Cision, Vocus, and BurrellesLuce

 
Earlier this week our Public Relations Tactics II class was visited by a PR professional named Steve Staedler. He spent time explaining Cision and ways to integrate social media into modern PR. Unfortunately, I was ill on the day that Steve Staedler came to speak, so I missed his presentation. However, I was able to do some research on different companies specializing in software for PR.

The three companies I compared were BurrellesLuce, Cision, and Vocus. The first thing I looked for was a pricing sheet. Vocus presented a very helpful guide. Directly under their "Software" tab you were able to click on pricing, which took you to a pricing break-down. You were also able to compare all plans, and see which one fit your company or needs the best. Cison and BurrellesLuce were a bit differently. To receive a quote from either of those companies you needed to either call or fill out a form requesting information. The pricing wasn't readily available, and when I tried to call the company/they tried to call me we had a hard time catching each other. It would have been very helpful to at least have some kind pricing guide.

All of the websites were easy to navigate, which was helpful. I did notice some differences in wording and labeling on the sites, however. BurrellesLuce under their "Service" tab labeled Media Outreach, Monitoring, and Reporting. Vocus had Advanced PR and Marketing. Cision never specifically specified in their drop-down menu, but more research came up with more information.

All three websites also had options for blogs, resources, and support. The representatives that I spoke to all seemed very knowledgeable and eager to help, which I appreciated. Being mainly in-the-dark about these software companies, being able to speak to someone with obvious understanding made the hunt for information much easier.

I also found the "About Us" sections very helpful. You were able to look at Press Releases, news stories, and ways to contact professionals on all of the websites, though some took more digging to find. Nothing was exceptionally hard to find, but there were some areas that you had to click more than twice to find the links or information.

Overall, I feel like the companies all seemed fairly comparable, though they didn't all specialize in exactly the same things. I wish that all of the companies had a price sheet, but I appreciated that all of the representatives I spoke to were polite and very helpful. I never felt dismissed even though I told them I was simply a student seeking information. Quite honestly, I had expected some resentment, but I never perceived any at least.

In case you'd like to do extra research on your own, you can visit Bulldog Reporter for a more chart-style breakdown of these companies and others within the same realm. Happy learning!