Social Media Tools Review: Hootsuite.com

Source: American University Social Media Club Facebook Wall

The problem

In a world in which you may follow hundreds of Twitter handles and Facebook profiles, it’s tough to organize the information in meaningful and accessible way.  Furthermore, when managing various accounts, it is nearly impossible to physically be in front of a screen in order to release my updates at appropriate intervals as to maximize their impact.

How HootSuite solves it (or attempts to solve it)

HootSuite provides a columned interface (called the dashboard) that allows viewing of multiple profiles and accounts across the social networks applications (such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to ensure easy management. Also, it allows users to schedule updates, mange lists, and create analytics. 

Scenario

Professor Pallavi Kumar recently spoke on a panel at American University’s Social MediaSummit regarding Facebook and other social networking tools. She knew she had a short time to discuss a range new media strategy and tactics.

Professor Kumar used HootSuite to schedule her tweets before the panel.  She was able to craft tweets that included the key messages of her presentation, videos, and links to other relevant information.  Once she had assembled her tweets, she scheduled them for the duration of her presentation, about 15 tweets every five minutes. She announced her methodology before her comments and mentioned the conference hashtag so others interested in the conference (both present and remote) could follow her and easily retweet her messages.

With the power of HootSuite, she was able to focus her attention on her presentation (instead of fumbling with her phone on stage), get relevant and timely information to her audience (both on- and off-line), facilitate the sharing of that information by having her audience retweet it, and gain new followers. She notes that after the Summit, other professors have had similar results after imploring her technique.

Other features

HootSuite has a variety of options for vanity accounts, which include running customized analytics and adding individuals to collaborate on a single account.  Additionally, it creates its own link shortening system (like Bitly).  It also has HootSuite University, which for $21.00 a month individuals are able to get webinars, forums, support, and other training on how to maximize their social media experience using HootSuite.