An Unstructured Mess of a Company - Marketing Hootsuite Employee Review

2.0
9 Oct 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- looks good on a resume. Get a year in and get out. - some smart/cool colleagues - dogs

Cons

- low pay and nearly impossible lateral/upward movement. I can think of a handful of people who have climbed the corporate jungle gym successfully in a company of nearly 1000 people - terrible middle management. great talent at the very bottom (social coaches, customer advocates, copywriters, SM specialists, etc.) and the very top (C-suite, some VPs), everything in the middle is a giant mess of incompetence, defensiveness, paranoia and poor work ethic. - many managers promoted to positions they are not qualified for and are not removed when their lack of qualifications has negative consequences - many older employees (4+ years) have a Stockholm syndrome-like relationship with the company. this can be good as they are generally the most upbeat and positive, but it's also sad to see. - internal communication tools enable a culture of popularity contests that leads to a skewed view of who is truly valuable and who contributes meanigfully to company goals. - terrible HR department. if you have an issue with a coworker or a manager, be prepared for excuses and no action. - bullying behaviour from the above mentioned incompetent managers. - bro culture on the rise. things are being said and done now that would not be tolerated back when i joined. - lots of top brass is leaving. Many are very experienced and well educated people who have spent a lot of time trying to steer this unwieldily ship in the right direction - Ryan Holmes has said in multiple company wide meetings that those who don't like it here can leave. While that's true, it also doesn't differentiate between those for whom Hootsuite is not a good fit and those who have expressed legitimate concerns about how the business is being run and how they are being treated - The CEO is a marketer at heart. He knows what to say and how to say it to appear relevant and ahead of the curve, but in reality, the product is outdated, doesn't meet the basic needs of today's social media professionals and many solutions rely on workarounds instead of being properly built. The price points are also insane for anything beyond the $10 plan. If you're in sales or marketing, be prepared for some sleepless nights after days spent trying to spin and position something cumbersome and ineffective as sleek, useful and fast.

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9 Oct 2025
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CEO approval
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Pros

Good pay nice atmosphere with everyone

Cons

Good work envious with everyone

2.0
22 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

- Strong brand awareness in social media management - Good people on many teams - Flexible remote work environment - Opportunity to learn in a fast-moving company

Cons

- The Talkwalker merger never seemed to have a clear plan for how the two companies would actually work together. Even more than a year later, there still was not a simple or consistent story about the combined company, products, or customer value. - Leadership often seemed more focused on social media and public visibility than on running the company and improving execution internally. - A lot of the marketing leadership team came from agency backgrounds and did not seem to have much real SaaS operating experience, especially around product marketing, lifecycle marketing, or long-term growth strategy. - Many employees were afraid to speak up when they saw problems with a process or strategy. There was not always a culture where people felt safe challenging bad decisions. - Teams across Product, Marketing, Sales, and Leadership often did not seem aligned, which led to confusion, shifting priorities, and slow execution. - There were many smart and hardworking people at the company, but constant changes and unclear direction made it hard to move quickly or build momentum.

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