Clean, concise and reliable - Sprout Social is where it's at
October 25, 2013
Clean, concise and reliable - Sprout Social is where it's at
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Premium
Modules Used
- feeds
- publishing
- discovery
- reports
Overall Satisfaction
- One of the first things I noticed about Sprout was its extremely reliable publishing module. It never faltered in the 18+ months that I've used, and is easy to navigate to for updating already scheduled tweets (for example).
- The reporting module is beautiful. Very clear findings on the exact items I look to report on - plus the export to pdf function is really cool.
- I actually really like Sprout Social's blog and social messaging. Not salesy and provides value to my research and trend watching. Whoever is managing their community does a great job at coming across as authentic, vs. just trying to get people to sign up for their webinar.
- I've always hoped to have a better friend/follower function on Sprout. I like being able to see who's not following back, or who is idle, but in more of a batch setting vs. the long scrolling list they have now. Just the ability to clean house a little better
- Sometimes swithcing between users/accounts is tricky - it isn't always obvious to me what data i'm looking at for which client so that can sometimes be a little nerve wracking. Maybe just a clearer client/user toggle than the small area in the top right.
- Improved customer service for sure. It's definitely a good homebase for all channels, and keeps everything much more organized which means more efficiency.
- A couple of my clients noticed immediate uptick in ROI, I credit this to our kickoff of their social media programs, of which Sprout is a huge tool to make it happen with. So yes, it has definitely reached many business objectives
Product Usage
2 - Customer service, community management, reporting and analytics, founder. I encourage as many people as possible to get to know Sprout. I love the function that allows access to only certain areas of the product, just to keep things safe and no rogue tweeting - that costs people their jobs nowadays. :)
1 - I'd say 1 total, but half of myself and one half another colleague.
- Editorial calendaring is so important, so being able to look at all of our content at a glance is a huge need that Sprout fills
- Customer support. I'll say it again, Sprout has great customer support. If something happens they're right there, even during "off" hours (which there aren't really any of those anymore).
- A great tool for event activation, the tool is extremely organized so even if you're not you'll have your ducks lined up with a little help from Sprout friends.
- I hope to use Sprout to eventually do heavier outreach with writers. I'm hoping some sort of feature will come out with a facet associated with this.
Evaluation and Selection
Yes - Hootsuite primarily. I have used it often in the past and definitely gets the job done, but Sprout seems a little more consistent to me than Hootsuite. There are many free tools that offer similar capabilities as Sprout but none under the same roof with the type of customer support Sprout offers.
- The overall package
- Price point
- and great design and UI
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
Features, features, features. it's one thing to have features, its another to have great, reliable features. Sprout has just that. When you're working with clients that have 50k+ followers on their Twitter you do not want to mess around with a sub-par product. I need reliability so I can have peace of mind and sleep at night.
I wouldn't do it over, and I'm sure just like many others I still use other tools along side Sprout. I don't feel that i spent too much time shopping around - things are always changing anyway so by this time next year it may be Sprout, it may be someone else - but I'm very loyal so I'm rooting for them. :)
Implementation
- Vendor implemented
- Implemented in-house
Change management was minimal
Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Yes - I did last year. It made a huge difference when first setting up, but now that I'm accustomed to the product the premium support is not as crucial.
Yes - Absolutely, it had already been logged by a few other users of the product and before the end of the day the issue had been resolved and it was back to normal - this is a breath of fresh air compared to some other products out there that are unresponsive and expect customers to just "live with" the situation.
Yes. When first establishing the account for a non profit I worked with last year, I was told we would receive a discounted rate because of a certain promotion. The next month saw our invoice and that particular promo had not been applied to the total amount, I called to inform and not only was the discount immediately taken off they also included their non profit discount which made a huge impact on the cost of the product year over year.
Usability
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Reporting: great pdf export w/ client logo add on.
- Ggreat social messaging scheduler.
- Customer support is pretty instantaneous.
- Just toggling between accounts/users. Sometimes it isn't super obvious what data I'm reviewing (if I've left and come back) and have todouble check using the drop down in the top right.
Yes - I like the mobile app a lot. I didn't end up using it heavily, but if I needed to double check something that was going to be published and I am on the go, it's really good for that. I wouldn't use it for actual content creation - it isn't finicky but similar to the Wordpress or Tumblr app the experience is much better on your pc.