3BL Media's content distribution platforms and Brand Studio promote the environmental, social, governance (ESG) initiatives of companies, nonprofits and NGOs.
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Critical Mention
Score 7.5 out of 10
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Critical Mention headquartered in New York offers their eponymous media monitoring platform for public relations and crisis management.
I would (and do) recommend 3BL Professional to any company/org trying to expand the reach of it's CR programs. Often communications is how we justify the budget for our program work (communications help us increase brand reputation, reach potential employees, reach investors and ESG analysts). The 3BL platform is an incredible way to get your impacts and initiatives out to the world so that people know about the incredible programs you're running. Would recommend for any CR/ESG/Sustainability team.
Critical Mention is excellent for media monitoring across platforms including TV, radio and online. It is easy to grab and tailor video clips and share. The reporting function makes creating thorough reports simple. Most importantly, the customers service is unparalleled. Any time I've ever had a question or challenge, it has been handled quickly. I would suggest that you make sure to take the time to thoroughly set up your searches to be sure you don't miss anything.
Monitor media mentions and send alerts: it's great because I don't have to go in and search every day. I am set in the morning and afternoon with alerts.
Online media reports: it's great because it helps me create my own personal reports in a format that my clients love.
Customer service: our account team dedicated to us is amazing. There has never been a time that they let us down.
The media database was not as robust as our proprietary one, it contained a key journalist that had been dead for 3 years for example, others that retired or moved to other outlets. Its influencer list was dismal. Fortunately when I complained (which I did the first time I used it) they removed it from our subscription and did not charge us. They said we could add the updates or add our contacts - not sure why they thought someone would pay for a service and then give valuable information to the company that would then be shared with competitors. They removed it from our bill so that at least was positive.
It only tracks hashtags across social media accounts that have been added to its system. Right from the beginning, just by running a hashtag search on IG, we could see missing posts. They said we could add all those in batches or manually one at a time which was work we were hoping to avoid with this subscription. Basically, it becomes a service that prepares nice-looking reports, not one that monitors mentions on public accounts.
I gave this a 5 only because I do not make the decisions to renew. When I used this at my previous company, I also recommended to the decision maker to renew this tool as it was a crucial piece to the overall client objective
Look, Critical Mention follows up on an or phone call immediately or in the AM the following business day. I have called them after hours and get a live person to work through any issues that may have come up. Support seems to be job one with Critical Mention.
I am not one to bash a competition product, but I have used several other similar products from different vendors. It has mostly been a disaster. Poor customer service to poor software interface has led me to Critical Mention. It's the first time I have ever stayed with a product beyond one year. One company only ever reached out to me when it was time for a renewal despite repeated reach-outs on my part during the year.
Every week the department I am a part does dozens of searches on Critical Mention. We use it as our primary search engine for all things broadcast.
One negative aspect is that we do not know where Critical Mention gets their audience viewing numbers from so we just have to take it as their word.
Another negative aspect is that we are limited on the amount of time that one clip can be so we have to share several clips of the same show with our clients.
