Earlier this week, The Next Webcovered HootSuite’s achievement of reaching the 2 million user milestone. Considering that the Vancouver-based company has stood the test of time while other social media and Twitter clients have eithersold outor bowed out, this is a remarkable accomplishment. But there’s a lot more to HootSuite’s success than just being a great Twitter client;HootSuite’s riseis a testament to how a great idea that stays the course can reach great heights. And the heights it has reached compares with that of some pretty stellar companies that are also part of the software-as-a-service/freemium business realm.
HootSuite has seen growth to date that is on a similar trajectory to the widely popular Evernote, Yammer and Dropbox. The data below outlining Evernote’s, Yammer’s and HootSuite’s rise to 2 million users illustrates that there is significant market success of SaaS tools and Freemium business models.
EvernoteandDropboxhave continued to grow rapidly after the 2 million user mark, and HootSutie shows definite signs of trending in the same manner. International growth is a key contributor to HootSuite’s user base, having sped this via community building, outreach and crowd-sourced translation.
HootSuite’s reach and trends (courtesy ofAlexa) also rank with that of the aforementioned companies, as well as Dropbox and SalesForce, other examples of business using the SaaS and Freemium models:
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Also worth noting is the relative growth rate of users on each of these services:
HootSuite beta Launch: December 2009HootSuite 1 Million: November 2010HootSuite 2 Million: June 2011
Evernote Launch: June 2008Evernote 1 Million: May 2009Evernote 2 Million: December 2009
Yammer Launch: September 2008Yammer 1 Million: July 2010Yammer 2 Million: Feb 2011
Dropbox Launch: April 2008Dropbox 1 Million: May 2009Dropbox 2 Million: Sept 2009
While the data clearly shows that SaaS and Freemium models are fast becoming a widely used solution for many users, it also foreshadows something for HootSuite in particular: it may be the only third-party social media client left standing in the future because of how it has done — and continues to do — business.
Story byMike Vardy
Mike Vardy is a husband, father, independent writer, speaker, podcaster and “productivityist”. He is also the author of the book, The Front(show all)Mike Vardy is a husband, father, independent writer, speaker, podcaster and “productivityist”. He is also the author of the book,The Front Nine: How To Start The Year You Want Anytime You Want, published by Diversion Books. You can learn more about his other work at his website,MikeVardy.com, visit his blog atProductivityist.com, and you can follow him as@mikevardyon Twitter.
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