Updates at the bottom of the post…
Sometime ago, HootSuite announced that they were going to come out with Pro and Basic account plans and has started talking more and more about picking the plan that’s right for you in recent posts (like this one about Facebook). Tonight is seems is the night to start choosing. In an email to all HootSuite users Ryan says:
Wow, it’s been almost 2 years since we launched HootSuite. Since then, HootSuite has crossed over 900 thousand users with 1.9 million social networks, and now manages 1 million outbound messages per day with a team of nearly 30 employees, plus we’ve released free mobile apps for several major platforms (with more to come), and forged close partnerships with our friends at Twitter and Facebook… and we couldn’t have done it without you.
A few months back, we let you know that we would start offering both free and paid plans. Since this announcement, we’ve listened closely to your feedback, adjusted plans and are now happy to show you under the hood. We are excited to release these plans as they will allow our talented team to keep building out the functionality you love. Trust us, the road-map ahead is really amazing!
In the email, Ryan lays out the two plans, with more info on the HootSuite Plans page as well as plans for Enterprise level users, but doesn’t give a solid date for when you’ll have to choose by. We’ve emailed the folks at HootSuite for details, and this post will be updated accordingly.
Before you choose plans, there is an important detail to know. In the five social networks attached to your account, these are ones you control, like your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Foursquare (that’s four so add one more Twitter account and you’re full up). Being added as a team-member on someone else’s social network doesn’t count against you total. For example here at TNW, our Editor-in-Chief, Zee Kane owns all the Twitter accounts we use, but he adds the rest of us are team-members. As things stand I could choose the Basic plan and be just fine, but maybe I will pay the $6/mo for the extra analytics features. Extra accounts? I don’t think I need those, but maybe I will in the future. Good thing you can always choose to go Pro from Basic (and with a 30-day free trial).
What do you think? $6/month for unlimited social networks that you can add? Facebook and Google Analytics? Fair?
Updates Nov 16th: Dave Olson, Dir of Community called me today so to chat about the Basic-Pro transition. First, off this was announced in August so HootSuite has given us a three month reprieve before needing to decide. Next is the transition process. HootSuite users were divided up by activity level and language (English and Japanese), then people from the groups were randomly selected to be sent the messages. HootSuite is trickling out the messages so the whole system isn’t swamped at once. For example, last night I received a message on an inactive HootSuite account, but tonight I received one on my active account. Regardless, once you get the message you have seven days to make your choice. Don’t worry, owls are wise and you’ll be getting a reminder two days before the switch. Dave didn’t say what would happen if you didn’t choose, but I’m going to guess you get dropped to basic.
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