Understanding the Impact of Salesforce Social Studio Retirement and What Lies Ahead

On October 13, 2022, Salesforce announced the retirement of its social media management tool, Social Studio, on November 18, 2024, or at the end of the customer’s contract, whichever comes first. 

What this means is that if you are a subscriber to Salesforce Social Studio, you will lose access to the application, and all associated customer data will be deleted. Consequently, you are advised to retrieve Social Studio data for migration to another platform. 

We know full well that data migration can be tortuous and challenging, to say the least. Luckily, we’re experts at it. From assessment and planning to post-migration monitoring and support, we cover the whole nine yards. Talk to us today! 

In this post, we will look at:

• What Salesforce Social Studio is
  
• Why and when SFMC Social Studio is being retired
  
• The best alternatives to Social Studio

What Is Salesforce Social Studio?

SFMC Social Studio is a tool for managing, scheduling, and tracking social media posts across a diverse range of platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and X (Twitter.) 

Social Studio lets you plan, implement, and measure both organic and paid social media marketing campaigns. In addition, the tool allows you to track mentions, hashtags, keywords, comments, etc., covering the alpha and beta of social listening. 

Imagine a vast orchestra where every instrument symbolizes a distinct facet of social media. Within this ensemble, Social Studio takes on the role of a conductor, orchestrating the seamless integration of these various instruments to produce a harmonious symphony.

In this analogy, envision social media accounts as the individual instruments, workspaces as distinct orchestra sections, the publishing tool as the conductor’s baton, and the analytics tool as the sheet music guiding the performance.

Why and When is SFMC Social Studio Shutting Down?

Salesforce has not officially disclosed the reasons behind retiring Social Studio. However, we can make some educated speculations regarding the potential motivation behind their decision. Here are a few possible explanations:

• The ever-evolving social media landscape may have led Salesforce to deem Social Studio no longer aligned with customers’ needs. There are, at present, many other social media management tools that are equipped with more features and functionalities.
  
• Salesforce may have decided to focus more on its core products. Social Studio is a relatively minor product within the Salesforce ecosystem. This is because it is a niche product and is targeted at large enterprises with complex, heterogeneous social media needs.
  
• Social Studio is not tightly integrated with Salesforce’s other products. Now, bear in mind that Social Studio is the rebranded avatar of Radian6, which was acquired by Salesforce in 2011. So, unlike some of SFMC’s competitors, Salesforce does not provide native integration with Social Studio. This means that the two systems are not integrated at the code level, preventing seamless integration. 

Salesforce Social Studio will officially shut down on November 18, 2024. If you hold a contract with Social Studio, Salesforce recommends that you retrieve Social Studio data at least 90 days before the termination of your contract or 90 days before November 18, 2024, whichever comes first. 

But this is urgent. We don’t recommend postponing the migration process until the 90-day period kicks in. Salesforce is no longer selling licenses to the product. It has also stopped enhancing/updating the tool. Your primary objective should be to look for an alternative platform and initiate the migration process as soon as possible.

Not to cause a panic, but here are some of the consequences of delaying data extraction and migration:

• Data loss and corruption are the immediate effects of undue postponement. It could lead to financial drain, reputational damage, and legal liabilities.
  
• Businesses need to comply with a number of regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA. These laws often have specific requirements on how to store and manage data. Complying with these requirements may become difficult if data is not extracted from Salesforce Marketing Cloud Social Studio.
  
• Failure to migrate data before the instance is discontinued can lead to security breaches, leading to potential theft of sensitive data.
  
• Extracting data from Social Studio is a complex process, one that requires extensive planning and testing. If delayed, it could cause a business disruption, leading to lost revenue. 

For illustration, suppose a retail store delays transitioning to another platform. The company finds out that it is no longer able to contact its customers about a product recall, leading to safety risks for customers and, ultimately, reputational damage. 

Again, if a healthcare provider fails to extract patient data from Sales Studio and migrate it to another platform on time, it will not be able to access patient records for several weeks. This delays patient care and may lead to serious medical repercussions. 

While these are hypothetical scenarios, the consequences are real. Generally speaking, working with data can determine whether a business thrives or faces closure, underscoring its critical importance. 

Did you know that a staggering 94% of businesses that experience a severe data loss fail to make a full recovery? In fact, the first quarter of 2023 witnessed over 6 million data records compromised on a global scale as a result of data loss.  

No, don’t panic! We’re here to help. To remind you, we are experts in the field of integration and migration. We are firmly committed to preserving information security and guaranteeing the integrity of data throughout the migration process. We’re just a click away.

Best Alternatives to Social Studio

Before exploring the alternatives, it is important to note that in March 2022, Salesforce joined hands with Sprout Social to simplify social media management for Salesforce customers by providing access to Sprout’s dedicated social suite. 

“Social media has become mission critical to the future evolution of business,” says Ryan Strynatka, SVP & COO, Salesforce Marketing Cloud. “We’re delighted to partner with Sprout. We’re on a journey to empower companies to create a 360° view of their customers, and Sprout’s industry-leading social media management platform will help our customers harness the power of social.”

Sprout Social extends its offerings to over 31,000 brands worldwide, delivering a comprehensive array of services encompassing social media listening, analytics, social media management, and customer care. Based in Chicago, the company operates across prominent social networks, including X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

Now, is Sprout Social a viable alternative to Salesforce Social Studio? Here are three possible reasons why Salesforce chose Sprout Social:

1. Sprout’s efficient single code base empowers the platform with scalability and accelerates the delivery of innovations. Too, customer care representatives can respond either from Sprout or Service Cloud, enabling synchronization between the two platforms in real time.

2. As Sprout boasts integrations with leading social media networks, it possesses the flexibility and high adaptability needed to keep up with the dynamic trends in the social media landscape. The platform undergoes continuous improvement, introducing over 100 new features every year.

3. Notably, Sprout Social was also recognized as a leader in social media suites by G2’s 2022 Fall reports. 

Apart from Sprout Social, here are some popular alternatives to Social Studio:

• Oktopost
  
• Hootsuite
  
• Sendible
  
• Khoros

• Facelift Cloud
  
• Statusbrew
  
• Falcon.io
  
• Zoho Social
  
• Crowdfire
  
• Sprinklr
  
• Agorapulse
  
• Buffer
  

Wrapping Up!

Technology is constantly evolving, and updates and transitions are common in this industry. While SFMC’s decision to kill Social Studio may have caught some off guard, it is certainly not the end of the world. What’s essential is to anticipate changes and proactively adapt to navigate the path forward.