The Perfect Tool Stack for Your PR Work

Capacity planning based on gut feeling. PR reporting with PowerPoint, Excel & Co. Team communication via email and phone. Does this sound familiar? This is still the daily routine in most PR agencies. Therefore, it is not surprising that according to the latest studies, 87% of PR professionals in the DACH region see significant digitalization needs in the industry. So, is the PR industry lagging behind in digitalization? The answer from more than 600 surveyed PR managers is: YES!

The appeal is clear. But how can PR work be digitalized? Which tools actually add value? What are the 'must-haves' in this area? These questions were also addressed in the latest studies. However, the answers were different than expected. PR professionals currently have no favorite tool - instead, they see significant improvement potential in several areas for software support.

Alone, 35% wish for more efficient reporting programs. But there is also a need for improvement in agency and project management software.

Today we present various tools from the areas of PR reporting, agency organization, and visual design, which provide the perfect foundation to take the first steps towards digitalizing your PR work:

The HQ: An Agency Software that Brings All Processes Together

PR agencies thrive on their creative ideas and professional expertise. However, they only become reliably profitable when they organize projects efficiently and effectively. In terms of agency organization, many PR professionals are still fighting a losing battle with a flood of spreadsheets and isolated solutions.

The rescue from the data chaos: good agency software like The HQ. The HQ maps your entire agency process in one central location - from the first customer contact, through quotes and project planning, to billing and controlling.

Why is this useful?

Imagine you are planning a new project. You create this in just a few clicks directly from the quote. The individual items automatically become tasks in your project plan. Now you just add a briefing, the planned effort, and the deadline. Who in the team still has capacity? A quick look at the resource planning answers this question immediately and you can distribute the to-dos sensibly. Every team member now knows who has to do what and when – without you having to write a single email. The team records the project times directly in the tasks. Is a task taking longer than expected? No problem. Every change in the project schedule is automatically reflected in the resource planning. This way, you can react directly to bottlenecks. After the project ends, all recorded hours at the correct cost rate end up on the invoice and also in the agency controlling. There, the relevant information from all projects is summarized in clear evaluations. Since you planned the project scope including all resources in advance, you can retrospectively assess whether the project was successful or caused additional costs for your agency – and you can plan the discrepancy directly into future orders.

In a nutshell: good agency software brings clarity and structure to your project work. This allows you to measure project success, optimize processes, and keep your PR agency on track in the long run.

Join over 700 successful agencies and rely on solid agency organization with The HQ. Test The HQ now for free and without obligation. The best part: with the code 'aclipp10' you get a 10% discount on your first invoice - let's get started!

With aclipp to Relevant PR Reports at the Push of a Button

Who doesn't know it? It's the end of the month, the last media monitoring is being collected, and all the missing KPIs are noted in a spreadsheet. And now? PR reporting. So, prepare all clippings including the metrics in a presentation for your clients. According to the statements of over 600 PR managers, just creating such a PR report takes an average of four hours. The collection of media monitoring and the determination of KPIs are not even included. With just ten clients, a full-time employee is already busy with PR reporting for a week. There has to be a better way!

This thought inspired the founders of aclipp to develop the eponymous PR reporting software. In aclipp, media monitoring from all channels can be collected in one place and supplemented with relevant KPIs at the push of a button. Data from over 20,000 print media in the DACH region, key figures from almost all websites worldwide, and even various KPIs from the most used social media channels are available with just one click. Clippings can be added manually or automatically imported into the software tool through the integration of a media observer.

It's the end of the month again? Or does your client want a report on short notice? For aclipp, no problem: here you can create relevant PR reports in an appealing design within just 4 minutes. You can also customize these to your clients' needs. This way, you have the option to configure reports for any time period, for specific campaigns, or with the highlights of your work.

Additionally, the software offers a clear dashboard, where you can always keep an eye on the development of your PR work for all your clients.

With aclipp, you end the clipping chaos in your PR agency, never have reporting stress again, and can invest the newly gained time in truly value-adding tasks. This way, you and your team will have more time for great creative work, convincing pitches, and valuable networking.

Many leading PR agencies are already enthusiastic and use the software daily. Save yourself time every day and test aclipp now for 14 days for free and without obligation!

Easily Create Visual Content for Your PR

PR can no longer be thought of without digital platforms, such as social media. However, to get started on many digital channels, you often need to acquire new skills or purchase services such as design or video editing. To avoid these problems, we present three practical tools that help you with exactly that.

Canva

No matter which digital channel you publish content on, visual presentation plays a crucial role. The path through designers or an agency can quickly become a bottleneck. Canva has a brilliant and simple solution for this. Here, you are offered a comprehensive platform for all kinds of image editing. You don't need any software for this; you can work comfortably in the browser. The entry and most functions are also available for free.

Canva also has numerous templates that you only need to customize for your purposes and then export immediately in the desired format. Recently, Canva has also offered video editing. While extensive editing options are not yet available, our next recommendation provides a perfect solution.

Flixier

Where Canva leaves off with video editing, Flixier begins: with the video editor, simple editing of motion pictures is no problem. Typically, video editing programs require strong computing power and are not a great experience, especially when working on a laptop. Flixier does not have this problem: everything happens entirely in the browser and puts no more strain on your computer than other websites. The interface is also quickly understandable and makes video editing much easier.

When you are done editing, the secret strength of Flixier comes to light: the entire rendering process, which is usually extremely computationally intensive, happens at Flixier. So, you can comfortably close the browser window and be notified via email when your video is ready.

EveryPixel

The image templates in Canva are not enough? Are you looking for specific images? Then EveryPixel is just what you need! Here, you don't have to search numerous image databases until you find the perfect photo. EveryPixel searches all databases and provides you with the results. You also have various filter options, so you always find what you are looking for. Unique filters are also offered, allowing you to search, for example, by dominant colors in the images so that they match your surroundings.

Our Conclusion

As PR managers, you should no longer do without digital tools that make your daily work more efficient and easier. Especially in PR reporting, smart software like aclipp saves you valuable time that you can use for creative or strategic to-dos. In terms of agency organization, software like The HQ is a 'must-have' in your tool stack to be prepared for the increasing digitalization in the PR world in the long run. Creating professional visual content is no longer a mystery with the help of tools like Canva, Flixier, or EveryPixel and can be handled by any of you.

Sarah Amler

Digital Process & Marketing Manager

Sarah was responsible for performance marketing, social media activities and digital onboarding in our software at aclipp.