Explore All In SEO
Recent Articles
Recent Articles
Recent Articles

24 Best PR Tools For 2023 - Revolutionizing Your PR Strategy

When we say "PR tool," we're referring to any program, technology, or app that can help you improve, speed up, or strengthen your communications. As you may know, the public relations industry isn't always at the cutting edge of technology; in fact, 59 percent of respondents to our Global PR Survey 2020 still use Microsoft Excel to handle their contacts. Only 40% of people utilized LinkedIn to find new media contacts, while only 20% used Twitter.

Mar 16, 2023104.5K Shares1.6M ViewsWritten By: Keith Peterson
Jump to
  1. What Are PR Tools?
  2. Respona
  3. HARO (Help A Reporter Out)
  4. Google Alerts
  5. Ahrefs
  6. Coverage Book
  7. Visme
  8. BuzzSumo
  9. Business Wire
  10. PRWeb
  11. Critical Mention
  12. Moosend
  13. Anewstip
  14. SparkToro
  15. MuckRack
  16. Mention
  17. Grammarly
  18. NinjaOutreach
  19. ProfNet
  20. Cision
  21. SourceBottle
  22. Crystal
  23. Hemingway
  24. Mynewsdesk
  25. Medium

What Are PR Tools?

Best PR tools- When we say "PR tool," we're referring to any program, technology, or app that can help you improve, speed up, or strengthen your communications. As you may know, the public relations industry isn't always at the cutting edge of technology; in fact, 59 percent of respondents to our Global PR Survey 2020 still use Microsoft Excel to handle their contacts.

Only 40% of people utilized LinkedIn to find new media contacts, while only 20% used Twitter. Those are sobering statistics, especially because there are so many tools available that may make your life easier.

In the same study, participants were asked how much time they spend each week updating their contact lists. Respondents who use a CRM for contact management spend an average of 3.4 hours per week updating their contact lists, compared to 5.4 hours per week for those who use spreadsheets and email address books (4.6hrs each week).

That's simply looking at contact management.

How much time and effort could you save on day-to-day public relations?

The following are the most up-to-date, tech-savvy techniques to boost your public relations and make the job you already do go further.

Visual press releases make use of modern technology to give your announcements a multimedia boost. They're not only more aesthetically appealing than text-only press releases, but they also provide the reader with all the information they need to tell your narrative. This includes the following:

Respona

Respona logo
Respona logo

Respona it's an excellent substitute for BuzzStream, PitchBox, and Prezly. Respona was established as an all-in-one public relations and link-building tool to assist people in sending highly tailored emails to their prospects.

Respona can be used to:

  • Create inbound links to your website's most important content.
  • Make contact with influential people and well-known blogs in your field.
  • Find out how toget in touch with your prospects.

In essence, Respona assists you in cultivating relationships with key individuals and businesses in your field by communicating with them through highly tailored media pitches. If you're into digital marketing in general, you already know how important email outreach is when it comes to building relationships. The same is true in the field of public relations.

Respona is a tool that can assist you in connecting with the right individuals and promoting crucial aspects of your company (e.g. a press release for a new service or product). You can utilize Respona's templates or develop custom sequences with unique subject lines and body text to reach your target audience. You may add as many follow-ups to your sequence as you want, and you can control all responses from your Gmail—or any other—email account.

If you're seeking for a smart PR outreach tool, this one is a must-try.

  • Why We Like It: It mixes customization and efficiency.
  • Favorite Aspect: Possibilities
  • Ideal for: media monitoring, public relations outreach, and spotting media possibilities.

HARO (Help A Reporter Out)

HARO logo
HARO logo

HAROis one of the most popular tools for public relations and SEOspecialists. It's great for small enterprises with specialized knowledge and a desire to be featured in relevant publications. Consider HARO as a two-sided marketplace, with sources (like you) asking for press coverage on the one hand and journalists looking for sources on the other. Despite the fact that HARO has subscription options, you can start with a free account to see what the tool can achieve.

As a PR solution to get you started, I definitely suggest it.

  • Why We Like It: There are some possibilities that are truly worthwhile.
  • Favorite Feature: N/A
  • Ideal for: media monitoring, public relations outreach, and spotting media possibilities.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts logo
Google Alerts logo

Google Alerts is a feature that allows you to watch the web for fresh information on topics that interest you, as you presumably already know.

Google Alerts can be used in two ways:

  • Keep an eye on the web for new content relating to key terms that are relevant to your company.
  • Keep an eye out for new content that mentions your company, products, or services on the internet. Even though the second method is more useful for organizations who already have an audience, the first can be a terrific way to find new material quickly and use it to create connections, gain backlinks, and receive brand mentions.

An example of this is when we discovered we were mentioned in a “Best Marketing Tools List” from a Mexican SEOblog and contacted them. Despite the fact that numerous programs exist that duplicate Alerts' functionality, there is one thing they can't match: Alerts. Anyone with a Gmail account can use Google Alerts for free.

Why should someone pay for something that is already available for free?

If you're serious about monitoring your niche, this tool is an excellent place to start. It's simple to set up and, as I previously stated, anyone can use it.

  • Why We Like It: It’s easy to set up and adjust
  • Favorite Feature: Alerts using boolean strings
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/Identifying media opportunities

Ahrefs

Ahrefs logo
Ahrefs logo

It isn't a PR tool in and of itself, but its features can be valuable for PR. Ahrefs is a great tool for PR practitioners, from identifying opportunities for content production to tracking your competitors' PR activities (e.g., whether or not they get featured on podcasts). It's also one of the most widely used SEOtools right now. It can, however, be used as a monitoring tool, a backlink checker, a content explorer, and many other things. You'll need a tool like Ahrefs if you're serious about monitoring your niche.

  • Why We Like It: All-in-one tool for monitoring your niche
  • Favorite Feature: Content Explorer
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/Identifying media opportunities

Coverage Book

Coverage book logo
Coverage book logo

If you've ever attempted to construct a coverage report, you know how time-consuming it can be. Even if you have a ready-to-use template, there are a number of factors to consider while putting together a strong presentation:

  • One by one, copy/paste your coverage links
  • Including screenshots of the pages where you were highlighted in your presentation.
  • Taking performance metrics for your brand mentions (e.g., estimated traffic)
  • Put things together in a way that is both readable and appealing to the eye.

All you have to do with Coverage Book is add the links to the websites/pages where you were featured. The tool will take care of the rest and generate stunning presentations in a matter of minutes.

Give it a shot if you want to take your reporting to the next level.

  • Why We Like It: It's simple to use.
  • Favorite Feature: N/A
  • Ideal For: Reporting

Visme

Visme logo
Visme logo

Visme is the best Canva substitute available. It can be used to generate visually beautiful graphs, charts, presentations, infographics, and more. More than 4.5 million people trust it, and corporations like PayPal, IBM, and Unilever use it. You don't need me to tell you that great design can help you stand out. In an overly noisy environment, it goes without saying that good design is essential. Visme allows users to generate visually appealing graphs that they can then share with their media outletsand channels. Visme offers three businessoptions to meet any requirement you may have. Make certain to give it a shot.

  • Why We Like It: It makes design fun
  • Favorite Feature: Infographic maker
  • Ideal For: Graphic design

BuzzSumo

Buzzsumo logo
Buzzsumo logo

BuzzSumo can be used in four different ways:

  • Discovery - finding new web content
  • Research - conducting deep web research using advanced filters
  • Influencers- to track down influencers in your field.
  • Monitoring - to keep an eye on your niche.
  • BuzzSumo is a tool that combines features from the other apps on this list.

To put it another way, BuzzSumo is a software program with a wide range of functions that can assist you in a variety of ways. This is why it's so popular, and why marketers and PR professionals at firms like Ogilvy, BuzzFeed, Expedia, and others trust it. Make sure to have a look at it and even try it out for free for seven days.

  • Why We Like It: Ease of use/Friendly UI
  • Favorite Feature: Discovery
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/Identifying media opportunities

Business Wire

Businesswire logo
Businesswire logo

Berkshire Hathaway owns the company BusinessWire. Although it offers other services such as EDGAR filing and XBRL regulatory filings, it is essentially a press dissemination service—similar to Newswire and PRWeb, which we'll see next. Business Wire has been in business for over 60 years and is widely regarded as one of the best firms for press release delivery. It works with 100,000 media outlets in 22 countries and has offices in 22 countries.

  • Why We Like It: Highly experienced in the field of press release distribution
  • Favorite Feature: N/A
  • Ideal For: Press release distribution

PRWeb

PrWeb logo
PrWeb logo

CISION owns PRWeb, a public relations distribution service.

The fact that PRWeb has a pricing page on its website is interesting. It now has four primary plans:

  • Basic
  • Standard
  • Advanced
  • Premium

The truth is that, while PR services have traditionally been pricey, these plans are actually fairly reasonable. Furthermore, given PRWeb's extensive network of media partners and distribution channels, the service is unquestionably worthwhile. Give it a shot if you're serious about getting your press release out there.

  • Why We Like It: Wide distribution network
  • Favorite Feature: N/A
  • Ideal For: Press release distribution

Critical Mention

Critical Mention logo
Critical Mention logo

Critical Mention is a media monitoring tool for businesses who seek complete control over their internet reputation. With corporations like McDonald's and CBS adopting Critical Mention, it's clear that it's a strong tool. Critical Mention is a genuinely unusual software tool for PR professionals, with features such as monitoring social media, internet news, and even television and radio broadcasts. It is a tool for huge firms and enterprises, rather than small businesses.

  • Why We Like It: All-in-one tool for media monitoring
  • Favorite Feature: Broadcast monitoring
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring

Moosend

Moosend logo
Moosend logo

Moosend is a marketing platform that does everything. This application may help you manage all of your marketing efforts in one location, from email marketingto subscription forms and landing sites. You can use Moosend to send a news release to your email subscribers, for example.

If you frequently appear on podcasts, you may create bespoke landing pages to offer special discounts to everyone who has listened to the podcast and is interested in your product. As you can see, this software package includes a lot of features for PR experts. Moosend also has a freemium plan that is excellent for small organizations who are just getting started with email marketing and automation.

  • Why We Like It: Variety of features
  • Favorite Feature: Landing pages
  • Ideal For: Building custom landing pages for PR campaigns/Sending news releases

Anewstip

Anewstip logo
Anewstip logo

There are four main roles of anewstip:

  • Media lists—You can get media lists featuring journalists who are relevant to your niche on media lists.
  • Pitch—this is where you can pitch relevant journalists and establish media relationships.
  • Notifications—you may use this feature to set up alerts depending on your target and brandingterms.
  • Report—where you can quickly build fantastic PR reports in Google Slides.
  • It's a fantastic tool that includes everything you'll need to get started with your public relations efforts.

Make certain to give it a shot.

  • Why We Like It: Variety of features
  • Favorite Feature: Media lists
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/PR outreach/Identifying media opportunities

SparkToro

Sparktoro logo
Sparktoro logo

Rand Fishkin, the founder of Moz, created SparkToro, a software tool. Rand, of course, requires no introduction to the marketing world. However, the PR world may be unfamiliar with this technology. What exactly is SparkToro? It's a marketing professional's market research and audience intelligence tool. Of course, the technology isn't exclusive to or targeted at marketing experts; everyone may benefit from it. The unique feature of SparkToro is that it allows you to run searches and identify audiences based on their online behaviors.

  • Why We Like It: It’s one of a kind
  • Favorite Feature: N/A
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/PR outreach/Identifying media opportunities

MuckRack

MuckRack logo
MuckRack logo

MuckRack is a popular tool for public relations practitioners. Why? It's because it allows you to "search for journalists, monitor news, and produce reports" in one convenient location. Its primary characteristics are as follows:

  • Media database
  • Monitoring and alerts
  • Pitching
  • Collaboration (PR CRM)
  • Reporting

Mention

When it comes to monitoring online brand remarks, Mention is one of the most popular solutions available.

Here are some of the things you can do with Mention:

  • Monitoring of social media on the internet
  • Listening in on social media
  • Analyze the competition
  • You may engage in conversations about your products and services and connect with your audience on a deeper level by monitoring your industry and niche in real time.

Mention can also help you see trends among the millions of Tweets sent out every day and learn how your sector is discussed. Knowing what terms and phrases people use to describe your items can later be employed in public relations campaigns to improve overall results.

  • Why We Like It: Easy to use
  • Favorite Feature: Social media listening
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/Identifying media opportunities
Grammarly logo
Grammarly logo

Grammarly

Grammarly isn't a PR tool in and of itself, but it is a piece of software that can help you with your PR efforts.

How? By proofreading your public relations material before distributing it to your prospect list.

Make sure your wording is error-free, especially if we're talking about press releases or other key PR materials. Grammarly can help you accomplish just that. Of course, you can hire an editor to oversee the final product, but Grammarly may provide an extra layer of assurance that everything is in order.

Make certain to give it a shot.

  • Why We Like It: Ease of use
  • Favorite Feature: Grammarly for Google Docs
  • Ideal For: Proofreading

NinjaOutreach

NinjaOutreach logo
NinjaOutreach logo

NinjaOutreach is a platform that can help you locate influencers on Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. It's primarily a tool for influencer marketing, but it also offers PR outreach and link-building skills. It has the advantage of allowing you to run searches based on a topic of interest and limit down results depending on your location (for example, New York), as well as other Instagram indicators such as engagement rate. You may build a media listthat is very relevant to your company and products/services this way.

You'll want to use this tool to locate better prospects faster and simpler if you want to leverage social media as part of your entire marketing strategy and PR efforts.

  • Why We Like It: Ease of use/Quality of data
  • Favorite Feature: Instagram Search
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/PR outreach/Identifying media opportunities

ProfNet

ProfNet logo
ProfNet logo

Think of ProfNet as a service that’s similar to HARO. Like HARO, ProfNet helps experts connect with journalists and get covered in major publications. It’s a great public relations tool for those who are true experts on a certain beat (area of expertise) and looking for media mentions in relevant publications.

If you want to get media coverage through your PR strategy, you’ll need this in your toolset.

  • Why We Like It: Easy to use
  • Favorite Feature: N/A
  • Ideal For: PR outreach/Identifying media opportunities

Cision

Cision logo
Cision logo

Some of the tools mentioned in this list (for example, HARO and PRWeb) are actually CISION subsidiaries. Aside from these one-on-one services, the firm also provides software for PR professionals and teams.

CISION is a public relations powerhouse, offering everything from specialty monitoring to comprehensive PR analytics and reporting. The product's pricing isn't displayed on the website; instead, you'll have to request a demo to discover more about how much it costs. It's a solution for large corporations that want to invest in brand equity and long-term brand development.

  • Why We Like It: All-in-one tool for PR management
  • Favorite Feature: N/A
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/PR outreach/Identifying media opportunities

SourceBottle

SourceBottle logo
SourceBottle logo

Consider SourceBottle as a replacement for HARO. SourceBottle, like HARO, connects sources with journalists seeking expert knowledge. As a public relations professional, you may opt to be a source - based on the knowledge and expertise you have—and be notified whenever a writer is looking for information in your industry. Furthermore, SourceBottle is free to use, at least according to their website. As a result, you have nothing to lose by giving it a shot.

  • Why We Like It: Free to use
  • Favorite Feature: N/A
  • Ideal For: PR outreach/Identifying media opportunities

Crystal

Crystal logo
Crystal logo

"The app that tells you anyone's personality," according to Crystal.

The technology analyzes millions of data points—for example, from a prospect's LinkedIn profile—to provide you insight into that person's personality. This is especially valuable for media relationsbecause it provides you with intelligence that you can't get anywhere else. Companies like Google, Amazon, Airbnb, Oracle, and others utilize the technology for marketing, sales, hiring, and public relations. Crystal's Chrome Extension is an excellent place to begin. Make sure to use it in your next public relations campaign.

  • Why We Like It: Ease of use
  • Favorite Feature: Chrome Extension
  • Ideal For: PR outreach/Identifying media opportunities/Prospect analysis

Hemingway

Hemingway logo
Hemingway logo

Like some other tools in this list, Hemingway is not a PR software per se. It can also be used for content marketingand blogging. So, what is Hemingway and how can you use it for your PR campaigns?

According to Self-Publishing School, “the Hemingway App is an editor that highlights and corrects grammar, fluency, and sentence structure in order to help your writing read and look better.” When writing press releases, you can use Hemingway to get useful insights on the readability of your copy and overall structure of your text. It’s a nifty tool that’s free for everyone to use. Make sure to add it to your own list of tools.

  • Why We Like It: Friendly user interface (UI)/Ease of use
  • Favorite Feature: N/A
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/PR outreach/Identifying media opportunities

Mynewsdesk

MyNewsDesk logo
MyNewsDesk logo

You can use Mynewsdesk to:

  • Keep an eye on your industry and your company's reputation.
  • Create and manage distribution lists for press releases.
  • Track and measure the results of your public relations activities by creating and publishing content.
  • In a word, Mynewsdesk assists you in obtaining media coverage while also keeping track of the entire process.

For further information, please visit the company's website.

  • Why We Like It: Friendly UI
  • Favorite Feature: N/A
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/PR outreach/Identifying media opportunities

Medium

Medium logo
Medium logo

Bloggers, public relations experts, influencers, and people who enjoy good stories go to Medium to read news and spend their time online. It's a massive website with millions of monthly visitors and a large organic reach in search engines like Google. So, how can you use it to your public relations efforts?

If a piece of content or a story goes viral on Medium, it has a decent possibility of being picked up by major publications. Medium can be a terrific method to get your material out there and attract new audiences from all around the world. You may utilize it as one of the routes to spread your content as its organic reach grows.

  • Why We Like It: Connect with likeminded people in a direct way
  • Favorite Feature: Content Editor
  • Ideal For: Media monitoring/Identifying media opportunities/Press release distribution

Keep in mind that these tools are only useful in the context of specific activities. To put it another way, even the best gadget won't help you until you have the correct processes in place.

Recent Articles