To outsiders, PR may seem like a cakewalk. Just reach out and schmooze with journalists, influencers, and bloggers. And BAM, you get your coverage.

But in reality, there is much more to being a PR professional than what first meets the eye. They’re constantly putting out fires and managing multiple moving parts, all while staying on top of the ever-changing social media landscape.

PR pros need to be awake and on top of the latest happenings at all hours of the day since their job will always be on-call for those ‘crisis communications’ that pop up unexpectedly. Sure, there are large moments of elation when their press release gets picked up, but they often have to put in long hours of brainstorming to make it possible. PR pros also spend a lot of time working behind the scenes to generate positive buzz. So, in addition to building relationships with the press, they’re also working to monitor their company’s social media presence and undertaking a whole host of other things to boost business.

In short, the world of PR is chock-full of perplexing issues that can be challenging to manage. And unless you master the ropes and prepare well, you’re going to be in for a rough ride. That’s why we’ve scoured the web and put together this list of best PR tools for you to use when planning your next big PR campaign.