Item: Sprout Social
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Sprout Social to schedule posts, tap into listening insights, and generate monthly reports for our leadership team. Additionally, Sprout is used daily for our unified inbox, which means that our social team has one place to go for checking messages/comments across all social platforms. Currently we set up reports to listen for keywords and important topics as a way to generate content ideas.

Pros and Cons

I love the support I receive from Sprout and the focus on learning to improve.
I love the ability to work with team members to approve content and also provide feedback before the content is pushed live.
Scheduling is a breeze, thanks to the ability to duplicate and customize for each platform.

There are a few API-restrictions, such as Facebook event co-host invitations or Instagram DMs that don't come through to our Sprout inbox. Fortunately, Instagram DMs are on their roadmap and will soon come through.
The cost for premium analytics is a little steep. The capabilities are amazing, but the cost makes it difficult for social media managers to commit.
In order to utilize all that Sprout has to offer, you have to dive into their learning portal.

Return on Investment

Sprout has given insights to lead our creative refreshes every quarter. As we have a healthy budget on paid social, it is crucial to understand the type of creative that works best.
Sprout has the ability to send notifications based on certain types of messages received. This is crucial for social media teams who don't have 24/7 coverage but need to be notified of urgent matters.
Sprout has saved me hours of time as I no longer pull analytics natively from each social platform. The generated reports give me a look at all of the platforms and can be customized.

Alternatives Considered

Buffer, Agorapulse and Hootsuite

The thing that stands out to me the most about Sprout is that every employee I've engaged with has a passion for social and helping companies succeed. They live and breathe social, and are a huge support to social media teams.

Sprout has superior analytics to all of the above platforms I have tested out as well.

Key Insights

Do you think Sprout Social delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Sprout Social's feature set?

Yes

Did Sprout Social live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Sprout Social go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Sprout Social again?

Yes

Usability

The interface is clean and easy to follow. They also have a learning portal that makes it easy to learn new skills.

Support Rating

We have a customer success manager who takes time with us every month to discuss new features and help troubleshoot any questions that come up. This has especially come in handy when we are reporting to our executive leadership team and specifically are looking for ways to highlight the success that comes from our efforts. Social media teams have a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips. If there is ever any question about how to best utilize this information, there are case studies and supportive team members to help.

Likelihood to Recommend

Sprout is perfectly suited for social media professionals who manage a team and want a support system built into their platform. I've used Sprout as a team of one, and felt completely supported. Their chat function is perfect for getting quick answers to questions that arise. I currently use Sprout as a manager with a team of three people, and it's been wonderful to have internal dialogue with team members, collaborate on responses, and also get an overall view of the team's efficiency.

If you don't have a mindset of learning to develop, Sprout may not be for you. It has a lot of offerings, but if you don't utilize their templates to generate reports or upload assets as "saved responses," then you aren't getting the bang for your buck.

A Social Media Manager's Secret to Success

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Sprout Social