If you’re struggling to get the most out of social media, you’re not alone. The sheer volume of information and conversations you can collect from various social media channels is overwhelming. As a business owner, you are able to connect with your customers, clients and prospects in real time, but what good does it do if you are deluged with so much information that making sense of it consumes your day?
For example, if you simply have a Twitter and Facebook account with 150 friends / followers on each, you now have 300 more people who can talk to you directly, at any hour of the day or night. Much of that conversation has no value to your day-to-day business activities. However, the few people who reach out to you and want to find out information, or want to give a review of their experience with your company expect to hear back from you. Misusing social media by not paying attention to those who connect with you is worse than not having a social media presence at all.
So how to you sort the non-stop social media data stream? Trying to consume it all from your Facebook Wall or Twitter Dashboard is like trying to take a drink from a fire hose. In the same way classic literature’s heroes had a tragic flaw, social media’s benefit is its biggest downfall. Once you get past a few friends, fans and followers, you’re buried under digital comments, tweets, instagrams and pings.
Hootsuite is my favourite dashboard to manage multiple social media channels. Hootsuite allows you to connect with social media accounts from Facebook, Twitter,Ping, WordPress, Linked In and more, and see them all on a single, customizable desktop. While a few competing dashboards are out there, these features put Hootsuite at the top of my list.
- Hootsuite is web-based, not an application I download to my desktop. This means that if I’m a guest on a computer, or at the local Internet Café, I can log onto my account and see the same thing that is on my trusty laptop.
- Hootsuite has a mobile app that syncs with my account. So if I am on the run or sitting with my pad waiting for a client, I can log on and stay connected.
- Hootsuite has a “Hootlet” app that integrated into Chrome or Firefox. From any page, at any time, I can click the Hootlet, and a miniature HootSuite application pops up. The URL is automatically shortened, and I can broadcast my latest find out to any of my Hootsuite channels.
- Hootsuite allows me to create lists, based on groups of users, keywords, hashtags, or trending idea. I can look for information that is important, or listen to the voices that move my industry forward.
As a social media marketing company, Hootsuite is essential for managing our own social media message, and our clients’. From my Hootsuite desktop, I can zero in on any of the 20+ social media channels I manage, connect with that business’ tribe, and build their brand.
Rather than give you a systematic tutorial, check out www.hootsuite.com, or visit YouTube.com and search for tutorials. Easily managing your social media message and clearly connecting with your tribe is just a few clicks away.
This is a Guest Blog Post by Timothy Burns from StartRankingNow.com