Public relations (PR) moves incredibly fast, especially in the digital era! PR professionals often have to take work on the go, whether while traveling for client events, hopping across town to manage an interview, or dealing with an off-hours crisis. There are hundreds of phone applications that can make the job easier, but we narrowed it down to our team’s seven favorites. These PR apps help pros tackle everything from project management to news monitoring from the comfort of their phone screen. Read on and download them all!
1. Apple News
This app gives you access to more than 300 popular magazines, newspapers, and other publications, many of which are currently behind paywalls. Users only need to pay a monthly fee of about $10, but you can pay less if you purchase a yearlong subscription upfront. Apple News helps PR pros monitor coverage for clients, curate competitor coverage analyses, and keep a pulse on trending news stories so they can pitch the best angles for their clients without ever worrying about running out of free articles!
2. Mailtrack
An important part of PR professionals’ jobs is pitching reporters and media contacts stories on behalf of clients. When sending out dozens of emails a day, it can be challenging to track which reporters have responded and which have not. Mailtrack allows PR specialists to keep a pulse on which contacts have opened their emails and which have not, allowing them to better allocate follow-up resources. It may also provide insight into which contacts are interested in hearing from them in the future, thereby helping the PR pro create more efficient contact lists. For contacts that never open emails, PR team members can switch to phone calls or DMs.
3. Slack
Slack is one of the best PR apps for keeping in touch with colleagues and clients while on the go. Rather than relying on texting, which can be spotty at best, PR pros can send messages directly to individuals and groups. This means all conversations can be kept in one place—and out of employees’ personal inboxes. Slack also allows you to schedule messages for the following morning or even the following week, which can be helpful when communicating after hours or while someone is on vacation. Slack ultimately helps build better, healthier boundaries between work and personal life while maintaining efficiency.
4. Grammarly
Grammarly is another excellent PR app. Users turn to Grammarly to catch grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. But the app is even more powerful than that—it has the ability to catch tonal errors and suggests significant copy edits. If you’re typing out an important business email on your phone, it’s worth downloading Grammarly to ensure your message is coming across in the most professional manner possible.
Keep in mind that Grammarly is currently only available on handheld Apple products, but it is available on all desktops.
5. Buzzsumo
Buzzsumo is an all-in-one content marketing app with functionality for discovery, research, and monitoring. The influencer marketing and creator marketing industries are so new, and there are very few accurate tracking platforms, but Buzzsumo effectively boils campaigns down to the KPIs that matter most. It also makes researching potential content partners much easier. Gone are the days of scrolling through Instagram hoping to come across a well-suited influencer for a client. While PR pros are killing time between interviews or traveling, they can be working on their next influencer campaign with the Buzzsumo app!
6. Monday, Asana, or Similar PR Apps
PR is all about teamwork! Keep tabs on all ongoing projects, their statuses, and important updates from your phone with Monday, Asana, or a similar project-tracking platform. Most of these platforms offer various viewing formats, the ability to create subtasks, and the ability to filter by tasks that are assigned to you for the most efficient management possible. Other great options include Wrike and Notion, both of which offer easy-to-use apps.
7. Splashtop
For the PR pros that really need to keep work moving at a rapid pace while away from their computers, Splashtop is a lifesaver. This app allows you to access your desktop remotely to grab documents, access important platforms that don’t have apps or browse the web. No matter what tool you need to get the job done faster and better, Splashtop can help you access it!
How often do PR professionals need to work from their phones?
The answer to this question depends entirely on the company and client load of the professional in question! Some PR team members work many events and travel quite a bit, so they may find themselves working on campaigns from the airport or in an Uber. Others can dedicate most of their time to working in front of a screen. Ultimately, working in PR is about being prepared for anything, so we recommend all individuals in the industry download these seven PR apps.
I’m having trouble managing all of my PR apps and campaigns. How will I know when it’s time to hire an agency?
Not only do you need to dedicate time to executing PR campaigns, but the best-laid plans also require lots of research and strategy on the front end, plus analysis on the back end. There’s no wrong time to hire an agency to help you manage campaigns you’re already working on or layer in new ones. If you need help now, contact us to schedule a call and chat through options for support!