Tech companies undoubtedly utilize countless tools to make their day-to-day operations run smoothly and efficiently. There are tools for project management, email marketing, data collection and many more that take the work out of certain processes and ultimately improve your business practices. If you’re looking to increase your PR efforts, there are tools for that, too.  

These top PR tools will strengthen your PR strategy by making your media outreach, trend research, and campaign monitoring seamless.

Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

If you’re a founder or CEO of a tech company and want to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry, then earned media is the way to go. And few things boost your credibility like being quoted as a source in a news article. If this is an opportunity you want to pursue, then consider using HARO. HARO, which is also owned by Cision, connects journalists to credible sources from around the world, allowing more experts and business owners the chance to be featured in the media. HARO’s basic plan is free to use and includes a roundup of source requests delivered to your inbox three times a day.

Mention

Mention, as it’s simply stated in the name, allows you to track all online mentions of your brand. A tool like this is useful if you’re a new startup or recently launched a new product and want to monitor the buzz it generates in the media. The app also allows you to track mentions of other sites, so it’s a good way to see what people are saying about your competition. While Mention starts at $29 a month, a free and basic way to track mentions is by setting up a Google Alert. You can set up an alert that will email you anytime your company, the CEO, or anything else you want to monitor is mentioned online. 

Cision 

Cision has long been considered one of the most vital tools for any PR professional. The cloud-based software gives users access to a database of more than one million media and influencer contacts from around the world. Cision also provides the ability to distribute press releases and measure campaign results, making it a powerful all-in-one tool to incorporate into your PR efforts. 

TrendKite

Now part of Cision’s Communications Cloud, TrendKite is the leading PR analytics platform on the market, having pretty much invented it. The software focuses on the numbers side of PR by using artificial intelligence to monitor and measure earned media. The digital application provides deeper insight into the data behind media coverage and breaks down your company’s earned media results. 

Techmeme

The first step to landing media coverage for your tech company is to stay up to date on what the media is talking about. Before you can join the conversation, it’s crucial to have a finger on the pulse of what’s currently happening in the tech industry and that’s where Techmeme comes in. Techmeme is a news website that curates the latest tech news, trends, and topics. By spending a few minutes browsing through this website each day, you’ll have an idea of what and who the top tech websites and publications are talking about. They also have a daily newsletter that sends the latest stories directly to your inbox so you won’t ever miss a beat. 

Wire Distributions

If your company has an announcement to make, whether it’s about a new product or a recent milestone, the best way to do that is through a press release. While PR agencies typically handle the writing and distribution of press releases, you can also take the DIY approach if you’ve yet to hire a firm. Sites like Business Wire will distribute your press release to nearly 90,000 media outlets around the world. Their pricing is by dependent on the length of the press release, with 400-word press releases starting at $325. While sending a press release through a distribution platform like Business Wire is a less tailored approach to securing media coverage, it’s still a good opportunity to potentially get your company in front of thousands of media outlets. 

About Sam Lauron: Sam is a freelance lifestyle writer and a copywriter at Swyft, which has been listed as one of the best PR firms in Austin and a top digital marketing agency in Denver since its founding in 2011. Swyft has satellite offices where it offers PR in San Francisco and Houston.