Hootsuite vs Sprout Social: Which is best?

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If you want to supercharge your social media presence, a social media dashboard could be the perfect choice for you. 

What can you do with a social media dashboard? With a social media dashboard, you can schedule posts, listen out for hashtags and phrases and establish a workflow where you can delegate tasks to members of your marketing team. It can help you manage all of your accounts from one place, saving your business time and money.

Two of the heavy-hitters when it comes to social media dashboards are Hootsuite and Sprout Social, with them both providing services for major corporations including Shopify, Glassdoor, Nokia and Domino’s. 

Join us as we take a look at both management tools and determine which is the number one choice for looking after your social media platforms.

Both Hootsuite and Sprout Social offer a lot of similar functionality. You can:

  • Schedule social media posts on both platforms 
  • Implement social listening, where you can track specific keywords and hashtags (for example, mentions of your brand)
  • Draft posts so you can come back to them later
  • Chrome extensions so you can schedule any exciting content you come across
  • Access a content calendar so you can see what content is planned for each day of the week
  • Integrate RSS feeds
  • Download a mobile app so you can manage your accounts on the go! 

However, the platforms also have a few key differences:

Hootsuite vs Sprout Social – Useability

Hootsuite: Although it has recently been redeveloped and has dramatically improved on what it was, Hootsuite’s layout is not as straightforward as Sprout Social’s. However don’t worry… once you get the hang of it, you’ll be scheduling social media messages in no time! It lays everything out in columns that you can customise until you have set your dashboard up the way you like. 

Sprout Social: Sprout Social has been praised for its clear layout and ease of use. It has a distinct advantage over Hootsuite in that its social media analytics tools are a lot easier to use. It also has better support options if things go wrong, with a dedicated phone support number and a detailed answer bank.

Hootsuite vs Sprout Social – Integrations

Both Hootsuite and Sprout Social integrate with a wide range of social media platforms, which we have listed below. 

Hootsuite: You can connect Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin and Pinterest to your Hootsuite account. A cool recent new addition is that you can also schedule posts on Google My Business. You can also integrate Zendesk, Trello and Slack into your account for additional functionality. 

Sprout Social: You can connect all of the social media accounts that you can on Hootsuite, as well as Trip Advisor, which is ideal for those in the hospitality and leisure industry. You can also connect link shortener Bitly and Google Analytics to supercharge your social media efforts even further.

Hootsuite vs Sprout Social – Pricing

Hootsuite: Hootsuite starts at £25 for a month and goes all the way up to £520 for the business package. There is also a free version available with limited functionality, where you can schedule up to thirty social media messages at a time across three different social media accounts.

With the £25 a month package you get access to ten social profiles, unlimited scheduling and one user account.

Sprout Social: Sprout Social isn’t cheap, starting at $99 a month, for the basic package, and increasing to $249 a month for the most advanced package. You can try before you buy though, with a 30-day trial. No credit card is required, which is always a bonus!

With the $99 a month package you get five social profile and unlimited scheduling, so if you just want to use your social media dashboard to schedule posts, you actually get more for your money with Hootsuite!

Conclusion

Sprout Social is an excellent option for larger businesses who have a lot of social media accounts to look after and will use all the extra functionality it provides, but it is very expensive.

Hootsuite is a lot simpler in look and feel, but still has a lot of useful functionality at a sensible price point. It is worth bearing in mind that it has a free option which may be enough for your needs if you only have a small social media presence.

Our social media management platform of choice is Hootsuite as it is the perfect balance of function and price, but both platforms offer a free trial so give them both a try and see which one is right for you!

If you enjoyed this article you might also like to read about 4 hootsuite alternatives and Introducing Hootsuite Academy

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