What is Hootsuite?

Key features of the Hootsuite social media management platform

Hootsuite's social media tools and features help users simplify and scale their social media marketing programs. They can also inform an organization's social media policy. Some of the platform's key features include the following:

• Social media calendar and planner. These tools make it easy to create, schedule and publish content for all accounts.
• OwlyWriter AI. This component generates caption and post ideas when given simple prompts.
• Social media scheduler. The scheduler simplifies bulk post scheduling for hundreds of posts ahead of time.
• Content generator. Hootsuite can automatically create content intended to capture the attention of the target audience.
• Hashtag generator. This generator suggests hashtags for each post, to increase the chances that the post will reach the intended audience.
• Canva templates. Each template can be accessed from the Composer window and customized to create on-brand content.
• Content discovery streams. Search streams can be created by hashtag, keyword and location. Content can be shared from all networks.
• Streamlined approval workflows. A simple approval process lets team members collaborate seamlessly, review each post and reduce the risks of low customer engagement.
• Social listening tools. These tools help businesses understand what people are saying about the brand and can be used for keeping an eye on the competition.
• Audience engagement tools. Hootsuite includes features like monitoring and listening streams, a messaging inbox, an autoresponder, saved replies, and automated tagging and assignments to enhance audience interaction.
• Social media monitoring. This feature allows users to monitor mentions of their brand, relevant keywords and competitors across various social media platforms from one centralized dashboard.
• Advertising tools. Hootsuite offers social ads campaign management, social ads analytics and reporting, and the ability to boost organic posts to extend their reach.
• Analytics. Hootsuite's analytics feature provides insights into an organization's social media performance, including follower trends, engagement rates and the best times to post. It includes performance reports, industry benchmarks and custom reports to help refine strategies.

Hootsuite integrations

Hootsuite connects with over 150 apps, making it easier to manage social media marketing. These integrations include popular tools like Mailchimp, HubSpot, Airtable and Asana.

Users can also work on visuals directly within Hootsuite using Canva and ensure content clarity with Grammarly. CRM tools like Salesforce and Dynamics 365 can be linked to Hootsuite for a more consolidated view of data.

Through Zapier, Hootsuite connects to many other apps, enhancing its flexibility and functionality.

Key applications for Hootsuite

Hootsuite is used by various businesses, from small startups to large enterprises. For example, a retail company might use Hootsuite to manage its social media customer service, using the social care features to respond quickly to customer inquiries. A marketing agency might use Hootsuite's analytics and social listening tools to track campaign performance and adjust strategies in real time.

Hootsuite offers three key applications for companies looking to improve their product branding and to scale up their social media presence.

Social media

Hootsuite's social media product is for companies looking to manage their brand's content and advertising campaigns across all their social accounts. Its OwlyWriter AI writer, post idea generator, built-in templates and collaboration tools speed up content creation. Other features, such as a social media scheduler, hashtag generator, Grammarly spellcheck, bulk post scheduling, etc., simplify content publishing and maintenance.

The platform also includes numerous features for audience engagement, such as monitoring and listening streams, messaging inbox, autoresponder, saved replies and automated tagging and assignments. There are also features for brand monitoring, including brand sentiment monitoring, social mention streams and brand mention volumes.

Built-in social media analytics such as performance reports, industry benchmarks and custom reports let users see what's working and what's not on their social media accounts. They can see the best time to post based on the defined audience and social media goals, compare performance with peers and find new ways to maximize audience engagement.

Social commerce

Hootsuite's social commerce feature, named Heyday, is a customer messaging platform for retailers. Heyday includes conversational AI capabilities to help retailers deliver exceptional customer experiences at scale.

The AI chatbot can deliver personalized recommendations to enhance customer experiences on e-commerce sites. It also provides an always-on first line of support to reduce the load for human support teams and let them focus on non-repetitive, higher-value customer conversations.

Social care

Hootsuite's social care features help businesses easily manage all customer conversations from one dashboard as well as provide seamless, personal service to customers. They automate, prioritize and triage conversations across multiple channels in real time so support teams can improve response times and resolve customers' problems faster.

Hootsuite versions

Hootsuite is available in four versions intended to meet the social media management needs of a variety of users:

• Hootsuite Professional. This is the cheapest version of Hootsuite and is suitable for one user and up to 10 social accounts. Users can create, schedule and publish an unlimited number of posts. They can also access all messages from a single inbox.
• Hootsuite Team. Hootsuite Team is suitable for a team of up to three users and up to 20 social accounts. Like the Professional version, the Team version lets users create, schedule and publish unlimited posts as well as access messages from one inbox. In addition, they can assign posts to team members. Team also includes roles and permissions.
• Hootsuite Enterprise Custom. Hootsuite Enterprise Custom starts with five users and 50 social accounts. This version includes all the features of Hootsuite Team plus social ads management, social ads analytics and reports, employee advocacy and team productivity reporting. Additional tools to automate social media customer service are also available.

The versions are billed on either a monthly or annual basis. A free 30-day trial is also available for the Professional and Team versions. Business and Enterprise Custom users can also ask for a free demo. Nonprofits can get discounted rates on Professional and Team plans.

Hootsuite customer support and resources

Hootsuite provides various support options, including a comprehensive help center, tutorials and community forums. Users on higher-tier plans have access to premium support, including personalized onboarding and consulting services. Hootsuite also offers educational resources like webinars, blogs and courses to help users maximize the platform's potential.

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