Any brand company most likely has issues balancing all of their social media networks. You have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc.  Ryan Holmes, the creator of HootSuite, was having that exact problem while working for a digital service agency called Invoke Media. So in 2008 he and his fellow co-workers created HootSuite.

It is an online social media management system specifically for brand management. The services it provides is to manage online brands and allows them to submit messages to various social media services including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, FourSquare, MySpace, and many others. It is a free service for the most part, it does require customers to pay for additional features beyond basic services. A few well known companies out there that use this  service are Facebook, HBO, SXSW, Martha Stewart Media, Zappos, The Gap, The Obama Administration, and Virgin Group.

My favorite feature that HootSuite offers is it allows companies to write tweets and Facebook posts well in advance and set the date and time of when HootSuite should tweet or post it. It makes things very efficient for a brand.

HootSuite, although the first social media management system, is not the only one anymore. Their largest competitor is TweetDeck. There is also Oktopost, which provides social media marketing platforms designed for B2B platforms.

So if you are frustrated with managing all of your companies various social media sites, make it simple and efficient for yourself by signing up for one of these multiple social media management sites.

I recently created a LinkedIn profile. As a soon to be graduate I decided it was about time I connected with people in the real world. I have become obsessed with checking my LinkedIn, I even downloaded the LinkedIn app on my phone to make it easier.

LinkedIn is a business oriented social media site and is mainly used for professional networking – hence why it was important for a soon to be graduate to create a profile. But how can LinkedIn help someone who already has a job or their own business?

As of 2013, LinkedIn has more than 259 million followers in over 200 countries and territories. Since it is strictly a business oriented social media site, LinkedIn is great for finding and creating business opportunities with people all around the world. Users can follow their favorite companies or companies they are interested in and get updates on new joining and updates. Employees can list job openings and search for potential candidates.

This social media site differs from Facebook and Twitter and other sites because of the fact it is very business oriented. People who have a LinkedIn profile connect with you to see how they can be apart or further your career, not to know how your day to day personal life is going. Twitter and Facebook are great for campaigns for the public to get involved in and to make a brand for yourself. LinkedIn is more for the people behind the scenes and gives you and your company the chance to network with professionals who could potentially further your business.

Some fun facts about LinkedIn are; the site is available in 20 languages including English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Romanian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Czech, Polish, Korean, Maley, Indonesian, Danish, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, and Tagalog. LinkedIn is headquartered in Mountain View, California but has offices in Omaha, Chicago, New York City, London and Dubai.

Every professional needs to have a LinkedIn in order to stay connected in the business world. Remember, LinkedIn is strictly a business oriented social media site.

Social media has become the perfect place for the public to express their negativity about a specific company. And these expressions of negativity do not always stay silent, they can become viral which could turn into trending. We do not want this to happen… or do we? I am going to give you a couple examples of companies getting negativity through social media and you tell me if they handled it well or if you would’ve managed it differently.

Example one: UNITED AIRLINES. Canadian musician Dave Carroll and his band Sons of Maxwell were flying United Airlines in 2008. They had a layover in the Chicago O’Hare Airport where Carroll overheard a fellow passenger say that she had seen luggage handlers on the airport tarmac throwing guitar around carelessly. When he and his bandmates arrived to their destination in Omaha, Nebraska he was saddened to discover his $3,500 Taylor guitar was severely damaged while in United Airlines custody. He reached out to several Untied Airlines employees and filed a claim with in order to get compensation for his damaged guitar. They informed with, though, that he had failed to make the claim within the “standard 24-hour timeframe” and was now ineligible for any compensation. Carroll battled it out with United for 9 months with no change, so this led to Carroll and the Sons of Maxwell to write a negative song towards United Airlines and post it on YouTube in July 2009. The song was an overnight success for Carroll and a public relations nightmare for United. It racked up 150,000 views in one day, and three days later that number rose to over half a million views! The media started reporting the story and United’s stock price fell. United Airlines was now prompted to right their wrong. They offered to buy Carroll a new guitar, but he responded that it’s too late and to donate one to charity. United $3,000 to the Thelonious Monk institute of jazz as a “gesture of goodwill”. What are ya’lls thoughts on how United Airlines handled this situation?

Example two: KENNETH COLE. On December 10, 2010, the Arab Spring began. Arab Spring is term used for the revolutionary wave of demonstrations, riots, protests and civil war in the Arab world. In the midst of it all, Kenneth Cole tweeted “Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online.” This went viral instantly with a surge of negativity and backlash. It’s a known fact that Kenneth Cole tweets directly himself. He does not have an employee do it. Do you think he knew that this tweet would get a rise out of his followers and that was his plan to publicity or no? The company apologized by tweeting, “We weren’t intending to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historical moment.” I don’t see an “I’m sorry” in that apology though. What is y’alls thoughts on this?

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Follow me on twitter at kelseymohn.