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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 Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 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
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
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
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June 15, 2023
Couldn't be happier!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Cision for daily media coverage along with news release distribution on a situational basis. The platform allows us to skim through several articles from various news outlets on topics of interest. It also allows us to distribute news releases in an efficient way that will reach our members.
- Collects media coverage
- Support service
- Check ins
- N/A
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use it for a number of functions: 1) Media monitoring -- provide us with sample stories for our daily media package 2) Social media monitoring -- review the sentiment of stories on social media 3) News release distribution and media list creation
- Media list sourcing
- Strong database of stories
- Strong monitoring abilities
- I would like to see more potential "media" contacts for weeklies and rural community papers
- It would be great to have a non-media list of business and community contacts who could potentially receive news releases of interest
March 26, 2022
The best media database software there is, but room for improvement in other offerings
We use Cision as a media research database for a wide variety of clients in an array of industries, both domestic and international. As an integrated marketing firm, we have teams across many disciplines, but Cision is typically used by those in our PR department only. It's an integral daily tool to develop media lists for PR campaigns.
- Creating media lists.
- Researching media targets that may exist for new business opportunities or existing clients.
- Reporting results.
- While the content generated through media research is high quality, the interface to get there is often clunky and slow.
- The reporting features are good but not great. The software still misses a lot, and it takes time to comb through to determine what needs to be added manually.
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.
[Cision Communications Cloud is] used via Public Relations for the purposes of distributing news releases, tracking media placements, [and] analytics. It's also convenient for looking up journalists by location, coverage area, and outlet. It's the primary way [that] my department uses to distribute news releases locally, by region, and nationally. Without it, [the] wide distribution of a news release would be all-consuming and virtually impossible. It's also critical for broad tracking of media placements and its integration with TVEyes has only increased its relevancy in that area.
- Their upgraded press release templates and ability [to] pull in an entire, completed release makes the [process] faster and easier, and allows for more graphics, such as company mastheads, [are done well].
- The media tracking offers the ability to find relevant placements across the entire country.
- The journalist database streamlines the process of finding relevant reporters to directly connect [to] on news releases that are relevant to their beats.
- The process of setting up, creating, and distributing a release is seamless, easy to use, and not labor-intensive.
- It would be nice if the option existed to add more than one image as an attachment to a release distribution, particularly when you have multiple headshots of people being referenced.
- Integrating TVEyes was a wonderful touch, but they are missing some of the search flexibilities TVEyes offers on its own.
- Font changes and spacing have some minor issues in the body of press release templates.
August 12, 2021
More effective, centralized and streamlined communications.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Cision has helped our organization build relationships with individuals and entities that help us tell our story more effectively and more succinctly. We are still exploring the options that we have available to us, and we are actively looking at whether or not it would be beneficial to dive deeper into what the offerings are. We are impressed so far.
- Social Media Monitoring.
- Resource Options - Forums, Q and A etc.
- More information on the front end about the functionality.
- More information at the beginning on how to fully maximize opportunity.
- More engagement on social media
I previously used Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* for one of my clients at our agency. We used it to track and measure earned media mentions, along with analyzing where a lot of our coverage was coming from. From there, we would use that info to seek out new opportunities and conduct competitive analyses as to how we were stacking up against other products/companies in the space. It was also really nice to have the automatic reporting capabilities so we could download and export metrics to our client teams.
*[This review was written near the time Cision acquired TrendKite. TrendKite is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.]
*[This review was written near the time Cision acquired TrendKite. TrendKite is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.]
- Easy and attractive reporting capabilities.
- Intuitive platform, very user-friendly.
- Ability to measure results (like share of voice) that you couldn't do manually.
- Time efficiency - takes the manual labor out of a lot of measuring and searching for journalists.
- Hard to get your boolean/search query accurate.
- Slow customer support from the technical side (not from the Sales side).
- Media database is mostly updated, but not always
May 19, 2021
Save time with Cision
I use Cision Communications Cloud in the communications department to research media contacts, distribute press releases and media pitches, and to monitor media coverage.
- Up to date media contact information
- Platform for distributing press materials
- Useful tool to track and monitor media coverage
- Would like notices when media contacts leave an outlet and need to be replaced on media lists.
May 14, 2021
Cision Review
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use it to monitor media hits and seek out specific publications relevant to our industry, then pitch ideas to them. It's a good way to help us find publications to reach our core audience that we never knew existed. It's a great way to help us position our company as thought leaders within the industry.
- Media monitoring.
- Media searches.
- Social monitoring.
- Better geographical searches.
- Require more HARO details.
- Require more Ed Calendar details.
December 23, 2020
Cision: still the most robust platform available
Currently, Cision Communications Cloud is only used in our Public Relations department which consists of two employees. We primarily use it to look up contact information for media outlets and other writers. We've also used the TrendKite feature to monitor media coverage for both of our clients, which has proven to be very helpful in our monthly reporting.
- Great at providing a full list of contacts for each outlet we're trying to reach.
- TrendKite provides great insights for coverage, especially in terms of reach and SEO.
- Robust system that provides what many others cannot.
- Would like more features to flag contacts as inactive.
- Would like to be able to modify contacts already listed, for those that may have switched jobs and Cision hasn't updated their files yet.
- Oftentimes, the interface can feel "clunky," constantly having to click through things to find the information I'm looking for.
December 15, 2020
Great Product for Building Media & Influencer Relationships!
Cision Communications Cloud is used at our organization to reach media outlets in our markets and influencers relevant to our specific audiences and to build brand awareness. It is used exclusively in the marketing department but supporting all departments of the organization. The business problem we are addressing with the Communications Cloud is brand awareness and assistance in reaching individuals who could benefit from online career training and take advantage of grant funding that covers the cost.
- Customer Support and consistent outreach from account reps.
- Resources and toolkits for best utilizing their products.
- Providing accurate data and contact info.
- Ease of use of influencer and outlet search tools.
- Difficult to format email campaign templates.
- Duplicates of contacts, outlets in lists.
- Reporting breakdowns of campaigns, or emails of performance could be beneficial.
December 03, 2020
Great package, functionality and results
Cision Communications Cloud allows my organization to communicate with not only the correct editors in my field but the peripheral editors, bloggers, and media companies that I would have never known about, nor communicated with. The system provides great visibility and one place to go for all media associated with the release. It's very attractive and provides a great pdf for documenting and proofing.
- Reaches editors and writers on the peripheral.
- Great SEO
- Easy to use and train on.
- Provides great PDF proof of the release (which can be used for your files and even sent out if needed).
- More granular selecting of publications.
- More business publications.
- More visibility into who is reacting to your content.
November 29, 2020
Pretty good product
We use Cision Communications Cloud to monitor the media for the college. It allows us to keep tabs on our brand and the great things our faculty and students are doing.
- Measures the impact of articles
- Gives a thorough review of all articles about the college
- Provides us with numbers to measure our impact
- Dashboards could be a bit easier to set up.
November 20, 2020
Great platform!
We use Cision Communications Cloud for our corporate communication to delivery press releases to other media outlets. It is primarily used by marketing, but all functions can have a say on what we send over the wire. I think it is a good way for other outlets to pick up our wins and share with their audiences.
- Easy to use platform
- Helpful operations team at Cision
- Great way to communicate to media outlets
- More explanation on who is picking up the release
- Updating platform regularly
- More explanation on headlines of those who pick up the release
November 18, 2020
Building better media lists
Our agency has used Cision for many years. A year ago, we switched from the classic Cision to the Cision Communications Cloud. We mainly use this tool for building media lists. It helps us to better identify appropriate media contacts by location, subject area, type of publication, job role, etc. Theoretically, using Cision Communications Cloud provides the most current information on media contacts. We're told that Cision makes more than 20,000 updates a day. However, I have found that quite a few contacts are still outdated. We've provided frequent updates to Cision as we learn of incorrect information. I am the primary person using Cision in doing public relations work for my client — development and distribution of press releases, guest columns, media advisories, etc. My work sometimes includes the assistance of an intern. There is one additional person at our agency who uses Cision to build media lists for other clients. About a year ago, our agency switched to sending press releases out through the Cision platform for my client, rather than separately through Microsoft Word mail merge. Sending email press releases out through Cision provides an "opt out" function and also helps us to keep track of open rates.
- When I send contact updates to Cision Communications Cloud customer support, they always reply, usually in a timely fashion.
- I like the filters to the Cision Communications Cloud media lists which allow us to drill down by subject, job role, location, DMA, etc.
- Our account manager (Mike Sullivan) has been friendly. He's been able to keep our subscription at the same price in recent years.
- In the media influencer database, the classic Cision allowed us to do a zip code radius search to really drill down to the neighborhood level. That's because we do localized media advisories and press releases for events at neighborhood schools. One part of a big city like Chicago really doesn't care what's happening in another part of Chicago that's too far away. The zip code radius search was a feature in the classic Cision but not with the current Cision Communications Cloud. We've asked for this to be restored several times, but nothing's happened. In fact, we were told to use DMA — which actually goes wider in a search (bigger than a city), not more narrow as needed. This reflects a basic misunderstanding of what we need.
- Another missing feature involves a merge field when sending out an email press release through Cision. This is the "select insert field" button in the upper right that's used to personalize a release with the media contact's name and other information. This is key for localization of the release. Many media outlets won't run a release unless it's local. While "county" is a feature in the influencer database when putting together a media list in Cision, "county" is not available to insert into a press release as a merge field. Counties are important because this is how many newspapers and health departments are organized and identify themselves. I've asked for this to be implemented, to no avail. As a workaround, we've had to use "contact city" or "outlet city."
- After refining a media list in Cision using filters, I've had to download the list and take it offline to see the big picture, screen for duplicates, etc. While there is a button on the bottom left intended to help with this, it doesn't do the trick. That's because there may be multiple contacts with the same email address. In addition, one media contact may represent numerous media outlets, so this same contact could show up several times. It would be nice to have a better way to see the whole list online and eliminate both duplicates as well as those who previously opted out.
September 30, 2020
There are more economical choices for SMBs/Start-Ups
The marketing team uses press release distribution.
- People who call to verify are friendly.
- People who call to verify do so in a timely fashion.
- Account rep changes all the time.
- User interface is from the 90s.
- Renewal date is 3 months out - a lot can change in 3 months in a small co.
- Prices are too high for the value. Other companies charge WAY less.
- I paid for a graphic and didn't know I could use it for all releases. Again - bad UI.
September 28, 2020
Best media monitoring tool for PR professionals
We used Cision Communications Cloud to distribute press releases via PR Newswire. We also use it as our primary media monitoring service. We are a full service agency, and the platform is primarily used by our Comm's and Content team. It easily allows us to track our clients' mentions in the news (print and broadcast) and create monthly and quarterly reports.
- Easy to use.
- Captures the majority of coverage.
- Compiles reports in a way that's easy for our client to understand.
- Captures metrics that are quantifiable.
- Customer service is fantastic!
- Influencers database is very helpful.
- Disconnect between Cision and PR Newswire account reps.
- Inaccurate coverage captured (ie news from other companies that's irrelevant).
- Not capturing some articles our clients are mentioned in (particularly on major news sites/broadcasts).
July 22, 2020
Effective, but hoping for improved accuracy
Our firm's Brand Management and Client Relations departments use Cision to monitor coverage of the firm, gain competitive intelligence, and quickly reach media contacts and influencers. We have also used Cision on behalf of firm clients to monitor crisis situations.
- Data visualization - very helpful in presenting data to non-experts
- Media contact database - fairly extensive and up-to-date, with some notable exceptions
- Ability to organize work in "campaigns" - good for self-monitoring and reporting on ROI
- Impact - this is wildly inaccurate
- Actual views - again, wildly inaccurate
- Reporting - should be more options besides real-time alerts and hand-curated newsletters. Automated weekly reports would be an obvious addition.
July 15, 2020
PR Strategy Success with Cision
Cision is used to enhance and monitor our Public Relations efforts. We keep track of media contacts, news coverage and social mentions. We use analytics to gauge sentiment in the marketplace. We monitor our competitors and compare earned media results. It's a fantastic way to pull month-end and periodic reports for Board review, we really appreciate not having to keep track of placements in spreadsheets!
- Monitors media mentions. We can see where our news releases are published and we can see where there are stories about us that may require follow up with the journalist or publication.
- Monitors competitors. We can easily see the news our competitors are sharing and the volume of coverage they receive. This gives us great benchmarking data to increase our share of voice in earned media.
- Provides information about sentiment so we have an idea of overall perception the media is providing people about our company. This allows us to follow up and provide information and education where needed. It also lets us know where we need work to improve perception in the media.
- Customizable Media lists. Create lists with freelancers and staff journalists. Include notes about contacts, pitch ideas, etc.
- When people leave your organization, it can be difficult to change settings and automated emails.
- More ability to customize searches and to tweak them without the assistance of Cision of staff.
July 13, 2020
A great PR tool for Marketers
Our Marketing Department uses Cision Communications Cloud nearly daily. As a manager, the daily reports are vital for me to see how we are doing compared to competitors. From the PR aspect, Cision makes it easy and effective to send out, and organize, press releases all in one place. My team has also used Cision to discover new bloggers to build relationships with.
- Easy and organized way to distribute press releases
- Effective to find bloggers and people already talking about your services
- Excellent reporting and stats on competitors
- Better on-boarding walk through, I didn't receive much support or a walk around of the service when taking over ownership.
July 07, 2020
Cision: an essential tool for any aspiring PR Pro.
The communications team at Clover is currently using Cision as a media database. If we're looking to do a beat-specific announcement, we will compile all the relevant reporters to conduct our outreach. Similarly, if we are mentioned in an article, or there is an industry reporter that we don't have a relationship with, we use Cision to find their contact information. While just used in one department, it is an essential aspect of the work the communications team is doing.
- Always has up-to-date reporter information
- Location-specific searches for media relations in local markets
- Lists previous coverage and current interests of reports to more accurately target outreach
- Sometimes it is missing contact information for key journalists.
- Reporter beats could be more granular.
It's used only by the Marketing department right now. I'm the only company employee who spends time on PR (split with Customer Comms) and have one freelancer who we give access to use the platform. Our Digital Marketing Manager also uses the platform to help supplement monitoring HARO and for advertising information. Cision helps with competitor intelligence and understanding our PR reach.
- Media database of reporters is always helpful and what I consistently come back to Cision for.
- Monitoring: I find it harder now at a B2B organization to measure impact with Cision, but Cision's ability to monitor sheer volume and general impact has always been helpful.
- Share of voice.
- UX when it comes to switching between systems. I understand that it's a process that is long and can be difficult to accomplish but feels like as such a powerhouse Cision must have a faster process for this. e.g., Trendkite. Overall, as a user, I get the sense that Cision just buys companies and everything I touch as a user requires me to enter a new system/previous company's interface. It's also complicated to remember where things live, or how you get to similar aspects in other platforms (e.g., Distribution and Message Center).
- HARO: I'm interested in certain search terms within HARO and am surprised there isn't a way to create an email alert based on my search term.
June 14, 2020
Cision is great for Traditional PR
We mainly use Cision cloud to gain access to a database of media professionals to assist when pitching stories. It is used only in the Public Relations department.
- User Friendly
- Updated media lists
In the communications infrastructure, we use Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* to keep track of the impact of our media outreach efforts and track trends with respect to how the UAW is mentioned in the news. We use it to create regional and topic level reports on media sentiment and impact.
*[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 UI/UX is really great. Dashboards are easy to read and, compared to other products, Cision Communications Cloud is easy for first time users and non-experts to understand intuitively.
- The automatic, interactive reporting feature is a highlight that allows us to get some really great insights on different topics and for different sectors that provide great insight for executives.
- The customer service experience and interactive chat feature is great. If you've got any questions, the team at Cision is always very responsive.
- The features of the product are generally easy to use, robust and user friendly. The one thing that many competitors offer is more of a full-service package with distribution and media databases or social media integration. I hope that this is added in in the future.
March 25, 2020
Cision Communications Cloud Review
Our entire agency uses the platform to monitor for media placements on behalf of our clients. This way, we can keep track of each client's placements in one place as well as utilize any metrics.
- Customer Service - If we ever need help, the quick chat feature is always accessible and offers much help.
- We find that the platform does not always pick up placements. When this happens, we have to add manually or they are missed altogether.