Meltwater Gets the Job Done Well
Updated April 12, 2018
Meltwater Gets the Job Done Well
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform
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!
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.
- This software has literally saved me countless hours of research. I find contacts I need quickly, and they pull the data on the media hits in for me quickly. There are not words to describe how valuable this is to my team.
Meltwater is a far better solution for us. They are less expensive, their software is faster, their dashboards and user interface are easier to navigate, their data is more complete, and their customer service is far superior.
Using Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform
3 - Public relations and marketing
We do not have any in-house support for Meltwater.
- We used Meltwater's influencer database to target reporters across the U.S. to announce the opening of a community of high-tech, low-barrier tiny homes in Tallahassee, Florida. We scored national coverage as a result.
- We used Meltwater's monitoring platform to track earned media stories of a national association in order to prove ROI to the client and retain the contract.
- We used Meltwater's monitoring platform to showcase our PR team's listening ability for a tourism client pitch. We won the contract.
- Meltwater continues to improve and evolve to meet our needs, and that was unexpected given our past experience with Cision.
- Our support team at Meltwater has consistently helped us brainstorm and set up searches to use in both media pitches and new client pitches. They function as an extension of our team, and that's incredibly valuable to our small agency.
- The social listening component from Meltwater has proved to be a time-saver when building PR reports. Instead of having to rely on our Digital Division's team to locate social mentions from media outlets through Sprout, I can pull them myself in Meltwater.
- We hope to use their social influencer database in the next 6 months.
Evaluating Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform and Competitors
Yes - Cision. We got rid of Cision because their monitoring platform consistently missed stories we'd earned in the media, making reporting to our client nearly impossible. Additionally, Cision's customer support was absolutely abysmal. The only person who ever acknowledged there was an issue and tried to help resolve it was the sales specialist tasked with getting us to renew. We had a 30 minute conversation where I walked her through my struggles, and she immediately saw that the platform wasn't working for us. She reached out to the internal team, and even she was unable to get any help. I liked her a lot and wanted to be able to renew just to help her, but the poor performance and poor customer support simply made Cision a hindrance more than a help.
- Price
- Product Usability
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
Meltwater gave us a 2-week trial period so that we could put it head-to-head against Cision. Meltwater was easier to use, and it consistently found media mentions that Cision missed. Additionally, our sales rep, Lindsay, was incredibly helpful. She believed in her product but wanted to be sure that it actually worked for us. I felt like she cared about helping us find a solution, not like she was just trying to get me to sign a contract.
I wouldn't change a thing.
Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Not Sure - I believe the package we purchased initially came with a dedicated account rep, but it's not listed out in any of our contracts, which makes me wonder if that's just their business model.
I wanted to add the main news desk emails to a media distribution list, but I couldn't figure out how to do it quickly and easily. There was a manual upload process, where I could do it one-by-one, but I wanted to just do an import. When I emailed my rep to ask her if this was possible, she replied and asked me to send her my list of emails and asked which list I wanted them added to. She was going to manually add each email to the distribution list. She's also offered to build a media list for me if she knows I'm pressed for time. That's the kind of service Meltwater provides, and Jacy is an incredible asset to their team.
Using Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Media monitoring
- Influencer searches
- Setting up dashboards
- None, but perhaps the most complex (because it takes more than two steps) is wire distribution. But even that is only complex for the initial set up. Once the client distribution account is set up, it's an insanely easy thing to do.
Yes - This is the one area where I think Meltwater falls short. I find their app crashes a lot and requires me to uninstall and then reinstall to get it to work again.