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Influencer marketing is evolving, and so is the way brands measure success. That’s why Meltwater is proud to announce a new partnership with YouTube, integrating YouTube’s Creator Partnerships API directly into our Influencer Marketing platform.

Introducing Verified YouTube Data in Meltwater Influencer Marketing

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

The PR landscape in 2026 looks very different from even a few years ago. Modern PR teams must navigate a constantly evolving media environment where earned coverage, social conversations, influencer engagement, LLM visibility, and data-driven insights all play a role in shaping brand reputation. PR pros aren’t just distributing press releases anymore — they’re listening in real time, optimizing media outreach, and tying PR outcomes back to broader marketing goals.

There now exists a crowded market of PR technology tools designed to help communicators track coverage, build journalist relationships, analyze sentiment, and measure impact across a wide range of channels. A long-standing name in this space is Cision, known for its extensive media database, press release distribution, and PR workflow tools.

But as teams prioritize ease of use, stronger alignment with marketing and social teams and AI-powered insights they may want to explore Cision alternatives that better align with their strategy and day-to-day needs.

What Should You Look for in a Cision Alternative?

The following companies offer solutions that are good alternatives to what Cision is offering.

Scroll down to read more about their pros and cons:

Meltwater is a best-in-class social and media intelligence solution for PR, marketing, communications, and social professionals. From social media analytics and engagement solutions to an all-encompassing influencer marketing platform, Meltwater is designed to solve all the problems and obstacles (and take advantage of all the opportunities!) that come along with modern marketing.

Multi-Channel Monitoring. Track brand and topic mentions across news, social media, TV & radio, print, and podcasts for a complete view of earned media coverage

Real-time alerts & spike detection enabling teams to be notified instantly when conversation volume spikes or sentiment shifts

Sentiment & share-of-voice metrics to analyze how your brand is perceived across media and benchmark visibility against competitors or key topics

Custom scoring & comparative reports allowing PR teams to prioritize the coverage that matters most and compare coverage by region, product, or campaign

AI-assisted pitching & content generation — Use generative AI to draft pitches and press releases or find journalists who are the best match for your story based on key messages

LLM Visibility with a GenAI Lens helps teams monitor how they are referenced, described, and positioned in AI models giving PR and communications teams early insight into AI-shaped narratives, misinformation risks, and emerging reputational trends

Meltwater is also an industry leader in AI innovation. Our AI-powered integrations empower users to make greater impacts and uncover deeper insights at scale. With Mira, your AI powered teammate, AI is seamlessly incorporated into your workflow, increasing efficiency, data accuracy, and productivity. 

Pricing: Custom packages available. Contact our team for a demo

Best for: Mid-size and enterprise companies looking for broad media intelligence, media relations, and social listening capabilities across numerous channels worldwide, with custom reporting options and robust analytics. 

From PR to communications to marketing to social media and every combination in between, Meltwater is a comprehensive, all-in-one Cision alternative. 

"What we value most about Meltwater is its ability to give us a comprehensive, real-time view of our media presence. Their platform allows us to easily track earned media mentions, monitor key conversations through customized keyword searches and social listening, and distribute press releases directly to targeted journalists. The ability to export clear, usable data for campaign, event, and reporting purposes is a major asset for our communications work." (Source)

Critical Mention is a media monitoring platform that helps businesses and brands keep tabs on their earned media mentions and coverage. 

Comprehensive real-time media monitoring across broadcast TV & radio, online news, podcasts, print, and social media channels

Powerful analytics, reporting, and visualization using customizable dashboards, share-of-voice metrics, sentiment insights, density maps, and integrated Google Analytics data

Media Contact Database & outreach tools with a searchable database of media contacts and influencer information to support PR and communications strategies

Contextual social listening allowing companies to capture customer feedback and sentiment through social listening features to inform reputation management

Pricing: Custom packages available. Contact through the form on their website.

Best for: Mid-sized to large PR and communications teams that require real-time, comprehensive earned-media monitoring and analytics 

While both Cision one and Critical Mention help users collect and monitor media coverage, CisionOne offers some added social media management capabilities.

"The reports are easily the best thing about critical mention. The analytics at the top, the breakdown of categories, the charts and the ability to view all coverage in one place is loved by myself and my clients." (Source)

GlobeNewswire offers a suite of PR solutions, including a media contacts database, social listening, media monitoring, and a press release distribution service.

Global press release distribution network targeted by geography, industry, and media type

Real-time analytics & performance tracking with dashboards showing reach, social engagement, and AI search visibility

Integrated PR & IR workflow — part of the Notified platform that combines distribution with media monitoring, media contacts, and social listening tools

A critical difference between GlobeNewswire and PR Newswire is the number of countries they distribute press releases to. GlobeNewswire serves 158 countries as of August 2025, compared to PR Newswire’s 170.

Pricing: No public pricing information available. Register through their website to get started with their services.

Best for: Comms teams prioritizing large-scale, compliant press release distribution with strong global reach, especially those needing to reach various stakeholders simultaneously

"What I appreciate most about Notified Public Relations Solutions is the platform’s ability to simplify media distribution and monitoring in one place. It’s reliable, easy to navigate, and helps streamline PR tasks without feeling overwhelming." (Source)

Newswire’s press release distribution service and software lets users distribute press releases, find journalists, and monitor media mentions.

Press release distribution to a broad media network with options for domestic and international reach

Custom media room & brand assets — hosts a branded newsroom space for your news, media assets, and content

Multimedia support & SEO visibility to help your story get indexed and seen across platforms

Newswire and Cision PRWeb are competitive tools, except when it comes to multimedia. Newswire has add-on charges for embedded video in its press releases, while PR Web offers unlimited media assets.

Pricing: Starter plans begin at $399. The largest plan starts at $965

Best for: Small to mid-sized businesses and lean PR teams seeking an affordable, easy-to-use press release distribution service with built-in media contacts and analytics tools without the complexity or cost of enterprise newswires.

"What I like best about Newswire is its ability to amplify a brand’s story with credibility and scale. Unlike traditional PR outreach, a single Newswire release can instantly place your announcement across hundreds of reputable media outlets, helping build trust, visibility, and SEO authority in one move." (Source)

NiceJob marketing software helps business owners manage review generation, referrals, and social media content.

 Automated review generation and management through email/SMS review invitations and customer follow-ups, increasing review volume on major platforms

Referral and social proof tools to automate customer referral invites and turn positive feedback into shareable social content and site widgets

Website integration and conversion tools — customizable “Convert” websites and social proof features to help turn visitors into leads and improve conversion rates

Cision does not have a comparable, standalone, reputation management solution. However, Cision offers enterprise-level solutions while NiceJob targets small business owners and localized markets.

Pricing: Their software plans start at $75/mo, and a free trial is available

Best for: Small businesses and local service brands in need of an automated way to generate more online reviews, referrals, and social proof to improve reputation, local SEO, and customer trust

"I really appreciate how intuitive the NiceJob interface is, which makes it straightforward to use. The assistance provided by the representative during setup was incredibly helpful, as they walked me through the process swiftly and efficiently. The ability of NiceJob to automate the solicitation of reviews without needing constant follow-up is immensely beneficial for my business..." (Source)

Prezly describes itself as a modern all-in-one PR suite. They are designed to consolidate media outreach, content publishing, contact tracking, and reporting into a single platform, replacing spreadsheets and improving workflows.

 PR CRM & contact management with a centralized media contact database offering segmentation, tags, interaction history, and enriched data to support targeted outreach

Multimedia press release creation & email campaigns enabling you to build and send visually rich press releases and personalized email campaigns directly from the platform

Analytics & performance tracking to measure campaign impact with real-time metrics on opens, clicks, newsroom visits, and linked coverage

According to Prezly’s website, its features differ from Cision’s in a number of key ways. For example, Cision offers media database selling while Prezly doesn’t, and Prezly offers a press release builder while Cision doesn’t.

Pricing: Plans start at $100 and go all the way up to custom Enterprise packages

Best for: Small to mid-sized PR teams and agencies that want a relationship-focused PR CRM combined with storytelling-first press releases and branded newsrooms, all in one intuitive platform

"I really like using Prezly.com because of its intuitive interface and seamless media distribution. It makes press release management and storytelling effortless, allowing me to create visually appealing content and share it with the right audience efficiently. The built-in CRM and multimedia support are also great features that streamline communication with journalists and stakeholders." (Source)

Businesses use Prowly to manage their PR and media relations using its media contacts database, media monitoring, media pitching, and other tools. 

Extensive media database & CRM — access and organize over 1 million journalist and media contacts with filtering, tagging, and relationship tracking

Get more insight into modern PR with our free eBook

7 Best Cision Alternatives With Evaluation Criteria For 2026

We all know what role sales, marketing, or accounting play in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.😊

But there is another business discipline that also plays a crucial role in organizations — internal communications!

But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve, and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

What Makes Internal Communication Effective?

Examples of Effective Internal Communications

What Internal Communication Channels and Tools Are Needed?

What Are Internal Communication Best Practices?

What Are the Internal Communication Trends for 2026?

Why Can’t Your Organization Function Without Internal Communication?

How Meltwater Can Help You Improve Team Communication

Internal communication (also known as IC, employee communications, or team communications) refers to verbal and non-verbal means of communication within the company across different departments.

It entails everything – from informing employees about upcoming company events to announcing significant new hires.

Depending on the organization, internal comms can be the responsibility of any department, but it’s usually handled by HR, marketing, or PR.

It's standard practice to differentiate between formal and informal internal communication:

Formal internal communication happens through specific communication tools and channels (which we will cover in more detail later on).

Informal internal communication, on the other hand, covers all the information that is passed on (e.g. via rumors).

💡 And then there’s employee engagement...
 When it comes to internal communication in a business environment, there is another query that occasionally pops up – employee engagement. To avoid confusion, we have summed up the main difference between the two concepts:

Internal communication is the action a company takes to interact, and motivate its workers.

Employee engagement, however, is the reaction or feedback a company gets from investing time, strategy, and a certain budget to communicate with team members.

Now that you have a better understanding of what internal communication is, let’s find out why it’s essential for your business.

Effective communication in the workplace is a must-have for any business — whether you’re a small company just starting out or a global and established corporation.

Acquisitions, restructuring teams, layoffs, mergers, conflicts – there are times when every business encounters a crisis. This is when effective internal communications can do wonders.

People will have a lot of questions, and delicate information will have to be treated with special care. Being fully transparent and honest about what happened, who was affected by the incident, and what measures are planned (using a communication plan) will help the employees stay calm and respect the company even more.

Effective internal communications will breathe life into your company culture and help manifest it.

All news updates, CEO blog posts, and company announcements play an important part in how workers interpret the organization’s cultural landscape.

Therefore, every piece of content should convey, illustrate, or represent:

Let’s get one thing straight. Internal communications is NOT about the leadership sending messages to its employees.

It’s about promoting a two-way dialogue concerning topics involving the company.

People need to see that their opinion matters and is respected, regardless of which department they work in. If, for example, the marketing team has the opportunity to freely talk about a task they are working on or share updates, so should the tech team.

Such an approach enables people to have a more holistic view of what matters and is happening within the organization.  It also helps foster cross-departmental collaboration — something 17% of PR professionals surveyed in Meltwater's 2026 State of PR report say they want to see more of.

Defining the importance of good internal communications ... Check! ☑️

Next, let’s answer the following question...

Meltwater has integrated the ultimate teammate, Mira. Mira Studio is your AI-powered teammate that helps teams work together more effectively by turning complex data into clear, natural-language insights everyone can understand. This helps internal stakeholders stay aligned, informed, and confident in shared decisions. Take a self-guided product tour to find out how Mira can help your team work together.

71% of employees report being unsatisfied with the quality of internal communications (Staffbase, 2024). Improving the quality starts with implementing an effective internal communication strategy. We have compiled a list of things to consider when taking on the task.

Ask yourself “why” you want to implement an internal communication strategy.

Identify key metrics to track (e.g. employee satisfaction, employee referrals).

Segment your internal audiences (e.g. by role, department, part-time, or full-time etc.) and decide who should receive which messages.

Choose your channels to communicate effectively (e.g. print media, employee apps etc.).

Establish an approval process to ensure all messages convey priorities, are error-free, and support the company's brand and image.

After the strategy has been implemented, tweak and refine it if needed (involve your employees and ask for feedback).

<div style="background-color: #c4f4f4; padding: 20px;">💡 Tip: If you are starting from zero and need additional guidance, read our detailed <strong>step-by-step guide</strong> on how to set up an <a href="https://www.meltwater.com/en/blog/internal-communication-strategy">internal communication strategy</a>.</div>

Let’s take a look at how Bosch took employee communication to the next level.

In 2017, the company launched a TED Talks-inspired style format focusing on its workers – "The Spark."

The concept is fairly simple. At each event, 8-10 employees share their stories, skills, and knowledge with the rest of the organization and the world.

For the shy ones or those lacking experience in public speaking, the company even engaged coaches to help them prepare for the sessions.

23% of marketing professionals say that goals and objectives are spread across too many places, and 13% don’t know where goals are at all. As mentioned, choosing the right communication channels and tools can significantly improve how your team members communicate. 

Employee apps such as Slack are considered some kind of a super-channel for internal communication and are available to all employees — accessible with their company or private (mobile) devices.

Reach and connect to every team member in real-time

Implement measures quickly and effectively

Having a well-managed employee intranet has many benefits, as all-important company data is available in one place.

Stay up-to-date with the latest company developments

Moreover, companies often use the intranet to have better control of documents — e.g. team members can see who wrote what, who performed edits, or which is the latest file version.

Company podcasts and branded podcasts are becoming ever more popular!

They offer the perfect alternative to video and text, and employees can listen to the content without having to pay full visual attention.

A podcast from the company CEO is far more authentic than sending out a plain memo and will have a greater impact on people.

It’s also the optimal channel to reach those working from home.

Videos are the way to go if you want to increase employee engagement. It’s a fact that a combination of sound and visuals is more memorable than simply reading a text. Therefore, it's an ideal way to convey messages when you're looking for participation and responses.

They're easily accessible via various devices

With an internal company newsletter, information reaches your team:

When sending out a newsletter, keep in mind that people often don’t have the time to read never-ending text blocks. Therefore, dress it up with photos, graphs, GIFs, or videos to make it more engaging.

This tool is also ideal for acknowledging the accomplishments of your employees or mentioning a successfully completed team project.

Internal Communications Channels and Tools

What is internal communications and why is it important? What are the tenets of successful internal comms strategy? Our blog breaks it down.

Internal Communications Best Practices to Drive Your Business Forward

No matter what business you’re in, it is safe to assume that a majority of your customers are using social media. Most companies now have some kind of social media presence, whether it’s a basic LinkedIn profile or a huge footprint with multiple brand accounts across different platforms. Social media marketing is the process through which you can promote your products and content, reaching new and existing customers, encouraging stronger retention, and surging ahead of your competitors. 

What Should be Included in a Social Media Strategy?

Different Types of Social Media Platforms

Examples of Social Marketing Campaign Types

How Do You Build a Social Media Marketing Strategy?

How Can Social Media Be Used for Lead Generation?

How Do You Improve Your Social Media Strategy?

Here are some of the main benefits for businesses implementing an effective social media marketing strategy.

Build stronger relationships with your customers. For both new and long-time customers, your social network provides a way to stay in touch, offer customer service, and answer questions. Many customers today would rather interact on Facebook or Twitter than by phone or email.

The Meltwater Blog

7 Best Cision Alternatives With Evaluation Criteria For 2026

Internal Communications Best Practices to Drive Your Business Forward

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