PR Outreach Tools: 19 Essential Software for Modern Media Relations

PR outreach tools help businesses connect with the right people and spread their message. These tools make it easier to find and contact journalists, bloggers, and other influencers who can share your news.

The best PR outreach tools can save time, improve results, and help build strong media relationships. We’ll look at some top options that can boost your PR efforts. From finding contacts to sending pitches, these tools cover all parts of the outreach process.

Why Do You Need PR Outreach Tools?

PR outreach tools are essential for modern public relations strategies. They help you save time and improve your results when connecting with journalists and media outlets.

These tools streamline the process of finding relevant contacts. You can quickly build targeted media lists without spending hours on manual research.

PR outreach tools also help you personalize our pitches. Many offer templates and customization options to craft compelling messages that resonate with each recipient.

Tracking and analytics are key benefits. You can monitor open rates, response rates, and campaign performance to refine our approach over time.

Some tools integrate with customer relationship management (CRM) systems. This allows you to manage media relationships more effectively and keep all your data in one place.

Here’s a quick look at how PR outreach tools can help:

• Find relevant journalists and influencers
• Create and manage media lists
• Personalize and send pitches at scale
• Track campaign performance
• Manage ongoing relationships

Features to Look for in PR Outreach Tools

PR outreach tools should have key features that boost efficiency and results. We’ll explore two important capabilities to consider when choosing a tool for your PR efforts.

Integration with Social Media Platforms

PR outreach tools that integrate with social media can greatly enhance your campaigns. These integrations allow you to:

• Monitor brand mentions across platforms
• Engage with influencers and journalists directly
• Share your content and press releases easily

We like tools that connect with major networks like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. This integration helps in building relationships and expanding reach.

Some tools even offer social listening features. These track conversations about your brand or industry. This data can inform your outreach strategies.

Personalization Capabilities

Personalization is crucial in PR outreach. Good tools offer ways to tailor your messages. Look for features like:

• Custom fields for contact information
• Templates you can easily modify
• Ability to segment your media lists

We prefer tools that let you add personal touches to each pitch. This might include mentioning a journalist’s recent article or a shared interest.

Some advanced tools use AI to suggest personalization ideas. These can help you craft more effective, individualized outreach.

Analytics and Reporting

Robust analytics and reporting features are crucial in PR outreach tools. These capabilities allow you to:

• Track campaign performance
• Measure media outreach impact
• Identify trends and areas for improvement

We recommend tools with comprehensive dashboards displaying key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and coverage secured.

Look for:

• Customizable reports
• Visual data representations
• Comparison tools for benchmarking

Some tools offer sentiment analysis of coverage, helping gauge media mention tone and brand perception.

Exportable data is valuable for presentations and integration with other marketing analytics.

ROI calculation features help demonstrate PR efforts’ value to management. The best tools provide both data and insights to inform future PR strategies.

Best PR Outreach Tools

1) Prowly

Prowly is an all-in-one PR tool that streamlines our outreach process. It helps us find media contacts, manage lists, and send personalized pitches efficiently.

You can create eye-catching press releases using Prowly’s drag-and-drop editor. The tool lets you include photos and videos to make our content more engaging.

Pricing: Prowly’s pricing starts at $258 per month, but it has a 7-day free trial where you can test all its features without commitment, including the media database access. 

What we like: Prowly’s intuitive press release creator and customizable newsroom feature allow us to craft professional-looking content and present our brand consistently across all PR efforts.

2) BuzzStream

BuzzStream is an all-in-one digital PR and link building solution. It helps streamline outreach processes for PR teams of any size.

We find BuzzStream useful for organizing our PR campaigns. It lets us track and monitor our outreach efforts in one place.

The tool offers features for managing media contacts and building relationships. We can easily keep tabs on our communications with journalists and influencers.

Pricing: BuzzStream’s pricing starts at $24 per month for individuals. The tool is also available for a free 14-day trial period.

What we like: Our favorite thing about BuzzStream is its user-friendly interface. It is very easy to use compared to similar tools.

3) Outreach.io

Outreach.io is a sales engagement platform that can be effectively adapted for PR outreach. It offers automation tools to streamline communication and follow-ups with media contacts.

The platform provides customizable email sequences, performance analytics, and integration with CRM systems, making it easier to manage relationships with journalists and influencers.

Outreach University provides resources to maximize success with the tool.

Pricing: Outreach.io offers custom pricing based on team size and needs. Contact their sales team for a specific quote.

What we like: Our favorite aspect is the platform’s ability to automate personalized follow-ups, ensuring no potential media opportunity falls through the cracks.

4) Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is a powerful tool for PR outreach. It helps manage contacts, track interactions, and streamline communication with media professionals and influencers.

We find Zoho CRM useful for organizing our PR campaigns. It lets us store contact details, schedule follow-ups, and monitor the progress of our outreach efforts in one place.

Pricing: Zoho CRM offers various pricing plans. The Standard plan starts at $14 per user per month when billed annually. This makes it a budget-friendly option for small to medium-sized PR teams. They also have a free 15-day trial.

What we like: Our favorite thing about Zoho CRM is its integration capabilities. It works well with many other tools, which helps create a more efficient PR workflow.

5) GMass

GMass is a simple yet effective tool for PR outreach that works right inside Gmail. We find it very useful for sending personalized mass emails to media contacts.

With GMass, we can easily create targeted PR campaigns and send individual messages to our entire media list. This saves us tons of time on outreach.

GMass also has great deliverability tools to help our emails land in inboxes instead of spam folders. This boosts our chances of connecting with journalists and influencers.

Pricing: GMass offers affordable pricing plans starting at $25 per month. This makes it budget-friendly for small PR teams and solo practitioners.

What we like: GMass’s simplicity is simply unmatched. We love that we can use it without leaving our Gmail inbox. No need to learn a whole new platform.

6) HubSpot Sales Hub

HubSpot Sales Hub is a powerful tool for PR outreach. It helps streamline communication with media contacts and manage relationships effectively.

The platform offers email tracking and templates, making it easier to craft and send personalized pitches. We find this feature particularly useful for engaging journalists and influencers.

Price: HubSpot Sales Hub’s pricing starts at $90 monthly for the Professional plan when paid annually. The enterprise plan costs $150 a month.

What we like: HubSpot Sales Hub’s unified reporting is one of our favorite features. This feature gives us a clear view of our outreach efforts and helps us measure the success of our PR campaigns.

We also appreciate how HubSpot Sales Hub integrates seamlessly with other HubSpot tools. This integration creates a connected CRM platform, allowing for better alignment between PR, marketing, and sales teams.

7) Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a useful CRM tool that helps sales teams with targeted outreach and pipeline management. While primarily designed for sales, it can be adapted for PR outreach.

We find Pipedrive useful for organizing media contacts and tracking outreach efforts. It allows us to manage our PR campaigns effectively and monitor progress.

Pricing: Pipedrive offers various pricing tiers, starting at $14 per user per month for the Essential plan when billed annually. Higher tiers provide more advanced features but also cost more.

What we like: We love Pipedrive’s user-friendly interface and easy onboarding process. These features make it simple for PR teams to adopt and start using the tool quickly.

8) OnePitch

OnePitch is a platform that connects PR pros with journalists. It helps streamline the PR outreach process by formatting pitches in a way journalists prefer.

The tool offers features like journalist recommendations and verified contact details. This saves time and improves the chances of successful pitches.

Pricing: OnePitch provides unlimited access to its full suite of tools for $50 per month, or $510 if paying annually. We think this pricing is competitive for the features offered.

What we like: Our favorite thing about OnePitch is its focus on simplifying the pitching process. Users appreciate how it cuts down the time it takes to pitch and automates parts of the workflow.

9) JustReachOut

JustReachOut is a PR software and outreach tool designed for PR consultants and businesses. It helps streamline the PR outreach process by providing access to a large database of journalists and media contacts.

We find that JustReachOut simplifies pitch creation and distribution. The platform offers tools to find relevant journalists and create personalized pitches, making it easier to connect with the right media contacts.

Pricing: JustReachOut’s pricing starts at $147, with a 7-day free trial on any of their plans

What we like: JustReachOut has many additional and unique features that similar tools don’t have, such as the broken link building tool, blogger outreach tool, and podcast outreach tool. 

10) Connectively (Previously HARO)

Connectively, formerly known as HARO, is a unique PR networking platform. It connects journalists and content creators with expert sources and PR professionals.

We find that Connectively streamlines the PR outreach process. It allows us to submit queries to find expert sources or explore existing queries from journalists.

Pricing: The platform offers both free and paid plans. Paid plans start at $19 per month, providing additional features and earlier access to opportunities.

What we like: Our favorite thing about Connectively is its user-friendly interface. It makes it easy to find relevant opportunities and connect with the right people quickly.

11) Cision

Cision is a leading PR software platform that helps communication professionals target and engage their audiences effectively. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for PR outreach.

Cision’s media relationship management platform provides access to a vast database of journalists, outlets, and influencers. This makes it easier to find and connect with the right contacts for your PR campaigns.

The platform also includes monitoring and analytics tools to track media coverage and measure campaign performance. We find this feature particularly useful for demonstrating ROI to clients and stakeholders.

Pricing: Pricing for Cision varies based on the specific tools and services required. While it’s considered a premium option, many users find the investment worthwhile for its robust features.

What we like: Our favorite thing about Cision is its all-in-one approach. Having everything from media database to campaign tracking in one place streamlines the PR workflow significantly.

12) Onclusive

Onclusive is a powerful PR and communications tool that helps teams plan and manage their outreach efforts. It offers comprehensive campaign management solutions for PR professionals.

We find that Onclusive excels at helping users track media mentions and analyze campaign performance. The platform also provides real-time trend discovery and social amplification measurement.

Pricing: Onclusive’s pricing is not publicly available on their website. Interested users need to contact their sales team for a custom quote based on specific needs and team size.

What we like: Our favorite thing about Onclusive is its ability to gauge return on investment for PR campaigns. This feature helps teams prove the value of their work and make data-driven decisions.

13) Presspage

Presspage is a specialized PR software platform that streamlines the creation, distribution, and measurement of PR content. It offers tools to manage digital newsrooms and media outreach effectively.

The platform simplifies press release creation and publication, provides email distribution capabilities, and offers analytics to track content performance.

Pricing: Customized pricing based on specific organizational needs. Contact their sales team for a quote.

What we like: Our favorite feature is Presspage’s focus on creating a professional, branded digital newsroom, making it easy for journalists to access all relevant information in one place.

14) Meltwater

Meltwater offers PR and communications tools to help streamline outreach efforts. We find their media database particularly useful for finding relevant journalists and outlets.

Their platform includes press release distribution and PR measurement features. This lets us track the impact of our outreach campaigns.

Meltwater’s PR Assistant uses AI to help write press releases and email pitches. It can also suggest journalists from their database for pitching.

Pricing: Pricing for Meltwater isn’t publicly available. We recommend contacting them for a custom quote based on your needs.

What we like: Meltwater’s comprehensive suite of products helps with every step of the PR outreach process. It covers media monitoring, analytics, and social media management in addition to PR tools.

15) Mediaboard

Mediaboard is a comprehensive PR and marketing tool that boosts media intelligence. It helps PR professionals streamline their outreach efforts in several ways.

We find that Mediaboard excels at media monitoring, allowing users to track mentions and coverage in real-time. This feature helps PR teams stay on top of their brand’s presence in the media landscape.

The platform also offers powerful publishing tools for creating and distributing press releases. This streamlines the process of getting news out to relevant journalists and media contacts.

The tool combines media monitoring, contact management, and campaign performance tracking in a single platform.

Pricing: Mediaboard doesn’t publicly disclose its pricing. The best way to find their pricing is by contacting them.

What we like: Our favorite aspect of Mediaboard is its focus on media intelligence. It provides valuable insights that can inform PR strategies and improve overall campaign effectiveness.

16) Lemlist

Lemlist is an all-in-one outreach tool that helps PR professionals reach inboxes and connect with prospects. It offers a database of 450 million leads, making it easier to find potential contacts.

Lemlist aids PR outreach by allowing users to personalize emails and create multi-channel campaigns. You can use it to discover valid email addresses for LinkedIn leads without needing extra tools.

Pricing: Lemlist offers a free basic plan with sufficient features, including access to its 450M+ leads database. However, users can really start taking advantage of everything it offers on a paid plan, which starts at $32 a month when billed annually.

What we like: We love Lemlist’s user-friendly interface and strong personalization features. It lets us tailor our outreach efforts and scale them effectively.

17) Instantly.ai

Instantly.ai is a powerful AI tool for PR outreach. It helps automate email campaigns and manage leads effectively.

We find Instantly.ai useful for sending personalized emails at scale. The platform offers AI-powered lead management and dynamic personalization features.

The tool also includes a built-in CRM. We can track lead statuses and even make calls or send SMS directly from the platform.

Pricing: Instantly.ai’s pricing starts at $30 a month when billed annually. There are additional fees if you want their leads or CRM services. 

What we like: Our favorite aspect of Instantly.ai is its A/Z testing feature. This allows us to test up to 26 different versions of email copy, optimizing our outreach efforts.

18) Sendgrid

Sendgrid is an email platform that can boost your PR outreach efforts. It allows you to send both transactional and marketing emails at scale.

You can use Sendgrid to create targeted email campaigns for journalists, influencers, and other PR contacts. The platform offers customizable templates and drag-and-drop design tools.

The platform also provides excellent deliverability rates. This means our important PR messages are more likely to reach their intended recipients’ inboxes.

Pricing: Sendgrid’s paid plans start at $15 per month when paid annually. However, users can take advantage of their free plan, which offers a ton of features such as free 100 emails/day and more. 

What we like: Our favorite thing about Sendgrid is its robust analytics. We can track open rates, click-through rates, and other key metrics to improve our outreach strategies.

19) Mailshake

Mailshake is one of the best tools for PR outreach that streamlines the process of securing media mentions. It offers personalized, scalable outreach capabilities and automatic follow-ups.

We find Mailshake particularly useful for its proven PR outreach templates. These templates help craft effective messages quickly, saving time and improving response rates.

Pricing: The platform’s pricing starts at $25 per month for the basic plan when billed annually. This makes it an affordable option for small PR teams and startups.

What we like: Our favorite thing about Mailshake is its user-friendly interface. It is easy to set up and use, even for those new to PR outreach tools.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can PR outreach tools improve media relations?

PR outreach tools can make finding and connecting with journalists easier. They often have large databases of media contacts. These tools can help personalize pitches and track responses. This can lead to better relationships with the media over time.

Which PR outreach tool is considered the best for press release distribution?

Cision is widely regarded as a top choice for press release distribution. It has a vast network of media contacts and distribution channels. We like its ability to target specific industries and regions. However, it is one of the most expensive ones.

How do free PR outreach tools compare to paid options?

Free tools often have limited features and smaller contact databases. Paid options typically offer more advanced functions and better support. We find paid tools are usually worth the investment for serious PR efforts.

What metrics should be tracked when using PR outreach tools for campaign success?

Key metrics include open rates, response rates, and placement rates. Track the number of media mentions and the reach of published articles. We also recommend monitoring website traffic and social media engagement resulting from PR efforts.

Final Thoughts

PR outreach tools can make a big difference in your campaigns. They help save time and boost results.

We’ve seen how these tools can find the right contacts and track outreach efforts. Some even help craft personalized pitches.

It’s important to pick tools that fit your needs and budget. Free options exist, but paid tools often have more features.

Remember, tools are just one part of PR outreach. Good relationships and strong content are still key.

As you choose tools, think about what will help your team most. Maybe it’s contact finding or email tracking.

Don’t forget to test different tools. Many offer free trials, so you can see what works best.