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Hootsuite is a social media management tool which allows users to schedule and post updates to any social media account like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, YouTube, WordPress, and other programs from one platform. Hootsuite enables users to assess marketing campaigns for all social media from their program without logging into each and every social media account. For premium accounts, members have features for social analytics, audience engagement, team collaboration, and security. Hootsuite does have its shortcomings, so here are some Hootsuite Alternatives to consider for your social media marketing.
Hootsuite Benefits
Hootsuite has a lot of perks for its users. Hootsuite streamlines all your social media profiles and this way you’re able to share one post across your accounts. Here’s what you get with a free account:
- Post various media (text, links, photos, videos) to all your accounts through Hootsuite Dashboard
- Schedule your posts so they’re automatically posted at a certain time
- Manage up to 3 social media accounts, or up to 10 with an upgraded account
- Access analytical reports and click summaries. Hootsuite Analytics works with Google Analytics and Facebook Insights
- Send private messages to a targeted group of followers
- Assignments for organized communication and collaboration for teams
Hootsuite Problems
- A free account is too limiting, and the monthly or yearly fee can be a $100+ a year.
- The free plan
- Professional (from $348 per year)
- Team (from $1,548 per year)
- Business (from $7,188 per year)
- Enterprise (from $16,000 per year).
- The cluttered Hootsuite dashboard with the multi-column layout can be too overwhelming for your social media information and listening
- Hootsuite doesn’t enable pausing bulk posts
- Calendar view only shows posts from Hootsuite so if you’re posting directly from your social media accounts or using other social management tools, those posts won’t show up. Additionally, you only see a weekly view from the Calendar.
Hootsuite Alternatives
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is one of my favourite Hootsuite alternatives. The main problem with it is cost – many agencies don’t go for it because it is so expensive.
- Organized dashboard with separated areas: Messages, Tasks, Feeds, Publishing, Discovery, and Reports
- Sprout Social Analytics links with Google Analytics and gives a better insight in order to understand your trends and social engagement activity to drive traffic and sales.
- Sprout Social enables you to understand competitor performance on social media from multiple angles
- Sprout Social’s competitive reports provide competitor research to track metrics across social media to compare with your accounts
- The downside of Sprout Social is no free account but a free trial for 30 days
- Standard ($99/mo)
- Professional ($149/mo)
- Advanced ($249/mo)
Buffer
- Buffer prices are very reasonable
- Individual (Free)
- The Awesome Plan ($10/Mo)
- Buffer for Business (Small Business: $50/Mo. Medium Business: $100/Mo. Large Business: $250/Mo)
- Buffer Analytics shows how your posts are performing based on engagement
- Buffer’s primary use is publishing and scheduling content, so no monitoring and engagement is available. I recommend using it with another program for analytics, competitor research, and social listening
Social Pilot
Social pilot is a lesser known social media scheduling tool, but still a great Hootsuite alternative.
- Connect up to 200 social profiles and share 500 posts across your profiles, this would be incredibly useful for social media agencies
- Schedule posts based on time zones so you can post during prime time for any location
- Bulk Scheduling tool is easy and efficient to upload hundreds of posts at once
- Post and share on behalf of your clients once you’re granted access to their accounts
- The Analytics and Reporting tools provide you with full overviews on your social networks, understand your followers to make better decisions, and measure the performance of your content
- Social Pilot Pricing are really reasonable
- 14-day trial
- Agency ($100/mo)
- Small Team ($50/mo)
- Professional ($30/mo)
Social Aider
- Add unlimited social accounts and posts
- Schedule your posts in multiple time zones or upload them right away
- Bulk upload to schedule up to 200 posts at once
- Get relevant hashtags while creating posts so you’re targeting your niche audience
- No social listening or content finder, unlike other social media management platforms
- The Lifetime Subscription is worth it for all these features and it’s cost effective
Social Media Management tools can be extremely useful and effective in your marketing, so I recommend that you choose a platform based on your needs for social media. Whether you are a content marketer, blogger, brand strategist, digital marketer, social media marketing agency, or simply a social media user, each tool has its advantages and disadvantages, but they can all save you plenty of time and make the most of your social presence.
If you enjoyed this article on Hootsuite alternatives you might also like to Read more on how to improve your social media.
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