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HootSuite is a web-based tool for managing social media accounts. You do not have to download and install a software on your computer. It is a social media management system created by Ryan Holmes in 2008. Social network which you can integrate with HootSuite are LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, mixi, My Space, WordPress, Google +. Other social networks which can be integrated using HootSuite Apps include Tumblr, Trendspottr, Constant Contact, Digg, Flickr, Get Satisfaction, InboxQ, and YouTube. Through HootSuite, you can manage all your integrated social networks using a single interface. You can see your Facebook news feed, twitter feeds and messages within the HootSuite dashboard. You can send Facebook status updates, messages, tweets, re-tweets, publish blog posts, and others from within the HootSuite dashboard.
The best feature of HoootSuite is that you can schedule tweets and messages including links or photos to your integrated social media accounts. I find that really convenient as you wouldn’t need to check and worry on your social media accounts while you’re away on a vacation, especially if you own an online business. This tool is also neat for social media managers as you wouldn’t have to log in and out of different social networks to be able to access your accounts. You can also add multiple Facebook and multiple Twitter accounts.
Features of the HootSuite accounts are:
Basic
- Add up to five social profiles
- Up to two RSS feeds
- 30-stat history
- Message scheduling
- Free Quick Reports
Pro
- Unlimited social profiles
- Unlimited RSS/Atom feeds
- Unlimited stats history
- Add a team member to your account
- Google Analytics Integration
- Facebook Insights Integration
- Bulk Scheduling
- 1 Free Enhanced Analytics Report
The Basic account is HootSuite’s free account while the Pro account is priced at $9.99 per month. A HootSuite Analytics report is priced at $50 per report. HootSuite used to charge $5.99 per month for the Pro account and just recently increased the price most probably because of the new features. New users will be charged $9.99 per month while old users will still be charged $5.99 per month.
There is also the HootSuite Enterprise account and this package allows up to 30 team members, priced at $1,499 per month. There’s not much information about the HootSuite Enterprise, I guess it will be useful for project managers managing teams. However, if the Basic or Pro account works well with you, you can just stick with it.
Why feature tools and all these How-to-Guide posts? Well, I am learning tools to help me become a better virtual assistant. I’ve always believed that learning doesn’t end in school because if you stop learning, you stop growing. So I’ll be publishing more of my learnings here in this site, hopefully.
Below is a How-to-Guide for HootSuite Basic beginners. Click through the slides and see. Want a HootSuite account? Join here and see which plan is best for you.
The Savvy VA 