5 PR Tools to set Yourself up for Success

Whether you’re on the horizon of some big and exciting changes within your brand, or just wanting to get the word out about your business, public relations helps to tell your story to the right people at the right time. PR can seem daunting if you’re just starting out, but there’s no need to fear. Here are some tried and true PR tools that will help you level-up your earned media game and hopefully result in some wins for your brand.

1. Cision:

If you’re looking to reach out to journalists and reporters, it’s going to be difficult without a tool like Cision, Meltwater, or MuckRack. Publications, TV networks, and radio stations are notorious for their ever-changing rolodex of employees, so having a tool like Cision that makes their contact information easily accessible is a really solid investment in your PR plan. That being said, these tools are not perfect in keeping up with the small details for these media contacts, such as the typical beats they cover. It is also a bit of an investment price-wise, but it will get you way further than trying to find contact information on your own.

2. Google Alerts:

Google Alerts is a great (and free!) way to keep up with news about your business, client, or trending industry topics. Set up a Google Alerts account with your brand name or a few industry buzzwords and you will be notified every time something comes up in the news. This can be extremely helpful for newsjacking opportunities or to inform topical thought leadership content for a blog or LinkedIn post.

3. Twitter:

Journalists are still all over Twitter! Your media contacts use Twitter in several ways that can be quite helpful for you as a PR pro:

1. Getting to know the more personal side of them. This can be a helpful tie into a story you’re trying to pitch or just to create a more organic way to begin your communications with them.
2. Sometimes journalists tweet a call-out for pitches on a story they’re covering. If you can offer something helpful to the story in a timely manner, this is a super easy way to get a win! Also, it’s sometimes in these tweets that they’ll share their email address, which can be very valuable if you’re struggling to find it elsewhere.
3. General breaking news or changes in roles/employers. If you are following a good amount of contacts in your local media space, you’re probably not going to miss when a reporter changes publications or transitions into a new role.

4. Canva:

Content creation may not go hand-in-hand with your PR tasks, but if you dabble at all in social media, it’s a no-brainer. It is also a great tool for things like LinkedIn or Facebook banners and brand logos, in addition to the obvious social media graphics. I’ve also used Canva to put a couple logos into one graphic for the use of a press release. There is a lot you can do with this FREE online tool which is why we love Canva.

5. HARO:

HARO (also known as Help a Reporter Out) is a tool owned by Cision that allows reporters to ask questions needed for their current stories directly to PR professionals like you. This is such an easy resource to utilize even if you’re not looking to pour a bunch of time into your PR initiatives at the moment. A quick daily scan of your HARO email is a very small commitment that could have big pay off, with very little effort needed.

There you have it. Whether you have a team of PR pros, or you are simply doing what you can with the time that you have, investing at all in your PR strategy can have huge payoffs for your brand. I hope you learned something new from this list of my favourite tools and got inspired to step up your PR game today.

Written by Mackenzie Mowat, Public Relations Specialist at Jelly Digital Marketing & PR.