I found the Hootsuite University program to be outstandingly orchestrated and I received a considerable amount of valuable information from this program. The Hootsuite University program showcased to me what social media marketing, social media management and social media utilization look like on a professional level. I plan on using Hootsuite to establish my own personal brand in the sports world and I hope to later become a social media community manager for a sports organization.
Content Scheduling
Take advantage of content scheduling! The best way to reach your maximum level of audience impressions/reach is by scheduling time specific content and Hootsuite’s program helps you implement this strategy. I did not realize it could beneficial to post repetitive content prior to Hootsuite, but it makes sense on a social media platform such as Twitter which is done in a fast-paced real-time setting.
Keep it Personal or Let Teamwork Make the Dream Work
I found it impressive that Hootsuite can be either personal based or organizational based. Hootsuite can easily help a business improve their social media management and Hootsuite also has plenty of security measures to prevent a potential issue or crisis from occurring or elevating. You can structure your team based on departments, business units or geographic regions.
Social Media Campaigns:
Hootsuite works excellent with monitoring and improving social media campaigns like the ones we are currently working on for class. Hootsuite allows you to monitor things such as hashtags, keywords and URL’s so that you can get an audience consensus of your specific content or overall brand. Hootsuite enables you to see the locations where you are most influential and this can help you improve your target market strategy.
Time Management
Hootsuite saves our most precious asset which is time because you can see your mentions, messages and tweets/posts all on one screen. You can even add in advanced streams besides the default ones. The publisher feature allows you to create drafts and content sharing schedules. I found it cool that administrators can either approve or reject content and I felt like this feature would get a stamp of approval from Crisis Communication expert Melissa Agnes. Hootsuite will also spare your team of unwanted confusion because messages that have already been responded to by another team member appear as blue. One of the most efficient team strategies is to already have an established bank of pre-approved response messages, but in other situations it might be more useful to tailor your responses to specific audience members so your company does not lose its audience relatability/connection.
Content Suggestions
Hootsuite will even generate content suggestions for you and this is one of my favorite features of Hootsuite because it’s difficult to constantly monitor trending content. Hootsuite’s content suggestions can help you become a thought leader in your field. The guys from Interapt and other guest speakers throughout this semester have relayed to our class in their presentations that thought leadership equals value. One cannot become a thought leader unless they stay frequently involved in conversations relating to their field.
Data Analytics
In the analytics tab on the Hootsuite program you can create detailed analytical reports about engagement or you can receive an overview of a specific social networking account. My favorite analytical report is the Ow.ly Click Summary. I like how the Owl.ly Click Summary pinpoints need-to-know information like the region of your audience, your audience’s top referrers and the most popular links you have shared.
Online Community Management
I am personally interested in following a career path similar to Dallas Mavericks Social Media Coordinator Lizelle Lauren and in this career path I would be growing and monitoring an online community. SCMD 162: Growing Your Online Community is one of the numerous wonderful lessons offered by the Hootsuite University program.I already have been involved in sports communities as a personal fan, but I dream of managing one of my beloved team communities in the near future. SCMD 162: Growing Your Online Community taught me to pay attention to negative feedback for improvement and how to build a cohesive/loyal community. To build a cohesive community you must bring people together around shared values, ideas and topics. The key to cementing positive relationships with your community members is by paying close attention to their input. For example, questionnaires, polls and surveys are great examples of tools that can help you gauge your community. A social media community manager works directly with an organizations sales department because they can assist them with finding new sales leads. At the end of the day, employers are most concerned with return on investment (ROI). I like the idea of implementing a brand ambassador program to empower brand advocates to formally represent your brand. A brand ambassador program is all about relationship building, but it’s important to develop specific processes and criteria for choosing brand ambassadors. Try to bring in recognizable influencer’s into your community. I enjoyed how this lesson showcased how to separately and specifically build communities for LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
Overall I found the Hootsuite program to be essential for learning how to manage social media on a larger and more detailed scale. Before taking this class I never realized how complex social media could be and because I was not on Twitter, I was unaware of how professionals utilize social media to build brand awareness, distribute content and develop themselves as thought leaders/influencers. I am a visual learner and I was fond of the video lessons/video chats in the Hootsuite University program. It would be awesome if Hootsuite would make specialized certifications for specific fields of expertise in social media such as crisis communications, public relations, advertising and data analytics. For example, instead of showcasing a broad Hootsuite certification, one could say they were specifically certified in Hootsuite’s social media crisis communications program as well. Offering more specific certifications is the only thing I could think of in regards to improving Hootsuite, but overall I found the program to be extremely impressive. Because I don’t have a lot of experience, I love adding certifications to my resume and I appreciate Dr. Freberg integrating the Hootsuite certification into her Social Media class. I would recommend the Hootsuite University programs to not just students, but also organizations and individuals as well. I really feel like I have received a cutting edge education in social media thanks to Dr. Freberg and Hootsuite.
Hootsuite has the highest customer satisfaction rate. See for yourself!
Now go get your Hoot on!
Bobby Alan Brown 