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8 tools you need to build an effective PR tech stack for digital communications

by | May 22, 2024 | Public Relations

Every marketing professional knows the importance of public relations. But with more methods of outreach than ever, and with marketing teams often spread remotely, effective PR becomes more challenging. That’s why it’s vital to have the best PR tech to support your goals.

But if you’re stumped about where to start, don’t worry. In this article, we’ll explore everything you need to know about building an effective PR tech stack. 

Why do you need a PR tech stack?

There’s no single argument for investing in a PR tech stack. Instead, there are lots of reasons why you might invest in PR tech. If you agree to any of the following statements, a tech stack might be your solution. 

  • You feel your marketing teams are finding it difficult to collaborate on PR operations. 
  • You’re struggling with bottlenecks.
  • You’re having difficulty managing multiple PR campaigns. 
  • You need help monitoring social media. 

What to consider when building a PR tech stack 

As with investing in any technology, the first step should be some introspection. What are the PR goals of your organization? What tech can help to facilitate those goals? With a clear understanding of your tech PR strategy, you have a stronger chance of building the best stack for your needs. 

PR tech stack

Your second consideration should be the budget. You might want to invest in various innovative technologies, but also be realistic. Pick tech that aligns with your core goals. Additional upgrades can come later down the line. 

Best tech for your PR tech stack

These are just a few aspects of how a tech stack can help you. Of course, an effective tech stack should be built from the right tools. Let’s explore some of the best PR tools to include in your stack. 

Moreover, for startups aiming to establish a strong public presence and navigate the competitive landscape, incorporating tools specifically tailored for startup public relations can be crucial in gaining traction and visibility in the market.

Social listening tool

Social media is increasingly becoming more and more important for marketers. Illustrating this, 80 percent of business leaders anticipate their company’s social media budget will increase in the next three years. But with so many brands operating on social media, it’s vital that your posts make an impact. 

PR tech stack

Social listening is essential for every PR tech stack. The best tools help keep your finger on the pulse so you never miss an opportunity. This way, you always know which topics will likely strike a chord with your audience. Tools also assist with social media management, monitoring keywords, and identifying the best hashtags across marketing channels. 

Media monitoring tool

The media’s reporting of your brand strongly influences your public image. Let’s imagine that your outbound sales strategy has attracted some negative attention. Unless you monitor these reports and adapt your approach, negative press can quickly impact brand loyalty. 

Unfortunately, It’s difficult to monitor every single article, broadcast, and social media post. This is especially true if you’re running a large-scale brand. 

An effective media monitoring tool is the only way of keeping track of how the media is reporting your brand. The right solution can provide a detailed analysis of reporting, cutting out the legwork for you and providing quick insights. 

Additionally, leveraging local media for event publicity can further enhance your brand’s visibility and reputation within specific communities.
Below are some of the top features in a media monitoring tool. 

  • Coverage alerts for each time a new article mentions your brand. 
  • Insights into media coverage of competitor brands. 
  • AI-powered insights into reporting.
  • The ability to set up coverage for custom topics. 

A media database

Who are the best journalists or influencers to help you build your public image? Finding the best contact takes time that can be better spent on more valuable tasks. Luckily, a media database can complete this process at the click of a button. 

PR tech stack

The process begins by simply inputting a certain keyword into your database. Now, you’ll find a list of media contacts covering the topic. A database should provide a journalist’s email address and phone number. From there, you’re ready to begin outreach. 

Additionally, a media database can be invaluable for identifying key influencers within your industry, streamlining your influencer marketing efforts by providing access to relevant contacts and facilitating efficient outreach campaigns.

Business intelligence tools

Whether it’s from social media, online journalism, or your channels, you’ll receive valuable PR data. But to understand and utilize this data, you need tools that can help deliver actionable insights. Business intelligence (BI) tools can provide detailed data analytics and visualizations to help unpack your data. 

The best BI tools can provide some of the following insights: 

  • Monitor the PR tactics of your competitors.
  • Understand public perception of your brand. 
  • Use conversational artificial intelligence to answer your data questions. 
  • Inform your PR strategy by spotting emerging trends early. 

Search engine optimization tools

Your press releases must reach the public. But for that, you’ll need to ensure that each release is effectively optimized for search engines. SEO tools can help you identify words or phrases to include in your releases. Some options even integrate with generative ai platform to provide edits, suggest changes, and even help write your releases. 

PR tech stack

SEO tools can also help to bolster your organization’s domain authority (DA). Each website is assigned a DA score between 1-100. A high DA score indicates you are a trusted website, ensuring you’re placed higher in search results. SEO tools can help you identify high-DA websites to link with. This, in turn, will boost your own DA.  

Cloud-based tools

In the United States alone, around 22 million people now work fully remotely. For marketing teams handling PR represents a challenge. Normal methods of face-to-face communication and collaboration aren’t possible. If you’re not careful, this can cause your PR activities to suffer. You might have multiple team members approach the same media contact, or omit important information from press releases. 

Cloud-based infrastructure can help bridge gaps between teams. Let’s explore how the cloud can help.

  • Cloud-based collaboration tools

Cloud-based collaboration can help ensure that teamwork continues smoothly. Using these tools, teams can collaborate on important documents. 

Let’s say you’re working on a press release with a team based in a different time zone. Your team can log in and begin working on a document. The second team can later log on to the same document and continue where you left off. They can then leave comments, make edits, and add additional sections. 

With this approach, there’s no need for constant email exchanges. This also means there’s no risk of teams accidentally working on the wrong version of the same file. 

  • Cloud-based communication tools

Cloud-based communication tools centralize all communication methods. There’s no need to constantly switch between emails, instant messaging, and conferencing apps. You can ensure that all teams are kept in the loop from a single source. 

These tools provide various useful features. You can easily share important files with colleagues, initiate group chats with different teams, and host video, audio, and conferencing calls. You even have the option of recording meetings for colleagues who cannot attend.  

Some communication tools also provide features designed specifically for PR. These include: 

  • Automated alerts to notify teammates when reaching out to a media contact. 
  • The ability to track call logs of team members. 
  • The option to leave media notes to provide contextual information for teammates.

You may also want to consider integrating add to calendar buttons within these tools to streamline scheduling for media outreach, meetings, and important events. This feature can enhance efficiency by allowing team members to instantly schedule reminders and sync events with their calendars, ensuring everyone stays organized and on track with PR activities.

Podcast monitoring

In 2023 close to 70 million Americans listened to podcasts. Regarding marketing, being mentioned on a podcast can be just as effective as a TV advert. That’s why PR teams need to track their brands’ podcast coverage. Luckily, podcast monitoring tools can track thousands of podcasts and identify when your brand is mentioned. 

PR tech stack

These tools have many useful monitoring features. They can send alerts for mentions and even provide podcast transcripts. Using a technology called ‘sentiment analysis, ’ these tools also help to determine whether coverage is positive or negative. Users can also choose to monitor specific podcasts that are important to them. 

CRM tools

Are customers happy with your inbound call centre service? Are they satisfied with your recent product launches? It’s important that PR can monitor customer relationships over time to understand changing sentiment.  

To gain this information, you’ll need a customer relationship management (CRM) tool. It creates records of communications, helping you understand preferences and opinions. With a better understanding of customer interactions, you can also refine your approach to PR and ensure that your statements make a more positive impact.  

Consider your PR tech stack carefully

So, there you have it—some of our top recommended tools for building a PR tech stack and important considerations when doing so. We’ve tried to explore a broad overview of some of the tools that might be useful to you. 

Of course, your choices should be dictated by your individual needs. Switching from one tool to another can be time-consuming, so plan carefully. Most platforms offer demo options, so you can try a tool before investing. 

And, if you’re unsure where to find tech solutions, begin with Agility PR. We offer a variety of tools for public relations (some of which we’ve explored above). Why not explore our solutions in more detail? 

Jessica True
Jessica True is the Senior Director for Marketing Strategy and Operations at Dialpad, a modern business communications platform that takes every kind of conversation to the next level—turning conversations into opportunities. Jessica is an expert in collaborating with multifunctional teams to execute and optimize marketing efforts, for both company and client campaigns. Here is her LinkedIn.

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