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Meltwater

Meltwater

Overview

What is Meltwater?

Meltwater Media Intelligence platform is a set of public relations software tools for media monitoring, social media monitoring, and collecting brand insights. The four areas of functionality are Monitor, Analyze, Distribute, and Engage. (Note that this product combines features from…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Meltwater has proven to be a versatile platform for a wide range of use cases, as reported by its users. Organizations have relied on …
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Yes and No

7 out of 10
July 08, 2022
Incentivized
I use the platform for media monitoring and reporting. It allows me to see the coverage of stories created by the University to meet KPIs …
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Expensive but efficient

6 out of 10
December 01, 2021
Incentivized
We use Meltwater [Media Intelligence Platform] as a search and monitoring tool within our marketing department. It allows us to see when …
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Pricing

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What is Meltwater?

Meltwater Media Intelligence platform is a set of public relations software tools for media monitoring, social media monitoring, and collecting brand insights. The four areas of functionality are Monitor, Analyze, Distribute, and Engage. (Note that this product combines features from the vendor…

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.meltwater.com/en/pricing

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Details

What is Meltwater?

Meltwater Media Intelligence platform is a set of public relations software tools for media monitoring, social media monitoring, and collecting brand insights. The four areas of functionality are Monitor, Analyze, Distribute, and Engage. (Note that this product combines features from the vendor Meltwater's former Buzz, Press, and News products.)

Meltwater Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Cision Communications Cloud, Agility PR Solutions, and Mention are common alternatives for Meltwater.

Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 7.5.

The most common users of Meltwater are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Reviews and Ratings

(164)

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!

Meltwater has proven to be a versatile platform for a wide range of use cases, as reported by its users. Organizations have relied on Meltwater for media monitoring, allowing them to track media mentions for their own organization, competitors, and the industry as a whole. By utilizing keywords and sentiment analysis, users have been able to stay up-to-date on specific topics of interest, such as technological advancements or industry sentiment. Meltwater's comprehensive coverage has also allowed users to identify placements on obscure trade or science sites that don't show up in traditional search engines' alerts.

Additionally, Meltwater has served as an all-in-one solution for various marketing and communication needs. Users have utilized the platform for social listening, content management, reporting, public relations, influencer relations, and even newsletter distribution. The platform's ability to compile targeted media distribution lists has proved valuable for corporate PR efforts, while the clipping component has helped users generate comprehensive reports by compiling relevant clips. The user-friendly interface and extensive media contacts database have made Meltwater a go-to choice for organizations looking to streamline their marketing and communications efforts.

Furthermore, Meltwater has played a crucial role in enhancing brand presence and engagement on social media platforms. By utilizing Meltwater Buzz, organizations have been able to listen and evaluate diverse audiences across different regions and cultures. The scheduling capabilities have allowed users to plan and promote events effectively while the tool's social listening capabilities have facilitated tracking social mentions and engaging with a large social audience. Moreover, Meltwater's Media Intelligence Platform has provided valuable insights into influencer marketing efforts with its extensive influencer database.

Despite some users experiencing glitches or dissatisfaction after prolonged use, Meltwater has received positive recommendations from customers who appreciate its continually improving services. It has been praised as a great tool for finding influencers and managing influencer marketing efforts efficiently. Educational institutions have utilized Meltwater to educate students on digital analytics and monitoring online conversations, further highlighting its versatility. Organizations across industries have found Meltwater useful for monitoring media coverage, tracking online presence, compiling comprehensive reports, and staying updated on trends and topics of interest. Overall, Meltwater's Media Intelligence Platform has proven to be an indispensable tool for media research, outreach, distribution, and monitoring.

Convenient Email Reports: Users appreciate the convenience of receiving morning and afternoon media monitoring reports via email, saving them time and ensuring they are always informed about mentions of their company or competitors in the news. This feature has been praised by many reviewers.

Efficient Content Curation: The ability to archive relevant stories directly from the monitoring report and easily add them to company newsletters is highly valued. It streamlines the process of curating content for newsletters, making it more efficient for users. Many reviewers have found this feature beneficial.

Customizable Monitoring and Automated Newsletters: Users find it beneficial to be able to customize the frequency of media monitoring reports and set up automatic newsletters based on archived stories. This flexibility allows them to tailor the monitoring to their specific needs and automate their content distribution. Several reviewers have expressed appreciation for this customizable and automated feature.

  1. Limited database coverage: Some users have mentioned that Meltwater's database lacks coverage of non-traditional media sources such as bloggers and social media influencers, which are important for picking up niche content.

  2. Disjointed experience with integration: Several users have found that the platform does not seamlessly integrate with the Engage platform, leading to a disjointed user experience when using both tools.

  3. Expensive for non-profits: Some users feel that Meltwater is expensive for non-profit organizations, making it less accessible for those with limited budgets.

Users commonly recommend the following when using Linkfluence:

  1. Utilize training sessions: Joining training sessions offered by Linkfluence is advised to better understand how to effectively use the tool. This recommendation highlights the importance of investing time in learning the features and functionalities of Linkfluence.

  2. Define scope and choose keywords wisely: Users suggest defining the scope of use and selecting keywords carefully to avoid getting lost in the data. By narrowing down the focus and choosing relevant keywords, users can reduce noise and increase the meaningfulness of their analysis.

  3. Configure dashboards effectively: Users emphasize spending enough time on configuring dashboards in Linkfluence, especially when choosing keywords. This recommendation aims to reduce irrelevant information and enhance the accuracy of social media analysis.

By following these recommendations, users can make better use of Linkfluence's social listening capabilities, gain deeper insights, and improve their monitoring and analytic efforts.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 38)
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Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Meltwater to pitch stories for clients by developing up-to-date media lists from national and international outlets. It is very useful in searching by outlet, beat, media type, etc. instead of having to rely on Google and publicly sourced information to reach out to reporters.
  • Media Contacts
  • Pitching
  • More updated contacts
  • Expanded templates for emails
Meltwater Media is well suited for developing media lists and keeping them organized within a large database. However, it is not as suited for wider email campaigns or ongoing conversations with reporters. It is good for large email blasts, but not targeted pitching.
July 08, 2022

Yes and No

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use the platform for media monitoring and reporting. It allows me to see the coverage of stories created by the University to meet KPIs and satisfy researchers and managers that pillars are being achieved.
  • Picks up radio interviews
  • Date range options are good
  • Media contacts are handy
  • There are limitations on the product, for example only 100 items in a PDF. Our stories regularly record more than 100 hits.
  • It misses items if the name of the institution is not said out loud, but is included in the story, as in supers in a TV story.
  • It sends repeated versions of the same radio interview at various time intervals
  • There are no report options that include everything I want in a report
It's good to look at media coverage first thing in the day. Quicker than going through clips. Although Google also can often pick up these things too. As mentioned in reporting, you cannot have an analytics dashboard without a PDF of coverage. I like the analytics dashboards and the level of detail.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
In my work with clients, I research journalists and pitch stories. Meltwater helps me do that research and create media lists. I also use Meltwater to search for earned media coverage on my clients.
  • Media research - you can search for relevant publications and journalists to add to your media list.
  • Earned media coverage - you can search for coverage of your brand and find news stories that also include data that may be useful (how many people did the story reach for example).
  • Building media lists - if you have no current existing list, you can build and export one in Excel for example.
  • I think one of the biggest misses is that the media database isn't as up-to-date as it could be. It often has outdated information on journalists who have changed roles, for example.
  • When you search for coverage, it can be difficult to pinpoint only the relevant stories you need. I think this could be improved.
  • It does A LOT of things - but I don't even understand all it does. I feel as though it could be made easier to use or at least more clear about the way the layout is so you had a better understanding of what it can do.
If you practice media relations in your role, Meltwater is helpful. You can do research to find relevant publications and journalists, build media lists, export them to share with a team or client and you can also keep notes on your campaigns. I like using it for research, although I do research outside the platform, as well, to be sure to be thorough (and some of the info in the database is outdated). I would say if you don't practice media relations, it's probably not as useful. There are other tools that do a better job if you want to search for media or social media mentions, for example. If you are looking for an all-in-one media relations tool that's relatively easy to use, Meltwater is probably a good fit.
December 12, 2021

Jordan's Meltwater Review

Jordan Wilhelmi | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
As a public relations professional, every day is spent researching and finding contact information for the latest press send. Meltwater [Media Intelligence Platform] allows you to intuitively build reporter lists that are finely tuned to your subject matter. If there's one thing I've learned about reporters, it's that they don't like to receive irrelevant press releases. The confidence I have in Meltwater's ability to help me accurately target those reporters is invaluable.
  • Reporter list building
  • Client media monitoring and analysis
  • Seamless outreach for press sends
  • Speed of platform
  • Real-time updating of reporter contacts
  • Advanced search features
My everyday day-to-day work is almost entirely accomplished on Meltwater. It is vital to have an all-in-one platform where you can compose press sends, build reporter lists to send to, and then collect reports on coverage of your work. I'm not sure what we would do if we didn't have Meltwater, as it would require us to be on multiple platforms and constantly [transfer] information between them. The only thing it is less suited for is if we need to do a super-targeted or niche subject search for reporters – I might just use Google or Cision for that.
December 01, 2021

Expensive but efficient

Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Meltwater [Media Intelligence Platform] as a search and monitoring tool within our marketing department. It allows us to see when our business is mentioned in any PR articles, etc. We also used it to make connections with other professionals for collaboration to enhance and grow our business.
  • The account support has always been great. Technically & for best practices.
  • Media contact lists and reports are good.
  • Instant alerts for articles & social media hits.
  • The platform is a bit complicated to navigate. It takes quite some time to learn and it can be frustrating and time consuming.
  • Very expensive.
For how expensive this program is, I'd recommend it only after serious thought and understanding of what your organization's needs and priorities are. If you don't currently have a way to track brand mentions and this information would grow your business, then I'd say make the investment or try it. Otherwise, I'd pass and look at other options [from my experience].
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our department uses Meltwater [Media Intelligence Platform] to identify potential media contacts and track media hits. We use it for quantitative and qualitative analysis of our media relations efforts and use its tools to improve how we communicate with reporters.
  • Media tracking and tagging
  • Media contact database
  • It's not the most user-friendly platform I've ever used from a UX/UI perspective.
  • The media contact database could use some more consistent updating.
  • Sometimes its tracking does not track certain TV stations' or news outlets' media hits.
Meltwater [Media Intelligence Platform] is helpful if you measure your goals based on earned media hits (reach or impressions).
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Media monitoring based on keywords. Tracking sentiment and topic volume. Using the Influencer database to contact journalists. It is being used across the accounting staff to monitor for client mentions or competitor mentions, as well as industry trends to position clients as thought leaders on a subject. Its immediate alerts address the problem that would happen if we missed a story or the client saw the story first.
  • Provide reporter contact information
  • Instant alerts for earned media and social media
  • Daily or weekly newsletters on a specific topic delivered directly to inbox
  • The dashboards are not user-friendly, customizable (color, font size, etc.), or worthy of presenting to a client. All of the insights from a dashboard get pulled from the platform and placed into a more client-friendly presentation.
  • Paywalls for certain publications connected to who-knows-what. DowJones racket limits media monitoring capabilities and results in manual searches for a growing number of publications.
  • TVeyes, the broadcast monitoring arm of the media monitoring capabilities, just needs TLC and to become more client-facing. Currently, the links produced to share clips look sketchy, and they have a relatively short shelf life.
Meltwater [Media Intelligence Platform] is perfectly suited for monitoring the news. It is not perfectly suited to understand sentiment. The audience insights are incredible, and that helps for marketing, but for media relations, it's all about capturing every single mention of the article to understand the context. I like that it can monitor all of social media - even deleted tweets.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We [use Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform] across our organization for media tracking and for their media database. A couple [of] core team members mostly operate the software, but we all benefit from it in different ways.
  • Media Tracking: As a PR firm, we rely on [Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform] to track media hits for our clients.
  • Media Database: We use [Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform] to track down specific media contacts, in both national and local contexts.
  • The user interface for their media database is cumbersome, and it can be time-consuming to find specific contacts.
If you're a PR or Marketing firm and want to track media exposure for your clients, [Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform] [scours] the internet, TV, [and] radio to track down specific media hits. They also have an extensive media database for tracking databases for journalists/producers in both national and regional/local contexts.
August 19, 2021

Meltwater Review

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We primarily use Meltwater as a search and monitoring tool for the entire organization. It allows us to know when our brand is mentioned in the news media and the potential reach for any of our proactive efforts. We have also recently started using Meltwater as a way to connect with journalists or other sources who may be interested in the content we are developing.
  • Meltwater has a good reach and makes it easy to add new media sources if they do not pick up brand mentions natively.
  • The account support has always been good with Meltwater and we can typically resolve problems quickly.
  • Meltwater has an easy-to-use interface that makes it simple to get started.
  • It would be nice to have more customization available with the dashboards and other widgets.
  • I recently learned that you can create influencer lists from the general search results. It would be helpful to make that more clear for users.
  • I wish there was an easier way to set up the boolean searches. Account managers are great to help but it seems like there has to be a way to make it easy for novices to get a search set up correctly.
As with any product or service, you need to determine whether Meltwater is truly going to meet your needs. It has a lot of features and the add-ons continue to grow. If you do not have a way to track brand mentions and to search news outlets for information that is relevant to your industry, Meltwater is a great option to consider. If this is not important for your organization, it may not be needed.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our company mostly utilizes as a social listening tool. It gives one tool and provides automated reports for any social mentions.
  • Finding media contacts.
  • News in one place.
  • Quick response from their team when issues arise.
  • Implementation process.
  • Training.
Businesses who need real-time notification of public reviews, comments, or news mentions, especially in crisis monitoring situations.
Businesses who want to monitor competitor tracking and mentions.
Alexis Ramsey | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
My team (6 support specialists) and I used Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform to engage with a social audience of 2M+ and schedule LinkedIn posts on occasion. We switched to Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform from Salesforce, and that was a mistake. Setting up Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform was easy, and technical support was attentive, but within three months, glitches began to arise, and my team was unhappy with the software as a whole.
  • Setup of social profiles and adding users is a quick process that was easy to understand without any formal training or directions.
  • Scheduling content across social platforms is straightforward and utilizes a drag and drop option, which is quick and effective.
  • Technical support can be reached within the software, so putting in a request ticket from multiple users is helpful.
  • Software is glitchy when it comes to actions taken on native (i.e., liking posts) and having them register on Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform promptly. This made for a lot of "double-tapping" from our team for engagement.
  • The reps for Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform are not helpful and continued to be pushy about selling more services, getting a contract renewal, and contacting team members that were not the point of contact.
  • The number of users for the cost you pay is limited. With other services, the number of seats is usually enough, but with Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform, it was constantly "for another $1000, here's another user" even though the software cost was well above competitors.
If you are already familiar with Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform and switching to a competitor would cause a hardship for your team in terms of labor, then stick with it. However, if you could use more ODC budget, want reps (we went through 3) that are not pushy and listen to your concerns, or want a software that has more training capabilities built-in for your team, then I can't recommend Meltwater.
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Meltwater for media monitoring purposes in order to identify new leads for our Sales Reps, observe competitors activity in digital and social media & measure the impact of our publications. The tool is used solely by the Marketing department that feeds all the above info to the Management and Sales Director.
  • Interaface is very user-friendly
  • Dashboard
  • Nothing More...
  • Customer Service
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Search Engine
Deceptive auto-renewal clause in their contract which was never communicated by the company nor the Sales Rep who actually throughout the first year of the contract tried to renew our subscription on multiple occasions, indicating that they need our permission to extend the length of the contract.

Very poor Customer service that is focused only on the gains for the company. Appalling e-mail contact.

The search feed received is way over the top and doesn't always correspond to set up the search. This is in order to boost the number of results so the end Customer has the feeling of good investment. In the end, your reporting will take much longer as you have to go through a lot of noise news which normally wouldn't appear in there in the first place.
Matar Gueye | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are using Meltwater to monitor the media coverage that is generated around the freight railroad industry across the nation. We use the platform to compile comprehensive reports that we share with internal and external stakeholders. We also use the platform to monitor our online presence, particularly social media. We use the engage program to proactively push out content as well as pull reports and measure authority and engagement rates.
  • Assesses the scale of an event: When there is a major event that earns media, especially national media we need to know how large the story is going to get. We are able to aggregate coverage across the nation to determine the level of effort we will need to push back or shape a particular story. This is a valuable insight that allows us to prioritize our efforts.
  • Clips: We need to know what is being said about our industry at all times. Meltwater allows us to have real-time insight on mentions and stories that are being published across the nation. We are able to share this content with our subject matter experts daily who alert the communicators of potential issues. This content also helps us proactively create content.
  • Monitors social: We need to know what is being said about our industry on social media, particularly important for our industry as we operate in communities small and large across the nation. Meltwater allows us to aggregate the thousands of messages and mentions we receive so that we can focus on monitoring those accounts that have a higher authority and influence level.
  • Logins: If you have more than one product from Meltwater you have to login into different portals. Not a huge deal except I cannot save my password for each one because my computer recognizes both portals as the same website, so if the passwords vary it won't save them.
  • Dashboard: There could be more modules to choose from that could enhance the reporting capabilities.
  • Add-ons: I know it is the name of the game but there are a lot of added paid features. Meltwater could benefit from beefing up their basic package with more features for their users.
Meltwater is well suited for any organization that wants to know where it stands in the world it operates. Reputation is everything and with an ever-evolving media landscape, it is important to invest in a tool that can keep up.
Stacy Howard | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use the platform as a media contact and outreach hub, and to monitor our media coverage. We also use the platform to run detailed reports to present to our employees and board.
  • Great customer service, staff are very knowledgeable and helpful.
  • The platform saves us a lot of time and energy by creatively organizing our contacts so we can quickly and easily send releases.
  • We appreciate the platform staying updated and relevant, constantly keeping it user-friendly and to fit our organization's needs.
  • We would love to be able to "select all" when we send releases to our contacts. We have so many groups and currently have to check off each one.
Perfect platform if you have hundreds + contacts and if you need reports and specific news monitoring.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform is being used by the Public Relations/Social Media teams. We use the platform to monitor mentions of our company and of our company's partners on a daily basis. We look for mentions in the media - online, broadcast, print, etc. We track all mentions, evaluate sentiment, exposure and themes, and share mentions that need to be escalated with the appropriate teams (internally or with our partners). It helps us more effectively monitor the conversations happening about our company or our partners.
  • The dashboards make it really easy to present data with easily digestible visuals.
  • The ability to save dashboard settings makes it easy for us to pull reports on a day to day basis.
  • Allows us to monitor multiple partners in the same platform.
  • Include more non-traditional media contacts in the media contact database.
  • We also use the Engage platform - it would make it simpler if both Engage and Intelligence had a more similar layout or if they mirrored eachother in some way. They seem like two completely separate entities.
  • The Sentiment reported through Intelligence isn't always accurate. One of our partner's names is a common last name and people often tag them on social, however it is completely unrelated to our partner. When this is reported as negative, we have to manually adjust.
It is well suited for monitoring trending conversations happening with our partners. It sometimes informs us about happenings that are going on with our partners that we didn't even know about before finding it on Intelligence. Though not always accurate, the sentiment helps us measure what types of conversations are happening about our partners. The influencers and media contacts tool could be more intuitive.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use the Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform to monitor brand mentions daily, for reporting monthly, as well as to find traditional media contacts for our media relations efforts. The tool is used by our Public Relations and Social Media team. This allows us to manage brands, share engagement with our clients and find valuable, targeted media relations opportunities.
  • It captures and lets us clip broadcast mentions simply and efficiently, whereas other tools are not as accurate and easy to use.
  • The customer support is great, the team is responsive and helps find a solution to any issues you run into.
  • The interface is easy to use and is pretty intuitive. It is easy to catch on to and cuts the time it takes to do monitoring a reporting in half.
  • The media influencer database should include more non-traditional media members including bloggers and social media influencers as these are the types of contacts that are more likely to pick up niche content.
  • The platform does not play super seamlessly with the Engage platform making the experience using both a bit disjointed.
  • I wish the number of inputs for the Share a Voice dashboard widget could be larger.
The Meltwater Intelligence Platform is great if you have multiple clients and keywords you are looking to monitor for. It is great if you want prompt and customizable access to metrics. It is a less impactful tool when looking to find relevant contacts for media relations and content outreach efforts.
Wesley Polk Lucas | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
The Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform is utilized by the Marketing Department at Visit Frisco. It allows us to track media mentions of not only our organization, but our media efforts to promote our events and tourism partners here in Frisco.
  • The Meltwater platform is extremely user-friendly. I like the simplicity of the navigation, layout and search functions.
  • The search capabilities are great. I can narrow my search of a particular media contact down to topic, location and event see previous published works to determine if they're a relevant source to our efforts.
  • We utilize the Dashboard and widgets within them daily. We love to see our potential reach, estimated ad value, content stream, etc. It really shows us in real time that our efforts are achieving real results.
  • The ability to create more searches without added cost would be nice. Or the ability to freeze/hold searches in order to add more without adding to total... we have annual events that we only track for a certain amount of time, so I'm having to save those search terms and delete them in order for us to track new things that are upcoming.
  • When sending an alert/release through outreach, I wish there was a way when selecting recipients, to see and select individual names from saved lists (without having to know the name). Sometimes we have something to send out that we want to send to a few specific people from several lists. We end up having to go back to saved lists, selecting those people and creating an entirely new list, which we end up deleting because it's never always the same people.
The usability and reporting are the biggest things I share with colleagues when asked about the platform. Meltwater's customer service is also extremely high and something worth noting.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our Public Relations Division uses Meltwater to select media outlets and journalists for public relations efforts across the U.S. We've found their database to be very robust and easy to search. When we find potential influencers, it's easy to add them to a list. Also, Meltwater makes vetting journalists easy - when you select the journalist, the software pulls up recent articles to help ensure he/she is writing about subjects relevant to what we're pitching. One of the greatest features of Meltwater is that for some contacts, Meltwater provides information regarding how to pronounce the influencer's name and on how he/she prefers to be contacted/ Additionally, we use Meltwater to monitor media mentions of our clients and to research industry trends and topics. Their monitoring system catches twice as much as our previous PR software did, which is extremely helpful. Additionally, Meltwater's system consistently provides us with more data (reach, AVE, etc.) than our previous PR software. Finally, Meltwater's customer service is outstanding. From their sales reps who are truly helpful instead of pushy to their account services team, Meltwater sets the standard. They are responsive, efficient, and friendly. Love their team!
  • Customer Service
  • Media list building
  • Media monitoring
  • Meltwater seems to miss the smaller outlets we're pitching in smaller media markets. However, every time I ask them to add the outlet into their system, they get it done.
Meltwater is excellent for PR professionals who are looking for a full solution to finding media contacts and to getting information quickly on the outlets that are covering industries and topics relevant to your clients. If you are only working in small markets, Meltwater may not be worth the investment.
Janet Van Pelt | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We purchased Meltwater to help identify potential prospects in our area. We found it difficult to use for that purpose. Then we found out that we had been misled by our sales rep into going past a 60 day auto renewal provision and despite repeated communications with them well in advance of our contract expiration that we didn't wish to renew they are trying to force us to use their software (which we DO NOT want) for another year at a cost of $10k.
  • We didn't identify anything particularly distinctive about the Meltwater solution, and the difficulty of doing business with them far outweighs any potential benefits.
  • The results were cluttered and the search process was not intuitive.
While the Meltwater platform is probably adequate, their business practices are non-standard and deceptive. The value of their tools is absolutely not worth the pain of trying to work with the company. They bury a 60 day auto-renewal in their terms of use, which is normally reserved for how to interact with the site not business terms. Their sales rep contacts you suggesting that they send over renewal paperwork, which further obscures the auto-renewal provision. Once you are 1 day past the 60 days, they hold on like grim death and refuse any effort to terminate the contract, even if you provide notice well in advance of the end of your contract period. I have never seen a company operate this way; I'm assuming that because of the new and much better offerings from Cision and others they are bleeding customers and taking desperate measures to hang on to those they have. But it's not a pleasant experience if you're one of the poor companies that made the mistake of getting into business with them. I would avoid them at all costs.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Meltwater is used throughout the entire business. It is used for editor outreach and influencer searches. It doesn't necessarily address problems, however it is an asset to the business to ensure we are contacting the appropriate reporters and editors for the success of our clients. I'm relatively new to Meltwater, so far it's been working well.
  • Keyword searches
  • Influencer searches
  • Creating lists
  • When searching keywords, deeper searches could be helpful. Not just the top publications.
  • Updating the database more frequently when editors change publications or positions. I want to know that I can trust that I am sending my pitches to the correct people.
My business is small, so my budget doesn't allow me to engage in all of the features of Meltwater for tracking. I would need additional information and access to more areas to be able to confidently suggest the platform to other potential users. I'm pleased with the parts that I currently use.
February 10, 2017

Meltwater does the trick!

Avery Harris | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our public relations department uses Meltwater for tracking media mentions as well as sending out press releases. We track media mentions from syndicated writers, bloggers, and websites as well as social media mentions on Facebook and Twitter. Press releases are sent out monthly to journalists and editors. We are able to construct a list of contacts to reach out to with our release based on their company, their role, their genre of writing and even a keyword search allows us to find journalists who have written about a certain keyword/topic recently.
  • Keyword Search - We are able to find who has recently written about a topic. This allows us to target those who have been recently interested in what we are writing about in our release. It is also a way for us to expand our contact list to reach people who may be writing outside of their normal beat/genre.
  • Search Function - We take advantage of several saved searches that track media mentions. This uses boolean logic to get us the exact results we are looking for. The search function is also great for searching for mentions of our competitors, narrowing our search to a specific product we may have done a campaign on or a more broad topic outside of our company alone.
  • Reporting - Meltwater allows us to set up our own customized reports that are emailed to us on a regular basis that we request.
  • Dashboard - Each user is able to set up a dashboard (homepage) for the platform with the reporting functions that are specific to what we are interested in or need to be aware of. This is a great day-to-day update of our media mentions.
  • Their tracking system for media mentions isn't perfect - we have stumbled across several posts mentioning our company/product that were not picked up by the platform. While frustrating, we send these URLs to our rep and their tech team ensures that that website will be monitored moving forward.
Meltwater is great for pulling together reports of our media mentions - both on the web and social media. It is great to report to management and the entire company where we are getting visibility on the internet.

Sending out press releases is not only easy, but there is also great value in the ability to reach a wider journalist and editor base.

A list of media contacts is very beneficial for a search of current employees when looking for a contact to reach out to. This allows us to reach out to new contacts to form a relationship with.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
As a communicator in a federal Comms shop, I use it to track our news hits, and to distribute news releases to the media.
  • Large database of news outlets, easy to search on specific topics.
  • Large database of news media, makes finding relevant reporters easy.
  • Search capabilities robust.
  • Interface for news release layout and distribution works, but needs to be improved.
  • New interface remedies some of these problems, but needs to be fixed/tweaked to be usable for a large organization such as ours.
Well suited to rapid response efforts on breaking news. Interface could be smoothed and made more user friendly, and they're finally working on that.
February 08, 2017

Meltwater review!

Ahrim Nam | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Currently, the PR department here uses Meltwater to track any media and social coverage we get for our agency as well as our clients and campaigns. It's a great tool to have all of our press and social monitoring in one place. Additionally, it has tools like MeltwaterNews that allow us to find contacts with ease if necessary.
  • Meltwater churns out visually accurate and pleasing graphs that correspond with the numbers shown in our reports.
  • When you pair key words correctly, Meltwater is able to capture all relevant media/press mentions and makes our lives much easier.
  • The support that the Meltwater team provides whenever we have questions can't go unrecognized. They are always super quick and responsive to our needs.
  • Some articles do fall through the cracks on occasion and we wish Meltwater would catch those articles.
  • The impression numbers that Meltwater generations sometimes seem inflated and we'd like more accurate numbers, if possible.
  • Meltwater's broadcast search feature is great, but we would love for there to be a functionality where we can download the audio/press clips that mention us/our work.
It's well-suited for tracking media/social coverage, especially when it comes to big campaign launches. It's less useful for smaller work that goes out which we can track with Twitter or Google search.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I have used Meltwater with different companies for media contact list building and for distribution of press release. Distributing press releases allows for tracking of the PR. I have a little bit of experience with using the platform for social media. My last company was small and so it was just two of us using it.
  • Easy-to-reach customer support
  • Large database of journalists
  • Emails are easy to create and distribute
  • The formatting can be difficult to match branding standards
  • Last year, there were journalists still in the system who didn't want to be so they would reply angrily
  • It's expensive for non-profits
It is good for distributing press release and making media lists. It's not as good to use as a method to send marketing materials. Also, the formatting is limited so it wouldn't be good to send out full design emails with. Press releases are the best use of this software because you are able to easily track analytics on who has picked up your press release.
Jake Neeley | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The communications team at my company primarily uses Meltwater for the media database. It has a few other functions but at the end of the day we hope to connect with specific people so Meltwater provides the data to do so. Currently it is used only by the communications team as no other team currently has a need.
  • Up to date contact information. It is actually relevant and active info, not always the case with others.
  • The user interface is better than most tools. While not perfect, it's pretty easy to figure out how to get what you want.
  • Their support is excellent. Anytime I've needed help I can call, but better than this, they proactively call and assist.
  • Their media monitoring leaves a little to be desired. I find Google Alerts gets as much as they do.
  • I wish I could use this more as a CRM but the only thing you can do is create lists and simple notes of your contacts.
  • They offer bulk emailing but it's very easy for a recipient to know if they are part of a mass email. Mass emails are not encouraged anyway but this is one of their "selling features."
Meltwater works if you need an easy way to find contact info for people of influence. That's where they excel. I would not get it if you are only working with the same individuals from the same places. Growing your network is where this tool really comes to benefit a PR professional.
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