Are you inundated with news and status updates? HootSuite is a social network manager that allows you to create a customized view of all connected social networks. You can use HootSuite to post to multiple accounts, manage your tweets, and much more. If you have a business, this program can help you better manage your social media marketing campaign. You can get started with HootSuite in just a few clicks, and the days of being inundated with information will be over.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Setting Up HootSuite for Personal Use
Step 1. Create your account
You can create an account using a Twitter, Facebook or Google account, or you can use a separate email address. The personal account is free.
Step 2. Add your networks
HootSuite allows you to add all your social networks to one account, to easily view all updates and news in one window. To do this, you will need to log in to all the sites you want to connect to. The connections are made with the access systems of the respective sites; HootSuite does not receive or store your passwords.
- When creating your account, you will be asked which social networks you want to add. You can add and remove others later by clicking on the "+ Add Social Network" button on the HootSuite dashboard.
- HootSuite has built-in support for Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Foursquare, WordPress and Mixi. You can add support for other networks thanks to apps.
- If you have multiple accounts on one site, you can add them to one HootSuite account.
Step 3. Add news streams
You can click the "+ Add Stream" button at the top of the dashboard, or use the "Add a Stream" tool that opens to the right of your current stream.
Select the social network and then add the feed you want to view. You can add Facebook News, a user you follow on Twitter, or any other element of the social networks you want to follow
Step 4. Create multiple tabs
Click the "+" button at the top of the dashboard next to existing cards. These tabs allow you to organize and group related news on one screen. You can create a "Work", a "Personal" and a "Kardashian" tab. You can organize your information however you like.
In each tab you can add updates from all connected networks
Step 5. Post messages
The top bar of the HootSuite dashboard contains the messaging tools. Use the drop-down menu on the left to select the social networks you want to post to. You can publish on as many sites as you want with just one post.
Step 6. Write your message in the "Compose" field
You can post whatever you want and even include links, images, and location tags. When your message is ready, click the "Send Now" button to post on all selected sites.
- Remember that Twitter has a 140 character limit.
- You can schedule the future publication of a post by clicking on the calendar icon.
Part 2 of 2: Using HootSuite to Improve Your Marketing Campaign
Step 1. Create a professional or business account
To have access to the most powerful marketing tools, you will need to sign up your company in the Pro or Enterprise packages. The Pro version will suffice for most small businesses; the Enterprise version is reserved for large companies that have large advertising divisions.
Step 2. Search for your name in Searches
When you add a stream, you can create a Search stream. Once you enter a search term, HootSuite will show you all the most recent results for that search. This allows you to follow your product or brand and control people's opinions.
You can do searches on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Make sure you use all of these options to check your brand's popularity on major social networks
Step 3. Schedule a post
One of the most powerful tools of HootSuite is the ability to schedule and send messages on all social networks at the same time. You can post the same message to your Facebook diary, your Twitter account, and your Google+ page with a single click.
You can schedule the future sending of a message by clicking on the Calendar button in the Compose window. This will allow you to choose the posting date of the message. This tool is particularly useful for publishing posts in different time zones than yours, or for automated marketing campaigns
Step 4. Communicate directly with your customers
You can create feeds dedicated to your private messages for your Facebook and Google+ pages, as well as monitor your Twitter. Use these streams to never miss a single question from your customers.
Step 5. Check your campaigns with the analysis tool
HootSuite offers you many reporting tools that allow you to assess the popularity of your company on social networks. You can rate "likes", mentions, traffic changes, link activity and much more. Click the Analysis button in the left menu to start creating a report.
- You can choose from many predefined templates, or you can create a custom report.
- When you create a custom report, you will be able to choose from a list of modules. Some of them are free, some require a Pro account, and others an Enterprise account.
- To check the activity of a link, you will need to use the Ow.ly abbreviation. This allows HootSuite to count the people who follow it.
Step 6. Manage your social media team
HootSuite contains tools that allow you to assign team members to specific streams and tasks within the program. You can dedicate a person to your Twitter feed, or you can assign specific messages to specific people on the team for a personal response. Managing your team can greatly improve your marketing campaign.
Step 7. Create bespoke messages with the geotargeting tool
If you are using an Enterprise account, you can create messages tailored to specific regions and using specific languages. This allows you to customize your campaign for customers around the world.
