Item: Hootsuite
Rating: 8
Author: Kim Hoogenboom

Overall Satisfaction with Hootsuite

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It helps us see what our manufacturers and competition are saying every day. We are able to have similar communication but make it our own instead of a straight-up "share" forward. We can schedule ahead, yet have great flexibility with timing. It has helped us give our customers a consistent message from one source out to where they want to follow us.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Flexible scheduling system for social ahead of time.
Works on a phone and desktop.
Many ways to connect using their apps.
We can see who is talking about us socially or via a review all in one place.

Cons

Does not work with snap chat without other apps/integrations.
Difficult to work with youtube and Instagram in all the ways people communicate on those platforms.
Wish they would make it easier (less expensive) to run contests.
Would be nice to have better analytics for free.

Return on Investment

Using social networks are a way to broadcast out to potential customers that we are hearing for their needs.
Pulls in about 90% of what we have found out people say about us when they reference our business.
An inexpensive tool that does two things well, let's us be seen socially 4 ways and lets us see when others talk about us.

Alternatives Considered

Buffer

Didn't like how it's integration felt a bit invasive in that social network. Tried to automate more than evaluate. I liked how Hootsuite allows for a better view of all our competition and vendors at the same time. I also prefer hootsuite's setup for future posts, it has a calendar view, by post view, by network view so you can stagger or create unique communication per message.

Support Rating

I have only used their online reference information, which is extensive. They also have classes you can take to learn more about how to use the product. I have not called into customer service or used the chat button. The navigation is intuitive for me personally so I haven't had the need for support.

Key Insights

Do you think Hootsuite delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Hootsuite's feature set?

Yes

Did Hootsuite live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Hootsuite go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Hootsuite again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

Didn't I just do this in pros and cons? It is well suited for a business that wants to communicate out the same message each time in a unified way so customers can hear from the business in the social media option of their choice. Where the tool lacks is in creating ways for the business to build engagement. They used to have more options for contests, post via hashtag, run a giveaway. That is all now stuff that requires upgrades.

Hoot hoot! Hootsuite gets the message out.

Software Version