Sprout Social has been around for a while, and as a result, has become a go-to software choice for anyone who needs social media management or SEO tools. The package includes a heady mix of social tools and combines them with a powerful analytics tool, resulting in a great all-in-one package for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
Anyone looking to use social media channels for the first time or increase their level of engagement will find that Sprout Social offers something to interact with. There's a neat dashboard-style admin setup, which allows for easy coordination of social affairs, while the ability to allow multiple user access means it's appealing to larger organisations, too.
Although Sprout Social comes with a powerful yet easy-to-use range of social media management tools, it's still an affordable and value-for-money option. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's still a hit with many business owners who don't necessarily favor something like the comparable Hootsuite.
Packages and rates
You can try Sprout Social for free with a 30-day trial option, no credit card details required, if you just want to explore the interface and feature set. After this, Sprout Social comes in three different packages. It starts with the standard edition, which currently costs €89 per user/per month and is billed annually. Alternatively, you can choose to pay for the Standard plan monthly for €99.
Moving on to the next package, the professional edition of Sprout Social is their most popular plan and currently costs €149 per user/per month and is again billed annually. There is also the option to pay €169 per month with this one.
Meanwhile, an advanced edition of the Social Sprout package can be had for €249 per user/per month, again billed annually. This has the option of paying €279 monthly if you prefer. If you are wondering whether or not the benefits of the premium packages will be enough, it is also possible to request a demo, where a member of the Sprout Social team can guide you through the various features and functions.
Basic characteristics
As you would expect from a standard package, the entry level edition of Sprout Social is more of a slim edition of the software. Still, this edition comes with a decent range of tools aimed at users with less social media management needs than larger companies.
So the standard edition includes 5 social profiles, an all-in-one social inbox, allows you to post, schedule, compose and queue messages and offers a social content calendar. You can also perform review management, monitor profiles, keywords, and locations, as well as implement social CRM tools. The reports offer group, profile, and post level options, as well as the ability to provide paid promotion tools to boost Facebook posts.
professional features
You'll definitely want to invest in the popular professional edition of Sprout Social for more powerful tools. This will incur extra costs, but the feature set covers a lot of bases. Browse more social profiles, 10 in all, on top of everything included in the Standard Edition.
On top of that, there are concurrency reports for Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, incoming and outgoing message content tagging, as well as custom workflows for multiple approvers. More advantageously, there is a schedule for optimal shipping times and the benefit of response rate and time analysis reports.
Basically, business users get trending analytics for Twitter keywords and hashtags and get paid social reporting for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The help desk, CRM and social commerce integration capabilities are also useful for large companies.
Advanced features
Of course, larger companies often need even more power tools and additional features. This can often be an unnecessary requirement for small businesses and obviously incurs additional expense.
However, the features of Social Sprout's advanced package add a lot more power to the software, especially for businesses that have a big push with their social media management needs. The Advanced package includes everything in the Professional edition, offers 10 social profiles and more, such as Peak Message Alerts for increased message activity, emails, and push notification alerts when traffic is high.
There is also a library of digital assets and content, as well as chatbots with automation tools. Advanced users can also work with saved and suggested responses, use an inbox rule builder for automated actions, and take advantage of automated link tracking. Twitter polls to establish CSAT or NPS are built in for good measure.
Analytics and reports
Similarly, the informational aspect of Sprout Social is more impressive than ever. Users can create insights into social media campaigns, understand what works and what doesn't, and generate shareable insights that should work in the boardroom. Naturally, it's easy to export such reports in popular file formats, including CSV and PDF, meaning data distribution is universal.
Sprout Social has always come in handy with its great analytics tools and it's something that has only gotten stronger in recent years. The premium packages contain many advanced features to help combine analytics with lead generation, etc., adding value. In fact, sales and marketing teams should find it invaluable, while a feature like the ChatBot tool should also help improve efficiency by allowing managers to create an assistant to meet customer needs.
Interface and in use
Sprout Social has been around for a while, so it's become a great mobile tool for anyone who needs to manage their social media in the field. This can be done using the iOS and Android mobile apps, both of which have been well produced and offer more than enough functionality for most needs, even in the basic edition. Considering its impressive feature set, Sprout Social is still fairly simple to install and configure.
Even in its desktop version, you'll find Sport Social to be quite logical with its layout, especially considering all the tools it includes. There are quick access menu options to commonly used tools such as messages, tasks, feeds, and posts. Similarly, you can access these vital reporting tools with relative ease. There are also practical considerations, with a settings area that allows you to configure language and other settings for users in other geographies.
Support
Anyone new to Sprout Social for the first time will find lots of great content in the online Help Center. There are tips, tricks, and tutorials covering all aspects of the software, as well as more advanced tools to help you get the most out of Sprout Social. If you need to contact us, there is a helpline number, the option to submit a request online, or you can simply contact us through social media.
Competition
Social media management tools are reasonably plentiful, and if you're working on a tight budget or none at all, some of them can be had for free. Small business owners may have a hard time justifying the financial implications of the more robust editions of Sprout Social. With that in mind, head for something like the base edition of Hootsuite, but there's also Buffer, Hubspot, Zoho Social, and Agorapulse to consider too.
final verdict
If you have advanced social media management needs, Sprout Social is very attractive. It is possible to further intensify your efforts with additional premium solutions offered by the software company. However, all these extra features and functions add up to the price, which for small businesses can soon turn a professional package into a significant investment.
Still, if you have a serious desire to improve your position in social media circles and take advantage of the data that Sprout Social produces, you'll find that this is a package that rarely disappoints. Even the standard edition offers a surprisingly powerful delight panel, through a nice-to-use interface, especially if you make full use of the app edition.