Hootsuite review : Features, pricing and more in 2024

Our Verdict

Our Verdict

Hootsuite, established as one of the longest-standing tools for managing social media, offers a comprehensive feature set akin to a digital social media manager. Although it doesn't replace the necessity for in-house marketing expertise, it significantly enhances social media marketing endeavors. Previously offering a free plan, Hootsuite discontinued this option in March 2023, and now starts at $99 per month with annual billing, positioning it as a higher-cost option in the market. To determine if Hootsuite suits your needs, delve into our detailed review.

Pros

• Optimize posting times for maximum engagement
• Access a library of stock photos for creative content
• Enjoy unlimited posting across all subscription levels
• Manage scheduling for multiple profiles simultaneously
• Seamlessly integrate with Canva for enhanced design capabilities

Cons

• It comes at a high cost
• The free plan option is no longer available
• Customer support response times are sluggish
• The free trial necessitates providing credit card details

4.8

Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting price

$99 per month

Complimentary trial

30 days

Main features

Content strategizing, audience interaction, and comprehensive analytics

Understanding Hootsuite's functionality

Hootsuite allows users to consolidate and manage all their social media accounts from a single platform. This not only simplifies social media marketing efforts but also enhances organizational efficiency with features like content calendars, post creation, scheduling, publishing, social ad management, audience engagement, and detailed analytics to derive valuable insights from social media data.

Key features of Hootsuite

Hootsuite stands out as a powerful tool for managing multiple social media accounts efficiently from a single platform. Its primary features encompass content scheduling and publishing, tools for engaging with audiences, analytics, and capabilities for social media advertising.

Content planning and publishing

Hootsuite's core functionality revolves around consolidating multiple social media accounts into a unified platform with a single content calendar for scheduling and publishing content. This remains a central feature of the tool, enhanced by a user-friendly post creator that supports intuitive use. Users can upload images, access a built-in stock library, or design visuals with Canva directly within Hootsuite. Posts can be scheduled for immediate publishing or set for future automated release.

Moreover, Hootsuite includes tools aimed at simplifying content creation and publication. For instance, it incorporates an AI-powered writing assistant to aid in crafting engaging social content. The platform also offers an "Inspiration" section to generate new content ideas, repurpose successful content, and convert website materials like blog posts into social media posts.

Enhancing Social media engagement with Hootsuite

Hootsuite not only supports content creation but also optimizes audience engagement. It offers a unified social inbox for managing direct messages from various platforms in one location, saving significant time and ensuring comprehensive message management. The platform features listening streams to track and anticipate trending topics, auto-responder capabilities for round-the-clock customer interaction, and assignment tags to efficiently delegate and manage communications. These tools collectively empower users to maintain proactive and responsive social media engagement strategies.

Social media analytics with Hootsuite

One of Hootsuite's key strengths lies in its robust analytics capabilities, which aggregate and interpret data from multiple social accounts through unified social analytics. This feature provides valuable insights that might otherwise be challenging to obtain independently. Users can generate customizable social media analytics reports, including comparative analyses against industry benchmarks. This enables businesses to assess their performance effectively, gain actionable insights, and maintain a competitive edge in their market.

Social media advertising with Hootsuite

For businesses leveraging social media advertising on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, Hootsuite offers integrated management of both organic and paid content. Through Hootsuite, users can set up "auto-boost" for existing ad campaigns, which automatically optimize based on specified objectives, timelines, criteria, and target audiences. It's important to note that initial ad campaigns need to be created directly through the respective ad platforms, such as Facebook Ads, to utilize this feature.

This capability is particularly beneficial for businesses aiming to streamline their advertising efforts across platforms. It simplifies ad creation, deployment, and monitoring directly within Hootsuite while providing valuable insights into ad performance.

What makes Hootsuite unique

Hootsuite distinguishes itself for two primary reasons, which are rarely found together. Firstly, it boasts an extensive array of features that cater to virtually every requirement of social media management. Despite its comprehensive capabilities, however, using Hootsuite effectively still necessitates dedicated management and strategic development. Secondly, Hootsuite is known for its user-friendly interface. Despite its robust feature set, it maintains a minimal learning curve, allowing for swift setup and easy adoption. This combination of rich functionality and user-friendliness sets Hootsuite apart in the realm of social media management tools.

Hootsuite pricing overview

Professional plan

Hootsuite's Professional plan costs $99 per month with annual billing and offers features suitable for businesses seeking to enhance their social media efforts in-house. It includes one user and up to 10 social connections, providing access to a comprehensive content calendar, unlimited post scheduling, analytics, and social engagement tools like a centralized inbox and contact management. This plan is ideal for average-sized businesses but may not meet the needs of larger enterprises or agencies managing multiple client accounts.

Team plan

The Team plan, priced at $249 per month with annual billing, expands on the Professional plan by accommodating up to three users and 20 social accounts. In addition to features from the Professional plan, it includes advanced capabilities such as automated link tracking and social content calendar sharing. This plan is well-suited for medium to large businesses with an internal marketing team.

Enterprise plan

The Enterprise plan offers custom pricing and requires a demo request. It supports up to five users and 50 social accounts and provides extensive analytics, reporting, and advanced features like user permissions, approval workflows, dashboard notifications, and campaign planning. Tailored for large businesses, it also serves growing agencies managing a limited number of client accounts, offering robust tools to inform and execute sophisticated social strategies.

Getting started with Hootsuite

Setting up Hootsuite is straightforward, and it begins with a 30-day free trial to help new users assess its suitability. To initiate the trial, you'll need to provide your full name, business email address, and create a password. Following this, you'll be directed to a page where you can select a paid plan and enter your payment details, with options for both monthly and annual subscriptions (defaulting to annual).

Once your payment is confirmed, you'll be guided to connect a minimum of two social accounts from options including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok Business, YouTube, and Pinterest. Connecting accounts is simple; you'll need to have a business account on the respective social platform and login credentials ready (or be logged in already on your device).

Hootsuite ease of use

Hootsuite has evolved significantly from its earlier versions, offering a straightforward setup process. Connecting social platforms is particularly effortless, especially if you're already logged into these accounts on your device. Once inside the user dashboard, its design is well-crafted and intuitive, resulting in a minimal learning curve. However, due to its comprehensive feature set, fully exploring all functionalities may require some time to familiarize yourself with.

Hootsuite security

Hootsuite incorporates several built-in security measures, including infrastructure security with physical and cloud-based data centers, host security, and data rights protection. Notably, it offers monetary rewards, such as a $100 CAD Amazon gift card, to users who report critical security incidents. Despite these features, the platform lacks extensive security options for users on its lower and mid-tier plans. While two-step verification is available, user permissions and controls are limited in these plans.

Hootsuite customer service and support

Hootsuite provides customer support primarily through live chat accessible from the user dashboard. Initially, users interact with a bot designed to handle basic inquiries. If the query exceeds the bot's capabilities, users can input their name and email address to connect with a live agent, with an expected response time of a few minutes. However, actual response times can be longer, as reported by users, sometimes exceeding several hours, which is a common frustration noted in customer reviews. This delay contrasts unfavorably with the high cost of the product.

Additionally, Hootsuite offers 24/7 support via Twitter and Facebook. While these channels are available around the clock, they may not always provide timely solutions for technical issues or account-related queries.

Hootsuite additional features of note

Beyond its scheduling and reporting tools, Hootsuite offers a standout feature called "Streams." This tool presents a Kanban-style dashboard displaying the performance of recent posts, a column listing upcoming scheduled posts, and social media activities and mentions. Although similar data can be accessed elsewhere, Streams provides a convenient way to monitor the pulse and performance of each social account efficiently.

Hootsuite alternatives and how they compare

Comparing Hootsuite with Zoho Social

Zoho Social has emerged as a significant competitor to Hootsuite, with both platforms offering similar features yet notable differences. Zoho Social starts at $10 per month with annual billing (or $15 per month without a contract) for up to nine social accounts, whereas Hootsuite begins at $99 per month (billed annually) for up to 10 accounts. This price discrepancy highlights Zoho Social's affordability, particularly appealing to startups and small businesses. In contrast, Hootsuite, though pricier, provides a more robust suite of social media management tools, making it suitable for larger businesses, brands, and agencies heavily invested in social media marketing.

Comparing Hootsuite with Buffer

Buffer, like Hootsuite, is one of the pioneers in social media management platforms. Buffer stands out for its budget-friendly options, offering a free plan and starting prices at $5 per month with annual billing (or $6 per month on a monthly basis). While Buffer includes many features similar to Hootsuite, it lacks the depth and comprehensive capabilities of Hootsuite's platform. Buffer is recognized for its simplicity and ease of use, which results in a shorter learning curve compared to Hootsuite.

In summary, Buffer is ideal for cost-conscious businesses seeking straightforward social media calendar management. On the other hand, Hootsuite is better suited for businesses and agencies prioritizing extensive social media marketing efforts and requiring robust tools for managing and optimizing their strategies effectively.

Comparing Hootsuite with Sprout Social

Hootsuite and Sprout Social are direct competitors in the realm of comprehensive social media management platforms tailored for businesses heavily invested in social media for sales, marketing, and client management by agencies.

The primary distinction between the two lies not only in price but also in their strategic alignments. Hootsuite starts at $99 per month with annual billing, whereas Sprout Social is priced higher at $249 per month. This significant price difference reflects their respective target audiences and feature sets. Hootsuite is well-suited for businesses seeking to enhance their social media presence through robust management and analytics tools. In contrast, Sprout Social targets businesses looking to strengthen customer relationships, offering built-in customer relationship management (CRM) and reviews management features alongside social media management capabilities.

In summary, while Hootsuite caters to businesses focused on expanding their social media reach and optimizing marketing efforts, Sprout Social appeals more to businesses prioritizing comprehensive customer relationship management alongside social media management functionalities.

Hootsuite is best suited for data-focused marketing teams seeking an efficient solution to organize content, gather insights, and drive strategic decisions. It offers substantial value for businesses with internal marketing departments aiming to optimize productivity. However, it may not be suitable for those seeking a basic content scheduling tool or agencies managing multiple client accounts.

In summary, Hootsuite is highly user-friendly, centralizing social media management and aiding in audience understanding and content optimization. While it no longer offers a free version and is not the most budget-friendly option, its comprehensive data analytics may not justify the cost for businesses with more modest social media needs.