In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, effective media, journalist, and influencer targeting is essential for businesses to reach their target audience and amplify their brand presence. Here at JH Virtual Assistant, we’re finding ourselves supporting clients more and more with media and influencer outreach in order to keep their profiles high, diaries full and leads consistent.
To streamline this process and enhance outreach efforts, a plethora of software solutions are available. In this blog, we hope to save you some time by exploring the best software options available in 2023, their features, costs, and the benefits they offer to businesses in managing their media and influencer relationships.
- Mention Mention is a powerful media monitoring and influencer tracking tool that helps businesses stay informed about brand mentions and relevant topics across various platforms. This software allows users to track conversations and topics related to your business on social media, blogs, news articles, and more. Mention offers real-time notifications, enabling timely engagement with journalists and influencers. The software’s user-friendly interface makes searching easy. It’s not a complete tool for managing the outreach process, but may be hugely helpful in your research. With Mention, you can learn who is talking about topics related to your business, what’s being said and where these conversations are happening.
Positives: Real-time monitoring ensures prompt responses and opportunities for quick interactions with journalists and influencers. Mention offers a 14-day free trial, allowing users to experience its features before committing to a subscription plan.
Negatives: The free trial is time-limited, and the premium plans can be relatively expensive for small businesses or startups.
- BuzzStream BuzzStream is a comprehensive outreach platform that aids businesses in building relationships with media professionals and influencers. The software facilitates personalised email outreach and enables efficient tracking of responses and interactions. BuzzStream also offers insights into influencers’ demographics, allowing businesses to target their campaigns effectively.
Positives: The software’s personalised email templates and automated follow-ups save time and improve response rates. Additionally, BuzzStream provides a 14-day free trial, which allows users to gauge its suitability for their needs.
Negatives: The pricing can be a deterrent for smaller businesses, and the interface might feel overwhelming for new users.
- Cision Cision is a well-established media database that offers a vast network of journalists, bloggers, and influencers to help businesses amplify their media presence. The software boasts advanced search filters to find the most relevant contacts and track responses effectively. Cision provides detailed demographic data, allowing businesses to make informed targeting decisions. We’ve mentioned it for completeness, but it’s probably less suitable for smaller businesses.
Positives: Cision’s extensive database provides access to a wide range of media professionals and influencers, increasing outreach opportunities. They might offer a limited free trial or demo to showcase their features, but this depends on what’s on offer at the time.
Negatives: The subscription costs can be high, especially for smaller businesses or startups. Additionally, the vast number of features might be overwhelming for some users, leading to a steep learning curve.
- NinjaOutreach NinjaOutreach is a versatile influencer marketing and media outreach tool that assists businesses in finding and contacting influencers within their niche. The software streamlines the outreach process with customisable email templates and automated follow-ups. NinjaOutreach also provides analytics to measure the success of outreach campaigns.
Positives: NinjaOutreach’s focus on influencer marketing makes it ideal for businesses looking to collaborate with influencers. The software offers a 7-day free trial, allowing users to test its capabilities.
Negatives: The software’s emphasis on influencers might limit its usefulness for traditional media outreach. NinjaOutreach is fairly expensive, meaning that it’s probably only suitable for reasonably established businesses that rely on working with influencers. Also, the free trial period might be too short for some users to fully evaluate its potential.
- Muck Rack Muck Rack is a PR software platform designed to help businesses find and connect with journalists and media outlets. The software offers a media database with comprehensive journalist profiles, enabling users to target specific industries. Muck Rack also provides a media monitoring feature to track brand mentions, relevant topics and competitor coverage.
Positives: Muck Rack’s journalist database is one of its main strengths, making it easy to find relevant contacts quickly. They might offer a limited free plan or a free trial to explore the platform, but like Cision, it depends on the time when you connect with them and what’s on offer.
Negatives: The pricing might be a concern for smaller businesses, and some users may find the interface less intuitive compared to other options.
Conclusion In today’s highly competitive digital landscape, successful media, journalist, and influencer targeting can make a significant difference in a business’ success. Each software mentioned above has its unique set of features, catering to various business needs. While Mention is excellent for real-time monitoring, BuzzStream stands out with its personalised email outreach. Cision’s extensive database offers a vast array of contacts, and NinjaOutreach excels in influencer marketing. Finally, Muck Rack’s comprehensive journalist database provides easy access to media professionals.
As a business, it is crucial to evaluate your requirements, budget, and preferred features before choosing the best software for your media and influencer targeting needs. Many of these platforms offer free trials or limited free plans, providing businesses with an opportunity to test their capabilities before making a commitment. Investing in the right software can significantly enhance outreach efforts, foster media relationships, and drive impactful influencer campaigns, leading to a successful and thriving brand presence in the digital world of 2023. It’s also important to choose software that works for both yourself and your virtual assistant. Evaluating the options with your virtual assistant, right from the start, can be helpful if you’re looking for a long-term solution and smooth transition process.
Need help some virtual assistant help for your influencer outreach? Get in touch for an informal chat and we can see if JH Virtual Assistant can add value and help organise the process.
