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PR Newswire

PR Newswire

Overview

Recent Reviews

Long-time PR Newswire User

8 out of 10
January 16, 2024
We use PR Newswire for wire distribution in the US to help us get the word out about new products and services. We typically use US1 and …
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TrustRadius Insights

PR Newswire is a versatile platform that has proven to be valuable for various users across different industries. One of its primary use …
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PR Newswire review

8 out of 10
August 14, 2018
Incentivized
PR Newswire is currently being used by the corporate affairs department, primarily by the media relations team. It solved the business …
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Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Newswire Digital

$199

Cloud
per release

Newswire Digital Plus

$449

Cloud
per release

Newswire State

$499

Cloud
per release

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

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

What is PR Newswire?

PR Newswire Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(24)

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!

PR Newswire is a versatile platform that has proven to be valuable for various users across different industries. One of its primary use cases is to complement other earned media relations efforts. Users, such as Public Relations Managers, have found that by utilizing PR Newswire alongside product and tour announcements, they can achieve their communication and public relations goals quickly and easily. Moreover, PR Newswire offers a long-life digital footprint that provides value from an SEO standpoint. Users have reported being able to track clicks on links, downloads of media assets like logos and videos, which helps them gauge the success of their campaigns.

Another significant use case of PR Newswire is its ability to simplify the process of disseminating information. Marketing teams have relied on this platform to publish press releases for organizations, ensuring wide distribution across US media outlets. By using PR Newswire, these teams can effectively spread the word about current and upcoming initiatives, saving both time and cost in the process. Additionally, PR Newswire plays a crucial role in increasing the distribution of business communications for clients. It not only reaches English-speaking audiences but also caters to French-speaking audiences through US and Canadian distribution channels. The platform's translation services contribute to effective communication with diverse audiences, making it an indispensable tool for companies operating globally.

Editorial departments have found PR Newswire useful for finding business news releases for investigation or writing purposes. It allows them to establish relationships with public relations professionals and stay up-to-date with industry developments. Furthermore, small businesses have utilized PR Newswire as a means to gain increased exposure on newsworthy events happening within their organizations. By leveraging this platform, these businesses are able to reach a wider audience and generate valuable publicity.

Overall, PR Newswire addresses several common challenges faced by businesses and marketing professionals alike. Its ease of use, broad distribution capabilities, SEO benefits, and comprehensive tracking features make it a go-to platform for maximizing the impact of press releases and media campaigns.

Intuitive and user-friendly interface: Users have praised PR Newswire for its intuitive and user-friendly interface, with multiple reviewers stating that it simplifies the process of setting up a news release for distribution. The website's layout and navigation make it easy to upload press releases and save selections from previous distributions, saving time and effort.

Comprehensive visibility reports: Several users have appreciated the comprehensive visibility reports provided by PR Newswire. These reports offer valuable insights into the performance of press releases, including where they were distributed and their reach. This feature helps users identify target reporters for future releases and demonstrates the service's credibility.

Helpful customer support: Many reviewers have commended PR Newswire's customer support as helpful and personalized. One user highlighted the helpful step of receiving a call from an account representative to confirm everything was set before official distribution via the web portal. This personal touch adds value to the user experience without adding unnecessary complexity.

Pricing Concerns: Some users have expressed concerns about the pricing of PR Newswire, stating that it can be cost prohibitive to add multiple photos, video links, and logos. Others feel that the pricing structure is comprehensive but excludes smaller companies or public relations agencies from affording the service. Additionally, there are mentions of additional fees for services like logo storage that some users believe should be included in their membership fee.

Complicated Pricing Structure: The pricing for different components of the service is perceived as complicated by users. They would appreciate more consultation on which types of press releases deserve more outlets. This lack of clarity has led some users to find PR Newswire pricey compared to its competitors, especially when considering costs for including a logo and image.

Technical Issues and Unreliable Search Function: Users have reported technical issues with PR Newswire's search function, mentioning that it does not always bring up relevant news. Furthermore, there have been instances where press releases were removed after publication, resulting in broken links or missing URLs. These problems undermine user experience and affect the overall reliability of the platform.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-5 of 5)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use PR Newswire to distribute some of our client news stories and key updates. It helps us increase the distribution of our business communications for those clients. Doing so also provides some additional benefits to our clients that are not directly related to comms distribution (such as SEO as well as referral traffic to the website).
  • Increases visibility of the message/communication.
  • Increases SEO visibility (backlink).
  • Referral traffic to the website.
  • Offer other ways to amplify the message/article.
  • Isn't free to use.
PR Newswire is well-suited if you generally release lots of news pieces throughout the year. Having lots of news pieces/articles means that you can build up the number of articles on the service, and therefore use the platform to increase your own visibility on search engines. Without a consistent stream of news stories etc. it likely isn't going to be worth the investment. The SEO/referral traffic benefits (which you might experience) are just indirect benefits, and shouldn't be considered as a primary reason for using the services.
  • Distribution
  • Monitoring
  • Positive, but from a micro perspective.
  • Used as a tactic, not an overall strategy.
Cision PRWeb (is similar to PR Newswire - and is also a product of the same company) and we have also used this service for the distribution of the Newswire articles. This significantly enhanced the campaign and increases the number of views of the initial articles. PR Newswire doesn't have the same features as PRWeb, but they can both work hand in hand well.
David Fox | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Press releases are constantly used as part of our communication strategy, on behalf of our wide range of clients. Disseminating info using this service takes a lot of the work out of the process. We simply need to create a solid release and spend very little time on getting it out to the right people. The time and cost savings make it a no-brainer!
  • Simplifies the send out process and makes it easily repeatable.
  • Reduces the time and energy it takes to get the word out to the right people.
  • Backend dashboard is easy to use and provides all the info you need.
  • Cost was high when we only sent our releases for smaller clients.
  • Adding video and photos adds to the cost
  • Not able to easily target only specific outlets, or restrict others to reduce costs.
For agencies or companies that send out a lot of releases to a wide range of outlets, the cost of the service is well justified and offers a lot of value. For some of our smaller clients who do not need to reach as far, the cost can sometimes be prohibitive based on their goals and ROI.
  • Backend Dashboard.
  • Ability to add links, photos and video to releases.
  • Outlet selection is diverse, always updated and already chosen for you.
  • When we only sent out a few releases for small clients, ROI was inconsistent.
  • When sending out for larger clients, ROI is usually easier to achieve.
  • Labor cost savings helps to increase our ROI on most campaigns.
PR Newswire's format and backend tools are head and shoulders above other services in their ease-of-use and management ability. Everything you need is right there and just makes sense from a user perspective. They have updated a few of the things that were cumbersome so the improvements have solidified its prominence. The constant updates on recipients ensure that most of the releases reach the right person. While some of the other services are a better deal upfront, they are harder to use.
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our agency uses PR Newswire to distribute news for our clients over the wire. It is exclusively used by our PR division as a way to memorialize news and announcements, have the news populate Google and other news alerts, and tie the news to the ticker symbols for our publicly traded clients. It ensures that there is an official, searchable and findable record of news that's been announced for and about the company and its stakeholders.
  • Making news searchable and findable, populating automated news alerts for those who follow certain companies and/or industries.
  • Ensuring that news is issued in a way that satisfies legal and regulatory requirements for publicly traded companies.
  • Ensuring that all content distributed through the platform is editorially sound and free of grammatical errors.
  • Lately, we noticed that PR Newswire has been holding up distributions for more than one client due to its in-house editors taking personal issue with the content of the news being shared. That's a critically bad issue.
  • The automated reports are very in-depth, but they lack context regarding what the numbers really mean. I would love to see greater analysis, not just numbers reporting.
  • Customer support (non-editorial) needs a bit of an overhaul. Since being acquired by Cision, the customer service has gone downhill.
PR Newswire is a terrific solution for ensuring that news is distributed in a way that is findable and searchable. It also automatically ties the news to ticker symbols. It's not a useful or meaningful solution for actually securing news coverage. It still requires picking up the phone and pitching media.
  • The ability to ensure that news is distributed in a timely and effective way.
  • Automated reporting that's easy to share with clients.
  • High-quality editorial review and corrections when needed.
  • Our agency needs a reliable solution for distribution of press releases. PR Newswire has served that need.
  • While newswires are generally a necessary evil, the agency doesn't directly incur costs. There's no real impact on ROI outside of being able to deliver this service for clients.
  • There's been a positive impact based on the ability to report impressive results, but we as an agency usually temper the numbers by explaining what they truly mean.
PR Newswire is considered one of the two gold standard newswire services because of its wide reach and high quality reporting. Pricing is almost identical to its biggest competitor, Business Wire, so it winds up being a matter of preference and ease more than anything. We actually made the decision to move our business away from PR Newswire due to their growing desire to have editorial oversight over the news we're distributing on behalf of clients.
Leslie Groves | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
PRNewswire is used by marketing to publish press releases for the organization. We use it as a one stop shop for ensuring distribution across the United States media outlets. It helps us quickly and easily get the word out about our current and upcoming initiatives with our target prospects and clients in the healthcare industry.
  • It is very easy to use
  • The customer service is done in person over the phone rather than all online
  • It is customizable every time you use it
  • It is thorough
  • The pricing of various components are complicated to understand
  • I'd like more consultation on which types of press releases deserve more outlets
  • A monthly report would be nice
I feel that PRNewswire is well suited to use for publishing press releases on an ongoing basis. It is the gold standard among distribution of communication to media outlets. The pricing of various options can be complicated though and one needs to consult ones contract to know what is included versus what is extra.
  • Ease of use
  • Thorough media outlets
  • Customization
  • Increased our visibility
  • Increased our credibility
  • Improved lead generation
PRNewswire is the gold standard among distribution of communication to media outlets. I feel that the customer service is very well done and don't see reason to stray from a known entity that performs well. I also don't see why I should add another distribution outlet as all media is covered through my contract with PRNewswire.
Ashley Taylor | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our organization relies on PR Newswire for all of our over-the-wire press releases. We utilize the US and Canadian distribution in order to reach both our English-speaking and French-speaking audiences. This includes the translation services that PR Newswire provides. We are currently in the discussion and planning phases of implementing additional PR Newswire/Cision services to round out our initiatives.
  • Translation Services
  • Over the wire distribution
  • Finding resources to further expand our reach
  • Contract negotiation
  • Client Management
  • Communication with customers
PR Newswire is well suited for those who are looking to communicate with a broad audience but require the ability to specifically focus on a particular demographic. Press releases are only as good as the people they reach and while it's important to reach as many people as possible in some instances, it is also vitally important that you reach the correct people. For those who use PR Newswire, it is important that you select the correct package in order to reach the right area of focus.
  • Distribution
  • Language Services
  • Logo storage for future
  • We lost one of our pre paid distributions due to the expiration date
  • We would like to see more communication between the client and the representative or account manager
  • We have had success in getting larger publications to pick up our over the wire publication
They are obviously related, however, I do not see how they can be stacked against one another.
Lead Forensics, D&B Hoovers (formerly Avention), Asana
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