Update November 2021 – Due to massive price increases, I no longer use HootSuite Pro as my main social media scheduler – opting for Later.com instead.
If you want to scale your business, it’s imperative that you do something that can save you time.
After all, regardless of how hard we work, we only have 24 hours in a day to get things done.
In the past, this meant hiring employees to take on projects for us so we could allocate our resources elsewhere. However, for those of us who work online, we’ve also been granted some amazing tools that can save us hours of time each day – at a much cheaper price as well.
HootSuite Pro is one of those tools.
If you do any social media marketing at all (which you should be if you’re running any sort of business) then read on – the way you manage your social profiles may be about to change forever. Here is my ultimate review for HootSuite Pro.
What Is HootSuite Used For?
So what the heck is HootSuite anyway?
HootSuite is a social media management platform that grants you the ability to manage all of your social profiles in one place. This means you no longer have to hop around from site to site – you can manage and monitor all of your networks on one convenient dashboard.
In the picture above, I have tabs for my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account. In the Twitter tab I have a stream with my Twitter feed, mentions, scheduled posts, and a stream for a search. There are more stream options available if you want them, and you can organize them any which way, so this is nice.
Even better though is that you can take certain actions (such as scheduling a post) and send it to all of your social networks at one time. This is huge if you’ve been previously doing this manually, because it’s a lot easier to type something out once and press a button than it is to have to copy and paste it to 5 different profiles.
The great thing about this is HootSuite’s autoschedule feature, which will space your posts out throughout the day, assuring you’ll reach people in all of the various time zones. This makes it easy to create all of the day’s post at one time and schedule them throughout the day with just a few clicks. You can configure HootSuite’s scheduler to fit specific settings, so it can work really well to get your posts seen by as many people as possible.
…And this is just in the free version, which on its own is a fantastic product.
However, is it worth upgrading to HootSuite Pro? Are all of the extra features worth it? Let’s talk a bit about the benefits of HootSuite Pro, and then you can decide for yourself. Because like anything, it will be great for some people and pointless for others.
What Makes HootSuite Pro Different?
More Profiles
First of all, HootSuite Pro practically lifts the limit on the number of profiles you’re able to manage under one account. With the free version of HootSuite, you’re limited to managing only 3 profiles – maybe enough for some people, but for those looking to maintain at least a minimal social presence on all of the major social networks, it won’t be enough. And if you’re managing social media for clients, you can forget about the free version of HootSuite altogether.
HootSuite Pro allows you to manage up to 50 different social profiles – far more than most people will ever need.
RSS Feeds
The free version of HootSuite allows you to pull from up to 2 RSS feeds, which isn’t bad if you’re just looking to pull your own content, but if you’re a blogger for example you’re going to want to share other people’s content as well.
Now look, over-automating your social posting is an incredibly stupid idea.  However, as a blogger, there are certain people whose content I always read and share anyway, so the task of sharing can be done automatically by setting up HootSuite Pro to pull from that website’s RSS feed – and notify the author that you’ve shared their post!
Of course if you’re going to do this you’ll want to make sure you still go back and read the article you’ve shared. You should also only ever pull from RSS feeds from exceptional websites. However, automating this task is a good way to save a bit of time and help strengthen connections with other marketers in your niche.
Advanced Analytics
I have always believed that one of the key differentiators between good marketers and great marketers is the fact that great marketers are able to take the data at their disposal, and use it to improve their marketing campaigns.
While HootSuite Pro does not give limitless access to advanced analytics reports on its own, you are granted more access than you had previously with the free version of HootSuite – which contains unlimited access to basic reports.
Add A Team Member
If your company has an employee that handles all of the social media management, HootSuite Pro allows you to add a team member to your dashboard to carry out tasks. This is a great option for many small businesses as it prevents you from having to share sensitive information, like account passwords or giving access to a page directly.
Bulk Message Uploading
If you have a large amount of messages you want to schedule, HootSuite Pro allows you to do this easily with their bulk message tool. This is done by uploading a spreadsheet of messages and dates – allowing you to schedule an entire week’s or even an entire month’s worth of posts at one time!
This has been a lifesaver for me personally as I had previously uploaded one day’s worth of posts when I woke up in the morning. However, occasionally I’d either forget or wake up later than expected, meaning there was a long period of time without any posts at all. As someone who posts on Facebook between 5 and 10x a day, this was a problem. The bulk message uploader has made this no longer an issue.
Should You Buy HootSuite Pro?
Whether or not you buy HootSuite Pro can really be answered by asking yourself one simple question:
Will you take advantage of all of the exclusive features HootSuite Pro offers?
If so, than you should absolutely upgrade as soon as possible. HootSuite really does pay for itself, because the amount of time it will save you over the course of a week, month, or a year is huge. Again, we all only have 24 hours in a day to get things done, but we can practically create time for ourselves by using great tools that carry out tasks for us – which we can then put back into growing our businesses.
Based on the features available, I’d say HootSuite Pro is a great tool for:
- Bloggers who have been or want to harness the power of networking.
- Small business owners with an employee that handles social media and wants additional security.
- Anybody who manages social media for other businesses.
- Any entrepreneur who utilizes more than 3 social networks. (HootSuite currently supports Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest)
- Anyone who schedules lots of posts throughout the week (for the bulk messaging tool alone!)
If this sounds like you, do yourself a favor and check out HootSuite Pro by clicking here. At the time of writing, HootSuite Pro is $49 a month if you choose to be billed annually. I promise, the time it saves you will be well worth the cost!
Looking forward to hearing how you like it, and if you have any questions about HootSuite Pro, help us all out and leave a comment down below. No doubt others will be wondering the exact same thing!
– James McAllister
Hi James,
Excellent review on Hootsuite Pro. As someone who uses Hootsuite and Buffer, the only downfall I see to Hootsuite is the lack of a great mobile app. That is the only thing that holds me back from going Pro. The mobile app doesn’t allow you to have all your accounts and as someone who’s mobile a lot, it’s essential. Maybe you can put a bug in their ear that they need to step it up? 🙂 Just kidding. I do use the Free plan for now and anxiously await the mobile upgrade.
Thanks for sharing!
Bren
Brenda Pace(Quote)
Hi Brenda!
I’m going to have to investigate this further actually. I have to be honest, I have not used their mobile app a whole lot – mainly for posting to Instagram, so I’m not 100% familiar with all of its ins and outs. I know it does have all my accounts hooked up to it and working properly, but I’m only using 4 different accounts right now (My Facebook profile, my Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram.)
I’m going to play around with it for a little bit and discover what limitations are there – and then I will send something on over to HootSuite to see if they have plans to upgrade.
Thanks for letting me know of these issues Brenda and I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the free version of HootSuite!
James McAllister(Quote)
You’re welcome, James.
It’s been quite some time since I used the Free Premium Trial. I’m hoping I’m wrong and all accounts can be seen on mobile. I look forward to hearing what you find out!
Bren
Brenda Pace(Quote)
Hi James,
Wonderful review indeed 🙂
However, I agree with Bren there about the mobile app, though I personally am present with the free version of Hootsuite and Buffer, except the posts one needs to manually upload in place of the bulk loading one can go in for in the paid version. But it’s alright if you can take out time once a week for it – not more.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Harleena Singh(Quote)
Hi Harleena!
The mobile has been working fine for me so I’m still trying it figure out what limitations there actually are. I’m not sure if they’ve recently made changes or what but I’m not having any problems with it. I’ll be reaching out to HootSuite when I find some for sure.
Honestly HootSuite Pro is so cheap that the time it saves really pays for itself, even if you are only using one or two of the features here. The bulk uploader alone is a lifesaver over the free version in my eyes because it keeps things consistently spread out over a week or month rather than just a day. I’m not taking advantage of it as much as I should be.
Of course the free version of HootSuite is such a fantastic product on its own that it will be good enough for many people, probably even most. I do think the price is justified though if you do use the features HootSuite Pro offers. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by Harleena, always nice to speak with you and you have a great week too!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hi James
A very detailed and focused review that not only highlights the features of the product but equally describes its immediate and long term benefits both. You did a great job by first trying its working yourself and then sharing its benefits to us.
Right now I am using Social Pilot Premium but feel sooner or later I would have to go for an enhanced service to achieve my long term promotional goals.
The option of RSS feed in Hootsuite is just amazing and I think it is one of the several benefits that makes it stand out from the crowd.
Many thanks for sharing this very informative review.
Have an incredible rest of the week.
Mi Muba(Quote)
Hi Mi Muba!
Interesting, I’ll have to take a look at Social Pilot Premium and see how it compares against HootSuite Pro. But hey if it’s working for you and covers all of your needs, no real reason to switch right?
The RSS feature is really nice and I need to go back and add more feeds to it soon (including yours!)
Thanks Mi Muba and you have a fantastic week too!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hi James,
I don’t use anything like Hootsuite to organize my social media profiles. I do it all the old fashioned way, just posting myself on a day by day basis. I could use some help 🙂
I need to be checking this out for sure.
Thanks for the nice presentation and the screenshots of your own account. It made it much clearer to me to understand how I could actually use Hootsuite in my business.
-Donna
Donna Merrill(Quote)
Hi Donna!
Wow, I couldn’t imagine going through and doing it the old fashioned way after using a tool like HootSuite. It just saves too much time, especially if you’re scheduling your posts out anyway.
Back when I did everything myself I’d usually go on a few times a day at most, so people were flooded with a sea of tweets / updates at once (if they happened to be on at the same time I was.) Now I just type everything in one place, have HootSuite autoschedule them out, and now I’m appearing periodically throughout the day. It has helped a lot.
If you have any questions let me know, I promise even the free version of HootSuite would be a huge time saver for you!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hi James,
I haven’t used Hootsuite in years, mainly because until recently social media was not a primary focus for me.
But things change, and now I’m back in the social media game.
Your review here is excellent. Its non-hype style is like a breath of fresh air. You build a logical case for the paid version, which for bloggers is clearly the way to go.
Thanks, James – soon I will move forward on this
Kim
Kim Willis(Quote)
Hey Kim!
I do think bloggers are one group of people who would really benefit from the paid version over the free version, just because so many of the extra features are well-suited for them. The RSS feature and the bulk messaging feature alone have saved me so many hours. Speaking of which, I need to add your site to my feed list right now.
I’m glad you like my review style, really I want to make sure the right people get it and the wrong people don’t waste their money so I try to give it as it is. I have a lot of experience with HootSuite Pro and I know a lot of different people who use it so I felt like the right person for this job.
Always nice to see you Kim, let me know if you have any questions!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hi James,
First time here, and good to be here!
This is a great review you put together for HootSuite Pro and it is making more sense to me to take the leap. I heard about HootSuite a long time ago… activated my account… and then it sat dormant for a long time, while I continued to do things the old fashioned way like Donna Merrill.
Why? I’m not quite sure… I think it was because I was not really involved in the Social Media that much. I had a Facebook profile and a G+ page, and that was about it. But now with Social Media becoming more and more prevalent and making things much easier to make networking connections, a tool like this makes a lot of sense.
I have wasted countless hours switching from one site to another to try to keep up with Social Media profiles and it takes away a lot of time from other tasks that I could be doing.
About how much time would you say HootSuite Pro has cut off of your Social Networking vs. The Old School way?
Thanks for this great review!
All the best,
Jeff Sollee
Jeff Sollee(Quote)
Hey Jeff! Great to meet you.
I think it does take a little bit to get adjusted to doing everything through HootSuite, but it’s time well spent because it’s so efficient. Over the course of a month or a year, the hours really do add up and make it a good investment. In terms of hours saved for dollars spent, this has to be one of the greatest value tools I use.
The truth is this whole internet marketing thing is becoming more and more competitive and I do think it’s more important than ever that our brands as well as ourselves are on the minds of our target audience regularly. HootSuite being able to auto schedule posts throughout the day really helps with this as we’re bound to show up in news feeds regardless of when our audience gets online.
It’s hard to put an exact number on how much time it saves me, but I’d have to say at least 30 minutes a day. This is largely because of the quick and easy ability to post and autoschedule across various networks, which is slow on Facebook and well, challenging on others. I also use HootSuite Pro for my Instagram account, which is a huge time savor as well just because finding images and typing all the info out on my phone is a long process.
More importantly though it keeps me in people’s feeds regularly throughout the day, and allows me to share lots of different updates without spamming or flooding my audience’s news feeds. I love it.
If you do have any questions about HootSuite or HootSuite Pro, do let me know. I’d be happy to help!
Once again great to meet you Jeff and I hope to see you again soon!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hi James,
Hey, look at that Blogging from Paradise feed 😉 LOVE HSP and this review. It gives you so many options for adding profiles – as noted – and saves you bundles of time. I use tweetdeck as of recently but you’re whetting my HSP appetite. If for the big time saving benefits alone. Pop in, connect through a bunch of networks, share, and log out. Efficiency builder, big-time.
Thanks J!
Ryan
Ryan Biddulph(Quote)
Hey Ryan!
Your feed isn’t working for some reason in HootSuite, I meant to reach out to you and ask you about that because I’d love to get it auto-posting again. Guess I haven’t gotten around to it because I’m always sharing through the BFP tribe on Triberr anyway haha.
I’ll have to check out Tweetdeck, although I’m more active on Facebook than I am on Twitter but still, I’m always open to a switch if it makes sense, especially if it saves time.
Glad to hear you are also loving HootSuite Pro, I don’t know what I’d do without it myself!
James McAllister(Quote)
Hey James, what a great review of HootSuite Pro man, good job. I swear by HootSuite full stop, it’s one social media management tool I couldn’t live without, especially with the Chrome add-on. It makes whizzing through and scheduling posts so fast and easy.
At the moment I use the free version, because in all truthfulness I only have a couple of accounts that I use. Twitter and Facebook mostly. These days the availability of my time is seriously becoming an issue though, so I’ll definitely consider going Pro in the very near future.
Thanks James, great write up, have a great weekend bro.
Fabrizio Van Marciano(Quote)
Hey Fabrizio!
I’m glad you’re getting a lot of use out of HootSuite. Honestly I don’t know what I’d do without it, especially now that I’m so much more active on social media than I used to be. Of course I suppose I would have never stepped it up if HootSuite hadn’t made it so easy.
The free version is such a fantastic product in its own that for many people that’s all they need, and there’s nothing wrong with that. No point in paying money to upgrade if you’re not going to take advantage of the extra features right?
Hope you had a great weekend too Fabrizio and I always appreciate you stopping by!
James McAllister(Quote)
Great review on Hootsuite!! I like the feature of RSS feeds to make value based content posts. But I guess it’s too expensive when compared to other tools.
Ankita(Quote)