Meltwater, coffee -- a good way to start the day
January 27, 2017
Meltwater, coffee -- a good way to start the day
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform
Meltwater is used to track our media placements and to build distribution lists for press releases and media pitches. It's currently used by strategic communications, the primary marketing and communications hub for the University of Alabama. Our athletics department is also a Meltwater client.
We switched to Meltwater News roughly three years ago because of the platform and the amount of media contacts provided. The ability to see what reporters have written in the last six months helps build more effective distribution lists than our previous service. The clipping component of Meltwater also finds placements on obscure trade or science sites that don't show up in Google alerts.
I compile our clips each morning and generate a report for our department. I also provide support for colleagues who use the service.
We switched to Meltwater News roughly three years ago because of the platform and the amount of media contacts provided. The ability to see what reporters have written in the last six months helps build more effective distribution lists than our previous service. The clipping component of Meltwater also finds placements on obscure trade or science sites that don't show up in Google alerts.
I compile our clips each morning and generate a report for our department. I also provide support for colleagues who use the service.
- Meltwater does a tremendous job of locating domestic and international placements of research-based stories we promote, particularly from science and trade websites.
- The most beneficial to me is the media contacts dashboard. It's simple to search for reporters via name, beat or outlet. I'm able to organize distribution lists and retrieve them in the future. The option that really sold me was the ability to see what reporters have recently written. So much more efficient than assuming a reporter is actually on the beat, and having to Google multiple keywords to vet them.
- The dashboards are so easy to navigate and customize, and the analytics are so detailed now. We get daily reports and get graphs to determine trends in coverage, which helps shape our expectations for coverage of annual events.
- While the platform has seemingly unlimited options, it takes a while to learn. Our product support representative has been really helpful in web tutorials, and the Knowledge Base documents explain some things in detail, but it may be helpful for Meltwater to publish videos of them navigating the site.
- Meltwater finds obscure placements, but it misses many on prominent web sites. In the last month, it's missed stories on Forbes, New York Times, Huffington Post and Bloomberg.
- Meltwater can improve its updating of media contacts. I think they do this annually, but I average six or seven dead email addresses for every 25 reporters whenever I build a distribution list.
- The number of out-of-state students in our student body continues to increase, and as we promote stories of student achievement, it's important those stories reach media across the country. Meltwater's deep database of national media members has helped our office increase its reach, which, in turn, aids other offices, like admissions and alumni affairs.
- The news and social media tracking and reporter database combined in one platform has shaved valuable time off our schedules, as we previously had two separate services for clipping and contacts. We get more bang for our buck, too.
- I'm a bit disappointed, though, that we were offered a detailed annual report of our placements, social media sentiment, etc. at an additional cost. Daily analytics are offered, so why can't the platform compile these into annual report? And since Meltwater misses placements in prominent outlets, that report wouldn't truly reflect our university's reach through media. I'd like to see those two issues addressed.
It's been roughly two years since we've used MyMediaInfo, and it appears the service has been bundled into Nasdaq's services. It appears MyMediaInfo now offers more services, but we only used the reporter database, which was hit or miss and didn't provide a snapshot of what the reporter had written in the past six months. There's a much lower rate of "dead" email addresses in Meltwater, and it's much easier to vet a reporter's credentials.
Ultimately, we chose meltwater because it combined the clipping service and the media contacts database into one dashboard, and the additional services, like customizable distribution and metrics to measure the success rate of our pitches and distribution, are unique options we didn't previously have.
Ultimately, we chose meltwater because it combined the clipping service and the media contacts database into one dashboard, and the additional services, like customizable distribution and metrics to measure the success rate of our pitches and distribution, are unique options we didn't previously have.
Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved No escalation required Support understands my problem Support cares about my success | Slow Initial Response |
While I spend the most time in Meltwater, my colleagues use it to track placements for specific stories and build media contact lists. The web tutorials are super helpful, but our staff could not meet at the same time. Mallory Noland offered to set up multiple training sessions and tailor each to address issues unique to my colleagues and different features that may aid in their work. She was extremely patient as I coordinated scheduling for 8-10 people on our end. This relieved the stress of me having to build a report and train colleagues.