Hootsuite Review: Simplify Your Social Media Management

Managing social media can easily feel overwhelming, especially if you’re publishing content on multiple accounts. Luckily, Hootsuite simplifies the process by offering a centralized platform to schedule, publish, and analyze content across all your social media accounts!

In this Hootsuite review, I’ll discuss the pros and cons, what it is, who it’s best for, and its key features. Then, I’ll show you how to use Hootsuite, from setting up boards and streams to creating and scheduling social media posts!

I’ll finish the article by comparing Hootsuite with my top three alternatives (Circleboom, StoryChief, and Content Studio). By the end, you’ll know if Hootsuite is right for you!

Verdict

Hootsuite is a powerful tool for managing multiple social media accounts with advanced scheduling, analytics, and team collaboration features. However, it might be too expensive for some people and the learning curve may feel steep, especially for beginners.

What is Hootsuite?

So what is Hootsuite? Let’s take a look at its main features and core functionality.

Overview of Hootsuite’s Core Platform

Hootsuite is a social media management platform that was created by Ryan Holmes in 2008 in Vancouver.

What started as a tool for managing Twitter (fun fact: it was originally called BrightKit) has grown into this powerhouse platform that supports multiple social networks including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and TikTok, and is used by over 18 million users worldwide.

Hootsuite has some pretty impressive stats. They’re used by over 800 of the Fortune 1000 companies, and the platform supports integration with more than 35 social networks. The last time I checked, users were publishing something like 40 million posts through Hootsuite every month!

Main Features & Core Functionality

The core of Hootsuite is its boards and streams. It has multiple columns laid out side by side, each showing different social media feeds, mentions, and scheduled posts.

The game-changer is how you can customize these streams to monitor multiple clients’ accounts simultaneously. You can see everything happening across all your social platforms in one place!

Hootsuite has quite a few features, but let me break down the most important ones:

• The Scheduling Tool: With this tool, you can schedule posts across multiple platforms simultaneously which saves countless hours! The bulk scheduler is particularly handy when planning content for an entire month.
• Analytics reporting: This tool lets you track everything from engagement rates to follower growth. The custom report builder lets you focus on the metrics that matter to your business.
• Assignment & Approval Workflows: If you’re someone who works with teams, the assignment and approval workflows are lifesavers for preventing social media mishaps. You don’t want to be that person who accidentally posts personal content to a client’s account!
• Keyword Streams: This tool helps you monitor industry terms and competitor mentions. It helps spot countless opportunities for client engagement that would’ve been missed otherwise!

The thing I really appreciate about Hootsuite’s evolution is how they’ve managed to stay relevant. They’ve kept adding features like social listening tools and AI-powered content recommendations.

Price-wise, it might seem a bit steep at first (especially for small businesses). But when you consider the time it saves and the features you get, it makes sense. They offer various plans starting from individual users up to enterprise-level solutions, and each tier unlocks more features and social profiles you can manage.

Who is Hootsuite Best For?

Hootsuite is best for a diverse range of businesses and social media professionals, from small startups to large enterprises. More specifically, Hootsuite is best suited for:

• Organizations looking to manage multiple social media accounts from a centralized platform.
• Companies looking to boost their social media engagement and customer interactions.
• Businesses wanting to develop and optimize their social media strategy.
• Retail companies for social media customer service.
• Marketing agencies to see their analytics and use social listening tools to track campaign performance.
• Social media teams to develop comprehensive social media strategies.
• Social media managers to plan, schedule, and publish content across multiple platforms.

Hootsuite Key Features

Here are Hootsuite’s key features.

Social Media Scheduling & Publishing Tools

Hootsuite’s scheduling system is probably the feature I use most religiously. It’s way more sophisticated than just queuing up posts!

I learned this trick where you can use the bulk scheduler with a CSV file to plan out an entire month’s content in about 30 minutes. The best part is that you can preview exactly how each post will look on different platforms before it goes live!

There’s also an AutoSchedule feature that automatically selects the best times to post based on user engagement data. This can enhance the effectiveness of your social media campaigns by optimizing posting times!

Analytics & Reporting Capabilities

Hootsuite’s analytics capabilities are really impressive. You can track everything from basic engagement metrics from multiple platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok to deep-dive custom reports.

Here are the engagement metrics you can track:

• Reach
• Engagement rate
• Impressions
• Likes
• Shares
• Comments
• Video views
• New followers

I’ve spent hours manually tracking social growth before discovering you could create automated weekly reports. The platform lets you measure things like team response time, sentiment analysis, and even ROI tracking if you’re running paid campaigns.

Pro tip: set up custom report templates for different stakeholders. Your boss probably wants different metrics than your social team!

Team Collaboration & Workflow Features

Hootsuite’s team collaboration features is where the platform really shines for larger organizations. The platform has this intuitive permission system where you can assign different access levels to team members.

One feature I love is the content approval workflow where you can set up multiple approval stages. No more accidental posts from interns going live without review!

Plus, team members can collaborate on social media posts by creating drafts, providing feedback, and managing tasks within the platform. Hootsuite also features a team inbox that aggregates social media messages, to organize communication among team members.

Social Media Monitoring & Listening Tools

Hootsuite’s social listening tools are like having your ear to the ground 24/7. With this tool, you can set up custom streams to monitor keywords, hashtags, and mentions across platforms. It lets you monitor mentions across various platforms, including up to 150 million websites and 30 social media channels in 187 languages.

You can catch some amazing opportunities this way, like if a customer has an issue but doesn’t directly tag your brand. Plus, the sentiment analysis feature helps you understand not just what people are saying, but how they feel about it.

Hootsuite uses AI-driven insights through its Blue Silk™ AI model, which helps predict trends and analyze consumer sentiment effectively. This enhances the ability to engage with audiences based on real-time data.

Content Curation & Suggestion Features

Content curation might seem like a minor feature, but it’s become one of my favorite time-savers.

Hootsuite suggests relevant articles, blog posts, and news stories based on your topics of interest, and you can easily share them with your audience. Once you’ve found the content you want to share, you can schedule your posts individually or in bulk.

You can find some absolute gems through this feature that’ll get great engagement. Just remember to actually read the articles before sharing them!

Using Hootsuite for content curation is beneficial in a couple of ways:

• By providing relevant content suggestions, Hootsuite significantly reduces the time spent searching for shareable articles (a common challenge for social media managers)
• Sharing curated content helps maintain audience interest and encourages engagement by providing valuable information rather than just promotional material
• Regularly sharing high-quality, relevant content can help establish your brand as an authority in your industry, fostering trust and loyalty among your followers

Security & Compliance Features

Security features might not sound exciting, but they’re crucial if you’re managing enterprise-level social media. Hootsuite offers two-factor authentication, single sign-on, and detailed audit logs of all actions taken within the platform.

I particularly appreciate the IP address restriction feature. It lets you limit platform access to specific locations, which is great for compliance-heavy industries.

Here are some additional security features:

• Data encryption at rest and in transit
• Network protection with firewalls and intrusion detection mechanisms
• Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing
• Compliance with standards such as SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS

Hootsuite Mobile App

The mobile app deserves a special mention too. While it doesn’t have all the features of the desktop version, it’s perfect for on-the-go management and crisis response!

The app includes essential features such as:

• Streams: Monitor various social media activities and interactions in real-time
• Composer: Create and schedule posts across multiple platforms
• Inbox: Manage and respond to messages from different social media accounts in a centralized location
• Publisher: Schedule and publish content efficiently

Remember that these features are spread across different pricing tiers. Start with the core features you absolutely need, then expand as your social media presence grows. No sense paying for enterprise-level features if you’re just managing a handful of accounts!

How to Use Hootsuite

Here’s my hands-on experience with Hootsuite’s daily workflows:

1. Go to the Hootsuite Homepage
2. Choose a Plan & Connect Your Accounts
3. Set Up Boards & Streams
4. Create Posts
5. Create Social Media Captions
6. Create a Post with the Caption
7. Schedule Posts with the Content Calendar
8. Schedule Bulk Content
9. Set Up & View Analytics
10. Set Up Scheduled Reports

Step 1: Go to the Hootsuite Homepage

I started by going to hootsuite.com and selecting “Start your free trial.”

Step 2: Choose a Plan & Connect Your Accounts

Next, Hootsuite asked me to select my plan: Standard or Advanced. I went for the 30-day trial of the Standard plan.

After signing up, Hootsuite asked me to connect at least two social accounts.

Step 3: Set Up Boards & Streams

After creating and connecting my accounts, I was taken to my Hootsuite dashboard! But before getting ahead of myself, let’s talk about setting up the dashboard.

When I first started using Hootsuite, I made the classic mistake of diving in without a proper setup. But taking time to configure things properly makes a huge difference in the long run!

The first thing you’ll want to do is set up boards and streams. Hootsuite Streams are essential for managing and monitoring social media activity across various platforms.

To access your streams on Hootsuite, select “More” and “Streams.”

Hootsuite will have already created boards for the social media accounts you’ve connected. I can view my analytics, past posts, and scheduled posts on each social media account on one screen!

If you want to create a new customized board, select “New Board” on the top left.

On the right, you’ll see different board types you can choose from:

• Social media content monitoring
• Discover new trending content
• Create custom streams based on any theme or activity
• Get RSS feeds to post your favorite stories from websites and blogs (paid)
• Create a link-in-bio for Instagram
• View and share TikTok videos on Hootsuite
• Find more apps to improve your productivity

Customize your boards and streams in a way that works best for you!

Step 4: Choose How You Want to Create a Post

You can also create posts with Hootsuite! Access different posting options from the home page on Hootsuite:

1. Create from scratch
2. Post across networks
3. Post about a trend
4. Start with AI

I was curious about the AI option so I selected “Start with AI.”

Step 5: Create Social Media Captions

Next, Hootsuite asked me how I wanted to create social media captions with their writing generator OwlyWriter AI:

• Repurpose your top posts to reach more people
• Create new captions from scratch
• Get inspiration for post ideas and captions
• Turn blog posts and other content into captions
• Create captions for upcoming holidays

I selected “Start from scratch.”

From here, Hootsuite presented me with various types of posts I could get OwlyWriter AI to write a caption for. These included captions for different social media platforms, captions for followers to take action, “hook” captions to reel in prospects, etc. I selected “LinkedIn post.”

Hootsuite asked me what kind of LinkedIn post I wanted to write about. I typed “Simple budgeting tips for first-time savers” and hit “Create Caption.”

Step 6: Create a Post with the Caption

Within seconds, Hootsuite generated three captions with emojis that were perfect for LinkedIn!

From here, I could select any three of them and hit “Create post” to post on social media.

Step 7: Schedule Posts with the Content Calendar

Next, I wanted to explore the content calendar to create a posting workflow. To do this, I started by selecting “Plan” from the navigation bar on the left.

On the top right, you can change the content planner view (I like the calendar view best for an overview of the content I will post for the entire month).

From there, click on the date you want to create a post. On the right, a panel will open with a button for you to start to make a post. Within this panel, Hootsuite will even offer a recommended time for you to make a post based on the last 30 days of your posts!

Step 8: Schedule Bulk Content

Pro tip: use the bulk composer for regular content, but always schedule time-sensitive posts individually. You can create content libraries by going to Plan > Content and hitting “Bulk Message Upload.”

Step 9: Set Up & View Analytics

The analytics section can be a bit daunting at first, but here’s what works best!

Start by setting up a few key report templates. You can do this by selecting “Analytics” and hitting “Create a report.”

Hootsuite comes with different report templates:

• Multiple networks overview
• Brand awareness
• Audience growth
• Post reach
• Link clicks

Just to name a few. Choose the reports that align with the metrics you want to track. For example, if you’re running a campaign, create a custom report tracking campaign hashtags, engagement rates, and click-through rates.

Step 10: Set Up Scheduled Reports

Also, you might want to schedule these reports to be delivered to your inbox weekly to stay in the loop!

To schedule your reports, select the report from the “Analytics” tab, select “Export,” and hit “New Scheduled Report.”

How to Use Hootsuite the Most Effectively

• For team collaboration, establish clear workflows from the start. Set up approval paths based on content type. For example, maybe regular posts only need one approval, while campaign content needs two.
• Use the assignment feature for customer service messages to avoid duplicate responses.
• Always use the notes feature when assigning tasks to team members. Future you will thank past you for the context!
• The mobile app is your friend for on-the-go management, but don’t rely on it for everything. For example, you can use it for monitoring and quick responses, saving the heavy lifting like bulk scheduling and analytics reviews for desktops. The interface is pretty intuitive once you get used to it, especially for checking urgent notifications or approving scheduled content.
• Don’t forget about the security aspects. Enable two-factor authentication for all team members, regularly review user permissions, and set up IP restrictions if needed. These might seem like annoying extra steps, but they’re way less annoying than dealing with a compromised account.
• Make friends with the support team. Hootsuite’s help docs are pretty comprehensive, but sometimes you need human help. I’ve found their support team to be super helpful, especially when dealing with API changes or new feature rollouts.

Top 3 Hootsuite Alternatives

Circleboom

The first Hootsuite alternative I’d recommend is Circleboom. What I love most about Circleboom is its balance between simplicity and functionality, making it easy to manage multiple platforms without feeling overwhelmed!

Both tools are powerful social media management platforms that help individuals and teams streamline their workflows.

On the one hand, Hootsuite stands out with its advanced analytics, extensive integrations, and social listening features that are excellent for larger organizations. On the other hand, Circleboom focuses more on simplicity and affordability with tools for designing, automating, and scheduling posts. It’s particularly useful for Twitter management.

While Hootsuite’s robust features cater to enterprises with more extensive needs, Circleboom keeps things simple by emphasizing ease of use and essential tools without unnecessarily complicating things. Its user-friendly design ensures even beginners can make use of its features. Meanwhile, Hootsuite’s breadth of features can be intimidating to new users but rewarding if you seek more advanced insights and control.

For a comprehensive, enterprise-level solution with in-depth analytics and integrations, choose Hootsuite. For a simpler, budget-friendly tool with a focus on Twitter management, choose Circleboom!

Read my Circleboom review or visit Circleboom!

StoryChief

The next Hootsuite alternative I’d recommend is StoryChief. It’s a content marketing platform that streamlines the creation, collaboration, and distribution of content across multiple channels. What I love about StoryChief is its ability to unify marketing workflows into one platform to save time and boost collaboration!

While both Hootsuite and StoryChief offer tools for social media scheduling, their core focuses differ. StoryChief takes a broader approach to content marketing. It focuses on strategies like multi-channel publishing, SEO copywriting, and content planning across various platforms.

StoryChief also offers robust content collaboration features, simplifies workflows for teams, and incorporates tools to boost organic growth through content marketing. Meanwhile, Hootsuite is a powerhouse for businesses looking to manage their social media presence, track social media performance, and improve social media ROI.

If you’re looking for comprehensive social media management with advanced social analytics, Hootsuite is your best bet. However, if you want to focus more on streamlining your overall content marketing strategy and multi-channel content distribution, StoryChief is the better choice!

Read my StoryChief review or visit StoryChief!

Content Studio

The final Hootsuite alternative I’d recommend is ContentStudio. Like Hootsuite, ContentStudio offers social media management and content curation tools. Its intuitive workflows make managing social media campaigns easy and efficient.

Both tools provide scheduling and team management capabilities, but they differ in key areas. Hootsuite is favored by large organizations for advanced analytics and social listening, while ContentStudio appeals to smaller teams seeking efficient content management and discovery tools.

ContentStudio distinguishes itself with:

• Unique content discovery features
• AI-powered content generation
• More flexible integration options

While both platforms integrate with tools like Canva, ContentStudio offers more specialized features for content creators like hashtag suggestions.

For comprehensive enterprise-level social media management with robust analytics, choose Hootsuite. For smaller teams prioritizing content creation, automation, and discovery, ContentStudio provides a more agile and user-friendly solution!

Read my Content Studio review or visit Content Studio!

Hootsuite Review: The Right Tool For You?

After trying Hootsuite for myself, I can see why it’s so popular. It’s an excellent tool for managing multiple social media accounts, scheduling content, and collaborating with your team.

It might initially feel overwhelming with all of its features. But it’s worth overcoming the learning curve because of how much time it saves and how valuable the insights are. It’s also a bit pricey, but the advanced features like custom reporting and social listening are worth it for larger campaigns.

If you’re curious about Hootsuite alternatives, here’s what I’d recommend:

• Circleboom is best for anyone who loves simplicity. While it supports multiple social media platforms, it’s particularly useful if you’re focusing on Twitter and want a budget-friendly tool to schedule posts and stay organized without feeling lost.
• StoryChief is best for managing content across multiple platforms like blogs and social media. I also love how it streamlines SEO content creation and collaboration.
• ContentStudio is best for smaller teams or solo marketers. Its AI features and content discovery tools have made managing campaigns feel effortless, especially when needing quick inspiration for posts.

Thanks for reading my Hootsuite review! I hope you found it helpful. Hootsuite offers a free 30-day trial of their Standard and Advanced plans, so why not try it for yourself and see how you like it?

Visit Hootsuite →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hootsuite good to use?

Hootsuite is a well-rounded social media management platform. It comes with multi-account management, advanced scheduling capabilities, and comprehensive analytics to help businesses streamline their social media presence. However, it’s pretty expensive and the features might be overwhelming for beginners.

What are the disadvantages of Hootsuite?

Hootsuite has several disadvantages, including a high cost and a potentially steep learning curve. Also, direct posting to Instagram is restricted due to API limitations.

What does Hootsuite actually do?

Hootsuite is a comprehensive social media management platform that lets you manage multiple social media accounts from a single dashboard. You can create, schedule, publish, and analyze content across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. It comes with tools for content scheduling, social listening, team collaboration, analytics, and engagement. This helps businesses and individuals streamline their social media marketing and grow their presence online.

Is Hootsuite a Canadian company?

Yes, Hootsuite is a Canadian company. It was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Is Hootsuite still free?

No, Hootsuite discontinued its free plan on March 31, 2023. It now only offers a 30-day free trial for its paid plans. After the trial, you must choose a paid plan starting at $99 per month for the Professional plan.

Is there a free alternative to Hootsuite?

Yes, Metricool offers a free alternative to Hootsuite that allows you to schedule up to 50 social media posts per month across multiple platforms at no cost. Other free Hootsuite alternatives include Buffer, which provides a freemium model for social media scheduling and basic analytics.