What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Sprout Social is to streamline all of our social media communications. I use Sprout Social all the time for everything on our YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, and X. I use it not only for replying, but also for any data reporting and social listening. I utilize the Smart Inbox, the reporting section, and then the social listening. I use it all the time, all day, every day.
The workflow is social media responses for all of our followers. As a brand, I want to be engaged with our followers, answer questions, and keep the conversation going around our brand. I think the Smart Inbox is the most helpful because it lets us streamline everything and helps us respond to people in a timely manner. I use the Smart Inbox probably the most. The reporting and the social listening make my job easier though, specifically the social listening. I bring those insights to meetings on a weekly basis. It really helps me decipher the why behind the data that I am seeing and what people are saying about the brand.
The three main points that I use are the Smart Inbox, the reporting, and then social listening. Sprout Social also has Trellis, which is a built-in AI. That has been extremely helpful with actionable insights and understanding the why behind the numbers we are seeing or any increases or decreases.
What is most valuable?
I think Sprout Social is honestly a great tool. I really like it. It feels like I have been using it forever when I have only been using it in this role. I have nothing but good things to say about Sprout Social. I wish that I had learned about it and used it sooner. I think it is very valuable. The whole team relies on it. We have had people come into this role who used to use Sprinklr or a similar program, and they all say that Sprout Social just blows everything else out of the water. It is very user-friendly, very helpful, and resourceful. I cannot speak highly enough about Sprout Social.
The best features Sprout Social offers include its excellent reporting capabilities. Sprout Social has a tagging system in the back end where we tag every single message, and that filters directly into our reporting. We can see what people are saying and what pain points the company is experiencing based on customers' reviews and what they are saying online. The reporting in general in Sprout Social is very helpful.
The tagging system is used in my daily workflows, and it does help identify trends and address customer concerns faster. The tagging system shapes our reporting. Every month, we put together a report of trends we are seeing, such as whether people are talking about dentures more, talking about implants more, or if they are frustrated with costs or wait times in the office. We gather all of that information by tagging. If we do not have that tagging system in place, we do not gather any data. Sprout Social has impacted my organization positively in more ways than one. Before Sprout Social, I was not here; however, my manager and the team said that it was very chaotic. Running multiple brand accounts and checking each one is very time-consuming and tedious. Sprout Social has centralized all of our social media communications, and it is separated by brand folder. For Aspen Dental, for example, we can click on that folder and then all of our social media communications will be in there, the same for every other brand that we have. Sprout Social has saved us a lot of time. It has centralized our communications with our patients and followers and has allowed the team to be more organized and on top of what is going on in social.
What needs improvement?
Regarding how Sprout Social can be improved, these are very minor areas. Sometimes we have this metric called action rate, which reflects how fast a message has been touched in Sprout Social, whether that is the message being tagged, responded to, or closed out. Apparently, we cannot get a 100% action rate because some responses come in that are auto-replied to, and that action rate misses that. I think this is one thing that can be improved: figuring out how to count those auto-responded messages. This is a niche area. Outside of that, I do not have much advice for improvements in Sprout Social; I truly think it is a hub of value and provides a lot for us.
The user interface is great; it is super friendly. For someone who has never touched it before, I knew where everything was and maneuvered through it within a week of using it. The integrations are seamless with all of our social media accounts: Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and all of that. We can also export data and PDF files, which helps us with other projects. I see very minimal improvements needed on my end; I think it is a very valuable program that we use.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Sprout Social in this role for around five months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sprout Social is stable and scalable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sprout Social covers a large scope of things for us and measures a lot. In terms of scalability, we have a performance report where we can see how each team member performs. Sprout Social helps keep each team member accountable and tracks how many messages they have responded to, how long they have been active for the day or week, and that really helps us scale and measure team performance.
How are customer service and support?
I rate Sprout Social a 10 easily. It is not just about the program, but also their team. We have a customer success specialist who acts as our account manager, and the team is so helpful. If I chat in with a problem on Sprout Social, even outside of our customer success manager, they are quick to respond. It is a real person I am talking to, and they are very helpful. They follow up if I do not respond, so I think their teams are exemplary. The program itself is great.
I choose a 10 for my rating because of everything. Sprout Social, as I said earlier, I learned it within a week. It seemed like I was using it for even longer. It is super user-friendly. I love the interface and the features it provides. We get so much from it, and the team does. I use it all the time for many parts of my role, which is why I rated it a 10. I truly think it is the ultimate hub of social media excellence.
I would rate the customer support a 10. We have a dedicated customer success manager assigned to our team who is very responsive and always checking in. When she is gone, we have someone step in who has been amazing. They come out to our workshops and present to us. They are very communicative, especially if we need help. Their normal customer service team is also helpful and attentive, so I have no issues with their customer service. They are the example of excellent support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The team previously used Sprinklr, which they did not like because it was very messy, not concise, and not centralized. That is the reason for our switch. The feedback about Sprinklr was not positive, so we started using Sprout Social. We did not evaluate many other options; we started with Sprinklr, and Sprout Social was our next pursuit, and we have been with them ever since.
What was our ROI?
Anecdotal evidence suggests that Sprout Social has saved us time, but it is hard to measure success quantitatively since I just started when they already had it. I know it improved a lot, but I cannot provide exact metrics. Sprout Social saves 10 to 20 hours a week. I believe it did not replace employees; rather, it equipped employees with the tools to be more successful and efficient in their roles. It saved time, allowing the team to focus on other value-add actions that ultimately help the brand.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I was not there for the conversation about pricing, setup costs, and licensing, so I do not know the details. I know Sprout Social is expensive; it is on the higher side. I just do not have the exact number. When I spoke to my manager about this, she mentioned that it is pricier but worth the bang for the buck.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for others considering Sprout Social is to definitely try it out. I do not know if it offers a test or trial, but I would recommend going through all of the features to see if it is something your company needs. Sprout Social fills many needs and should not be overlooked. There is so much it offers, from publishing to content calendars and an asset library for saved responses. Trellis is a huge feature. Sprout Social honestly replaces a few programs, so just see if it fits your needs, and if it does, I highly recommend getting it. I rated Sprout Social a 10 overall.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other