Introduction
Hootsuite is social media tool or a social media management system designed to manage effectively all the social media platforms or accounts as it offers an interface across the multiple social media account in which you can write, schedule, send and track post from it. It is considered the best tool for companies with multiple social media accounts across multiple networks. A good example being Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. It is regarded by the company as the world widely used social media platform with a figure of over 10 million users including 744 of the Fortune 1000 companies (Cara 2013).
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According to the survey done by Pingdom for social media monitoring tool, Hootsuite was rated top with 29.4%, above TweetDeck, which was rated at 23.5% and social engage at 13.2% (Cara 2013). Invoke media launched Hootsuite in 2008 and since then it has stamped its authority on among the other monitoring tool in regards to social media. In 2014, Hootsuite acquired UberVu, a leading innovator in social analytics. UberVu is a next-generation social analytics solution that turns data from blogs, forums, and social networks into actionable business insights (Paul 2014).
Hootsuite has the best easy to learn interface which is organized into tabs this allows users to split engagement activity into social networks and streams. For instance, a different tab can contain the business user accounts while a different tab with personal social media sites to which a user requires a subscription. Streams enable users to separate content within each social media platform. For example, when using Twitter, a user can have one stream for the post, another feed for direct and messages, and finally a different feed for home feed. (Paul 2013)
Products
Platform
The platform is based on four pillars which are engagement, listening, analytics, and collaboration. For an engagement, it tracks very vital information from social media. This information is important for businesses as they make critical decisions based on it. The platform also gives the user the tools to locate influencers, buyers, and leads while tracking critical information that will ensure the success of your business (Ashley 2012).
Acquisition of uberVU made actionable data to be accessed easily through social media networks and being able to generate real-time revenue through online conversation its collaborative nature build cohesiveness in the team that runs your social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram among others. As your team expands, Hootsuite is designed to scale with you by making it easy to organize your company by department, team, and region while distributing tasks and restricting your team’s workflows (Ian n.d).
It is an effective security platform that protects social media assets effectively makes it a trusted tool among major business enterprises. It has a security platform that helps your organization meet regulatory guidelines, protect against social media threats, and reduce the risk of employee error (Paul 2013).
Hootlet
Hootlet was originally launched in 2009 for chrome and Firefox. According to Hootlet It was launched to offer an easier way to share a link by just hitting on hootlet button on your web page toolbar and your message or post was good to be shared completely with a shortened URL. In addition to this, it also provides a way you can tailor your content sharing through highlighting text and select images within the compose box. Auto-schedule also comes in handy in ensuring that it enables smart scheduling for a vast impact and reach of your social media message (Knowlton 2012).
Hootlet has a webpush which applies on chrome and it has other applications integrated into it a good example being Google map so that when an address has entered a message of ‘tweets near here’ is automatically displayed. When for instance you are searching for a business that helps integration also comes in handy as it shows the Twitter results that name-check that particular business including the surrounding area tweets (Paul 2013).
Mobile apps
This mobile app was developed to assist with business-centric applications for iPhone, mobile web, and Android (Cara 2013). With social media being 24/7 it means all the stakeholders mostly the customers are constantly online, with Hootsuite mobile app, employees are in a position to effectively monitor and engage with your business’s audience on their mobile phone. With its ability to schedule a post and to collaborate with teams, the app makes it possible to engage constantly on the go. It has features that help the team organize social media networks by keeping track of all composed and publish messages shared on Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, and Facebook. It also has an auto-schedule which helps in posting networking leads to connections of bad groups. (George 1989) commented that these groups end up sharing information that has no good content at a later date.
It has track user engagement that gathers analytics important for social media campaigns for instance it sets up keyword streams that monitor particular instances of brand engagement. As a complement of the Hootsuite dashboard, the mobile app merges and organizes all social media networks at a single point, hence it can access it anywhere and at any time. This gives your team an edge on social media as they will be on the top in regards to it.
With the Hootsuite mobile app, you can be able to compose and publish networking leads to connections of bad groups. (George 1989) commented that these groups end up sharing information that has no good content directly on the social network at the comfort of your sit outside the office. Auto-schedule is also possible as one can post on social networks when outside the office to a later date (Ian n.d).
App directory
Since it’s launched in 2011, the app directory has been a success in monitoring social media networks from the dashboard and other external applications. It distributes the monitored messages for further handling in external and third-party applications this is according to the Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes. This has been made possible by the addition of app plugins added to increase its functionality to the next level. This plugin capability increases interactions between the Hootsuite dashboard and other external (Ashley 2012).
Hootsuite has an Evernote app plugin. This plugin allows users to save the conversation directly in their Evernote notebooks. With this, app users can also view a stream and allowing the users to share notes and other material on social media platforms. It also gives them the ability to edit notes and other materials
Ubervu via Hootsuite
Ubervu is a real-time social media marketing platform that automatically analyses your brands in all social media networks and shows you insights like trends, stories, and influencers in real-time by aggregating data points and sticking adjustable widgets, and visualizes the metrics in one easy place. With uberVu, the Hootsuite users are in a position to identify the metrics, pin it to a dashboard to generate a report by simply clicking this is a unique feature that differentiates UberVu from all other similar applications (Paul 2014).
Hootsuite campaigns
Hootsuite enterprise is a powerful tool when it comes to social media campaigns across social media networks. The major purpose of Hootsuite campaigns is to increase the online base for the business in regards to the online fans the business interacts with and to generate leads by creating campaigns across platforms (Cara 2013).
For a successful campaign, several things can be put into consideration. First photos and video networking leads to connections of bad groups. (George 1989) commented that these groups end up sharing information that has no good content can be used. This will give the company branded user-generated content that can be used in the future. Secondly, the company will be able to get qualified leads. This is done by giveaway sweepstake where entrants sign up by submitting their email information or comment to enter. These two will create your campaign, contest, and gallery very interactive and responsive and, in the long run, all the audience will be reached (Ian n.d).
Conclusion
Hootsuite is a dominant tool that is important for a structured, efficient, and sensible social media marketing campaign. Though their competitors Tweetdeck and buffer offer the same functionality, Hootsuite has been a reliable resource. The main advantage of Hootsuite is that it connects to more social media networks than any other social media marketing tool. It connects popular social networks like Twitter, Linkedln, and Facebook together with Foursquare and Instagram. Based on this Hootsuite will dominate the industry for quite a long time and with it being user-friendly it turns out to be the most preferred social media marketing tool. (Paul 2014).
References
Cara. P. 2013. Hootsuite Review- Is It The Social Media Management Tool For You? | The Social Skinny. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at http://thesocialskinny.com/hootsuite-review-is-it-the-social-media-management-tool-for-you/. [Accessed 26 March 2015].
Ian, A.G. n.d. 7 Reasons Why You SHOULD Use Hootsuite. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at http://iag.me/socialmedia/reviews/7-reasons-why-you-should-use-hootsuite/. [Accessed 26 March 2015].
Ashley, J.B. 2012. An Introduction to HootSuite Social Media Best Practices. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at http://blog.hootsuite.com/introduction-social-media-best-practices/. [Accessed 26 March 2015].
Paul. S. 2013. HootSuite’s Hootlet Digs the Web. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://thenextweb.com/apps/2013/10/08/hootsuite-refreshes-its-hootlet-chrome-extension-to-help-you-share-things-from-the-web/. [Accessed 26 March 2015].
Knowlton. T. 2012. HootSuite Bolsters App Directory with Social Plugins: Evernote, Storify, and More – Techvibes.com. 2015. [ONLINE]
Paul. S. 2014. HootSuite Acquires uberVU for Undisclosed Sum. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/01/22/hootsuite-buys-social-analytics-company-ubervu-undisclosed-sum/. [Accessed 26 March 2015].
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