Item: Zoho Social
Rating: 8
Author: Susan Smith-Harmon

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Weird Sisters Kitchen is a food blog that is in the start-up phase. Being an online business, getting my initial social media campaigns up and running has been critical. Zoho's simple interface made the process fast and easy. I've been able to launch my preview campaign across multiple platforms from one central interface. That has made my life much easier! Zoho's calendar tool helps me to keep straight and maintain multiple campaigns at once. It really is the marriage of easy and powerful, just what I needed to get started!

Pros and Cons

The audience and engagement stats for each platform can be viewed on a single page. This lets me easily see where my messages are gaining an audience and where they're lagging.
The draft posts feature means I can save my work in progress. That's handy since I'm a one-woman show at this point, and interruptions are common. I can take calls, accidentally navigate away from the Zoho page, and not lose my work.
Zoho allows be to engage with my social contacts through the interface. So I can see my outgoing posts and incoming messages in the same place. It's exactly what a good social media management tool should do.

Zoho sometimes has trouble with picture sizes. Sometimes it will reject an image as the wrong size for Instagram or Twitter that fits the parameters those social media platforms recommend. I've found the problem is usually resolution or file size, not the actual picture size. Zoho is a little unclear about that.

Return on Investment

I had a month-long delay in launching my website. Zoho Social allowed me to continue to build an audience and anticipation while the website technical issues were worked out.
The free trial meant I could give it a good try before spending any of my precious startup budget.

Alternatives Considered

Constant Contact and Hootsuite

Zoho Social functions similarly to Constant Contact's social management tool, but without having to buy into an email marking platform to use it. It isn't Hootsuite, but it's very affordable.

Key Insights

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

Yes

Are you happy with Zoho Social's feature set?

Yes

Did Zoho Social live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Zoho Social go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Zoho Social again?

Yes

Other Software Used

WordPress, Bluehost, Grammarly

Usability

Zoho Social's interface is easy to navigate. It puts the information you need most in easy reach. The tools are a snap to use, very intuitive. Let's face it, most of us are focused on the day to day running of our businesses, so tools that are easy to use and powerful are exactly what we need. I don't have time to become a social media analytical scientist. With Zoho Social, I don't have to. I just read the reports it generates for me.

Support Rating

I haven't needed to reach out to the Zoho Social support folks. But I have read several "how-to" articles they provide. The articles are brief and precise, giving me exactly the information I need to move forward without having to wade through a bunch of theory or prose. Hey, when I have a question, and they answer that question quickly and helpfully, that's all I need.

Likelihood to Recommend

Zoho is a good, basic social media management tool. The price is reasonable, but not exceptional, for what you get. For instance, the scheduling calendar isn't available for the first price tier, and that's a shame since it's one of the most useful tools Zoho offers. Also, some social platforms aren't supported. You get Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google My Business, which are probably the most important for most businesses. I wish they supported Pinterest too. It would be very helpful for a business like mine that relies on being found by people looking for inspiration.

Zoho Social Is a Simple, Powerful Tool That Helps Me Get the Job Done

Overall Satisfaction with Zoho Social