Disclaimer: This blog post was edited on February 9, 2021 to reflect an updated review on new product features from Muck Rack. Scroll to the end to see our updated opinion.
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Every good PR person knows that the best path to good media relations is strong personal relationships, but every good relationship starts somewhere. With this in mind, Highwire Labs investigated the next generation of PR tools and databases, eager to meet you people and forge new relationships.
Among the most popular tools for agencies, we explored Cision and Muck Rack.
Both continue to evolve beyond static and faceless lists to include live updates to reporters’ coverage and social feeds, but only one can stand out as the clear choice for the tech-savvy PR pro. Here’s our take.
Cision C3
Highwire has been using Cision for years and they have a reputation as the de facto media database for PR professionals; however, it has not been without its frustrations including a poor user interface and slow load time. To be frank, our team did not go into this demo with high expectations. But, we were pleasantly surprised!
Turns out Cision has had quite a facelift. Not only do they offer an improved interface for looking up media contacts, but they have added features like live reporter Twitter feeds, editorial calendar database, automated briefing docs and metrics reporting all within its platform.
Pros
The updated platform has become a “one-stop shop” by allowing you to see recent coverage and Twitter feeds from the reporters within their media profile. Also the integration of the HARO and Editorial Calendars into Cision’s platform makes it easy to check a single location for potential opportunities.
The improved search function allows you to find reporters not just by their stated beat, but by the actual stories they write and conversations they have, making it easier to build a targeted list of the right reporters who will be interested in your topic at hand.
In-brief:
- Improved user interface to make searching reporters easier and more specific
- Editorial calendar feature to create edcals within the platform
- Automated briefing documents for reporters
- Live reporter twitter feed to see what reporters are covering at a moment’s notice
- Metric reporting to track client’s share of voice against competitors
- One platform to handle multiple steps to the PR process
Cons
However, Cision does still have a few drawbacks despite the new improvements. As a legacy platform it has a reputation to overcome amongst journalists. Since much of the contact information and biographical information on the platform is self selected by the journalist, sometimes information is missing or not very detailed. There is also something of a learning curve to figuring how to use all the tools available in this platform to their full potential.
In-brief:
- Legacy platform with fixed reputation
- Self-selected information by journalists
- High learning curve to reach full potential
Muck Rack
We’re seeing more PR pros flock to Muck Rack and the company is quickly expanding its platform to provide more than just a media database. Most PR professionals are familiar with the free version of the tool that provides snippets of a reporter’s coverage, biography and recent articles, but that is just the tip of a very impressive iceberg. The Muck Rack platform can actually do tons more. The company has expanded its platform to offer insight into media trends, offering highly detailed metrics reports (with social data alongside readership estimates) and provides tailored news alerts via email.
Muck Rack prides itself on being a tool for PR pros and journalists alike. PR teams can create media lists, find reporter contact information, build coverage reports and monitor the news, while journalists can build out their own portfolios to better represent their coverage areas and writing style to PR pros.
Simply put, Muck Rack understands the daily needs of PR pros and is actively adding features to be a “one-stop-shop.”
Pros
Muck Rack feels modern. It’s interface is fast and simple to use, while giving access to powerful features under the hood. The way it integrates social and coverage data to provide a holistic picture of media by topic or keyword feels closer to how the real world works.
And by creating a service that is useful for journalists, it helps change the perception of what a media database can be – it especially appeals to freelance writers, and Muck Rack’s data in this area seems to be more comprehensive.
Muck Rack’s public-facing profiles create an incentive for journalists maintaining complete and accurate information on the platform, supplemented by a responsive and dedicated team at Muck Rack who are constantly keeping the database maintained – reacting to our queries within the same business day and, at times, within minutes.
While Highwire personalizes pitches, the platform also allows mail merge (with the ability to customize each pitch). It is an innovative approach that is brimming with potential.
Reporting dashboards are easy to build, even when tracking complex keywords or comparing many queries.
In-brief:
- Reporter contact information updated in real time and extensive freelance coverage
- Excellent customer service with a dedicated support team to quickly investigate new reporters if needed. A member of our team used the chat feature and had a missing email in just 10 minutes.
- Ability to quickly find relevant journalists based on coverage interests and past stories as well as social conversations
- Evolving platform to offer more than a media database allowing PR pros to develop metrics reports, explore media trends, create real-time coverage alerts and receive alerts for when your favorite journalist publishes a new story
Cons
Muck Rack is becoming a powerful tool for PR pros but it can come at a cost. Historically, the company has required individual logins for each user, though recent trials of unlimited seat options will be attractive for mid-to-large size agencies like Highwire.
While the Muck Rack interface is fast and modern, it can also contribute to “tab fatigue” as each reporter profile opens into a new browser panel. This can quickly turn a research task into information overload.
The included reporting features are simple and easy to use, but are not without their learning curve. Muck Rack includes various types of queries (searches, alerts and reports), each of which works slightly differently. Broadcast reporting is an added cost and, saved searches and alerts can’t be duplicated, so setting up a lot of reporting can feel repetitive.
Highwire Labs’ Take
When we last ran this comparison, in 2017, we identified Muck Rack’s potential as a newer player bringing innovation and a modern approach to the market. Fast forward to 2021 and Muck Rack has exceeded its potential and established itself as a de facto tool for us PR pros.
Our team was impressed with Muck Rack’s easy to use platform, extensive database and responsive support. Muck Rack’s expanded offerings make for a streamlined process which has improved the efficiency of our briefing docs, media list building and reporting. While we found Cision to be a one-stop shop for PR basics and traditional media data, Muck Rack has continued to build out more advanced tools with valuable quality of life features, more attention to social and freelance data, as well as innovative features like trend monitoring.
Neither platform has a standardized price publically available, so you’ll have to work with their sales teams to decide which makes most sense from your agency size and cost perspective. For Highwire, we are excited to explore more possibilities with Muck Rack and see how our teams can use the platform to up-level our reporting, better understand new trends and have the opportunity to better identify new media targets.
WINNER: Muck Rack
