Cision Review

PROS: Cision has helped cut out the grunt work for our agency. It allows us to work my efficiently and find the best suited media service tailored to the specific industry we need. It provides us the tools we need to venture out into the realm of blogging and tap into resources we would not have at our disposal.

CONS: Its price is hard to justify when you don't get to use it daily. We are a full service agency, but we do not provide PR and media relations services everyday. So although this helps us tremendously when we do, the cost of it almost isn't worth it.

PROS: It is easy to search in Cision. I love the influencer search capability, saved searches not to mention the monitors are great for keeping track of clients. Most importantly, their team is usually very responsive whenever we need help with the service.

CONS: Influencer searches could be made stronger by including more platforms beyond Twitter like LinkedIn for instance. Searching for coverage could also be more easily filtered. Having individual dashboards for clients would make sifting through the mountains of articles way easier.

PROS: I like that this tool saves us huge amount of time. We can work more efficiently and to find best suited media outlet for the industry we need. It offers great tool so we can better explore and search the world of bloggers and to tap into the resources we need to do our work.

CONS: We don’t use this tool on a daily basis so we don’t really like its prices. After all, this tool is really helpful and it does the job but they could be more flexible when it comes to price.

PROS: I love Cision's list management tools. It's so easy to target exactly what kind of journalists we want to read our content. Even better is the fact that it's automatically updated, so I don't ever have to worry whether our tool is updated

CONS: The interface could be a bit more attractive from an aesthetics perspective. It's also not entirely intuitive as it reads more like a database than a user-friendly system. Especially when I need to scroll through a list of a drop-down tab, it's not that good.

PROS: This is my must have tool for media contacts and tool for monitoring real-time coverage. I have tried other solutions but Cision is second to none. It allows me to create filters for new reports, and to increase the number of users, to custom the files and many other things. It has functional integrated press release platform without paying extra.

CONS: When it comes to list-building they could make it more intuitive. I constantly use its live-help chat and I always attend their courses in order to learn how to better use the lists. It can be difficult to conduct a search of specific list of journals for example.

PROS: I've gone through quite a few and I keep coming back to Cision because of the ease in creating filters to geotarget news reports and the ability to bring in large numbers of other users to custom lists for their own use. Cision is also one of the few programs I've used that has a functional integrated press release platform without extra fees. This has become my absolute standby for determining viable media contacts and monitoring real-time coverage.

CONS: It needs to be a bit more user-friendly in list-building. I have to continuously use the chat and attending refresher courses for how to build, save and utilize lists because it is complicated to use. The difficulty of conducting a search for a specific list of journalists, then building a list from a subset seems unnecessary considering how fluid most of the search and media monitoring is.

PROS: I like having the tools provided by Cision so I can contact specific publications for the PR pieces needed to be released. The account manager is super friendly and she even offers to look over our PR to give ideas and recommendations. We have been working with Cision for 3 years and although our needs change, the service has been very helpful all throughout our use of the service.

CONS: It's a little pricey but it's worth every penny if you get to use every feature. I wouldn't recommend this to a small company though who just wants to do one or two PR blasts.

PROS: Cision is a time efficient solution for our needs. It's a very complete database with lots a great features, allowing us to target the right journalists and outlets, including English and Spanish language outlets, without wasting anyone's time.

CONS: I think the price-point is a bit steep. Also there should be different payment plans to be able to accommodate to every organization's needs.

PROS: Cision's organized layout helps me reach the most appropriate media outlet for my message. This has helped sort my contact list and determine who to get in touch with. I don't need to contact the editor or the marketing department anymore when sending a press piece or a calendar event.

CONS: The PR tracking and ROI calculator costs so much for us. I would love to be able to track my leads and what actually makes it to print and who might have seen it. But, as a small outfit, we don't have the money for such resources.

PROS: Cision provides the information I need, such as the contact information for most of the reporters and press people I am trying to connect with. It is simple for us to use and find the press we are looking to connect with. I really like being able to see who has read my email, which allows me to stay connected to those frequent openers and send less pitches to those who do not open as frequently.

CONS: Not every contact has all the information and is it difficult to manage lists. There is a learning curve to some of the features that takes time to learn.

PROS: We found CIsion's online platform highly usable, customizable and effective. And their pricing is competitive too. Their customer service has also been quite good. Coming from our experience, Cision should be on your short list if you are on the lookout for tools for tracking and analyzing media sources.

CONS: Not a dislike so much as a recommendation. The platform has so many features that it can be difficult to narrow down what is needed whenever a special project pops up. So a dedicated representative who understand the clients needs immediately would be helpful.

PROS: Cision provides accessibility and availability of all of the functions throughout the PR platform. I can track my activity through charts and graphs, and also print out reports to monitor what I've done over a specified time period. Everything I need is on my dashboard and accessible to me and my team.

CONS: I would like more training on how to use all of the features, being able to learn at my own pace and time.

PROS: Cision provides vital information for PR professionals in an easily accessible manner. Since my work requires that I pitch every week, it has kept all of the essential contact information, contact preferences, outlet information, etc. in one place and easy for me to retrive. The service team is also very helpful in assisting me regarding the software when I need it.

CONS: While the media monitoring tool is very useful, it tends to pull inaccurate coverage for my clients. I share key words and phrases with customer service, so it needs to better narrow down the accurate coverage.

PROS: Cision allows me to control my PR and to contact specific publications. I like that its account manager is extremely friendly and it helps us with PR and provides us with ideas and recommendations. We work with Cision for more than 3 years and we have managed to upgrade the large packages and to expand our team.

CONS: It is pricy but it does the job and it is worth every penny. In my opinion, this tool is not for small companies.

PROS: Cision is easy to use, easy to search. It has great influencer search capabilities, I like that it saves the searches and monitors, and in this way we are able to keep track of our clients. Its support team is responsible and highly helpful.

CONS: They could improve the searches. Also, I don’t like that there is only Twitter, how do they measure the influence? They could add Likedln as well. In addition they could make easier when searching for coverage, or they could make individual dashboards for clients.

PROS: To tell the truth, I have tried other tools similar to Cision, they all were with lower price but they don’t offer what this tool offers. There are always rooms for improvements but I like that we have available tracking down journalist information. It offers great tutorials so you can better learn the product. Its customer service is wonderful and they are quick to help.

CONS: There are no constant updates. When you start with PR and you build the relationship you will experience drawback because the tool is not fully reliable. I like its capability for sending the press releases but they could make it better. In addition, when it comes to price it is really expensive but we as large company we find this tool helpful and useful.

PROS: I like how the important information for PR professionals is easily accessible. Its tech support team provides wonderful overview and thorough instructions on how to better maximize our contract. We are able to login and check the information. I’m using it on a weekly basis. This tool allows us to keep track of all the information, contact preferences, outlet information and to keep everything in one place.

CONS: First of all, I really like the media database but I have found that the media monitoring tool pulls inaccurate coverage for my clients. I really need to get the accurate coverage from Cision.

PROS: In my experience with Cision I have to say that this tool has great online platform that is easy to use, effective and customizable. I like its price as well. They have improved the customer service over the years. It allows us to track and analyze the media sources and to change the payers frequently.

CONS: This is more like recommendation instead of dislike. The tool has lot of features and this makes difficult top narrow down what you really need at the moment. It would be great if they could include dedicated serv ice rep to help with everything that client needs.

PROS: I love how you can easily use Cision. It great tool for creating list or to send out distribution. Everything is clean and understandable. I love its database for niche industries. As event industry we had struggled with finding media contacts, but now with Cision everything works perfectly and easy.

CONS: We would like to reach with clients from Europa, Middle East, Apac region and even North America, it would be really helpful if they could expand the lists in global areas. Also, the account managers are not as proactive as they should be.