting on someone to drive along with them...
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Percolate and Falcon have many similarities and provide many of the same features, however Percolate felt a bit more robust than Falcon, although it does come with a higher price tag to match. Both platforms are excellent for content approval workflows, content scheduling, and community management. Percolate offers additional features such as an Asset Management Library and a section for creative briefs and collaboration with internal teams.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Cision
    Easy to use, but still room for improvement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • Percolate has made it much easier to communicate between teams and has provided a return on investment in that area in particular.
    • Percolate also helps save time because you are able to schedule social media posts across channels easily.
    • It has also been an easy way to work with remote team members, which is very helpful.
    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.

    Percolate, now part of Seismic Screenshots

    Screenshot of Percolate's integrated marketing calendarScreenshot of Percolate's integrated marketing calendar