Fast, Easy, Affordable, but with Limitations
July 03, 2018

Fast, Easy, Affordable, but with Limitations

Jarad Matula, MBA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Hootsuite Pro

Overall Satisfaction with Hootsuite Pro

Hootsuite is being used by both my organization as well as a few of my clients for scheduling, reviewing and approving social media posts. Internally, it is only being used by the Media Department. Externally, a few of our immediate stakeholders at client companies are using it. The business problem that is solved is the need to be at a computer at a certain time to post on social channels for a client and am able to schedule large quantities of posts so that i spend less time posting and more time engaging. It also addresses having a formalized review process for clients once we create and upload social media posts, rather than screenshots or some other archaic option.
  • Setup, including connecting your social media accounts, is easy and intuitive.
  • Scheduling posts is quick and easy once you get the hang of it.
  • I love being able to create different streams of content to monitor, this feature of the dashboard is great for keeping an eye on multiple campaigns and types of accounts at once.
  • Inability to tag companies or people on LinkedIn is a huge annoyance. Due to time constraints, we've had to eliminate the use of tags for LinkedIn since HootSuite can't do it, and we don't have time to go into the platform, tag, and post at the exact right time.
  • Random errors and temporary ceasing of posting/scheduling function happens at least once a week.
  • Slow to incorporate newer features, such as the lag between Twitter increasing the character limit and Hootsuite recognizing that fact in its post creation.
3 - There are 2, sometimes 3 people related to my organization that use HootSuite Pro:

1. Me - Social Media Manager - I use it to schedule posts and send review notices to clients. Occasional report pulling.
2. Client - Head of Commercial Marketing Division - One of my clients actually goes in and posts himself once we provide the content. He's never really had any complaints. I have a different client that logins in to review the posts I create and approve, or suggest changes.
3. Account Manager - Since I am a team of 1, the Account Manager of the client I post social media for will sometimes step in and post or send review requests in my absence, but this is only a sometimes usage.
  • It enables me to spend less time worry about posting and I'm able to schedule and walk away. Saves time, which increases productivity.
  • Being unable to tag companies and people on LinkedIn impacts the reach and engagement of my posts, which impacts monthly success, which negatively impacts my social efforts overall.
  • Having an easy, formal review process between us and client is a huge help in saving time for us and the client. Saved time = saved money/productivity.
The competitors I listed have a far more robust, rewarding platform and suite of capabilities. We honestly only use Hootsuite Pro because it is easy, fast and affordable. If I was at a larger agency with more clients doing social programs and scaling/volume was a factor, I would insist on using one of Hootsuite's competitors. But for a small number of clients and simple posting tasks, you really can't beat the simplicity of Hootsuite.
If you're just wading into the world of social monitoring and scheduling and don't want a large investment of time or money, this is a great tool. I consider it a "my first social media management tool." For simple posting, scheduling, monitoring, and reporting, this is a great, inexpensive option.

If you're an advanced user and care about analytics being baked in and not piecemeal per report you pay for, then you might be better served looking elsewhere. The cost structure of reporting here by a number of reports and by the number of things you want to measure isn't ideal. I'd rather pay for analytics as a whole and pull whatever I want.

Hootsuite Feature Ratings

Broad channel coverage
6
Content planning and scheduling
8
Audience targeting
6
Content optimization
7
Workflow management
7
Customer interaction histories
5
Bulk actions
7
Content marketing
6
Twitter
9
Facebook
8
LinkedIn
6
Google+
7
Instagram
8
Pinterest
7
YouTube
6
Campaign success analytics
6
Real-time tracking
4
Competitor analysis
5
Role-based user permissions & privileges
7
Mobile access
7