HootSuite: The Basics

We’re in an age which is revolutionizing social communications and here at HootSuite, we’re committed to improving the way you connect. In this post I will explain some of the key tools we use to remain constantly engaged with people from all over the world.

Guest post by David Kyle of HootSuite New Zealand

I’m excited to share some tips with you about how you can use HootSuite to establish, engage and maintain a community.

Before I share those tips, let me tell you a little bit about HootSuite. Our mission is to provide a tool that will assist you in securely engaging with your audience. This is executed via the HootSuite ‘Dashboard.’ The dashboard helps organizations use the social web to launch marketing campaigns, identify and grow audiences and distribute targeted messages across multiple channels. We are now used by over seven million people and by many of Fortune 500’s top companies.

There are five tips you should know when getting started with HootSuite – these  will help you effectively manage a number of social media accounts: Monitoring, Collaborating, Localizing, Scheduling and Analyzing.

MONITORING

You can find out what your audience is saying about a certain topic or product by using a tracking stream. Set up a search stream with keywords, hashtags or popular phrases.

You can further specify your search by having one stream track multiple searches. For example if you want to know more about ‘HootSuite’ and the ‘All Blacks,’ you would add a stream for a keyword search with HootSuite AND All Blacks OR AllBlacks OR #AllBlacks. Setting a search up like this allows you to see what everyone is saying, even if they spell something incorrectly!

COLLABORATING

HootSuite allows multiple people to post social messages to one account without sharing passwords! Team collaboration is designed to allow collective message publishing and conversation monitoring by groups. This is particularly advantageous for a large marketing team. Check out these two articles for more information on setting up a team account – HootSuite’s Quick Start Guide: Organizations and Social Media Coach Series.

LOCALIZING

Sometimes you want to know what people are saying about a product or topic from a certain location. HootSuite provides the opportunity to narrow search within a specific area using a Geolocated Search. You can set your search to a defined area, targeting a certain region, for example, the downtown core of a city.

You can also set up a large area, allowing you to monitor what people are saying about a topic in an entire country. See these articles for a detailed guide on setting up a Geolocated Search and HootGuide: Using Geo-Location and Targeting with HootSuite.

SCHEDULING

I’m sure I won’t be the first person to tell you that the social media world never sleeps. You might be in a meeting, on a plane or dealing with another timezone. In order to keep your online presence rolling so you get maximum exposure, HootSuite has a feature that schedules when messages go out. Here’s an easy guide on how to use the scheduler to ensure your posts get maximum exposure.

ANALYZING

After you’ve sent out a lot of content, you need to measure your efforts. When you use the link shortner (ow.ly) from the dashboard, HootSuite tracks real-time click stats for you. These reports are particularly useful so you know what content your community engages with or what time people are more likely to click on your content.

You can then export these stats to PDF and CSV files to easily share as a visual report with your colleagues. Learn more about running HootSuite analytics.

There you have it, a few tips that should get you on track for using HootSuite to help you manage a successful social media campaign. If you have any questions feel free to tweet me @HootSuite_NZ.