Hootsuite

My name is Tess Robison and I am working as an SEO Outreach Specialist in Money Done Right company. HootSuite was kind of confusing and couldn't do as much with scheduling content. However, I will say that HootSuite was better with the analytics but that wasn't my job focus. I mostly just had to create the content. If my position was more analytical then HootSuite would have been better suited to use.

As a Partner of Jolly Content Team, here I am to share my views regarding the Hootsuite software;

Hootsuite is a tool, and in some ways has even more features when compared to other software tools. The service is compatible with over 35 different social media platforms and allows you to schedule posts. The thing that starts to set Hootsuite apart is their AutoSchedule function which chooses the optimal time of day to post your content. You are also able to schedule posts for days, weeks, or even months, allowing you to schedule all posts for a marketing campaign you're planning. It's also perfect for teams since with a team plan, more than one person has access and you have the ability to assign tasks and review before posting.

I have used a variety of social media management software for my company - Spire Digital. By far, my favorite solution is Hootsuite. I like Hootsuite best for their collaborate UI.

Its single drawback is that it's costly.

We use Hootsuite for our social media management for multiple platforms at Evinex. It has a great content calendar that visualizes your cross-platform activities. For instance, you are able to add streams such as "Timeline", "Scheduled Post" and "Mentions" as you like. So, in your Hootsuite calendar, you can manage your social conversation at a glance and interact with your audience better! The content calendar is a must for every social media marketer. That's why we kept using Hootsuite.

As CMO of Nextiva, I love being able to track trending topics based on keywords I input. If you set up your columns right, you can check that against your content in the pipeline to ensure you're covering all of your bases. There is one major con, however - for teams and medium-sized businesses, Hootsuite can be cost-prohibitive. If you've already got a social media marketing software in place, it's hard for some teams to justify switching platforms to such a costlier alternative.

Overall, I recommend Hootsuite to anyone who can afford it. Hootsuite is not only a time-saving tool, but also helps you cover all of the bases in your social media marketing.

As a Digital Marketing Specialist at Signity Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Hootsuite served us in the following ways:

1. It gives us the advantage of adding 20 Social Media Profiles along with 3 users. Though, it has more options for larger enterprises. 

2. The most outstanding feature is its ability to post text, links, photos, and videos directly to our respective social profiles visa its dashboard.

3. We have created an “organization” to enhance communication and collaboration across everyone’s Hootsuite account.

4. Scheduling the posts according to the project-specific country was our main challenge, Hootsuite helped us in automatically scheduling the post at specific times rather than doing them all manually.

5. We easily monitor our social activities. The section dedicated to creating analytical reports and click summaries is quite useful. It works with both as Google Analytics and Social Media Insights.

Cons that we have faced:

 1. We are unable to add and schedule multiple pictures in a single post for Instagram. Hootsuite does not allow to add multiple pictures at a single time. 

2. Custom URL Shorteners are a bit expensive. 

3. Sometimes there are technical errors, due to which the post does not get scheduled on time and is left unscheduled. 

Final Verdict: All in all, Hootsuite saves a lot of time and its feature of auto-scheduling without any notification/approval is awesome!

Hootsuite Experience: I used Hootsuite for the first several months of running my boutique marketing agency - Jackie Kossoff - Marketing & Design. I found the user-interface and ultra-dynamic functionality to be overwhelming for a smaller workload. My clients are small business owners and do not need nor benefit from close monitoring of other feeds and hashtags. It became apparent to me that larger corporations and in-house teams managing several brand channels would be better suited to using Hootsuite to manage the demands of their workload.

Pros: Beneficial for larger corporations or teams managing multiple channels for the same brand. Capacity for monitoring other accounts and social conversations. Webinars geared toward social media teams at larger companies.

Cons: The user interface is not user-friendly. At the time I was using Hootsuite (2017) they did not have a calendar view. I understand they have since launched one, but it was very inconvenient for me to only be able to view my content as a chronological list. 

Overall: For those like myself who serve small businesses, or small business owners themselves, Hootsuite is simply not the most beneficial platform. They have positioned themselves and built their platform to serve larger companies and corporations. 

Hootsuite has to be our company - YourParkingSpace most used Social Media Management platform. The platform allows you to view, manage and upload content all in place over a large number of social channels, and within the dashboard, you have the ability to track updates, see what people are saying about your brand, and respond immediately. Hootsuite enables you to monitor conversations relevant to your industry, and your products, and see what people are saying based on keywords, hashtags, locations, and even specific users. You can schedule content, and tie all of your social media platforms into one, something that is imperative in social media, where consistency is key. Despite its many benefits, there are a number of issues with Hootsuite that given its huge popularity, should have been ironed out by now. The main dashboard is muddled, and out of date. Whilst great for twitter, it doesn’t really work for other networks and doesn’t make it clear what is new and what has already been dealt with. Furthermore, despite being one of the only social media management tools that have a free plan, the Team plan is very expensive. There are some simple changes that could make the process so much easier, such as being able to publish a scheduled post now, but it seems as though Hootsuite either hasn’t thought of this or does not care to add it in, making the process feel more clunky and laborious. Overall, Hootsuite has many benefits and does simplify our social media management greatly. However, there are a number of updates, some very simple, that could improve the process and user experience massively.

As a Senior Digital Marketing Specialist of Wealth Words, here is my experience regarding Hootsuite software:

Pros:

1. All SMM channels at one place.

2. Auto-scheduling.

3. Analysis can be tracked on a real-time basis. 

4. Under the team plan, more than one user can operate the same account.

5. Reports can be exported.

6. Instant replies to customers.

Cons:

1. Multiple Image sharing on Instagram is not possible.

I especially like the handy “Publisher” Feature which allows me to write one post for different Social Media channels. I love, that I can still adapt the tracking link for every Social Media channel individually. It is a huge time saver. Also, I love the calendar view with the scheduled posts. You get everything at a glance and the whole team is up to date. Additionally, at Ofri.ch it helps us to monitor social media as we track keywords with the monitoring service. To sum it up, I think the free version of Hootsuite is a good ‘getting started’ tool for small businesses.