Push for "Try before you buy" with this one
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We original purchased Critical Mention for client campaigns that incorporated traditional and social media. We wanted to beef up our media lists without having a coordinator do the research manually and produce accurate media reports that would put a $ value for those clients that request it. For social we wanted to track a hashtag for a campaign we were putting into market. We did a demo with a sales manager and they reassured us that it would do all that. They don't allow you a trial period - we purchased it based on the assurances of the sales team.
Pros
- Respond to questions.
Cons
- The media database was not as robust as our proprietary one, it contained a key journalist that had been dead for 3 years for example, others that retired or moved to other outlets. Its influencer list was dismal. Fortunately when I complained (which I did the first time I used it) they removed it from our subscription and did not charge us. They said we could add the updates or add our contacts - not sure why they thought someone would pay for a service and then give valuable information to the company that would then be shared with competitors. They removed it from our bill so that at least was positive.
- It only tracks hashtags across social media accounts that have been added to its system. Right from the beginning, just by running a hashtag search on IG, we could see missing posts. They said we could add all those in batches or manually one at a time which was work we were hoping to avoid with this subscription. Basically, it becomes a service that prepares nice-looking reports, not one that monitors mentions on public accounts.
- They should allow a trial demo period.
Most Important Features
- They unfortunately were not able to deliver on what we needed.
Return on Investment
- It cost us time and money I'll never get back unfortunately.
Alternatives Considered
Keyhole and Brand24
