HootSuite vs Rignite vs Sprout Social vs Radian6 – Social Media Management Systems Compared

How do the leading social media management platforms compare for small and medium organizations trying to get a better handle on social media engagement?

I recently conducted a comparative analysis on four social media management platforms in preparation for getting my organization more engaged with its online communities. We’ve been using HootSuite for about a year, but I felt the interface and lack of included analytics were holding us back.

I knew about Sprout Social and Radian6, but found Rignite through a Facebook ad. With these options in mind, I signed up for trial accounts and spoke with representatives from each company. While I found Sprout Social to be the best option, I hope my observations and impressions about each service will prove helpful.

HootSuite

The biggest advantage HootSuite has over competitors is that it offers a free version of its service. This lowers the entry barrier for startups, small organizations and individuals. However, there is little benefit beyond unified publishing, scheduled messages and basic analytics.

HootSuite’s interface is clunky. It’s just a series of same-looking streams organized in same-looking tabs. Add too many streams to a tab and you’ll have to scroll horizontally to see them all.

With the exception of a search stream, HootSuite’s streams don’t offer much additional value beyond having all your streams in one place. When I tested the search stream, the keyword phase I used generated too much noise to be valuable – even after putting the phrase in quotes.

The included analytics are basic, but provide some useful information. HootSuite’s ow.ly URL shortening and click tracking feature can help you determine which messages are resonating with users. However, once you upgrade to Pro and start adding premium modules to your reports, you might as well pay for a Sprout Social subscription.

Speaking of HootSuite’s premium services, the company charges a low $8.99 fee for the Pro version and then allows users to purchase “points” it can use to pay for premium modules. The advantage to this is that if the user deletes a module, the points are credited back to the account. The disadvantage is that it creates a more complicated service scheme than necessary and quickly brings the price structure out of the competitive zone.

For a free service, HootSuite works. It helps unify up-to five social network accounts under one roof and enables you to schedule posts. The interface is ugly and is geared toward action first, then measure. The reports are basic, but helpful.

I wouldn’t recommend paying for the Pro version unless you need to add more than five profiles without needing premium modules. I also don’t like the nickel-and-dime approach to pricing and the points system is irritating. When I asked the cost of Enterprise, the rep said that it could cost anywhere between $1,000 per year to $1,000 or more per month.

Final impressions: If you just want a free service that enables you to schedule posts to multiple social networks with basic analytics, HootSuite is your choice. If you’re willing to pay for a service, look elsewhere.

Rignite

Rignite is a relatively new kid on the block. I found the service through a Facebook ad and decided to give it a shot. The interface opens into the Monitor tab, which is a step in the right direction. You can add search streams to the Monitor tab to keep track of specific mentions, competitors or other keywords.

The focus for Rignite appears to be enabling teams to be responsive to an organization’s audience members. From the Monitor tab, users can assign inbound messages to social media team members for follow-up. When assigned, the message is saved as a “Case,” which feels more like tech support than social engagement.

The Gallery tab is an odd feature. I’m not sure if it is a media repository or if the system posts photos to social media properties when uploaded to the system. When I clicked on the “?” icon, I was prompted to send a message to Rignite. A quick review of the website didn’t produce any insights.

Speaking of Rignite analytics, this is currently the service’s greatest deficit. However, one benefit is its message sentiment metric. Rignite places positive, neutral and negative emoticons next to each incoming message and highlights the tone it assumes for the message. What I saw was mostly neutral assignments, but I can click on the appropriate emoticon to correct the assignment. The more emoticons I click to correct tone, the more the system learns.

Final impressions: Rignite is an immature product with a long way to go. Its pricing is between HootSuite (no premium modules) and Sprout Social, but I don’t think the service is ready for paying customers (see update). That being said, it does have a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing where the development team takes the service.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social opens to a graphically pleasing dashboard of snapshot analytics. The Messages icon lights up green if you have unread messages. Clicking on the Messages icon brings you to Sprout’s unified inbox where messages from different profiles are filtered into one stream. You can configure the stream to include or exclude profiles, message types and keywords you want to monitor.

Small details tell me that Sprout gets it. The service separates the message and reporting features, which highlights the different functions of listening and monitoring. The post scheduling function includes features that enhance usability. For example, when scheduling a post, I can hover over a date on the calendar to see when other posts are scheduled.

This feature may seem insignificant, but imagine scheduling a post and forgetting whether or not you already scheduled a 2:30 p.m. message on Wednesday. In HootSuite, you’ll have to leave the posting window and navigate its series of clunky streams. Having this information at the tip of your cursor is valuable when trying to juggle numerous scheduled posts. To top it off, you can add a custom post thumbnail from a URL if the system doesn’t find an appropriate image – another feature I did not see in any of the other services.

Sprout’s Feed and Smart Search features seem a little buggy. When I attempted to connect to Feedly, the system automatically produced a stream of social mentions for #MLFA. I couldn’t seem to figure out how to edit the feed. The result was a stream of junk mentions. The Smart Search feature produced similar results, even when placing keyword phrases in quotes. The Discover feature, under which the Smart Search resides, also provides suggestions for people to follow and highlights potential influencers.

The system offers enough reports to give users valuable insights. I especially like the Twitter Comparison feature. I enter a competitor’s Twitter handle and Sprout will show side-by-side graphs for engagement, influence, followers and mentions. The Team Report gives a picture of each team member’s activities and the Sent Message reports show how well different posts are performing.

Final impressions: The configurable nature of the unified inbox enhances the value of this listening platform. The graphic-rich reports make quick sense out of your metrics. Sprout’s attention to details, such as its advanced post scheduling features, pushes this platform ahead of the pack. Starting at $39 per user per month, the basic package is affordable for most small organizations.

Radian6

My email exchange with Radian6 ended with “prices start out at $12k per year.” The rep did send me an hour-long video demonstration, which I have yet to watch. It appears Radian6 is a big-fish provider. Small orgs need not apply.

UPDATE: 12/02/2013 — I finally watched the Radian6 demonstration. It has an impressive set of features. It provides as wide or granular a view of your social activities as you desire. SalesForce recently purchased it, and it appears to be a good match from what I saw of the interface. I also like the idea of integrating SalesForce with social activities. However, I still see Radian6 as a platform for larger corporations, although the presenter did mention nonprofit discounts.

Your Turn

Have you had similar experiences with these services? What features did you like the most? What do you look for in a social media management system?

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