Hootsuite
Clear UX has streamlined multi-channel scheduling but now needs richer analytics and broader integrations
What is our primary use case?
We have been using HootSuite to manage our clients' social media channels, ranging from Instagram to X to TikTok to LinkedIn and other social media channels.
We have been scheduling posts for these different channels with different copy, different creatives, and viewing and managing the full social media calendar of our clients via HootSuite.
What is most valuable?
One of the best things about HootSuite is their clear UX design that is easy to navigate around the platform, and also to see the social media calendar of the clients, so we can see on which channel which post is going when and how the posts look.
My team clearly understood how to navigate and also myself, so we didn't have any additional questions or any difficulties understanding how the platform works. This was a plus because with another platform, we had this issue where it was not clear to understand, it was not following current trends or the newest features of how a UX should be.
HootSuite helped us navigate and manage the social media calendar of our clients, so we could clearly see which post is going out when. This helped us to see everything in one dashboard without us having to duplicate another dashboard.
What needs improvement?
HootSuite can connect better with more social media platforms, maybe additional email platforms as well. As companies such as Instagram and LinkedIn are offering scheduling also in their platform, it would be good to see how HootSuite manages and offers better solutions so we still stick with them. This was one of the reasons that we started to use the native scheduling of the platforms itself because they are free, but HootSuite is paid and it was also expensive.
Pricing can be lower and integration can be with more platforms.
I think this was one of the places that HootSuite can improve themselves in terms of connecting better with other analytics tools and having better analytics numbers to show to us so we can also present to our clients.
Sometimes we received emails that due to some reasons, posts were not shared automatically. This was also one of the reasons why we left HootSuite.
We didn't see HootSuite as the best platform to scale with us with our growth. That's why we stopped using it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used HootSuite for around two years, currently not using it anymore.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There were no stability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We didn't see HootSuite as the best platform to scale with us with our growth. That's why we stopped using it.
I think it's a good social media scheduling platform to use, but once you are growing fast, other ways should be found, as we did in terms of using an external platform because the features are limited after one point.
How are customer service and support?
I never needed to reach out for customer support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
This was a plus because with another platform, we had this issue where it was not clear to understand, it was not following current trends or the newest features of how a UX should be.
How was the initial setup?
This was very easy.
What about the implementation team?
We were using HootSuite as a collaborative tool across teams.
What was our ROI?
It was very great and straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing can be lower and integration can be with more platforms.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We didn't see HootSuite as the best platform to scale with us with our growth. That's why we stopped using it.
What other advice do I have?
The features that I suggested are the ones that would be better to see in terms of scheduling and the price. I gave a high rating because it was very easy to understand the UX and navigate around.
We haven't really utilized or saw the difference of how HootSuite adds value to us with the AI. It's not that we don't see it as a reliable AI source at the moment.
They didn't meet our needs. This can be an area that HootSuite can improve on.
It was flexible enough and also in terms of security, each time someone enters the account, we were receiving an email.
My overall rating for this review is seven.
Streamlines Content Management, Needs UI Improvement
Centralized scheduling has saved time and has made global social media campaigns consistent
What is our primary use case?
We have been using HootSuite for one year now.
One main thing that we do with HootSuite is scheduling different campaigns on different social media platforms. Scheduling campaigns has been a hassle for us so far, but HootSuite has enabled us to accomplish this. Additionally, HootSuite helps us with content creation through their AI capabilities. We create content and schedule these campaigns on different social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Meta.
Our primary target audience is in the US, and we are from India, so there is a huge time difference. With the scheduling capabilities, we can schedule the campaign during our daytime so that it will reach them during their daytime. We do not have any breaks or gaps in terms of communication with our target audience. HootSuite has many built-in templates for creating different content and different campaigns. This is very helpful for us, so we do not have to think extensively, as HootSuite does the thinking for us.
What is most valuable?
One of the best features apart from the scheduling part is the shared calendar space that HootSuite provides. We have different teams collaborating on the content that needs to go out. With the shared calendar space, there is a scope for approval workflows so that hierarchical approvals can be done in terms of content before it goes out. This is very valuable to us. Another important feature is the OwlyWriter AI, which is great in terms of helping us write content and create different campaigns.
In terms of analytics, HootSuite gives us great data on all customer interactions. Whenever a customer interacts on any platform like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, everything is centralized in HootSuite so that we can respond to all these interactions through HootSuite. This saves a lot of time for us. We also get insights on customer behavior and user patterns, which is very helpful for us.
What needs improvement?
The number of built-in templates could be improved. There are not many different styles available in terms of templates, but apart from that, I do not have any other significant complaints.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working in my current field for about seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
HootSuite is definitely a stable solution, and it is also definitely scalable. We are currently five users. We initially started with one user, so I believe it is definitely scalable.
How are customer service and support?
HootSuite has one of the best customer supports that I have seen. They are very prompt in terms of their response and they are very knowledgeable as well. I would definitely rate them very highly, at 10 on 10.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use any previous solutions. We were doing everything manually only. That is why we needed a solution, and HootSuite helped us get to where we wanted to go.
How was the initial setup?
The licensing and pricing are very affordable in my opinion. HootSuite is value-for-money software. In terms of onboarding, it is very easy. It took us one to two days maximum to get everything onboarded and the users set up.
What was our ROI?
We have definitely seen a return on investment. We have seen a return on investment in terms of time-saving capabilities. With five to six different social media channels being handled from a centralized repository or centralized place, we have saved a lot of time. We are able to respond to our customer interactions via a single click using HootSuite, which has saved a lot of time for us. We have saved approximately 30% of our overall time.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate anything else. We went ahead with HootSuite because we liked the demo and the presentation that HootSuite provided.
What other advice do I have?
Businesses that want to engage on different social media platforms definitely need a solution like HootSuite in order to make their entire social media presence much more organized, which will save a lot of time for them and also help them focus more on business revenue. I would rate this product 10 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Effortless Social Media Management with Analytics
User-Friendly Interface, Frustrating Posting Issues
All My Social Media in One Place—Even BlueSky
Centralized social media workflows have simplified collaboration and improved engagement tracking
What is our primary use case?
One major use case that we have with HootSuite is managing all our different social media accounts through HootSuite, and also managing all our customer conversations in a centralized place using HootSuite.
We generally post content on about four to five different social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn through HootSuite. All the customer engagements that we get on these different channels are managed through HootSuite. Whenever a customer tries to talk with us or whenever a customer responds to a particular post that we do, we manage it via HootSuite. This helps us save a lot of time and also helps us gain better clarity on what content is performing where.
A consolidated stream of messages across different platforms is brought into a centralized place, and we use that to respond back and to post to different channels.
What is most valuable?
The shared calendar space that HootSuite provides allows different team members to look at the calendar and have clear visibility on what is happening with the current post and what is happening with the current approval process. There is no time-wasting. Hierarchical-based approval is much easier with HootSuite. When a junior-level designer proposes the content, the senior-level manager approves it easily and posts it as content on different channels. The entire process is streamlined and very smooth and efficient for us.
HootSuite has different inbuilt templates for different channels to post on different channels, which is very useful for us. Instead of us creating our own templates, HootSuite provides many inbuilt templates, which is very refreshing and new.
With the centralized place for us to manage all our customer conversations and all of our social media engagement, HootSuite has helped us save a lot of time. I would say about fifty percent of our time is easily being saved using HootSuite.
Earlier, we used to do everything manually, going inside each channel and tracking our engagement or replying back to customer conversations. With HootSuite, five to six different channels are integrated already, where we are able to respond back to comments within a single click to all the different five or six channels. That has helped us save a lot of time. A lot of manual work has reduced with the click of a single button using HootSuite.
What needs improvement?
There can always be some improvement in terms of accuracy and the output that it provides. It is very good right now, but definite improvement is needed because the output is not very consistent always. There can be improvement in terms of consistency that it provides.
For how long have I used the solution?
What other advice do I have?
In terms of security, I have not faced any issues. I think it is a very secure software. HootSuite's AI helps us generate content and generate ideas for posts. It does not give away any data. It is very highly secure, in my opinion.
I would definitely urge them to start using HootSuite because HootSuite provides a lot of different analytical output as well, which gives more intuitive edge and advantage to users. We can do industry and competitor benchmarking. We can do custom reports as well, which will give us a clear idea on how our posts are performing or not. A lot of different parameters are provided in the reports, such as the CVR, the conversion percentage, the CTR percentage, etc., which are not provided in other platforms, in my opinion. That is very much useful for a lot of businesses to grow their business.
Everything is great with HootSuite. I would rate this review a nine out of ten.