Dynamic storyteller, strategic thinker, media maven – All descriptions of a great public relations professional. Behind every successful PR pro is an arsenal of tools that help make their job easier. With a slew of options out there, agencies can have a hard time deciphering which tools to invest in to simplify day-to-day tasks and support staff’s development.
We polled NSTers on their favorite PR industry tools that not only make our jobs easier, but also allow us to better serve our clients. From media monitoring, list building, graphic design and social media scheduling, here are the top 5 PR tools we love.
1. Cision
As one of the most well-known PR industry platforms, we use Cision for just about everything. Whether it’s downloading media lists, monitoring media mentions, or using Cision’s social listening capabilities, we use Cision to keep our finger on the pulse of what’s being said about our clients as well as to organize all our media lists and notes. With a variety of tools and capabilities, Cision should be included in every PR pro’s toolbelt.
2. Hootsuite
In today’s PR industry, social media is more important than ever. Whether it’s our own firm’s social media or our client’s, NST uses Hootsuite to schedule, publish, manage and monitor social content and engagement. The all-in-one social media platform allows you to interact with followers and monitor newsfeeds across platforms, as well as track metrics to ensure you are delivering on your client’s KPIs. Hootsuite also provides great insight into the best times to post and how to adjust your content strategy for each platform. Hootsuite offers a variety of price plans (including a free account option), allowing you to tailor the platform to your needs.
3. Similarweb
Measuring website traffic can be a great indicator of reach and impact when monitoring website and media mentions. Thankfully there’s Similar Web, a free and easy to use website that provides website analytics like traffic data, bounce rate, time on site, and other engagement metrics. Simply plug in any website URL and the site quickly pulls key metrics. We like to use Similarweb to gauge traffic of digital publications, news sites, blogs and more.
4. TVEyes
We can’t be everywhere at once, so we love tools like TVEyes to help be our eyes and ears when it comes to television broadcast and radio coverage. The platform allows you to track keywords, save clips and watch news coverage. This comes in handy when we want to send our clients clips of recent broadcast interviews, TV mentions, and radio sound bites.
5. Exploration
At NST, one of our values is to push ourselves, our clients and profession to explore. Part of this exploration is a commitment to learning, so naturally, our biggest tool is our shared knowledge. Whether it’s a team brainstorm, professional development session or weekly news shared during staff meeting, we work hard to keep our team apprised of local news, trending topics and industry breakthroughs.
As an additional incentive for our team’s growth, everyone at NST is given a professional development stipend to spend on their individual exploration. While our top tools are important in our day to day, we pride ourselves in ensuring that as a team, we keep pushing each other to continue to explore and share our learnings.
If you’re like us, someone who loves seeking out professional development opportunities, making a good to-do list, constantly monitoring the news and have a million ideas you can’t wait to share with your team, we’re always searching for new talent! If you think you’d be a good fit, we’d love to get to know you and discuss our open positions. Check out out available positions here.
Tools NST Uses Most
Favorite Tools
