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Users have found this product to be incredibly versatile, with a range of use cases that cater to their specific needs. Customers have …
Overview
What is Cision Communications Cloud?
CIsion Communications Cloud is used for identifying key media and influencers, connecting with audiences, monitoring traditional and social media, and analyzing outcomes.
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What is Cision Communications Cloud?
CIsion Communications Cloud is used for identifying key media and influencers, connecting with audiences, monitoring traditional and social media, and analyzing outcomes.
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Product Details
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- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is Cision Communications Cloud?
Cision Communications Cloud® empowers communicators with tools that help them reach the right audiences, deliver impactful results across traditional, digital and social media, and track a brand in one integrated solution. Automated analysis helps users report and translate campaigns into insights.
Cision Communications Cloud Features
- Supported: Media Monitoring and Analytics
- Supported: Media Relationship Management
- Supported: Social Listening
Cision Communications Cloud Screenshots
Cision Communications Cloud Videos
Media Relationship Management
Cision Social Listening
Cision Communications Cloud Competitors
Cision Communications Cloud Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
CIsion Communications Cloud is used for identifying key media and influencers, connecting with audiences, monitoring traditional and social media, and analyzing outcomes.
Agility PR Solutions, Meltwater, and Muck Rack are common alternatives for Cision Communications Cloud.
Reviewers rate Implementation Rating highest, with a score of 10.
The most common users of Cision Communications Cloud are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
Users have found this product to be incredibly versatile, with a range of use cases that cater to their specific needs. Customers have praised its ability to streamline communication within teams, making it easier for members to collaborate and share information. Reviewers have also noted its effectiveness in project management, with the product providing a centralized platform for planning, tracking progress, and assigning tasks. Additionally, users have found value in its functionality for customer relationship management, allowing them to keep track of interactions and effectively manage their customer base. Overall, the product has proven to be a valuable tool for enhancing productivity and improving efficiency across various industries and professional environments.
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Easy-to-use and Intuitive User Interface: Users have found the user interface of Cision PR Software to be easy-to-use, intuitive, and not overwhelming. They appreciate the well-designed and user-friendly interface of Cision Communications Cloud.
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Exceptional Reporting Capabilities: Users highly praise the exceptional reporting capabilities of Cision Communications Cloud. They find the platform's reporting features to be interactive, detailed, and customizable. Many users value how these reports help them quantify the impact of media on their business and gain insights into trends. Additionally, users appreciate the media tracking capability of Cision as it aids in measuring PR results.
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Effective Search Functionality: Users find the search function in Cision to be helpful and excellent for quickly obtaining high-level information or metrics about a publication. The detailed database of contacts in Cision is also highly valued by users who find it useful for identifying reporters and influencers. Moreover, they highlight that the new edition of the media building interface is easy to use.
User Interface: Many users have found the user interface to be confusing, clunky, and not intuitive, making tasks difficult and cumbersome to navigate. These issues have been mentioned by multiple reviewers.
Search Tools: Some users have experienced issues with the search tools, which sometimes fail to pick up all the coverage or include irrelevant content, requiring additional clean-up work. This has been a common frustration among users.
Customer Service: Users have expressed frustration with the customer service/account team, stating that it takes repeated requests to get an answer from them. Multiple users have mentioned difficulties in getting timely responses from customer service representatives.
Users recommend entering into a trial or limited agreement first to test the software's suitability for the company. They suggest leveraging the support team for training and assistance with any questions. Users highly recommend Cision for its usefulness in public relations and media relations, as it is considered the most comprehensive media list monitoring software available, providing accurate and up-to-date contact information. Overall, Cision is recommended for organizations that require up-to-date media contact information and extensive news coverage, and it can benefit organizations in various capacities. Users advise contacting a representative to receive a thorough explanation of the features and functionalities of Cision. They find Cision very useful for PR purposes and suggest setting aside time to onboard oneself with all the features and functionalities of the platform. Users also suggest comparing Cision against other similar platforms and considering the level of support needed. In summary, users believe Cision is the industry standard and a reliable software option.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
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June 15, 2023
Couldn't be happier!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Cision for daily media coverage along with news release distribution on a situational basis. The platform allows us to skim through several articles from various news outlets on topics of interest. It also allows us to distribute news releases in an efficient way that will reach our members.
- Collects media coverage
- Support service
- Check ins
- N/A
June 03, 2022
Cision Communications Cloud Keeps Skies Sunny
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Cision helped with media monitoring, press releases, and media database for pitching. It helps streamline pitching knowing their database is up to date and accurate which saves time researching reporters' contact information. It also provided timely media monitoring to make sure we were on top of the news that interested us most.
- Media monitoring
- Press releases
- Media contact database
- The sorting features are clunky and hard to use
- Media monitoring doesn't seem to catch all
March 26, 2022
The best media database software there is, but room for improvement in other offerings
We use Cision as a media research database for a wide variety of clients in an array of industries, both domestic and international. As an integrated marketing firm, we have teams across many disciplines, but Cision is typically used by those in our PR department only. It's an integral daily tool to develop media lists for PR campaigns.
- Creating media lists.
- Researching media targets that may exist for new business opportunities or existing clients.
- Reporting results.
- While the content generated through media research is high quality, the interface to get there is often clunky and slow.
- The reporting features are good but not great. The software still misses a lot, and it takes time to comb through to determine what needs to be added manually.
December 13, 2021
Easy to use, and has what we need!
We use Cision Communications Cloud for our media database. We utilize it to find journalists' contact info and details on publications. We've used it for about eight years and will continue to leverage the platform, as it is needed as a PR professional.
- Easy to use
- Helpful
- Good customer service
- Price
December 05, 2021
PR Simplicity with Great Reach!
We use Cision Communications Cloud for our company's press releases to reach a broad audience. We are a quickly growing small business and awareness is our biggest challenge. Cision Communications Cloud is a great resource to get our name out there! The [ease] of use in selecting targeted press releases was the main reason we chose Cision Communications Cloud.
- Reach - A large list of mediums and new organizations that pick up our press releases.
- Simplicity - Step by step approach to releasing news items with guidance along the way. Things like support with titles to get the best response [is] very helpful.
- Expanded reach in technical niches - We are [an] electrical manufacturing company and our audience [is] quite difficult to [reach]. Cision Communications Cloud does a great job of helping us target.
I previously used Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* for one of my clients at our agency. We used it to track and measure earned media mentions, along with analyzing where a lot of our coverage was coming from. From there, we would use that info to seek out new opportunities and conduct competitive analyses as to how we were stacking up against other products/companies in the space. It was also really nice to have the automatic reporting capabilities so we could download and export metrics to our client teams.
*[This review was written near the time Cision acquired TrendKite. TrendKite is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.]
*[This review was written near the time Cision acquired TrendKite. TrendKite is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.]
- Easy and attractive reporting capabilities.
- Intuitive platform, very user-friendly.
- Ability to measure results (like share of voice) that you couldn't do manually.
- Time efficiency - takes the manual labor out of a lot of measuring and searching for journalists.
- Hard to get your boolean/search query accurate.
- Slow customer support from the technical side (not from the Sales side).
- Media database is mostly updated, but not always
June 07, 2021
Cision Communications Cloud is the Right Choice
We use Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* for client alerts and searches, monitoring and listening, and reporting. Each account person leverages Cision Communications Cloud for their accounts. We specifically like the key message analysis, share of voice comparison against the competition or other brands within an organization, and social amplification. We also use the SEO score and like it's integrated with MOZ. It makes monitoring media coverage easier, pulling client results easier and really differentiates us from the competition when going after new business or helping guide clients with data-driven decisions. We use Cision's media database for media list development and we have access to Cision's analytics but isn't any good - especially compared to Cision Communications Cloud - the platform has not merged their analytics yet. Cision also offers social media posting but we still like Sprout Social better.
*[This review was written near to the time of Cision's acquisition of TrendKite. The former TrendKite product is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.]
*[This review was written near to the time of Cision's acquisition of TrendKite. The former TrendKite product is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.]
- "Talking About" option on media database
- Widgets on Cision Communications Cloud and SEO value
- The platform is easy to use
- Customization of Cision Communications Cloud reports
- Cision Communications Cloud customer service
- Not all placements are picked up or a lot of times the wrong placements are included.
- Although you can add in placements/coverage - it does not always end up in your report.
- If you want wire coverage (e.g. - PRNewswire, PRWeb, Businesswire) it won't capture the coverage if it is behind a firewall or taken off the site so you need to capture a report the day it runs or it skews the results if you are creating monthly reports.
- Now that TrendKite has merged with Cision not as many ebooks, resources and content is available - TrendKite used to have a great resource section.
- Cision customer service isn't as responsive as Cision TrendKite's customer service reps
May 20, 2021
Cision Communications Cloud Review
Cision Communications Cloud is primarily used by my organization for media monitoring and distribution. It is used by my department (Public Affairs), but media mentions are distributed in a daily report to leadership and other higher-level employees. Cision Communications Cloud allows us to get an exact idea of what is being said about my organization. This intel helps us plan our messaging and get ahead of situations. On the distribution side, Cision Communications Cloud makes it easy -- "click of the mouse" -- to get our press release out to the media and other stakeholders.
- Easy-to-use interface
- Broad coverage
- Excellent customer service
- Does what I need it to do
- Never experienced an outage
- Add easy-to-find training modules
- Needs to improve on some hyper-local media outlets
Cision Communications Cloud (Trendkite)* is used by account coordinators and account executives to create monthly and quarterly reports for clients. We are specifically in the media relations branch of our small company. It gives us the tools to demonstrate value to clients, especially those who might not understand the power of PR. We create reports on a monthly, quarterly and as needed basis. Sometimes clients ask for a custom report before a board meeting or for a specific launch.
*This review was written before Cision acquired TrendKite. TrendKite is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.
*This review was written before Cision acquired TrendKite. TrendKite is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.
- I like that Cision gives us specific numbers (ad value, total readership, etc.) as many of our clients respond best to concrete facts like this.
- Cision customer service is the best! I've never waited for more than 5 minutes for a response, they are always nice and willing to explain things to me clearly.
- I like the real-time media alerts that you can sign up for, it helps me keep track of media hits when I'm not actively thinking about them.
- Cision often picks up coverage that isn't from my clients, so I'll have to go in and delete them.
- It would be nice to be able to edit the information from within a report and not have to go back to the dashboard and then re-pull the report.
January 13, 2021
So far so good!
We just used Cision Communications Cloud in order to send out an important press release via PR Newswire regarding a software update that we pushed out. This is helping us to increase awareness and spread the details of the software update to our customers as well as the media.
- Cision has the largest distribution network in terms of press releases
- Cision Communications Cloud provides a detailed and almost immediate visibility report on the results of the release
- I experienced some customer service struggles--mostly in that I had to wait on hold for 15+ minutes before I could ask a simple question along the way.
- My release needed to be sent in a faster manner than traditional, so I had to follow up after each step wasn't completed quite as fast as it was detailed that it would. I did receive help, I just had to initiate the next step each time.
December 23, 2020
Cision: still the most robust platform available
Currently, Cision Communications Cloud is only used in our Public Relations department which consists of two employees. We primarily use it to look up contact information for media outlets and other writers. We've also used the TrendKite feature to monitor media coverage for both of our clients, which has proven to be very helpful in our monthly reporting.
- Great at providing a full list of contacts for each outlet we're trying to reach.
- TrendKite provides great insights for coverage, especially in terms of reach and SEO.
- Robust system that provides what many others cannot.
- Would like more features to flag contacts as inactive.
- Would like to be able to modify contacts already listed, for those that may have switched jobs and Cision hasn't updated their files yet.
- Oftentimes, the interface can feel "clunky," constantly having to click through things to find the information I'm looking for.
December 15, 2020
Great Product for Building Media & Influencer Relationships!
Cision Communications Cloud is used at our organization to reach media outlets in our markets and influencers relevant to our specific audiences and to build brand awareness. It is used exclusively in the marketing department but supporting all departments of the organization. The business problem we are addressing with the Communications Cloud is brand awareness and assistance in reaching individuals who could benefit from online career training and take advantage of grant funding that covers the cost.
- Customer Support and consistent outreach from account reps.
- Resources and toolkits for best utilizing their products.
- Providing accurate data and contact info.
- Ease of use of influencer and outlet search tools.
- Difficult to format email campaign templates.
- Duplicates of contacts, outlets in lists.
- Reporting breakdowns of campaigns, or emails of performance could be beneficial.
December 15, 2020
Too Pricey, well suited for startups or smaller companies
Cision is used to monitor news coverage and build analytical reports. PR is looking into possibly using this for press releases. It is mainly used by the public relations team within the marketing department.
- Media lists.
- Fairly easy to use.
- Searching for bios.
- Variety of media outlets, news, blogs, etc.
- Viewership data.
- Search is not as accurate as we would like.
- Database doesn't seem to be well maintained. Not always updated or accurate.
- Receive too many emails. Seems that even if you unsubscribe, you still get alerts.
- Can find news on Google that Cision does not carry or seemed to miss.
- Very high priced for what you get.
- Cision can be very slow at times, causing timeouts on our computers.
November 18, 2020
Building better media lists
Our agency has used Cision for many years. A year ago, we switched from the classic Cision to the Cision Communications Cloud. We mainly use this tool for building media lists. It helps us to better identify appropriate media contacts by location, subject area, type of publication, job role, etc. Theoretically, using Cision Communications Cloud provides the most current information on media contacts. We're told that Cision makes more than 20,000 updates a day. However, I have found that quite a few contacts are still outdated. We've provided frequent updates to Cision as we learn of incorrect information. I am the primary person using Cision in doing public relations work for my client — development and distribution of press releases, guest columns, media advisories, etc. My work sometimes includes the assistance of an intern. There is one additional person at our agency who uses Cision to build media lists for other clients. About a year ago, our agency switched to sending press releases out through the Cision platform for my client, rather than separately through Microsoft Word mail merge. Sending email press releases out through Cision provides an "opt out" function and also helps us to keep track of open rates.
- When I send contact updates to Cision Communications Cloud customer support, they always reply, usually in a timely fashion.
- I like the filters to the Cision Communications Cloud media lists which allow us to drill down by subject, job role, location, DMA, etc.
- Our account manager (Mike Sullivan) has been friendly. He's been able to keep our subscription at the same price in recent years.
- 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.
September 29, 2020
Positive Experience, Great Product
It is being used in the marketing department as a means to distribute press releases. We have sent over 15 in the past year and have been pleased with the functionality of the program and reach. Great product.
- Easy reporting
- Good reach
- Great customer service
- Reasonable price
- More characters on included Twitter post
September 28, 2020
Best media monitoring tool for PR professionals
We used Cision Communications Cloud to distribute press releases via PR Newswire. We also use it as our primary media monitoring service. We are a full service agency, and the platform is primarily used by our Comm's and Content team. It easily allows us to track our clients' mentions in the news (print and broadcast) and create monthly and quarterly reports.
- Easy to use.
- Captures the majority of coverage.
- Compiles reports in a way that's easy for our client to understand.
- Captures metrics that are quantifiable.
- Customer service is fantastic!
- Influencers database is very helpful.
- Disconnect between Cision and PR Newswire account reps.
- Inaccurate coverage captured (ie news from other companies that's irrelevant).
- Not capturing some articles our clients are mentioned in (particularly on major news sites/broadcasts).
September 09, 2020
Improvements Could Be Made
The cloud is used just by the marketing department, and most specifically within the PR team. It helps us manage media lists.
- Media lists.
- Customer support/account service team.
- Outlet metrics (uvms, circulation etc).
- Search tool functionality.
- Lack of details for contacts.
- Slow updates to contacts.
Overall the tool is easy to use and you can find exactly what you need pretty quickly. The list save and export feature is very user friendly and makes it very efficient and a big time saver. I use for searches and then it's super easy to get more granular to generate lists specific to your goals. The reporting and monitoring is also very useful for understanding the impact of our efforts.
- List building
- Monitoring Impact
- Reporting and ROI Tracking
- Pricing can be difficult for smaller companies
- Navigation can be confusing
- Influencer marketing can use some better features
August 23, 2020
Three Cheers for Cision
Cision is used at our agency to quickly and accurately compile lists of target media outlets and contacts for media relations. Using the online platform, we're able to sift through publications across the country to find reporters that will have an interest in our clients.
- Maintain media lists
- Perform ad-hoc reporter research
- Customer service
- User interface
- Customizability
July 15, 2020
PR Strategy Success with Cision
Cision is used to enhance and monitor our Public Relations efforts. We keep track of media contacts, news coverage and social mentions. We use analytics to gauge sentiment in the marketplace. We monitor our competitors and compare earned media results. It's a fantastic way to pull month-end and periodic reports for Board review, we really appreciate not having to keep track of placements in spreadsheets!
- Monitors media mentions. We can see where our news releases are published and we can see where there are stories about us that may require follow up with the journalist or publication.
- Monitors competitors. We can easily see the news our competitors are sharing and the volume of coverage they receive. This gives us great benchmarking data to increase our share of voice in earned media.
- Provides information about sentiment so we have an idea of overall perception the media is providing people about our company. This allows us to follow up and provide information and education where needed. It also lets us know where we need work to improve perception in the media.
- Customizable Media lists. Create lists with freelancers and staff journalists. Include notes about contacts, pitch ideas, etc.
- When people leave your organization, it can be difficult to change settings and automated emails.
- More ability to customize searches and to tweak them without the assistance of Cision of staff.
July 13, 2020
A great PR tool for Marketers
Our Marketing Department uses Cision Communications Cloud nearly daily. As a manager, the daily reports are vital for me to see how we are doing compared to competitors. From the PR aspect, Cision makes it easy and effective to send out, and organize, press releases all in one place. My team has also used Cision to discover new bloggers to build relationships with.
- Easy and organized way to distribute press releases
- Effective to find bloggers and people already talking about your services
- Excellent reporting and stats on competitors
- Better on-boarding walk through, I didn't receive much support or a walk around of the service when taking over ownership.
June 18, 2020
A few thoughts on CISION
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
It's used by the Marketing Department, specifically Media Relations. We utilize the PR element of Cision for dissemination of media releases and related information, for researching key media outlets and personnel, for daily media placement information, ROI, etc. We utilize the service every day and it has been key in helping reach target audiences.
- Media distribution.
- Media placement.
- Research.
- Media lists need to be updated more regularly.
- Expansion of media clips to include video versus having to retain a separate service.
- Cost is exorbitant.
June 18, 2020
Cision: Media relations and monitoring
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Our team is able to see what everyone is working on. We can see who is sending emails to which writers and outlets so there is no duplication of work and confusion to editors and publishers receiving multiple pitches.
- Media database.
- Media monitoring.
- Article sentiment.
- Article tagging.
It's used only by the Marketing department right now. I'm the only company employee who spends time on PR (split with Customer Comms) and have one freelancer who we give access to use the platform. Our Digital Marketing Manager also uses the platform to help supplement monitoring HARO and for advertising information. Cision helps with competitor intelligence and understanding our PR reach.
- Media database of reporters is always helpful and what I consistently come back to Cision for.
- Monitoring: I find it harder now at a B2B organization to measure impact with Cision, but Cision's ability to monitor sheer volume and general impact has always been helpful.
- Share of voice.
- UX when it comes to switching between systems. I understand that it's a process that is long and can be difficult to accomplish but feels like as such a powerhouse Cision must have a faster process for this. e.g., Trendkite. Overall, as a user, I get the sense that Cision just buys companies and everything I touch as a user requires me to enter a new system/previous company's interface. It's also complicated to remember where things live, or how you get to similar aspects in other platforms (e.g., Distribution and Message Center).
- HARO: I'm interested in certain search terms within HARO and am surprised there isn't a way to create an email alert based on my search term.
Cision Communications Cloud (formerly Vocus PR Suite) is used by my department, which is a public relations team of myself and my boss. We also occasionally allow contractors/PR agencies we work with to use it temporarily for specific projects. We use the software for two primary purposes. First, we use Cision to research news media outlets and contacts and organize them in to media lists. Second, we use Cision's distribution feature to send a company news release or announcement to the members of a particular media list.
- Cision Communications Cloud has an extensive media outlet database so it allows public relations and communications professionals to find the right media outlets and contacts for any media market in the United States and for just about any specialty or trade news media.
- Cision Communications Cloud is very user-friendly. It's easy to navigate and find what you need, plus offers a lot of options for how to organize your contacts and media lists.
- The customer support team at Cision is always very helpful and gets back to you quickly when you need assistance. Cision also offers online/teleconference training classes plus a great help section within the portal that contains articles and "how to" videos.
- Cision could do a better job of keeping all media contacts in its database up to date. It is difficult because in today's media landscape, turnover is high BUT having the right names and contact information is critical for the public relations and communications professionals who use the software.
- Cision could start offering lower cost package options for smaller companies or agencies. Right now, the cost of subscriptions is at a level that smaller organizations likely can't afford it but don't necessary need all the features that larger, enterprise companies will utilize and are willing and able to pay for.