Mailchimp vs HootSuite

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Our analysts compared Mailchimp vs HootSuite 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.

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Product Basics

Mailchimp is a web-based marketing platform that specializes in email marketing, sending, monitoring and personalizing communications. Given its pricing point, it’s great for small or medium businesses who want a fully-featured marketing implementation.

Standout features include an intuitive website builder with a drag-and-drop interface, an integrated database, as well as robust landing page builders for web and social media traffic. It also facilitates the creation of digital ads as well as physical postcards to reach customers via postal services.
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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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$13 Monthly, Freemium
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$99 Monthly
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Product Assistance

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Product Insights

  • Free Version: A free version includes features such as an audience dashboard, tags, segmentation and more.
  • Multivariate Campaign: Test up to eight campaign variations and send improvised emails every time. View the impact of small changes to email campaigns on subscriber engagement.
  • Mobile App: Access reports, manage audiences, create campaign content and work on email campaigns on the go using an app for iOS and Android devices.
  • Retargeting Digital ads: Retarget website and landing page visitors when they use Facebook and Instagram, in order to bolster revenue and stay in constant contact with customers.
  • Website Builder: Build websites for free without coding skills, saving time and money. A built-in sign-up form and an option to claim a custom domain name enhance branding.
  • 24/7 Support: Support team and resources are available 24/7. Unlimited access to tutorials and marketing guides, as well as assistance in contact management, template design and website development are available.
  • Account Security: Leverage two-factor authentication that includes Mailchimp’s login credentials and a one-time passcode via text message, ensuring system security and authentication.
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  • 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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  • Audience Dashboard: Store contact data and track trends to understand the audience better. Clickable sections in the dashboard help instantly launch campaigns based on that data.
  • Segmentation: Ready-made segments based on campaign activity, purchase history and more are offered to send campaigns. Enable up to five layers of segmentation filtering, and update data automatically. Add a set of nested conditions facilitating different combinations of data collected such as purchase activity, gender, age range and more.
  • Behavioral Targeting: An API enables pulling custom event data or actions performed by users, to send targeted messages based on specific activities, such as downloads or account renewal.
  • Lookalike Audience: Works with social ads and postcards to reach more people. Find new people similar to contacts using marketing CRM data and an audience network. Create Facebook and Instagram ads, and target people interested in the company’s products.
  • Content Studio: Stores assets such as photos, documents and other files. Upload or sync assets, edit them directly in the content studio and use them for marketing.
  • Templates: More than 100 predesigned templates are available. Customize templates to launch campaigns.
  • Email Builder: Create posts for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter directly from the email builder. Also add photos, write copy and share the post after the email is sent.
  • Landing Pages: Create a place for contacts or potential contacts to land on when they click through from an email, ad, social post or other location on the web.
  • Email Automation: Automate welcome messages after user subscription, and emails based on dates and events. Drag and drop RSS content into any template to pull in the latest posts.
  • Schedule Campaigns: Send a campaign or schedule it for a specific date and time. Includes: 
    •  Send time optimization, which recommends a time for subscribers based on click time activity. 
    •  Timewarp to send campaigns to recipients based on their time zone. 
    •  Batch delivery to send campaigns in timed batches. 
    •  Ability to pause campaigns. 
  • Reporting: Monitor trends and track performance. The growth, engagement and revenue reports facilitate viewing who’s interacted with marketing, along with their clicks, buys and downloads. Compare open, click and unsubscribe rates to industry peers.
  • Real-Time Analytics: Keep tabs on all marketing campaigns including emails, automations, social ads and more. Manage marketing budget using real-time stats. Track sales from a campaign to purchase by finding out who made a purchase after opening the campaign, viewing what they bought and seeing the money earned by the campaign.
  • Integrations: Integrates with apps and web services including Xero, Zapier, Square, LiveChat and more.
  • A/B Testing: Test up to three variations for campaign and build a working strategy.
  • Security:Includes data center security, protection from data loss or corruption, application-level security, internal IT security and more.
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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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Product Ranking

#20

among all
Marketing Automation Software

#27

among all
Marketing Automation Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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AI-Based Capabilities Campaign Management Compliance And Data Security Dashboard And Reporting Email Campaign Management Lead Generation Lead Management Lead Nurturing Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Social Media Campaign Management Text Campaign Management 86 90 83 83 93 82 100 83 93 100 100 55 0 25 50 75 100
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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 41542 reviews
Great User Sentiment 6045 reviews
88%
of users recommend this product

Mailchimp has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 88% when considering 41542 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

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.

4.3 (10702)
4.1 (2919)
4.48 (15519)
n/a
4.5 (13246)
4.3 (2516)
4.5 (222)
4.3 (81)
4.1 (1853)
3.9 (529)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Mailchimp and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Lead Management, Platform Capabilities, Social Media Campaign Management and Integrations and Extensibility.

Lead Management Award
Platform Capabilities Award
Social Media Campaign Management Award
Integrations and Extensibility Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Easy to Use: The platform has a simple interface and can easily be understood by anyone with basic knowledge of email marketing, observe 95% of reviewers referencing this feature.
Easy Email and Templates: It’s easy to create and understand emails using templates, send professional email flyers, and run campaigns automatically, according to 83% of users who mention this feature.
Email Marketing: Everyone referencing this aspect thinks it’s a comprehensive email marketing tool with features like campaign management, customer journey, transactional email, integrations and more.
Customization: Almost 80% of reviewers who talk about this feature feel the built-in templates are easily customizable, and editing them doesn’t require graphic design experience.
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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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Paid Version: More than 85% users mentioning this aspect observe that the free version doesn’t include all features and the premium version is expensive compared to other email marketing services.
Email Spam: Every user talking about this feature mentions that sometimes clients' e-blasts end up in the spam folder for recipients.
Glitches: There are glitches such as difficulty signing in when logged in from another device, frozen modules, slow editing process, poor compatibility with Outlook and more, as every review on this feature mentions.
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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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Stepping into the realm of email marketing, Mailchimp emerges as a prominent contender, captivating businesses with its user-friendly interface and extensive features. User feedback from the past year sheds light on Mailchimp's strengths and weaknesses, offering valuable insights for potential adopters. Mailchimp's intuitive design empowers users of all skill levels to craft visually appealing email campaigns. The platform's drag-and-drop editor and diverse template library simplify the creation process, enabling businesses to maintain brand consistency and engage their audience effectively. Affordability is another hallmark of Mailchimp, with tiered pricing plans catering to businesses of varying sizes and budgets. The availability of a free plan further enhances accessibility, making it an attractive option for startups and small businesses. However, Mailchimp's automation capabilities have drawn mixed reviews. While the platform offers basic automation features, such as welcome emails and abandoned cart sequences, some users find them to be less robust compared to competitors like ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo. Additionally, Mailchimp's segmentation options, while functional, may not provide the same level of granularity as more specialized email marketing platforms. Despite these limitations, Mailchimp's ease of use, affordability, and comprehensive feature set make it a compelling choice for businesses seeking a reliable email marketing solution. Its intuitive interface and extensive template library empower users to create professional-looking emails without extensive design experience. The platform's scalability ensures that it can accommodate the evolving needs of growing businesses, making it an ideal choice for those embarking on their email marketing journey.

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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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