Hootsuite was launched in Dec. 2008 by Invoke Media. I am not sure when I first started using it but it wasn’t too long after that. Hootsuite provides a very nice dashboard for managing multiple social accounts. It’s features make it ideal for use in a business environment. They offer both free and paid plans. The best part, most small businesses can probably get by with the free version.
Below is my full review of Hootsuite prepared just for you.
1. Hootsuite out Preforms
Hootsuite is fast, while some desktop account managers might be a bit quicker, they take up valuable hard drive space and you cant access them from any computer. I’ve personally tested the web-based version of Hootsuite and most of the other platform managers on all of the major browsers and on various machines, I am yet to find anything as fast as Hootsuite to this point. This is impressive since I open a lot of tabs/streams and there is a ton of activity going on on my dashboard.
2. Hootsuite Can Manage Multiple Account
One of my favorite features is Hootsuite’s abiity to manage so many accounts on so many different platforms. I can save time by not having to login to each platform every time I want to post something.
Hootsuite integrates nicely with:
- Facebook (personal accounts & pages)
- WordPress.com
- MySpace
- Foursquare
- Mixi
- Ping.fm (which can further send out updates to even more services)
On a side note I expect Google+ will be added as soon as Google releases the API, until then no one can share on Google+ without going over to their page.
3. Hootsuite has Awesome Reports
I like to be able to analyze everything and Hootsuite makes that easy for me. Creating custom reports with hootsuite could not be easier. While the paid version is more comprehensive, the free version offers impressive analytics including beautiful charts, choose whatever you want: traffic sources, link sharing, and the list goes on and on. My favorite feature is that you can save the reports and have them sent via email to whoever you want on a schedule!
It doesn’t stop there, with as little as a click I can get all the info I need about a contact, including their Klout Score!!. Under any tweet you’ll see the number of retweets (if any). Above any Facebook post the number of Likes and comments are shown.
4. Hootsuite is Intuitive
Maybe the best part of Hootsuite is its ease of use. Not only do I like to move things around a lot but I teach a lot of people how to use Hootsuite and it is so easy to use most people pick it up with little or no help.
Whatever you are trying to do it is nice and easy, in a way that makes you feel like a pro from the start at home. Even scheduling posts can be done in a second and you can then go to the “scheduled” tab and see what account you scheduled the post with and edit the post if necessary.
5. Hootsuite for Every Platform
This has to be its best feature, HootSuite is web-based at its core. Having said that Hootsuite has gone the above and beyond to try and please everyone. Weather use MAC or PC it doesn’t matter. Hootsuite works with all the browsers and has extensions for Firefox and Chrome. To make it even better I can even take Hootsuite with me as they offer full functioned versions for iPhone, Android and Blackberry, as well as iPad and Keitai.
This is why I think Hootsuite is the best for social media marketing, I’d love to hear form you, are you using HootSuite? If not what’s your favorite social media platform? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments…
Related posts coming soon
