With so many social media sites available for our use it can be time consuming to constantly check every site that you have on a regular basis. In order to grow a small business though it is important to stay on top of your social media postings and to be aware of the latest news stories going on around the country and even world. Recently I found that HootSuite is a great website that can manage all of your social media accounts in one place. This website allows you to connect your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare, Myspace, and even WordPress so you do not have to go to each different website in order to view or post something.
Each different section allows the user to view their news feeds from several different social media sites. It also allows you to monitor what people are saying about you or your company and makes it easy for you to respond immediately back to them. For example, on Twitter you can add a “stream” that only shows your direct mentions in someone else’s tweet. This can be good for business’s because it makes it easier for them to monitor what their customer’s are saying about their product or brand and allows them to stay constantly in the loop.
HootSuite makes it easy to click on any type of steam, for example Twitter, and it immediately creates a new section on your dashboard showing you anything you wish to see.
Another cool feature in HootSuite is its feature that allows you to schedule when you want your Facebook post or tweet goes out to your followers. You can create a tweet and then click the specific date and time you want it to go out and HootSuite will automatically send it out for you no matter where you are at.
This can be great for businesses such as Andrea Whaley’s Wardrobe Interventions because she can schedule a Facebook post days in advance to promote something and she wouldn’t have to worry about remembering to do it. It can be hard to be a small business owner and this scheduling feature can make social media posting so much easier.
Keeping up with social media can be hard for some people and I feel like this website is a great way to make people’s lives a lot easier. Using HootSuite allows you to focus your energy on other areas of your life or business without having to sacrifice your social media presence!
I have never heard of HootSuite until reading this entry, and I think it is a great tool and resource businesses can use to build and control their social media. It sounds like HootSuite offers so many great tools that make it easy to stay connected without stressing out about staying on top of each different social media site separately. I especially thought the feature about posting events was awesome because it frees people from having to remember on a particular day and time, and just eliminates one less thing to have to worry about.
I personally do not have my own business, but my sister is just starting her own beer cider company, and I think this could definitely help her and her business!
Great way to keep in touch with followers! I am trying to get a better range of who I am following so Hootsuite is a great tool!
I think this is a great tool for businesses that may feel overwhelmed by being on too many social media sites and may feel too much pressure to tailor messages per platform and depending on audiences. Good idea to mention HootSuite in a post!