Zoho Social Pricing, Features, Reviews & Comparison of Alternatives

Pros
I stumbled upon Zoho Social accidentally when I was looking for a social media software for my company. We are a small company and even smaller social media and marketing team (only 2 strong), so we didn't really a huge budget to devote. Our requirement of features centred mainly on being able to schedule our posts in advance, schedule the same post multiple times, monitor our performance across different channels and create a content and publishing calendar. We had narrowed down to Hootsuite (which we found to be powerful, yet too expensive) and buffer (which was cheap but didn't meet all our feature requirements). I was very pleased when I came across Zoho Social, which offered us the best of both worlds. A host of great features at a much cheaper price point than Hootsuite. It meets most of our feature requirements and is a lot pleasant to look at and easier to use than Hootsuite (which we found to be a little clunky at times). Everything is really accessible, the most relevant metrics are on the home page itself, the reports give a good overview of the KPIs, and it's all so easy to use. One feature I loved is that you can track how many times a user has interacted with your brand on different channels, and then share the same information with your other team members (through the Collaborate tab). All in all, a power-packed software with all the best social media management features built in. I discovered Zoho Social a day before when we were about to make the final call, and I am really glad we did!

Cons
My biggest problem with Zoho Social has been the inability to customise our set of features. The Standard plan offers most of the features, however, the Publishing Calendar is only there in the next upgrade, the Professional plan. I don't really need the other set of features like additional brands and team members, and thus don't see sense in upgrading just for one feature. When I got in touch with their customer support team, they told me that they do not allow any customisation and the features for each plan are set in stone. This was really disappointing, and Zoho Social might have been the perfect social media management software for me if not for this.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
-Rich Feature at a very reasonable price point -Great analytics and custom reports and scheduling -Brand Health at a glance-No deep digging needed for analysis -Ability to collaborate with those who engage and team members. -Browser posting plugin -Smart Q for suggested best times based on engagement -Easily switch between brands -Integration with other valuable Zoho platforms -Android and Iphone mobile app

Cons
-if you have a client that needs to approve the content, then they have to be added as a user at an additional cost -Smart Q will sometimes only have one optimal time for a day, or possibly push your post out a few days for maximum engagement.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
I have tried a lot of social media management platforms and never really considered Zoho Social. I thought of them as mostly a CRM platform, but when I saw their CRM Plus which included CRM Social and many other platforms, I decided to give it a try. I have to say that I have been very pleased with the ease of use, the browser integrations and the reporting. When you log in to your account, you can immediately see how your brand is performing via the Brand Health Dashboard. At a quick glance I can see which platforms and types of posts are getting the greatest engagement. Everything is so darn easy. The performance, the posts and the live stream are easily accessible on the Brand Health Page. Another nice feature is the Smart Q, which will automatically suggest and schedule posting times based on the percentage of top engagers that will see it. If there is not an optimal time on that day, the Smart Q will suggest the next best time. Nice! Another great feature is the monitoring, which allows you to specifically listen for keywords, brands, mentions, users, lists and more for your social profiles.

Cons
The reports features are very nice as well. You can use standard reports for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or create a custom report which can be sent at predetermined intervals to you, your clients or both. The reports are pretty robust (especially for FB) and at the price point of Zoho Social, you get all of the reports. There is no nickel and diming for more in-depth reports like some other platforms. Their connections tab will let you know who recently engaged with you, as well as who is the most engaged. This way, you never miss an opportunity to engage and build a good audience for your brand. Additionally, the collaborate tab allows you to have discussions with those who are engaging with you brand which can be helpful in broadcast messages or brand loyalty. Zoho Social has so any features that it is hard to believe that you get all of this at such a reasonable price point. If you add on the ability to integrate your social with their project planning, crm, sales IQ, and campaign platforms, the capabilities are ridiculous (in a great way). Zoho Social deserves a serious look from new social media marketers as well as established digital marketing firms.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
OVERALL: A really nice social management with the best analytics and a robust CRM perk included. SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS: I would like to see the app to have access to the most engaged users with the brand/content (this is an amazing feature, we need to be able to take this on the go). Also to be able to schedule video is needed (you can't even schedule this to post manually). Finally, a visual planner or better proofing interface for clients would be more helpful to agencies. Also not the best for e-commerce dependent businesses - you need to add shoppable items. If you can add a few of the features Later is doing, this software would knock social media mmgt out of the park. PROS: - has a really unique CRM aspect that allows you to identify the most engaged users of your brand & keeps track of their interaction - better for agencies needing to proof to clients - works on multiple social networks - has an app (needs improvement - missing some functionality but generally loads & functions well) - Interface is straightforward - has a really nice video demonstrating power of features, and how to use them - planning calendar is one of the easiest I've used, and makes posting quicker

Cons
CONS: - The online interface while nice, is a little hard to navigate at times. It is easy enough as an agency to navigate, but I haven't tested it with a client yet for this reason. - No visual feed planner. Its easy enough to do on your own with InDesign, but if your clients are posting additionally on their own at all, it creates extra unneeded work for the agency. - Need to be able to post video (even if its manually). - Needs access to CRM (shows most engaged users & keeps track of their interested content) on the app. - Be able to tag shoppable content. FINAL THOUGHTS: Really, really, really have high hopes for Zoho here. They have been on our radar when they developed their CRM suite. We were too small at the time to need it, but with the addition of this social media mmg software, they could have a home run if they fixed a few things. Keep the updates coming! Nearly there

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
full control and managing things easily by clicking just on one fonction you hve everything in your hand, otherwise, some other software like zoho dose not have such features. Thank you for giving me this amazing experience. thanks Zoho team I live Zoho Social because it is very easy to use, very friendly in its interface, but still very detailed and effective in all reports and customisation. Being able to manage different Brands and the Smart Q planning options are my favourite treats in this amazing package.

Cons
oho CRM Plus covers 88% of the Sales Force Automation functionality. Moreover, ZOHO's solution solution offers very similar coverage of these characteristics to the average CRM software package (88% vs 87%). In summary, Zoho CRM Plus offers very good coverage of Sales Force Automation functionality, similar to that of its competitors. This means that CRM system buyers for whom this functional area is important are likely to shortlist Zoho CRM Plus. and Zoho CRM Plus covers an average of 75% of the Marketing Automation feature set. ZOHO's solution offers very similar coverage of Marketing Automation attributes compared to the average CRM solution (75% vs 85%). Zoho CRM Plus needs to improve its coverage of Marketing Automation functionality in order to compete with other CRM solutions. CRM system buyers who prioritize this functional area aren't very likely to shortlist Zoho CRM Plus.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10