Information as of October 2009

HootSuite (http://www.HootSuite.com)

Note: Please read the Twitter e-tool (link to Twitter.doc) before reading about HootSuite.

At a glance…

·  HootSuite (www.HootSuite.com) is a free website that helps you maximize your proficiency with Twitter. (www.twitter.com)

·  It lets you track and post to multiple Twitter profiles from one place.

·  You can control access for multiple users who tweet link to glossary for your organization.

·  HootSuite provides a variety of statistics to help you measure your Twitter success.

What is it?

Twitter has implemented many new features since its inception, which have fixed problems that used to be confusing for its users. However, it is a site focused on exchanging millions of small pieces of information. The playing field gets cluttered quickly for even the most experienced Twitter user.

There are a number of free Twitter management tools available to make Twitter experiences easier, but HootSuite is one of the richest when it comes to features.

HootSuite helps you manage multiple Twitter accounts, multiple users for one Twitter account or multiple Twitter accounts with multiple authors. It makes it simple to multitask between different Twitter accounts and lets you see all activity simultaneously.

Usefulness

Time saving. Being able to monitor and interact with multiple Twitter accounts from one place saves an enormous amount of time and labor. Hootsuite allows you to schedule tweets so that you can do all of your Twitter ‘business’ at one time, when necessary.

Organization. If you maintain multiple Twitter accounts, keeping track of what tasks have been completed and what is next on an agenda is difficult. The ability to monitor the latest activity, newest trends, and positive or negative reactions across all your accounts is invaluable for looking at the big picture.

Basic Elements

Streams

The “Streams” page is your homeview page. At the top, in the white box, you can write and send tweets from one or more profiles, shorten a long URL, (link glossary.doc) and schedule tweets for the future.

Recently, HootSuite added a file sharing feature. Document types you can currently upload: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, Photoshop, and MP3 files. The files are hosted on Ow.ly (http://ow.ly/url/shorten-url) and given a shortened URL automatically, which allows your Twitter followers to access additional content with minimal effort.

In the green section, you can review actions for each Twitter account by clicking the corresponding tab. The columns you see here track the home feed, mentions (people talking about your twitter updates), and direct messages sent to your Twitter account.

Stats

The “Stats” page analyzes your incoming Twitter activity. On this page you can view statistics for the entire account or for individual tweets.

Settings

The “Settings” area is where you can manage the account information you provided during setup, add or delete a Twitter profile, and maintain a list of authorized users of your HootSuite account.

If you want HootSuite to generate a message for Twitter when your blog or photo sharing (link to photoshare.doc) site (or anything else with an RSS (link to glossary.doc) feed is updated, you can also enter the feed information here.

While HootSuite services only work with Twitter, it supports Ping.fm (http://www.pingfm.com), an identity management (link to glossary.doc) service which helps coordinate activity on a number of other social networks. If you choose to link them, HootSuite will communicate your tweets to Ping.fm, and Ping.fm will forward that tweet to the social networks you have linked to it. However, at the writing of this report, it is only possible to connect one Ping.fm account to HootSuite, so if you maintain more than one Twitter feed you are out of luck.

Features

Manage Multiple Accounts

It can be beneficial to have more than one Twitter profile. Perhaps you tweet for multiple organizations or multiple campaigns within your organization. This requires the creation of multiple Twitter accounts. HootSuite allows you to manage all of these Twitter accounts simultaneously with one HootSuite account.

Manage Multiple Users

Your organization may want to have more than one person tweeting. HootSuite keeps all the activity organized in one place and helps multiple users avoid duplication of their efforts. The person creating the account is by default the administrator, and subsequent additions are identified as users.

After adding others as “users,” HootSuite sends them an email with a unique password. When that user logs in to HootSuite, they will be able to customize the dashboard to fit their needs, but will see the same list of activity, pending tweets, and statistics as the administrator would. However, the administrator can specify which Twitter profiles each user has permission to access.

Tweet Scheduler

Frequent tweeters may not have the time or desire to be on Twitter all day and probably don’t necessarily want to interrupt their schedules to send frequent tweets. Luckily, HootSuite offers scheduled tweets, where you can indicate a future date/time for your tweets to be sent. Some users have analyzed their statistics and found that tweets sent at a particular time of day generate a bigger response.

Built in URL shortener

Tweets are limited to 140 characters, and nothing eats up space like a long URL. There are other services that perform this task, but using HootSuite’s URL shortener saves you a step. Copy and paste your long URL into the link box, click “Shrink It” and the new and improved URL automatically appears in your tweet. In addition, using this URL shortener (called “ow.ly”) allows you to easily track stats on how many clicks your links receive.

Flexible Workspace

The “Stream” area is customizable to your needs. Clicking the very small arrow just under the “Send Later’ button can hide the text entry area at the top of your screen. Hiding this panel will give you more room to review your stats or view more tweet history.

You might also choose to view any of the following information, including “Mentions,” which tracks mentions of your organization by others, and the “Group” feature. By organizing your followers into groups, you can target your tweets toward the most appropriate audiences. If you add more than three boxes, you will access the additional screens by scrolling.

Hootlet

Add the Hootlet button to your favorite Internet browser so that when you come across a webpage you want to tweet about, all you have to do is click the button for one-step tweeting.

Statistics

HootSuite provides statistics for all of your Twitter profiles, viewable by each profile and each tweet. Summary statistics, as illustrated above in the Basic Elements (hyperlink to above) section, show clicked links over time––in 24 hour, 7 day or 30 day increments, as well as by specified calendar date. You can view clicks by geographical region and by referring URL. Combined statistics for all the accounts a user is maintaining through HootSuite are not currently available, and you must use the URL shortener feature to receive tracking for your links.

As an alternative, Twinfluence (http://twinfluence.com/) uses a special algorithm to measure a Twitter account’s influence based on the frequency with which other users repost (retweet) your material. Using a combination of analytical tools can be a good approach to measuring your Twitter effectiveness..

Getting Started

The following are steps to register for an account at HootSuite:

·  Navigate to HootSuite (http://www.hootsuite.com) on your web browser.

·  Click the “Sign up now” button.

·  Enter your email address, name, and password. Select your time zone and enter your company name, if applicable.

·  Click “Create account.”

·  Add a username and password for each Twitter account you want to access.

·  HootSuite will send a confirmation email to the address provided. Follow the link in that email to activate your account.

·  Clicking the link will take you back to HootSuite. Enter your username and password

·  Click “Login.”

Best Practices

·  Use Twitter tools as much as you wish, but don’t neglect visiting Twitter regularly. Some features are only available on Twitter, such as finding new followers and blocking an undesirable user.

·  Keep things simple. If using a Twitter tool is only helpful for some of your tasks, use a mixture of the website and HootSuite to meet your needs.

Time Requirements

The time necessary to maintain a HootSuite account depends on how active your Twitter accounts are and how involved with its features you are. If your Twitter program has many followers and you Tweet frequently, you will need to spend time monitoring others’ tweets, posting new tweets, and responding to direct messages. If your accounts don’t have as much activity or you only have one account to monitor, HootSuite may not be a tool you need.

Please see the official HootSuite video tutorial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXpYVTnyCjU&feature=player_embedded#) for detailed information on how to use this social media tool.