Item: Sprout Social
Rating: 9
Author: Hannah O'Brien

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In a previous marketing role, I had the privilege of using Sprout Social. The only reason we don't use it at my new company is that there are not enough accounts I can add without it being too over budget, and we plan to manage over +20 accounts in the future. Our main use cases were for scheduling posts, returning analytics, building reports, and social listening. It was used only in our Marketing department, however, the nice reports were sent out to other departments for review.

Pros and Cons

Post scheduling. I loved scheduling posts in Sprout Social and the recommended post times were great.
Reporting. I loved the customizable reports of Sprout Social and the visual way it shows data.
Social listening. The ability to aggregate conversations across major platforms was helpful to see what was trending each day.

The price tiers were pretty high for a smaller company. I would love to see the capability to add more channels for a less steep price.
Paying per user was also pretty expensive. It would be nice if you could add more users for free, or if the lower tiers included more users to start. Obviously, a small department could share passwords but it would be nice for collaboration if you could have a couple more for less.

Return on Investment

We were able to see the growth of our platforms in one place and then report on it, which was great.
We spent less time manually publishing posts!

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

Sprout has a pleasing interface and a simple workflow. I think most of its features make sense where they're placed.

Support Rating

Every person I interacted with was always kind, compassionate and willing to help. They were also prompt in returning answers when I had a question.

Likelihood to Recommend

Sprout Social is great as an all-in-one post scheduler, reporting system, and listening tool -- if that is what you're looking for. The price tiers feel more suited for a larger company though compared to others on the market who offer similar products at a lower price. Sprout Social's usability is great and the look and feel of the platform were enjoyable to be in every day, compared to other platforms we tried, if that matters to you. Since working in smaller to midsize companies, I have also had a hard time justifying why social listening is important, especially since it is often pitched as a way to see what others are saying about your brand. As a small company, not many convos were happening as compared to a huge name brand. However, it was a great tool to see what people were saying about a general industry or product. Overall, I would recommend Sprout with these notes. I loved using it but it wasn't the right fit this time around for the reasons above, including we needed a product that could scale as our company grows without being too expensive. One of my favorite things about Sprout Social, though, is the customer service. Every interaction I had from beginning to end was pleasant and helpful!

Great platform, great people, but may not be the software for everyone

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Sprout Social