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Cision: great for big business, jury is out on niche mid-size businesses
June 14, 2020

Cision: great for big business, jury is out on niche mid-size businesses

Emily Hartman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Modules Used

  • Analytics
  • Distribution (PR Newswire)
  • Media Database
  • Monitoring

Overall Satisfaction with Cision Communications Cloud

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.
  • Positive impact that isn't measurable is just on my time for reporting and distribution.
In truth, Meltwater's sales teams have always put me off. I used them for a short time and they weren't right for my organization then. I'm with a different company and I'm less sure now.

Do you think Cision Communications Cloud delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cision Communications Cloud's feature set?

Yes

Did Cision Communications Cloud live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cision Communications Cloud go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cision Communications Cloud again?

Yes

Cision is great for large companies and organizations that receive a lot of news (particularly mainstream news). As a mid-size B2B company, I'm less convinced now that Cision is the right tool when we're trying to gather measurement and impact among smaller trade publications. Cision considers those pubs to be small without much impact, but those are big hits for us. My measurement reports (e.g., SEO, audience reach, etc.) never look great because I'm not focused on the New York Times but on publications like Health+Safety Magazine or AutoSuccess. Not that I expect a weighted system or have an answer for this, I'm just not sure how much measurement helps us.