Doing more with less seems to be a never-ending trend in the public relations profession. As I read year-end wrap-ups and new year predictions each year, this topic inevitably crops up. And this year was no exception.
Today’s PR pros must not only navigate, research and pitch in an increasingly complex media environment but also track (monitor) and measure the results in a way that resonates with stakeholders. This is especially challenging with the increasingly fragmented media ecosystem, but Burrelles can help!
Here are some (but not all) updates, improvements, and additions we launched in 2023 to help you and your PR team succeed in 2024.
Search and Monitor
Monitoring enables brands and PR agencies to track earned media wins, be aware of up-to-date industry insights, and even keep tabs on competitors from the news (print and online), blogs, social media, and broadcasts in near real-time.
Burrelles simplifies your work and improves productivity by providing all the tools you need in one integrated platform.
Keyword position added in coverage filters: You can now filter your mentions by keyword (or phrase) position—headline, lead, and/or body—to focus only on mentions where your keyword is most prominent.
Quick translation in mentions: You can now translate a mention’s card into your preferred language using the translate icon and validate the relevancy of a media mention without ever leaving your coverage feed. You can also use the translated mention as your preferred version in your media briefing!
Broadcast mention sharing improvements: We’ve made sharing your ideal broadcast clip with key stakeholders even easier. Recipients of your email briefings can now see the full transcript of the mention, or you can continue to send just the media player.
Update to edit mentions: You can now easily add saved mentions to folders directly from the edit mentions feature.
Import external mentions: If you have mentions from sources outside of Burrelles, you can now import them via CSV file. These mentions can then be reported as usual.
More control of your coverage alerts: We have added the ability to filter alert sources. You can now take your existing search topics and isolate a subset of mentions, such as by keyword, media type, impressions, etc. This is especially helpful in times of crisis or turmoil.
Multi-factor authentication added: Protect your Burrelles accounts with MFA validation, now accessible for activation at the account level. This feature offers the flexibility to be added as an optional or required cybersecurity safeguard for all users.
AI in PR Integrations
Burrelles may be 135 years old, but we never stop enhancing our services to address your requirements better. We understand the importance of intuitive, easy-to-use solutions leveraging advanced technologies like AI and image recognition to help you build winning communications programs.
PR CoPilot: Our AI-powered writing assistant, initially launched in the Media Outreach module, can change the tone, check and fix your spelling, help make your content concise or expand on the key points, and translate the whole thing into any of 13 supported languages. You can even give PR CoPilot a custom prompt, and it will incorporate it into your press release or media pitch email within seconds.
In addition, it can now suggest a subject line and preview text for your email distributions based on your copy, as well as suggest headlines and sub-headings for newswire press releases.
You can also now use PR CoPilot in Briefings to provide text refinement suggestions, as shown in the screenshot. *If you are on the Premium platform and do not see this option in the text box of your briefings, ask us how you can get it turned on.
Media Briefings
Briefings containing your monitoring results can be customized, personalized, and set up as automated recurring at intervals you specify or can be done manually to highlight specific media mentions. As mentioned in the AI in PR Integrations section (above), you can now use PR CoPilot in briefings.
Better content summarization in briefings: We’ve changed the framing for your mention summaries. While still built around the keyword or phrase that brought in the coverage, the summaries will now begin at the top of the sentence so long as the keyword is visible. This way, you can immediately see the mention’s relevancy.
Reserved URL for draft publishing: In the briefings section, we have reserved a URL for draft publishing, making it easier for you to share your drafts with stakeholders before they are published.
See who’s opening your email briefings: Just like our Media Outreach module lets you see the performance of your emails to journalists; you now have greater transparency into how your audience engages with your emailed briefings. You now see briefing distribution reports (when you click on the briefing you sent), including performance statistics like unique opens and clicks.
Media Research, Outreach, Pitching
Media Research, Outreach, PitchingBurrelles’ Media Outreach solution provides you access to a global database of 1,000,000+ print, online, and broadcast journalists, freelancers, bloggers and analysts, providing the tools for targeted media list building, press release distribution (including optional wire distribution) and access to our powerful AI writing assistant, PR CoPilot.
Streamlined journalist follow-up: You can now more easily follow up with select contacts by adding them to new or draft emails right from the distribution report page.
Filter distribution lists: Quickly locate media lists for email distributions with helpful filters, including date created, created by, modified by, etc., within a user account.
Adjust background color in button sections: Seamlessly integrate buttons into your email distribution design with the capability to update the background color in button sections.
Reporting (Premium)
Reporting on monitoring results is where the rubber meets the road. This is your opportunity to showcase your results to key stakeholders.
Google Analytics 4 supported: If you’re using the Burrelles Premium platform to track your media coverage, you can now integrate GA4 with your PR measurement data in Reporting to see when your media coverage drives visitors to your website or campaign landing page.
You can also add PR events to your coverage trend charts, allowing you to highlight events and activities, such as email distributions or newswire releases, to give you and your stakeholders a better overview of the PR campaign and its results.
New visualization in the reporting dashboard: See where most of your coverage comes from with the new choropleth visualization added to the geographic Coverage by Region chart in your reporting dashboard.
Accessibility
Accessibility may not be sexy; nonetheless, it’s crucial for anything online. To that end, the entire platform underwent a style makeover last summer. We made various updates to the user interface (UI) styles and layout, including both monitoring mentions and media contact profiles, to conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Help / Customer Support
We are constantly updating the ‘how to’ articles in the Burrelles Help Center (accessible through the platform). If you can’t find what you need or simply prefer human support, your account manager is just a phone call (or email) away. Alternatively, you can try our Live Chat to connect with a human (no chatbots)!
Conclusion
Despite the many changes, the qualities or traits defining good media relations have remained the same. If one thing is certain, technology and the media will continue to change.
“Media relations will continue to reign supreme [in 2024] as brands have a love and understanding of the impact an earned press headline can have,” PR agency owner Brennan Nevada Johnson recently wrote for Adweek, and we agree!
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