Ultimate list of online public relations tools

Online public relations is becoming a go-to strategy for Internet marketing as a whole. The power of the press builds a brand, enhances a company’s reputation, drives traffic and accrues high-quality links.

But to do it right, you need the right tools.

Heavyweights

These companies provide great overall service for press release submission, editorial calendars and brand monitoring. If you have the money, they’re worth it:

• Vocus
• PRNewswire
• Business Wire
• Marketwire
• Cision
• PRWeb
• VMS

But there are a number of other services and tools out there that cost significantly less than the heavyweights and provide a great value. Here are 30 more tools that will make your online PR skills cooler than everyone else’s:

Press release submission and placement

For the best exposure, I would go with one of the bigger submission services, such as PRWeb and PRNewswire. But if you have a tight budget and want to submit press releases strictly for SEO value, choose one of these. Some charge less than $50.

• FreePressIndex
• Free Press Release
• PR Leap
• ClickPress
• 24-7 Press Release
• PR.com
• PitchEngine is one of the better resources for the social media press release.

Editorial calendars and contacts

Editorial calendars offer the easiest way to get stories in mainstream media. When you know what an editor is planning to write about, you know what to pitch. Vocus provides great editorial calendars and contact lists, but these resources cost significantly less, and some are free:

• HARO. Most online marketers probably know about HARO. Peter Shankman has provided a great resource for both reporters and PR pros. Sign up for HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and you’ll get daily e-mail queries from reporters who need experts for specific stories. It’s a free service, but be warned: you will get a lot of e-mails.
• Reporter Connection is very similar to HARO, although the queries have not yet been as extensive. In each e-mail, Bill and Steve Harrison also provide useful PR tips and suggestions.
• MyMediainfo. If Vocus is like a BMW, MyMediainfo is like the Honda Accord. Both get you to the same destination; one is a lot less expensive. From what I’ve seen, the editorial calendar (MyEdcals) is equal. They do a lot of research to make sure contacts are current and the information is accurate.
• MatchPoint. I have just recently been introduced to this one, but its targeted approach looks promising. It lets you paste a pitch into a search box to find journalists who write about your subject.
• MediaSync has contact information for half a million media members and helps you to determine who your influencers are.
• PressWiki is a free directory of media contacts set up like Wikipedia. Everyone shares information, so the quality is determined by the actual users. A good resource for those with a short budget, but not as extensive as other services.

Similar editorial calendar/contacts tools worth checking out include:

• MediaOnTwitter
• NewsCertified Exchange
• MuckRack

Monitoring tools

One negative comment, status or review can spread quickly and tarnish a brand. Monitoring negative and positive things said about a brand online is crucial to public relations today. Aside from Google Alerts, here are four other services that can keep you in the loop about your brand’s image online:

• Social Mention
• Backtype.com alerts
• Viral Heat
• MyMediaInfo

Writing tools

As any PR person knows, writing is a big part of it. Sometimes after smashing our fingers on the keyboard and stretching each brain cell all day, we need inspiration and guidance. There are a lot of places to get that muse again, but here are a few that’ll spark that brain again:

• Headline Analyzer helps you write better headlines by analyzing your current headline for emotion, influence and other factors.
• Linkbait Generator will give you catchy, and sometimes crazy, blog post ideas. For instance, for this blog post it gave me titles like “7 reasons PR tools get better with alcohol” and “8 reasons PR Tools are like Satan.” You may never use one of these titles, but it will get you thinking.
• 100 PR buzzwords. This blog post from MyntPR is a comprehensive list of buzzwords that each PR person needs to strike from their memory. If your press release has any of these words, please edit it. If you don’t, you’ll be giving all of us a bad name.
• Bullshit Generator is great for those rare times when you actually want to write like your CEO. Play with it a few times and you’ll be addicted.
• Grooveshark. Music is the ultimate inspiration. Grooveshark is great for creating a playlist around exactly the type of music you need for the occasion. Its selection of music seems endless. And, yes, this is a critical tool for any PR pro who’s writing.

There are a lot of PR tools out there. Any I missed? Please comment to add to the list.

Dan Bischoff is the VP of Public Relations at PRMarketing.com and manages online PR for SEO.com. He is a former journalist at the Associated Press, and his articles have been seen in national publications including USA Today, Fox News, Sports Illustrated and ESPN.

When he’s not telling a company’s story to the masses, he’s trying to land big fish in remote locations with his fly rod.