Product Overview of Muck Rack
Muck Rack is a comprehensive public relations (PR) management platform designed to bridge the gap between PR professionals and journalists. Founded in 2009 by Gregory Galant and Lee Semel, Muck Rack is headquartered in Miami, Florida, and has established itself as a credible and essential tool for both journalists and PR agencies.
Purpose and User Base
Muck Rack serves as a software database that is free for journalists and subscription-based for public relations offices. It functions as a news aggregator, indexing articles written by registered journalists, as well as their social media activities, particularly tweets.
Key Features
Media Databases and Contact Management
- Muck Rack provides expansive media databases that allow users to locate and connect with relevant journalists and media contacts. Users can create and manage custom lists to organize their contacts and campaigns, ensuring efficient outreach and relationship management.
Pitching Module
- The platform includes a pitching module that enables PR professionals to create and manage personalized pitches to engage with the media effectively. This module features a WYSIWYG editor, allowing users to add links, images, and attachments, and to preview and test emails before sending them out.
Media Monitoring and Coverage Reports
- Muck Rack offers robust media monitoring capabilities, allowing users to track their brand’s media coverage across news, broadcast, and social media platforms. Customizable alerts ensure that users never miss key mentions, and detailed coverage reports provide insights into the reach and impact of their media mentions.
Search Functionality
- The platform includes advanced search features, including Boolean operator-driven functionality, which enables users to craft precise queries to find the most relevant journalists and media outlets for their PR campaigns.
Relationship Management and Collaboration
- Muck Rack facilitates team collaboration by allowing multiple users to share media lists and track outreach activities through an activity stream. The “relationship owner” designation ensures that pitches are filtered through a designated person, preventing redundant outreach to reporters.
Reporting Tools
- Users can generate reports with visual interpretations to analyze the performance of their PR campaigns. The platform also includes a newsletter feature that allows users to build and share coverage results with clients or executive teams using drag-and-drop functionality.
Security Features
- Muck Rack implements robust security measures, including SSL/TLS encryption for data in transit and AES-256 encryption for data at rest. The platform also features role-based access controls (RBAC) to define permissions and restrict access based on user roles within an organization.
Deployment and Access
Muck Rack operates as a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS), ensuring users have access to the platform from anywhere with internet connectivity. The interface is designed for intuitive navigation, with a dashboard that provides a high-level view of media coverage and communications.
Additional Features
- Social Media Integration: Muck Rack indexes every tweet sent by registered journalists and tracks top stories on Twitter, providing real-time insights into what journalists are discussing on social media.
- AI Integration: In 2023, Muck Rack announced the launch of PressPal.ai, an AI tool aimed at enhancing the platform’s capabilities.
Pricing
While Muck Rack does not publicly disclose its pricing, it is known to vary based on a company’s specific needs. The average annual cost is around $14,500, with a maximum price of approximately $115,000. Users can potentially achieve savings through procurement services like Vendr.