Job Skills - What is Cision?
What is Cision?
Cision is a widely-used software suite in public relations (PR) that offers a range of tools for media monitoring, outreach, social media management, and analytics. It's a critical skill for PR professionals, and is often listed as a requirement in job postings related to media and communications. For businesses aiming to manage their public relations effectively, Cision provides powerful solutions to track media coverage, engage with journalists, and measure the impact of their communications.
How It Works
Media Monitoring: Cision tracks mentions of your brand or keywords across traditional and social media in real-time, including news articles, blog posts, and social media activity. This allows PR professionals to stay informed about their brand's presence in the media.
Media Outreach: The software helps build targeted media lists, send press releases, and manage relationships with journalists. It includes a comprehensive media database with contact information for reporters and outlets globally, simplifying the outreach process.
Social Media Management: Cision enables businesses to manage multiple social media accounts in one place, schedule posts, track engagement, and measure the effectiveness of their social media campaigns.
Analytics: Cision provides in-depth analytics that track media coverage, sentiment, and social media engagement. It helps businesses assess the success of their PR efforts and spot trends or areas for improvement.
Why Cision is Important
For PR job seekers, knowing how to use Cision is a valuable skill. Many PR firms and communication departments rely on this software to manage public relations campaigns efficiently. Being proficient in Cision demonstrates your ability to handle key tasks such as media monitoring and outreach, making you a strong candidate for PR and communications roles.
Key Benefits of Knowing Cision
Improved Media Monitoring: With Cision, you can track mentions across various platforms, ensuring you're always aware of public perception and media coverage of your brand.
Enhanced Outreach Capabilities: Cision’s media database and press release distribution tools help you connect with the right journalists and outlets, increasing the chances of your message being picked up.
Efficient Social Media Management: You can manage multiple social media platforms from a single interface, schedule content, and measure the success of your campaigns easily.
Actionable Analytics: The insights provided by Cision’s analytics tools help you measure the impact of your PR efforts and refine your strategy based on real data.
How to Gain Experience with Cision
Internships: Many PR firms and marketing agencies use Cision, so internships in these fields offer excellent opportunities to gain hands-on experience.
Freelance Projects: You can take on freelance work in PR and use Cision to monitor media and manage outreach for smaller brands, building your experience with the platform.
PR Courses: Some online courses in public relations and communications include modules or tutorials on Cision, giving you a structured way to learn the software.
Where Can I Learn This Skill?
If you’re looking to get familiar with Cision for a PR role, here are some resources:
- Cision Academy: Cision offers training courses on their website, covering various aspects of the software from beginner to advanced levels.
- YouTube Tutorials: Search for Cision tutorials on YouTube to find walkthroughs of key features such as media monitoring, outreach, and analytics.
- PR Communities: Join PR groups and forums like Reddit’s r/publicrelations or PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) to learn tips from professionals who use Cision in their daily work.
If you come across other helpful resources for learning Cision, feel free to share them!