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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 Small Businesses (1-50 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
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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 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
(1-15 of 15)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
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.
We primarily use Cision Communications Cloud to look up media contacts, build media lists, and send out email announcements.
- Media contacts
- Email distribution
- Tracking campaigns
- For new users, the learning curve is a bit daunting.
- It's not the most user-friendly platform.
- [The] price [could use some improvement]!
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
August 29, 2020
Cision Communications Cloud is Easy to Use
We used it for media monitoring purposes since our faculty members typically get a lot of press surrounding their research. Just the marketing team used it, but other individuals did have access. This system allowed us to compile a list of media mentions and place brief summaries on our website.
- Easy to use
- Email communication
- Monitoring
- None
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
At the Art Center, we use Cision Communications Cloud as a means to connect and interact with other art-based organizations and creators on both a local, regional, and national level. The main business problem we are looking to address with Cision Communications Cloud is to better inspire creative expression in people of all ages through more organic and widespread earned media. It is through the connections and limitless amount of detail in Cision Communications Cloud's contact database that we are able now more than ever able to connect with cultural and nonprofit organizations we may have never otherwise spoken to.
- Ease of Access. While other CRM software can get bogged down with high-level facts and figures, Cision is able to provide the same information more intuitively.
- In-depth data. It's great being able to track readership and monetary value of earned media as well as review engagement with widespread emails for that it provides the user with an idea of how to better strategize and personalize what we send.
- The onboarding process. An extremely thorough and friendly onboarding process made learning the ins and outs of Cision Communications Cloud a breeze.
- Mailing Lists. The functionality of creating new mailing lists without downloading and uploading an edited template is not as clear as it should.
- Emails. The amount of unrelated emails you get when signing up is a bit of an annoyance.
- Hidden features. It's confusing for some users when options/elements are presented yet when they go to click to use them it just brings them to a page to buy said elements. If you could either cross them out or make them a different color to show that they aren't accessible, that would clear up that confusion.
We use it to track media placements and mentions for a variety of clients that we serve as a PR agency. We use it across the entire agency but our clients do not use it. It helps us keep track of all the media placements in one place as well as do our monthly reporting on things such as share of voice, SEO impact, etc. to help show the value of our work to our clients.
*[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.]
- Media monitoring: good at catching broadcast clips and online clips compared to other tools I've used.
- Share of voice against competitors is also easy to use and good to show the value of brand within the industry.
- Some of the searches can be really complex to understand and can pick up a lot of unwanted media hits.
- Setting up dashboards and learning to use them can be hard and have a bit of a learning curve.
June 01, 2019
Satisfied Cision Communications Cloud Customer
We use it for monitoring and measuring the quality and content of coverage for our clients and prospective clients. We also use the platform to conduct competitive landscape analyses and to inform the creation of our pitching strategy.
- It is very comprehensive in what it pulls in.
- It allows for convenient slicing and dicing of the data after some practice.
- The customer service is great.
- There is a very steep learning curve for navigating the filters and setup.
- It doesn't handle Medium.com well (it ranks every post on the site as very high impact by default even if a Medium poster has no followers).
October 23, 2018
Cision Communications Cloud: It does what you need it to do
Our PR team uses Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* to monitor media coverage in real time and generate timely media coverage reports for executives and other key stakeholders. It also helps us identify industry and competitor trends.
- Tracks media coverage in near real time.
- Easy to use dashboards and reports.
- Great customer service.
- Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* is starting to offer services that allow users to track actions taken based on coverage, but the platform is a little behind the curve compared to AirPR.
August 10, 2018
Increasing Share of Voice using Cision Communications Cloud
I have developed a product called MarkInTell which is service for companies to increase Share of Voice through Influencer Management. I operate as a small agency for smaller organizations that need to increase their voice among targeted industry consultants, writers, speakers and analysts. I treat these influencers as major accounts and track communication with them using CRM tools and a sales funnel.
- The tool is very high quality and produces an impressive report
- The data captured is right up to date and in real time
- The support team is very responsive and delivers on schedule
- The price of the service is rather high, I'd prefer an all-encompassing price model similar to how Adobe prices
- The learning curve is a bit steep until one becomes more familiar with the terminology such as earned media and other PR expressions
July 16, 2018
Hey good lookin'
We use Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* for two things. We track the success of our media outreach and how well those messages are reported and repeated. A less obvious use for Cision Communications Cloud, although very important, is tracking the messaging activities of our competitors. In a political environment in which ideas and policies often start outside our state and move in, this has been tremendously valuable.
*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.
- The best graphic design in the media monitoring sector. The best computer science in the world isn't worth much of the end user can't quickly generate clear, cogent reports. For our team, this was the standout feature of Cision Communications Cloud.
- The daily reports by sector, key competitors, and most valued media outlets are an easy and productive way to start the day.
- The Cision software suite makes it easy to generate high-quality summary reports for quarterly meetings, board meetings, etc.
- At this price, more of the add-ons should be included in the base package.
- The media distribution lists can be mildly outdated.
- The base package comes with a login for one person. It should include more than that.
January 25, 2017
Best media database for PR pros
The entire accounts team at my agency uses Cision for media list building. It addresses our need to build solid, accurate and up-to-date media lists to use on behalf of our clients that range from major FinTech companies to nonprofits.
- The new Cision media building interface is incredibly easy to use and very clean. Love the update.
- The new edition also includes more detailed bios on each journalist-- very helpful for pitching efforts!
- In the past, we've been concerned about that accuracy of contact information-- with the new interface, it is clear that Cision is investing their time into providing the best contact database out there.
- I'm personally still learning how to use the new edition, and have not run into too many problems. It takes a little while longer to build your search, but that in turn leads to better results.
- Outside of the media database, the monitoring system still lacks metrics that go above and beyond tracking mentions.
- The analytics platform should be integrating with Google Analytics to show how articles are really performing!
August 08, 2016
Cision Communications Cloud: Rescuing PR professionals from the Dark Ages of PR Reporting
It is being used across the whole organization, but primarily by me. It addresses the very real business problem of proof of performance. In public relations, gaining measurable insight into how awareness translates into performance is difficult. The other meaningful business problem it solves is it reduces the time myself and my team need to dedicate to reporting. Since the dashboard and metrics are so simple and 'self-serving' - it means neither me or anyone on my team needs to burn several hours working in the tool. This is valuable time now that can be spent on more important tasks like pitching and securing coverage for my clients.
- Very attractive dashboards. These dashboards not only look great, but they are very accurate.
- Dead easy to pull reports. I can pull a report in 2 minutes now, versus a competitor's tool - that required sometimes three HOURS.
- Support is absolutely top notch. There is no waiting for an account person - the chat system is open during most business hours and each of the agents are very well versed in both the tool and the needs of my firm.
- Cision worked with me on pricing and was able to scale to the economics of my company.
- The tool is very easy to use and not 'fiddly' like competitors' - learning curve is very slight.
- Newsletters should be able to come from my company's email address. Currently the system is set up so the newsletters come from Trendkite - and my clients are like 'Who is Trendkite? Did this come from you?'
- The filtering system for incoming coverage is fantastic. I recommend adding more filters so PR professionals can weed out coverage on things like 'sales' 'bargains' and 'deals' — which are very pervasive in incoming coverage.
- I strongly recommend outbound social media tools INSIDE the coverage dashboard so users can push out the coverage they see on the dashboard to their social networks and share. This would be huge and time saving.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Cision is being used at my organization in order to distribute press releases to various media outlets (local and national) as well as track any unpaid media value that we have received through various forms of publicity. It is currently being used in my department alone (marketing communications), but we use it in conjunction with other tools such as Google Analytics in order to determine the effectiveness and ROI of a publicized event such as the grand opening of our new office. The tool is essential to distributing our press releases as well as later tracking release effectiveness in the form of unpaid media value.
- In addition to tracking statistics of the latest release submission, you are able to access previously submitted releases with real time statistics. This is very useful when determining which publications are effectively reaching your intended audiences and which are consistently missing expectations.
- Impressive database of existing media publications. My company is in a very niche industry, but Cision was still able to send our releases to such publications. Even if they don't have a publication (such as a very small local newspaper) all you do is send an email to your account representative and it will be taken care of quickly.
- Amazing Customer Support! I can't tell you how many webinars I sat through and how confused I was when I first began (a con I will address). Anyways, in addition to almost daily webinars, the online chat supporters as well as phone supporters were amazing and patient.
- Ease of multi-tasking. With Cision, you can have multiple tabs open within the interface each providing different functions. This could allow you to search more potential media outlets mid-press release submission.
- Unfortunately, I had a difficult time using this product initially. I found that the interface took some time to get used to (granted this was the first PR software I had used). One feature I particularly struggled with was figuring out how exactly to distribute a press release which was one of the most important reasons my company bought this software!
November 16, 2013
The Regretful Decision to go with CISION.
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Ability to see large variety of editorial calendars
- Monitoring made it a central point for searching with keywords and client names
- Clearly identify how you are charged per contact and charged each time you submit a release. Even if you load your own contacts into the DB, you are charged for sending a release to them even though the contact was not "queried" by the software. This meant that I would have to submit two separate releases - one to my existing DB of contacts (to not be charged for it), and then a second more difficult process for posting the release to submit to the queried DB from Cision.
- I worked with one particular sales person for several months before making the decision to give the software a try. Once the sales guy has you set up, locks you into a contract, then he is long gone. No help, no followup, no set up...just his commission check on off to the next victim. Locked into a contract for a year and can't get out. Have only used the service for a total of 3 releases as I spent more time trying to make the software work for me and learning as you go thru the steps, that it is all not what it seems. You are given a basic entry into the system but if you want to use it to its best ability, there are more charges for that.
- Be careful for what you sign up for. Its a bait and hook scenario. They get you with the basic program to lock into the contract but to make the software truly work to what you were lead to believe it does (and I'm sure it does) but for a whole lot more money than what you are expecting.
- Great software for large companies and large budgets. Not affordable or an easy to use solution for those independent contractors who are focused om very specific niche industries.
- Database updates tend to be slow. Change of emails and editor updates should be caught more quickly from the service - isn't that what you are paying for? An up to date media list.
- Many editor contacts listed in the database provide a name only and no source of contact information. This makes the listing of the name pretty much useless.