Hootsuite Vs Later: The Best Media Management platform?
“It’s no longer big beating the small, but the fast beating the slow” — This quote by Eric Pearson, CIO International Hotel Group (IHG), mirrors the world of digitization and the rate at which fast ones are overtaking the slow ones in the market is impressive. Everyone who is involved in business, is going online and at least has a domain registered on the web. The main aim here is to reach as many people as possible through the product or the service that a particular individual or organization is providing. Social media is another factor or the path where people can reach to their customers or followers to advertise their product or service. They can have their own page or channels on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. All these methods are called social media marketing. Digital marketing is the superset of social media marketing with other methods of marketing involved.
Doing social media marketing requires a dedicated team in the company as the work is very broad and dynamic in nature. Constant grilling and focused strategies has to be inculcated in order to meet the basic engagement on the content that is shared by the company or individual. Social media marketing includes content writing, graphic designing, social account handling, responders, etc. Though the process is easy, keeping up to date is the major challenge to the marketers and also competition is very high.
There are many ways to handle the social media marketing for the company. Either they have a dedicated team or use any online social media handler which will automate the online advertising process and also do it efficiently. Nowadays, there are online companies which will automate this marketing method just like those traditional advertiser, these companies also charge some fixed amount for the service. In this article we will compare the two major players in the given business — Hootsuite & Later.
Before comparing the two companies, it is important to clear that both of them are working at their prime on their own level and side niche. We will be comparing the two on the basis of a common ground with common features.
The first thing that should be discussed while comparing two products is the pricing. Hootsuite is expensive as compared to Later. Hootsuite charges USD 19.00 per month whereas Later charges USD 9.00 per month. Both of them have the same rating with almost similar reviews from their users in terms of customer service and customer friendliness. According to Capeterra.com analysis, people consider Later more easy to use as compared to Hootsuite with 4.3 rating out of 5, Hootsuite got 4.2 in the ease of use criteria by the customers. Customer support is very interactive in both the companies.
Hootsuite provides the analytics and suggestions on how to improve the performance of the company online and also provides a report on the post which gives users the most attention or engagement on the company’s post. The paid version of Hootsuite provides more detailed analysis which is a little complicated to use. People can have multiple accounts on the platform with cross posting facilities and efficient training for the newcomers as well. Free version of Hootsuite is great for small business and non-profit organizations. Platform provides hosting on almost all social media platforms. It also includes WordPress blog marketing which is not available in many similar platforms. The platform provides 24/7 support including business hours and online consulting. The free plan is best for handling Facebook and Twitter. One tap posting is great for those who want to publish the same content on multiple platforms. Streams on the platform are also customizable. Pricing of the paid version is overpriced for the value it provides and also there are many limitations on the free version of the app.
Later is compatible for all business sizes. This platform is relatively easy to use and also provides customizable URLs for different events. The scheduling of the post is very easy and also has a very dynamic dashboard. The pricing and the values are in resonance with additional features given on the platform by the company. The platform provides a visual planner which is a major crowd attraction feature. Post is very easy to schedule, post and tag using the platform. Later provides tutorials through blogs and also provides marketing advice and tips for newcomers.
Both the platforms are very comparable with many common features. High pricing of Hootsuite is due to some additional features that are provided by the platform. Features like content management, conversion tracking, consumer targeting, Keyword filtering makes up the additional price. Platforms also provide In person training and live webinar with one to one interaction with the users. These features are absent in Later. Every platform has their own advantage and people can refer to specific platforms according to their need.
