Sprout Social is one of the most popular social media management platforms on the market, used by over 30,000 brands worldwide including Microsoft, GrubHub and Time Magazine.
But is it right for your business? With plans starting at $249/month, it‘s not cheap.
In this comprehensive 2023 review, we‘ll analyze if Sprout Social is worth the investment based on its key features, capabilities and performance compared to alternatives like Sendible and Hootsuite.
Overview: Key Features of Sprout Social
Here‘s a bird‘s-eye view of the main feature areas in Sprout Social:
Publishing & Scheduling
- Compose and schedule social posts in advance via an intuitive calendar UI
- Mass upload post ideas from a spreadsheet
- View suggested best times to post
- Insert emojis, tags and @ mentions
- Recycle posts automatically using Smart Schedule feature
Collaboration Tools
- Real-time chat between team members
- Leave comments on scheduled posts
- Share documents and links
- @mention colleagues to loop them into conversations
Inbox Management
- Monitor social conversations and brand mentions
- Assign tags and priority levels to inbound messages
- Respond using pre-approved templates
- Route inquiries to correct team members
Social Listening & Monitoring
- Track keywords and hashtags
- Get alerts on posts about your brand, competitors etc.
- See conversation volumes over time
- Save posts into collections
Reporting & Analytics
- Assessment reports for owned social profiles
- Competitive benchmark reports
- Exportable reports on engagement metrics
- Charts showing follower growth
CRM Capabilities
- Record social profiles and conversations as contacts and leads
- Enrich records by pulling in expanded contact details
- Segment and tag records for marketing automation workflows
Mobile Apps
- Manage workflows from iOS and Android apps
- Approve posts, respond to comments on-the-go
- Access analytics summaries and notifications
These capabilities make Sprout Social a fairly robust "command center" for social teams. But how does it fare against the competition?
How Sprout Social Compares to Other Tools
Sprout Social is positioned in the high-end bracket, directly competing with enterprise-focused platforms like Sprinklr, Sysomos and Falcon.io.
In comparison, tools like Sendible ($149/month), Agorapulse ($99-$199/month) and Later ($19-$39/month) occupy the SMB market.
For high volume social activity and deep analytics, Sprout Social outperforms its SMB competitors. But they offer better value for lower budgets.
Pros of Sprout Social
When compared to SMB tools, Sprout Social shines in these aspects:
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Reporting functionality: Competitive and campaign-focused benchmark reports
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Automation capabilities: Smart workflows between social and CRM systems
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Support availability: Direct access to customer success managers
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Data integration: Connections to 150+ advertising, analytics, sales and support apps
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Sentiment analysis: Keyword and hashtag tracking with sentiment categorization
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Image recognition: Detect logos and objects within images using AI
Cons of Sprout Social
Compared to market leaders like Sprinklr however, Sprout Social falls short in some aspects:
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Number of integrations: Less than Sprinklr‘s 1000+ app integrations
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Support for emerging channels: Lacks built-in support for Discord, TikTok etc.
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Sophistication of data model: Not as customizable as enterprise platforms
So while Sprout Social isn‘t the most powerful enterprise platform, it packs a punch for its price point. Next let‘s examine its pricing and plans.
Sprout Social Pricing Breakdown
Sprout Social offers 4 payment plans depending on the size of your social media activities:
| Plan | Price Per Month | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $249 | 5 Social Profiles, Smart Inbox, Analytics, Reporting |
| Professional | $399 | Unlimited Profiles, Competitive Benchmarking, Workflow Automations |
| Advanced | $499 | Digital Asset Management, Chatbots, Link Tracking |
| Enterprise | Custom Pricing | Dedicated Support Team, Premium Analytics & Social Listening |
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Additional users are $199/month
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Discounts available for eligible non-profits
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30-day free trial
Based on the features available in the Professional plan and above, Sprout Social is geared more for established brands managing large-scale social media activities across global markets and teams.
For smaller businesses, the entry-level Standard plan provides solid capabilities for $249/month. But there are limitations in terms of number of profiles and available features. This is where cheaper SMB platforms like Sendible provide better value.
Our recommendation is if your social team and activities will remain lean in the coming year, a cheaper platform will suffice. But if social media is crucial for your business and generating solid ROI, Sprout Social is a worthwhile investment.
Use Cases & Reviews From Real Sprout Social Users
To complement the feature breakdowns above, here are some real-world examples from brands using Sprout Social successfully:
GrubHub
The food delivery service uses Sprout Social to manage social customer care across hundreds of local restaurant pages. By streamlining their workflows, response times improved by 30%.
"The time savings Sprout Social provides is incredible. It gives us the advantage of extreme efficiency." – Caitlyn Mengel, Social Media Program Specialist
Drift
The video production company leverages Sprout Social‘s listening capabilities to react quickly to relevant conversations:
"We can jump into conversations instantly and it’s led to a number of leads and sales." – Micheal Blend, Director of Marketing
Purple
The mattress brand uses Sprout to drive sales through targeted cross-channel campaigns:
"The ability to connect conversations to our CRM in Sprout has been huge. We can see the impact our social engagement has on our pipeline and revenue." – Natalie Regan, Consumer Marketing Director
These examples demonstrate Sprout‘s capabilities when utilized strategically as part of a high-performing social program.
Expert Tips to Get the Most from Sprout Social
We interviewed Andrea Fryrear, social media consultant and contributor for PCMag, who shared these best practices:
On Collaboration & Workflows
"Create structured workflows between team members using projects, groups, and triggers within Sprout. This avoids duplication of efforts and ensures smooth handoffs of conversations from initial response to resolution."
On Reporting
"Leverage reporting to showcase hard ROI – connect your social activities to lead generation and sales within Sprout. This visibility of monetary impact is powerful to justify continued investment in your social media team."
On Competitive Intelligence
"Use Sprout‘s listening capabilities for regular competitive research – tracking awareness, trends and launches of competitor brands. This data then helps craft content strategies that effectively differentiate you in-market."
These expert perspectives demonstrate how Sprout Social can elevate a social team when fully optimized across its features.
Final Verdict: Who Should Invest in Sprout Social?
Sprout Social is a robust platform well-suited for companies who are:
- Managing 10+ brand profiles across multiple regions
- Have 5+ team members publishing high daily volume
- Require tight integrations between social and other systems
- Rely heavily on social presence and engagement for success
While the Standard plan provides solid functionality from just $249/month, you need to upgrade to unlock Sprout‘s full potential.
For established organizations who depend greatly on social media for brand building, customer experience and revenue growth, Sprout Social is a worthwhile investment. Optimized effectively, it can be the mission control center that takes your strategy to the next level.
