What is the best Social Media management solution?
Updated February 25, 2015

What is the best Social Media management solution?

Valentin Vesa | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Deluxe

Overall Satisfaction with Sprout Social

I began searching for a Social Media Management and Monitoring tool when I realized that I was finding it increasingly difficult to create the content, manage the outgoing messages and also monitor our social media venues effectively. It came down to Sprout Social. It is being used by the Marketing Department, specifically the Social Media group.
  • Simple to understand visual reports: the kind you can just SEND to managers, without the need to EXPLAIN what they mean :)
  • A robust scheduling platform so you can arrange the content for the week according to your publishing topics and still be allowed to manually intervene when/if needed
  • Being cloud-based and also available for smartphones and tablets allows for reliability: you'll always have some form of access to your material and venues, no matter where you are.
  • When we first started using SproutSocial they were still showing the "posted via" signature on Facebook, now it is gone. So the experience users see and live is made to look like it just came from a human, not by a scheduled machine, which is a great personal touch.
  • With LinkedIn Pages support in the building, they'll surely add another important platform to their portfolio.
  • Add YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr
  • Offer a freemium model
1 - Social Media, Communications, Digital
  • Cut down budget for having multiple persons on specific digital venues
  • Better employer branding as we manage all of our job offers through Facebook too
  • Allows for a proper corporate presence on social media, making sure that each (supported) venue is covered
The intuitive use, price, visual reporting and ability to easily expand plans and features is a total win
One you fall in love you do not need continuous reasons for loving her :)
This is a very well suited solution for teams that are scattered around cities or even countries. Each member of the team is able to see what the colleagues did before him, see assigned tasks and perform accordingly.
The new unified inbox feature allows users to focus on one column where all the messages are being displayed, rather than running across different columns and content filter lists, as other solutions do.

Using Sprout Social

1 - web editing and social media/digital knowledge
  • live feed from our events (Twitter, Facebook)
  • managing our daily social media feeds
  • nline contests: we are able to calculate the time-stamp of any message, based on the publish time we set in SproutSocial for each
  • I still remember the face of our Marketing Director when I showed him the smart inbox and all those mentions of us :)
  • I was also surprised by the multiple use of the word "iQuest" out there. So many websites and digital venues were using it and Sprout Social discovered them :)
  • add teams and allocate specialists: one person for Twitter, one for Facebook etc. They can all work in the same app but on specific venues they are best at using.

Evaluating Sprout Social and Competitors

  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Third-party Reviews
I selected Sprout Social having the main focus on its usability. I was aware that other colleagues might use it, people not necessarily having digital expertise and I wanted to make sure that the usability and the visuals were as non intimidating as possible.
Would not chnage anything

Sprout Social Implementation

Make sure you do it all the way. Do not break it into phases. Pour yourself a coffee, start it in the morning and you'll be done before you finish that coffee.
Change management was minimal
  • nothing significant

Sprout Social Training

The trainers are very resourceful and are able to deliver the knowledge to all trainees. The simpleness of using Sprout Social, despite its amazing technical capabilities, is by itself a big encouragement boost.

Sprout Social Support

The support is always there, almost instant. Whenever I start my live chat support session the answer is there.
ProsCons
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 - They're working on it as of now
Yes, it was 1-2AM, I was preparing for a meeting the next day where I had to present the past 6 months for all digital venues. I remember planning the design of the reports and then it hit me: I could just easily use the amazing designed PDF reports Sprout Social was producing and show them those. Great choice! Went back to sleep and nailed it the next day in the meeting room.

Using Sprout Social

There is no flaw in usability.
ProsCons
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
  • smart inbox
  • keywords (would rather have a drop-down where I can select my own variations/combinations, then write things like "keyword -from @username etc)
Yes - Great native smartphone and tablets apps are available for free.

Relationship with Sprout Social

They were available all throughout the free trial included, to help, guide, answer questions or even propose specific custom setups, as if we were a paying customer, which was a great on-boarding experience, where we gained trust in them as provider.
Automated recurring billing makes everything easier. Support is available almost 24/7 via online chat or/and phone.
Try to be honest and true about your business and objectives. They will not try to upsell crap to you, so the more you open in an initial approach and let them know your needs, th ebetter your profile will be matched against a solution that vest fits your needs.