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HootSuite vs Salesforce Marketing Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

HootSuite
Ranking in Social CRM
4th
Ranking in Social Media Management Solutions
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Social Media Analytics Software (2nd)
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Ranking in Social CRM
2nd
Ranking in Social Media Management Solutions
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Marketing Automation (1st), Marketing Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Social CRM category, the mindshare of HootSuite is 9.2%, down from 10.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is 13.9%, up from 10.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Social CRM
 

Featured Reviews

Kapil Rampal - PeerSpot reviewer
Good customization and social media management with helpful AI capabilities
It has made access control very easy. We don't need to share the actual account credentials with any employee. They can work through HootSuite. We can also manage all our social media in one interface with personalization. It has improved efficiency and security and has delivered significant cost savings. In the enterprise edition, there is also an option to manage user access, and you can limit or grant access, depending on the business needs. For example, marketing can be given access to analytics, customer support to messages, and social teams to the postings. Also, you can have levels for approvals.
SantoshKrishna - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy, stable, and scalable
The encryption and decryption have room for improvement. We need to be confident that the customer's data is secure when shared outside of the organization. I would like to request additional mobile app features that go beyond push notifications. As the mobile development industry continues to advance with new technologies, such as AI components, it is important to consider these advancements when setting up campaigns. Currently, campaigns are scheduled to be sent to customers at a prescribed time, but they may not be relevant to the customer unless they see them as valuable. For example, if I want to run a campaign offering loans, I would need to consider the customer's needs and balance. In the future, I hope Salesforce can incorporate an AI component that utilizes the shared data, rather than just scheduling campaigns.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It has a social media presence outside of the hours people are able to devote to an organization."
"The main improvement HootSuite offers is allowing my organization to run social media campaigns."
"HootSuite has an AI engine to suggest trending topics related to our business. The engine works really well and comes up with excellent suggestions for more posts."
"The ability to automate processes is one of the most valuable features of Salesforce. This sets it part from other systems. We use the journey builder to design a fully automated journey."
"The most valuable feature of Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the ability to sell the products we have made to customers. Overall the solution is very useful for business."
"It's a software-as-a-service solution. Everything is managed centrally from the cloud. As far as I can tell, installation is relatively simple."
"The user interface is easy to use, especially for my staff who use assistive technology."
"I like the user interface it has a nice look and feel."
"We use this solution for reporting, pipeline generation, and forecasting."
"We have found the solution to be scalable."
"Salesforce is constantly evolving and have a good release cycle."
 

Cons

"The company should reduce the pricing to make it easier for companies to deploy to larger social teams."
"Last I checked, you can't schedule Twitter threads where each tweet is a reply to a previous tweet."
"Clarity around new features could be improved when they are released."
"In a future release, adding end-user personalization would be a benefit."
"Managing large volumes of data takes too long."
"It should contain artificial intelligence, in my opinion."
"The pricing is a bit high."
"The UA could be better designed for a mobile connection."
"The main action I want to do in Salesforce Marketing Cloud is to export data into Excel and use it. My company may have that feature locked down, or if the Excel data exporting function still isn't available in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, that's the feature I want."
"The performance is sometimes sluggish, but I think that's to be expected with a heavy CRM tool because they're running reports in real-time on the data that you have entered."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"​I have only used the free versions.​"
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Its licensing is on an annual basis. Customers are okay with its licensing cost, and they don't find it expensive."
"Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a highly expensive solution, it needs to be less expensive. We are on an annual license to use the solution."
"Salesforce is an expensive solution."
"Salesforce has different versions of the solution and some are more suitable for smaller clients. However, Salesforce is expensive."
"This solution is priced in the medium to high price range."
"On a scale where one is the lowest and ten is the most expensive, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"We did a yearly license. We negotiated and got a great deal. I don't think we would have gotten far with the regular price, but they negotiated, so it was worth that."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
13%
University
10%
Educational Organization
57%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HootSuite?
HootSuite has an AI engine to suggest trending topics related to our business. The engine works really well and comes up with excellent suggestions for more posts.
What needs improvement with HootSuite?
Hootsuite has a lot to improve, particularly the user interface, which feels dated and like an old product. I am not quite happy with the service and am looking to replace it.
What is your primary use case for HootSuite?
I am using Hootsuite to manage my customers' LinkedIn pages. I manage about ten customers.
What do you like most about Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
Datorama is part of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, which is quite a valuable feature that provides customer analytics.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
In the SMS area, it is not up to the mark, compared to what has been developed for email.
 

Also Known As

No data available
ExactTarget
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Vega, TicketLeap, Radio Italia, The PureMatter Agency, Kiva, The Vancouver Canucks
American Express, Financial Conduct Authority, KPN, Merck KGaA, Peterborough City Council, The Chapar, ADP, Financial Times, Stanley Black & Decker, SureFlap, Western Union, Philips
Find out what your peers are saying about HootSuite vs. Salesforce Marketing Cloud and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
847,862 professionals have used our research since 2012.