Scheduling and analytics both very strong.
November 12, 2012

Scheduling and analytics both very strong.

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review

Software Version

Enterprise

Overall Satisfaction

  • Scheduling capability is excellent
  • Analytics package is also very strong. Allows us to share detailed campaign performance metrics with our clients.
  • Channel reach is also a key feature. We can post once to five or six channels at the same time which is a huge time saver.
  • Biggest issue for us right now is the Excel bulk up-loader. Our client firms typically build out content for the month. They share the content with us and we modify and improve it and then schedule out discrete posts on different channels for the month. The easiest way to get client data for the month is to use the bulk up-loader which brings in all of their content in an Excel file. Unfortunately, there are some limitations with the up-loader. Biggest issue is that pictures cannot be uploaded, and we cannot add pictures to content that has been uploaded in this way. This means that we have to schedule posts one at a time which is a big time suck.
  • There have also been some other minor hiccups where items don’t post correctly when using the up-loader.
  • The biggest operation advantage is automated scheduling which frees up everyone’s time to work on other higher value projects.
HootSuite works very well for us and we have recently renewed for another year.

Product Usage

8 - • Two on the IT side, two full-time community managers, and a variable number of student interns (4/5).
2 - I am the primary support person. My boss also fills that role.
  • Initially, our biggest problem was the ability to schedule posts to multiple social channels simultaneously FB, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Google+) on behalf of our clients. The ability to schedule posts to Google+ was actually the reason for upgrading to HootSuite Enterprise.
  • It’s also important for us to monitor and respond to tweets in the same tool For example we have been running hiring campaigns over Twitter and Facebook for some of our clients, and we need a platform that allows us to react quickly.
  • However, we quickly realized that although scheduling is important, the analytics capability is just as important, if not more so. The detailed analytics package not only lets us see how we our campaigns are performing, but it also allows us to share detailed metrics with our clients to justify the fees we charge them. This is now very important. We can export key metrics to CSV or PDF and share with clients.

Evaluation and Selection

Yes - We had tried other products like PageLever and TweetDeck (Facebook and Twitter respectively).

Implementation

• Combination of vendor and internal. The vendor bumped up our account to the Enterprise version (quite simple and easy) and then set up our organization and team structure. We then had to log in and set up team members and assign members to social media accounts. This was pretty easy to do as they have a great user interface. We simply had to drag and drop people into the correct team giving them access to specific social media accounts.
  • Vendor implemented
  • Implemented in-house

Training

Would rate it a 10. We received two hours of online training and it was of very high-quality. HootSuite also offers HootSuite University which is an extremely comprehensive training portal with self-paced quizzes, training webinars and videos, best-practice papers, product certification, and access to a network of external experts. This is a fantastic resource.

Support

• We have a dedicated sales rep and an account manager. We tend to use these resources more than customer support when we have any issues. In general, they have been very responsive and helpful. 95% of the time, they can help immediately. If not, they are quick to find the answer and respond.
No - This is included as a component of the Enterprise edition.

Usability

• Usability is one of the great strengths of HootSuite. It has a simple, clean and uncluttered user interface which means that the software is very intuitive and self-explanatory.
• Scheduling could not be simpler. We can explain how to do it to our interns in just a few minutes.

Reliability

• No issues here at all. Uptime and performance have been stellar.

Integration

  • We are not integrated to any other systems, but we are connected to multiple social media products: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Google+ etc.
  • Apart from that, we have considered integrating to our built email tool MailChimp (which is possible) but we have not felt the need to do so yet.
Yes, I believe so.

Vendor Relationship

They are very easy to work with. Highly responsive to our needs.