Item: Cision Communications Cloud
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cision Communications Cloud

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* for client alerts and searches, monitoring and listening, and reporting. Each account person leverages Cision Communications Cloud for their accounts. We specifically like the key message analysis, share of voice comparison against the competition or other brands within an organization, and social amplification. We also use the SEO score and like it's integrated with MOZ. It makes monitoring media coverage easier, pulling client results easier and really differentiates us from the competition when going after new business or helping guide clients with data-driven decisions. We use Cision's media database for media list development and we have access to Cision's analytics but isn't any good - especially compared to Cision Communications Cloud - the platform has not merged their analytics yet. Cision also offers social media posting but we still like Sprout Social better.
*[This review was written near to the time of Cision's acquisition of TrendKite. The former TrendKite product is now part of Cision Communications Cloud.]

Pros and Cons

Pros

"Talking About" option on media database
Widgets on Cision Communications Cloud and SEO value
The platform is easy to use
Customization of Cision Communications Cloud reports
Cision Communications Cloud customer service

Cons

Not all placements are picked up or a lot of times the wrong placements are included.
Although you can add in placements/coverage - it does not always end up in your report.
If you want wire coverage (e.g. - PRNewswire, PRWeb, Businesswire) it won't capture the coverage if it is behind a firewall or taken off the site so you need to capture a report the day it runs or it skews the results if you are creating monthly reports.
Now that TrendKite has merged with Cision not as many ebooks, resources and content is available - TrendKite used to have a great resource section.
Cision customer service isn't as responsive as Cision TrendKite's customer service reps

Return on Investment

Cision Communications Cloud is great for research, trends and SEO to help generate new business and keep current clients
PRWeb lost several partners in the past year including Business Journals so the syndicated numbers we were able to show in 2018/2019 compared to 2019/2020 is lower. The partners they were replaced with are not as large.
As a small business, you get lost among the big players.

Alternatives Considered

Cision PR Software, Meltwater Media Intelligence Platform and Agility PR Solutions

We liked the cost of Cision Communications Cloud (TrendKite)* against its competitors. We also felt the platform was more advanced and intuitive. It was easier to use and included more features. They're always adding something new - even the little things make a difference. I used to feel with Cision Communications Cloud that I was not nickeled and dimmed for every added benefit and feature, and they really wanted to help people. I don't feel that way with Cision overall. They are only there to make money. It's gotten too big and the left and right hand are not aligned. No one knows where to go to get the answers they need and everything is still evolving. And, as they continue to acquire companies, it just gets worse. With new services popping up based on AI and machine learning, I do think there will be cost-effective alternatives to Cision.

Key Insights

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

Not sure

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

Yes

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

Did implementation of Cision Communications Cloud go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cision Communications Cloud again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Sprout Social, Muck Rack

Likelihood to Recommend

Cision Communications Cloud is great if you are looking for one place to set alerts, monitor coverage and pull results reports. However, now that the merge has happened the customer service for Cision (formerly TrendKite) has remained the same but Cision is just as bad as it used to be. It has become extremely expensive, very corporate and several products overlap. If there were cost-effective options that did the same as what I needed I would use those. I would use Cision if you are a PR expert who is looking for one place to house your media lists, lead generation, press releases, analytics, influencers and possibly social media.

Transition from TrendKite to Cision Communications Cloud

Support Rating

The TrendKite team was responsive, helpful, quick and easy to work with. They always solve our issues and if they don't know the answer, the work with their team to find a solution. Plus, they're friendly. Cision takes forever and sometimes has to go through 20 people before getting the answer. Sometimes I've emailed a Cision rep and it will take days for them to get back to us.

Using Cision Communications Cloud

Users and Roles

3 - Account team members and interns

Support Headcount Required

Business Processes Supported

Media list development
Monthly reporting
Press release distribution

Innovative Uses

Cision TrendKite's SEO Impact Score for content to post in press rooms
Cision TrendKite's New business insights
Cision TrendKite's monitoring for telling clients intel they might not have known otherwise - especially when compared to competitors

Future Planned Uses

Readability scores of content - especially press releases
More social analytics
Stronger influencer database

Likelihood to Renew

Because I need the media database and want Cision TrendKite.

Evaluating Cision Communications Cloud and Competitors

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Price
Product Features
Prior Experience with the Product

I needed to be able to afford the database as a small company. I trusted from past agency experience how the media database worked and that it was updated.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

Look at more vendors out there who are not as big and using more AI. People who cater more to the smaller business but have solid platforms.

Cision Communications Cloud Support

Cision Communications Cloud Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
None	Poor followup Less knowledgeable Escalation required Difficult to get immediate help Need to explain problems multiple times Support doesn't seem to care Slow Initial Response

Premium Support

No - I didn't even know there were tiers of support level - let alone pay for it as extra.

Bug Resolution

Exceptional Examples of Cision Communications Cloud Support

Cision TrendKite customer service is always excellent - it's Cision's media database and monitoring that we have issues with. However, recently I needed to pull a report for a client asap and a couple of the media placements I needed to add would not stick in the Cision TrendKite platform. I just live chatted with the TrendKite rep and he stayed on with me until he fixed the issue. It was fixed within 30 minutes and he was friendly, helpful and cared.

Using Cision Communications Cloud

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using	Not well integrated Lots to learn

Easy Tasks

Searching for media
Changing dates in Cision TrendKite's dashboards
Adding an article

Difficult Tasks

Pulling a list by language - Spanish, Asian, etc.
Pulling the top say 50 magazines by unique visitors - you can sort it that way but not pull it that way
Keeping an article on a dashboard that was taken off a website

Usability

The usability is good and it is easy to use.

Comments

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Christopher Branding
(Vendor Representative) commented 5 years ago
First off, thanks so much for the feedback and taking time to update your review. Sorry to hear certain things are less than ideal, but we appreciate the transparency. Please know our teams are always looking to improve and this feedback helps with that. I did want to provide a link to the Cision resource center, per your comments, which includes the updated content you may be looking for - https://www.cision.com/us/resources/. Additionally, please feel free to reach out to me directly (chris.branding@cision.com) and I'd be happy to see how I can help and/or get you connected to the right internal resources to help remedy some of the issues you surfaced.