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Why Cision Communications Cloud is a must-have for any PR agency
January 18, 2016

Why Cision Communications Cloud is a must-have for any PR agency

Mike Tomlinson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

TrendKite

Overall Satisfaction with Cision Communications Cloud

We use Cision Communications Cloud (Trendkite)* across all our client accounts to measure and dig into media coverage, but also deeper insights like Share of Voice, key message pickup in media coverage, as well as social amplification of coverage. We evaluated a number of competing tools over the course of a year and found that none offered the sharp interface with ease of use that Cision offers. It made adoption of the tool a no-brainer.


*This review was written before Cision acquired TrendKite. TrendKite is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.
  • Instant share of voice analysis to gauge your level of media coverage relative to competitors. Not only does Cision give you the measurements, but everything is interactive so you can understand WHY a metric is what it is, rather than guess or go with your gut.
  • Very sharp interactive coverage reports. Before Cision we were reporting media coverage in the form of simple word documents that required lots of manual work and time. Now in the same amount of time that used to take, we can provide a much deeper and better-looking report that is much more appealing to an executive audience who may be reviewing the report on a tablet, for example.
  • Customer service stands apart from the competition. There is a live chat feature built into the platform so at any point if you are confused or need help, someone can jump in and assist. Compare that with other tools where you have to submit a help ticket and wait a few days for a response-- again Cision is a no-brainer.
  • Indexing of niche publications could be better. Cision gathers metrics from all the standard outlets, but if you need to monitor a niche blog or vertical publication you may need to flag Cision to add that to their system.
  • Right now there is no way to share dashboards across users. So if you want everyone on your team to access the same dashboard, you have to share a login. It would be better to have this based around organization with individuals assigned to different teams with access to different dashboards.
  • It would be great if Cision eventually added a media contact database component. That would allow us to further consolidate the number of tools our PR agency uses.
Most of the tools we evaluated came with some kind of built-in dashboards, but none were are interactive or visually appealing as Cision's. Many of the tools offer what Cision does, but Cision just has a much easier user interface and drastically reduces the amount of steps it takes to, for example, assemble a client coverage report. What might take 10 steps in MediaVantage (or 20 steps with Meltwater - yuk), you can do it 2 steps with Cision. What sold us on Cision was the realization of how much time this would save us, AND help us look more professional with the reports we put together for clients. Ultimately, with Cision, you know it's the best tool within the first five minutes of using it so my advice is to just get a demo and you'll understand very quickly why this tool is the best!
Share of Voice analysis. If you're used to something like Meltwater, the first time you use Cision you will literally be blown away because what used to take hours is now a real-time instantaneous measurement.

Transition from TrendKite to Cision Communications Cloud

Live chat support during business hours is something I haven't seen any other tool offer. They also make themselves available to assist with the creation of your dashboards, so you can also make sure you're getting the most value out of the platform. When emailing though, Cision is also extremely responsive and helpful. I have not had a negative experience with Cision customer service yet.

Using Cision Communications Cloud

While the system is very clean looking and interactive, the Boolean search components can still be intimidating when setting up new dashboards. You can create a new dashboard very quickly, but sometimes have to tinker with the Boolean terms on the backend to get the dashboard to reflect what you're trying to get it to reflect.