Likelihood to Recommend Best suited for a marketer that cares about reports, needs a social media management platform and doesn't want to pay more for a more aesthetically pleasing version of a platform with the same or less functionality, such as Hootsuite or
Sprout Social . For a social media marketer that wants to automate some of their postings, the queues feature is great for this functionality. Not best suited for beginners to social media, as their platform is best utilized with someone familiar with the industry that knows what they are doing. Their chat support team is very good though, but this type of individual might find themselves spending a lot of time on the platform.
Read full review VistaCreate is well suited for creating engaging content for users of all age groups. There are beautiful, modern templates and a variety of shapes and animations to choose from. Most importantly, the cost is inexpensive, and you get that bang for your buck. An attractive feature is the ability to upload music, or choose from the library, to add to your content piece. It's quite clever, as this allows the reader to engage in more than one sense e.g., animated content versus static text. The reader hears music, and the content is animated and visually appealing. This allows keywords to be highlighted. The probability of communicating your message in this manner is increased.
Read full review Pros eClincher supports nearly every social network and connects to a large number of sources (blogs, bit.ly, Google Analytics, Google My Business). This makes workflow tremendously easy. Posting Groups. At higher levels of service, eClincher allows you to set-up individual brand accounts. My agency isn't at that level, so we utilize eClincher's posting groups to make 1-click groups that post to all of the profiles for each client. This allows us to quickly post a cohesive message across all channels. Workflow management: eClincher adds plenty of additional tools to make your workflow fast. Connections to free stock photo services make it easy to add generic pictures to your content. Google Analytics and bit.ly can keep track of statistics and measure success. The Inbox allows you to handle all your clients' accounts from one screen (including comments, messages, reviews, and more). The Feeds and Influencers tabs allow you to understand your market and what's being said. Altogether, eClincher makes a 1-app solution for Social Media Management. Read full review Certificate design Social media communications Conversion of designs into various file formats e.g. mp4, jpg, pdf PowerPoint designs Read full review Cons It's not very visually appealing, but this is not a dealbreaker. The reporting features could definitely use some work. I still get more value from the native SNS pages, but this is quickly changing. They removed the "export to CSV" functionality, but they plan to reintroduce it soon. As mentioned previously, they really respond to criticism well and update the tool constantly. The inbox could use some work. I don't like being directed offsite to view certain comments deemed "requests for further info" when they could just easily display them there. Read full review Difficult to design content on mobile phone Mobile designs do not sync with desktop app Read full review Likelihood to Renew Unless the price of eClincher moves to a point where it is too much to justify, I don't see any reason why we wouldn't continue to use eClincher for our agency. The value at this price-point is unbelievable and we'd be foolish to move to a pricier program purely for the sake of slicker graphics or UI. eClinchers pricing is fantastic, and is only matched by its functionality—it matches or beats any of the major Social Media Manager SaaS programs out there for a fraction of the cost. This tool is great for growing agencies, but would also be useful for any marketing department or large agency that wants to streamline their social media workflow.
Read full review Usability Its usability was good until they changed their plans and stopped their LTD program for its early adopters who helped raise the tool by giving it positive reviews. I don't think eClincher is ethical in any sense based on the recent actions.
Read full review Support Rating [In my experience,] due to the fact that they did a bait and switch on their plans and blamed AppSumo for the lifetime program ending is simply wrong. [I believe that] it's unethical to get support and reviews from their early adopters then take the plan away later.
Read full review Implementation Rating Be patient. eClincher isn't perfect and has some software issues. These issues will be exacerbated if you get frustrated or have a slow connection. If something "breaks" or locks up, just refresh the page and re-do that step. It may take your team a couple weeks to get use to using the new system. Once they've gotten the hang of it, I'm sure they'll love the amount of time they save. I'd recommend taking your time with the set-up. Though there aren't a lot of steps to get everything squared away, you can break the process into small chunks to make sure you're managing your time. To just hook-up all the social accounts, it may only take an hour or so. But, if you want to set-up all the extra tools (such as user accounts, listening feeds, posting groups, schedules, etc.) it'll take longer. I think it took around a day to set-up completely, but your mileage my vary.
Read full review Alternatives Considered There are loads of social scheduling tools out there. I was using Buffer but then found it was limited in terms of listening and reporting so I started to look at a more professional software. I tried
Hootsuite but hated the interface, way too busy with the primary focus being on feeds rather than scheduling.
Sprout Social I found clunky and hard to use. eClincher was recommended to me by a friend. I think the interface (desktop and mobile) is easy to use but what sets it apart is its support - the live chat is brilliant.
Read full review In my view, VistaCreate is easier to navigate and design content. The templates are fun and appealing. The availability of Shutterstock photos is endless. The version history is saved so that work is not lost. There is a brand feature that automatically selects color themes to support branding. It is easy to export content to your desired file type.
Read full review Return on Investment Makes it much easier to manage our social publishing Makes it much easier to manage our social engagement Makes it much easier to manage our social reporting Read full review Improved communication with staff Improved brand presence on social media Ability to appeal to all age groups Improved staff morale Read full review ScreenShots