Most public relations teams still use the same tools they did in the previous century. They lose time with the inefficient workflows of these tools. Yet there are many modern solutions that can help automate repetitive tasks. The tools in this list are Rapportive, Prezly, Yesware, Contactually and FullContact

2. Remember
1999?

3. These were our phones

4. Napster launched
Transforming the music industry

5. This was Britney Spears
Asking to hit her one more time

6. A lot changed in the
past 15 years.
Yet our PR tools remain
the same.

7. Managing thousands of contacts?
Let’s put them in Excel
Emailing them?
Let’s BCC them in Outlook and hope that our
server doesn’t explode

8. Really?

9. We can automate many of these old-school
workflows by embracing our inner geek

10. This lets us focus on what we do best:
creativity & human
connections

11. “
There needs to be a
large technology
component inside the
future successful PR firm.
It needs technologies of
promotion that can scale
the work of its
practitioners in the
service of its clients.
Tom Foremski,
Silicon Valley Watcher

12. There’s an app
for that

13. !
Most of the workflow difficulties that you face
aren’t unique. Google it and chances are big that
a geek somewhere already built a solution.
Here are 5 examples of tedious PR tasks we can
automate

14. Enrich your influencer list with social data
Knowing the reach of influencers online can be
valuable: how many Twitter followers do they
have? Are they active? Saving this info manually is
utter madness: switching back and forth between
Excel and Twitter to update your data. And it’s
immediately outdated.

15. Try FullContact. Using it feels almost magical – enter an email
address or Twitter handle, and get back a list of all the social profiles
associated with that email or handle. You can also sync contacts
from all your address books, fix duplicates, and correct formatting
errors in your database.
fullcontact.com

16. Publish & pitch multimedia press releases
Building a multimedia press release is hard
enough. Making it responsive and email-ready is
even harder – you need to get your contacts from
Excel to your email provider, upload high-resolution
assets to your press room, add image
previews to your emails, make sure your assets
look good on multiple devices… the list goes on!

17. Prezly combines email pitches with online newsrooms. Create a
multimedia press release in your newsroom, and Prezly generates a
multimedia email version that you can pitch to journalists. Every
email includes analytics to help you track response rates.
prezly.com

18. And external communication Check a recent cas ete satmudsy at brands

19. Craft relevant email responses
When an influencer emails you, you want to craft a
response that’s as relevant as possible. So what do
you do? Do you research this person on Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google to see who they are
and what they care about, and tailor your email
accordingly? Or do you automate this tedious
process with Rapportive?

20. Rapportive is a simple Gmail add-on that automatically shows you
important social data from people who email you, helping you to
create a relevant response based on where they live, what they’re
tweeting about, and any other recent online activity. The information
appears right in your inbox.
rapportive.com

21. Track who responds to your emails
If you send a lot of pitch emails, tracking them
manually gets tricky in a hurry. It’s easy, though
time-consuming, to keep a spreadsheet of
everyone who writes you back, but for those who
don’t respond, how do you know whether they’re
reading your emails or ignoring them?

22. Yesware is a Gmail add-on that was originally designed for sales
professionals. Use it to monitor opens, clicks, and responses for every
email you send to influencers. You can also create templates to
automate your outreach and track which messages resonate best.
yesware.com

23. Stay in touch with influencers
It’s a smart PR move to stay in touch with your
influencers, even when you don’t have big news to
share. Sending an occasional relevant link or
useful article can build rapport with a journalist,
establish your credibility as a reputable source,
and increase your chances of getting coverage
when you need it. But we’re all busy, and keeping
in touch is easier said than done.

24. Contactually sends you automatic reminders to contact people
on your media list whom you haven’t reached out to in a while.
The tool also provides helpful contextual information like social
updates and recent conversations, as well as email templates
to help you know what to say.
contactually.com

25. There you go
These 5 tips should help you save a lot of time

26. Wait,
there’s more
Get more tips on PR innovation
www.prezly.com/blog