Cision PRWeb

Score7 out of 10

40 Reviews and Ratings

What is Cision PRWeb?

Cision PRWeb aims to impact customer behavior by providing efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels including search, social media and with industry-specific partner websites, bloggers and influencers.

Categories & Use Cases

Verified User

Executive (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have used Cision PRWeb in some form or fashion over the years for one primary function: wire distribution of press releases. We often have clients who make announcements where it's necessary to use such a service in order to maximize distribution and reach. There are a few premium services, several sub-premium, and a lot of other ones that compete for this (lucrative) business.

Pros

General wire distribution of press releases
Industry targeting
A decent user interface

Cons

Pricing is an ongoing issue with Cision. All their services are proudly expensive when evaluated alongside competitors.
It's strange, but, in my opinion, with each successive iteration of its software, Cision makes its products less and less user-friendly. There was a time at which Cision PRWeb was the gold standard. It almost feels deliberate that it progressively gets worse.
In my experience, customer service tends to lack empathy.

Return on Investment

Ultimately, Cision PRWeb is about distributing a press release over the wire. It gets that done just fine.
The real ROI test comes in the form of the price tag, since wire distributions are effectively all the same (don't let anyone tell you they aren't). The more it costs, the lower the ROI.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Business Wire, PR Newswire and Prowly

Other Software Used

Muck Rack, Lightworks

Verified User

Director in Marketing (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Cision PRWeb primarily as a media monitoring platform that lets us know when our organization or employees are mentioned online, on TV, on a podcast, or on the radio. We also use Cision PRWeb for sending out press releases and creating media lists for those based on a variety of criteria.

Pros

Covers a wide range of publications
Emails receive high open rates
Keeps relevant data on media members

Cons

Difficult to manually import and assign press list contacts
TVEyes partnership only provides low-quality video clips
General customer support team is incompetent and slow to respond

Return on Investment

Allows us to better quantify media mentions by tapping into TV, radio, and podcasts
Reduces turnaround time on press release publication
Helps cast a wider net when searching for potential media partners

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Meltwater

Other Software Used

HubSpot CRM, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Microsoft Teams

Verified User

C-Level Executive in Corporate (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Cision PRWeb is used to identify, research, and contact media across America. It is used to media release distribution, pitching, and importantly, identifying media to curate relationships with. It solves my problem of spending hours trawling through social media to identify media outlets and reporters, and then find their contact details. It also allows me to measure my outreach success and gives me key data insights to determine who has opened and read my communication. I cannot operate my consultancy without Cision PRWeb!

Pros

Identification of key and relevant media as a result of inputting key parameters
Cision PRWeb provides actionable insights into media engagement
Cision PRWeb provides a quick and easy platform on which to build and grow relationships with the media
Cision PRWeb facilitates the entry into new vertical media markets.

Cons

Increasing the volume of media that can receive communication would help - going from 5,000 to 7,500 or 10,000 would be a massive help.
Providing a social media platform in which to send out either X posts, LinkedIn, and Facebook posts to media as an alternative communication would help
Increasing the number of podcasters and there contact details would help.

Return on Investment

Insights into new publications
Allows me to broaden knowledge of publications clients should feature in
Builds media relationships

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Muck Rack and Agility

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365, Apple Keynote, Dialpad Connect

Scott Rosenblum View profile

President/Founder in Professional Services at LEVEL PR (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

It provides a newswire option at a very reasonable price.
The pricing is in a sweet spot for many startups who would want to use it.
It hits up all of the key media outlets that you would expect a wire service to be connected to.

Cons

Would be nice if they didn't charge extra for a release that has is submitted the day before it is scheduled to be posted.
The option to upload a word document instead of copy and pasting all release content into a form would be nice addition.
Uploading social media links a representative of a client is not so easy.

Most Important Features

The form that is used to post a press release is easy to use, most of the time.
A company doesn't have to sign any long-term agreements to use it. It can be used for a la carte purposes.
If you need assistance with an uploaded release, they have a very good editorial staff that is easy to reach. They are very helpful.

Return on Investment

It does as advertised as an added option for my client's news announcements.
It helps with a news item's SEO needs.
PRWeb can be used as needed, as opposed to setting up long-term commitment.

Alternatives Considered

PR Newswire

Other Software Used

Proposify, Toggl, Harpoon

Matthew Zajechowski View profile

Outreach Team Lead in Marketing at Digital Third Coast Internet Marketing (11-50 employees employees)

Pros

Media prospecting
Media reach
Monitoring

Cons

Template creation
Media Follow ups
Customer service

Most Important Features

Media database
Media database
Media database

Return on Investment

Allowed our organization to scale our pitching efforts.
Increased in placements and coverage, especially backlinks.

Alternatives Considered

BuzzStream and Muck Rack

Other Software Used

BuzzSumo, BuzzStream