HootSuite vs Act-On

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Our analysts compared HootSuite vs Act-On based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Marketing Automation Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

HootSuite Software Tool
Act-On Software Tool

Product Basics

Hootsuite, a social media management platform, empowers users to oversee multiple social media accounts from a centralized hub. Its array of features encompasses scheduling posts, tracking analytics, and fostering follower engagement. Catering primarily to businesses and organizations striving for effective social media management, Hootsuite offers user-friendly tools that simplify the complexities of social media marketing.

Notable advantages include its intuitive interface, comprehensive feature set, and cost-effective pricing structure. Plans commence at $29 per month, rendering it an attractive option for budget-conscious entities. Hootsuite's popularity is evidenced by its widespread adoption among diverse businesses and organizations, including industry giants like Coca-Cola and Nike.

While Hootsuite garners praise for its ease of use and affordability, it's essential to acknowledge that alternative social media management platforms exist, each presenting unique strengths and weaknesses. Discerning users often compare features, pricing models, and user experiences to determine the optimal solution aligned with their specific requirements.

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Established in 2008, Act-On is a comprehensive platform that offers marketing professionals all the standard features in an automation tool, alongside several other unique features.

Sophisticated email automation, landing page construction, analytics, automated campaigns, useful templates, and social channels are just some of the features that are available to users. This product is ideal for medium to large enterprises, especially those that have dedicated marketing departments.

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$99 Monthly
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$1,000 Monthly
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Product Insights

  • User-Friendly: It’s easy to create immediate or scheduled posts using the point-and-click interface. Upload media files or choose from a built-in library. 
  • Time Savings: Publish a post to multiple networks at once rather than doing each individually. 
  • Effective Advertising: Automate ad solutions in one place as well as create and launch simple campaigns quickly. Teams can collaborate directly from Hootsuite Ads. 
  • Improved Social Reach: Securely share content to boost social reach with scalable advocacy solutions. The clean mobile-first environment also boosts employee management. 
  • Better Market Understanding: Gain improved insights from organic and paid social media content with social analytics. Customized dashboards help understand what drives conversions, leads and sales. Connect with Adobe Analytics and other BI tools as well. 
  • Real-Time Social Analytics: Stay up-to-date with information about competitors, measure risks and opportunities, and set alerts for unusual spikes in volume or brand sentiment. 
  • Accessibility: Easily manage and maintain a social media presence by refining content and handling the content schedule on the go, from any device. 
  • Integration: Seamlessly integrate with third-party tools like Salesforce, Zendesk, Canva, Adobe, Brandwatch, Panoramiq Multiview, Talkwalker and more for effective brand management. 
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  • Make Sense of Digital Breadcrumbs: Better track and score campaigns with this piece of software. This tool helps marketers attain a high-level overview of their campaigns and enterprises.
  • Inbound Marketing: Act-On provides support for inbound marketing techniques, enabling users to organically and dynamically pull in leads from across channels.
  • Outbound Marketing: Automated campaigns, lead scoring and list management are built into the software to support outbound marketing techniques and conversion tracking.
  • Sales Effectiveness: The software helps to unify sales and marketing teams effectively by providing a sales-funnel overview and campaign attribution, assisting users in scoring their leads.
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  • Content Creation: Create, curate, review and publish content seamlessly from a single dashboard. Efficiently develop media-rich content and streamline post scheduling with Auto Scheduler for a strong social media presence. 
  • Audience Engagement: Monitor trends and post performances across profiles and manage customer messages from different networks in a single stream with Hootsuite’s Inbox. Efficient chatbots respond to straightforward audience inquiries quickly. 
  • Advertise: Leverage tools to create and manage ad campaigns with ease. 
    •  Boost organic Facebook content with the Hootsuite Composer. 
    •  Promote organic posts as Sponsored Content ads to target audiences on LinkedIn. 
    •  Oversee campaigns, review results, collaborate and launch creative campaigns with Hootsuite Ads. 
  • Monitoring: Understand key topics, track post performances and brand mentions, and monitor competitor activities from a single dashboard. Hootsuite Insights provides an instant overview of online conversations in real time. 
  • Analysis: Customizable reports enable setting and monitoring performance benchmarks. Calculate the real return on social media investment using Hootsuite Impact. 
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  • CRM Integration: Act-On can integrate with SalesForce, Microsoft Dynamics, SugarCRM, NetSuite, Infor and Simpleview. Using any of these integrated CRMs, marketers can engage segmented contacts through targeted account activity.
  • Account-Based Marketing Automation: Account profiles provide an overview of accounts and buyer behaviors, giving users a clear picture of aggregate customer behavior.
  • Progressive Profiling: Collect information without making customers fill out a large number of forms. Adaptive forms, which present and collect information incrementally over time, help users gain valuable insights without being intrusive.
  • Targeted Email Automation: With easy-to-use templates, code-free interfaces and a diverse template catalog, users have access to a variety of content to push out through automated email campaigns. Act-On also integrates its analytics platform into its email outreach, letting users track open rates and measure success.
  • Report Sharing: The solution’s analytics platform can generate robust and interactive reports for users to easily share with decisionmakers.
  • Data Studio: This program comes equipped with an analytical engine called Data Studio, which can pull data from a variety of sources such as CSV, Excel, Amazon, Google and Microsoft Azure.
  • Social Media Engagement: Build brand awareness with automated social posting and metrics aggregation. Act-On’s content curation engine provides insights into content that can generate higher levels of engagement for a user’s business.
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Product Ranking

#27

among all
Marketing Automation Software

#50

among all
Marketing Automation Software

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 6045 reviews
Great User Sentiment 656 reviews
83%
of users recommend this product

HootSuite has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 83% when considering 6045 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

84%
of users recommend this product

Act-On has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 84% when considering 656 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

4.1 (2919)
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4.26 (250)
4.3 (2516)
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4.3 (81)
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3.9 (529)
4.15 (406)

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Planning: All users who mention scheduling of posts noted that the ability to plan posts ahead of time is the key benefit of this solution.
Monitoring: The solution offers easy capabilities for analysis, according to all reviews referencing this aspect.
Multiple Accounts Access: All users referring to this element noted the ability to access different social media accounts from one platform as an important advantage.
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Intuitive Interface: Act-On's user-friendly interface streamlines campaign creation and management, reducing the learning curve for users.
Robust Reporting: Advanced reporting capabilities provide detailed insights into campaign performance, allowing users to track results and optimize future efforts.
Email Marketing Automation: Automated email sequences nurture leads, deliver targeted content, and improve campaign efficiency.
Social Media Integration: Act-On seamlessly integrates with social media platforms, enabling users to manage campaigns and track engagement across multiple channels.
Excellent Customer Support: Act-On provides responsive and knowledgeable customer support, ensuring users receive assistance when needed.
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Instagram: The product doesn’t offer many tools to integrate well with Instagram, according to all the users who mention this aspect.
Glitches: All reviews about downtime and bugs noted that the solution is prone to glitchy behavior.
Learning Curve: All users talking about setup and implementation reported that the product takes some time to get used to.
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Unintuitive Interface: Act-On's user interface is often criticized for being complex and difficult to navigate, leading to a steep learning curve for new users.
Limited Integrations: Act-On lacks integrations with popular third-party applications, making it challenging to connect with other systems used in the marketing ecosystem.
Costly: Act-On's pricing can be prohibitive for small businesses and startups, with limited flexibility in pricing options.
Lack of Reporting Capabilities: Users have reported that Act-On's reporting features are limited, making it difficult to gain insights into campaign performance.
Poor Customer Support: Some users have experienced delays and unsatisfactory responses from Act-On's customer support team.
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HootSuite helps businesses of all sizes manage their social media presence from one convenient platform. It allows users to schedule posts, track analytics, and engage with followers across multiple social media platforms. HootSuite is praised for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features, making it a popular choice for businesses looking to streamline their social media management. However, some users find the pricing to be on the higher side, especially for larger teams or businesses with extensive social media needs. Additionally, while HootSuite offers integrations with various tools, it may not have the same level of integration with other marketing automation platforms as some competitors, which could be a drawback for businesses with complex marketing workflows. HootSuite's strengths lie in its ease of use, scheduling capabilities, and analytics tools. Users appreciate the ability to schedule posts in advance, ensuring a consistent social media presence. The platform's analytics provide valuable insights into audience engagement and campaign performance, allowing businesses to optimize their social media strategies. HootSuite's ability to manage multiple social media accounts from a single dashboard is a significant advantage, saving time and effort for social media managers. Compared to similar products like Sprout Social and Buffer, HootSuite offers a wider range of features and integrations, making it a more comprehensive solution for businesses with diverse social media needs. However, Sprout Social is often lauded for its superior customer support and user interface, while Buffer is known for its affordability and simplicity. Ultimately, the best choice depends on the specific requirements and budget of each business. HootSuite is well-suited for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. Its scalability and flexibility make it adaptable to different social media strategies and team structures. For businesses looking to improve their social media efficiency and gain valuable insights into their audience, HootSuite is a powerful tool that can help them achieve their social media goals. However, it's essential to consider the pricing and integration options before making a decision. Businesses with extensive marketing automation needs may want to explore alternative platforms that offer more robust integrations. Overall, HootSuite remains a leading social media management platform, providing businesses with the tools they need to succeed in the ever-evolving social media landscape.

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Act-On consistently receives high praise for its intuitive user interface, which allows marketers to quickly create and automate campaigns without extensive training. It is also lauded for its robust reporting capabilities, which provide detailed insights into campaign performance. However, some users have reported occasional bugs and glitches, and its customer support has been criticized for being slow to respond at times. Compared to competitors like HubSpot and Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Act-On is often seen as a more affordable and user-friendly option, particularly for small and mid-sized businesses. Its focus on ease of use and affordability sets it apart from more complex and expensive solutions. Act-On's intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create automated workflows, and its pre-built templates help users get started quickly. Overall, Act-On is a solid choice for businesses looking for an affordable and easy-to-use marketing automation solution. Its strengths lie in its user-friendly interface, robust reporting capabilities, and affordability. While it may not have all the bells and whistles of more expensive solutions, it offers a comprehensive suite of features that can meet the needs of most businesses.

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