Social Media Collaboration with HootSuite

Since reviewing HootSuite last year (and converting to a HootSuite groupie in the process), they have introduced a heap of new features. The latest round came out just this week … perfect timing to kick off my Social Media Marketing Tips series. So here is the lowdown on the new things you do with HootSuite.

Social Media Teams

I help a number of clients with their social media setup and activity, so I know first-hand how difficult it can be to have multiple users managing the same accounts on Twitter and Facebook. The goal is always a seamless social media presence, but it’s hard not to overlap each other.

The new Team Collaboration tools from HootSuite are specifically designed for teams who need to access and update the same social media accounts. With the new functionality, there are a number of options that give the account owner the ability to invite, control and revoke individual access to their profiles, which is extremely important.

From a business perspective, this feature allows for coordination of efforts for posting and interaction, without sacrificing control over account information.

Merging Business/Personal Use

Once you’re set up on HootSuite — even if you start off only using as part of a team — you can add your own personal profiles right into your HootSuite account without any impact on your clients’ profiles.

So, for example, I can have HootSuite set up to give me access to three clients’ accounts, but at the same time, incorporate my own Twitter account, Facebook profile and Facebook fan page for easy updating. This is a huge timesaver, removing the need to logout and log back in, or use separate applications for separate accounts.

Changing Hands

One sticking issue I’ve had to deal with in the past is the hand-off of a client’s social media accounts once I get them up and running. With HootSuite’s new features, it’s easy to simply migrate an account to a new owner, so the client can pick up where I left off without any downtime.

I’m still working my way around the new functionality, but I’m already excited to start getting my team set up.

Other new features with this rollout, include the ability for all team members to schedule RSS-powered updates and reply-all functionality. For a complete list of Hootsuite features, go to: http://hootsuite.com/about.