Social Media Tools: Analysis of Hootsuite

Introduction

Social networking has taken over the entire world. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter Instagram or any other platform social networking has given every user a unique perspective and different approach to life. In the 21st century everything is a competition every inspired human being is set out to create something new and innovative and so they come up with revolutionary ideas that truly have the power to change the entire world. Something similar happened when Hootsuite was created. Its existence made a huge difference for its users thus redefining the meaning of business management.

Background

Originally this revolutionary process started off with Brightkit. This was just an idea that later became the foundations of Hootsuite. Brightkit was a tool for users who had multiple twitter accounts and so by using this tool they could manage all their different accounts. In 2009, Brightkits name changed to Hootsuite and so did its features. The creator, Holmes, made significant progress in developing Hootsuite adding Facebook and LinkedIn to its dashboard. By the end of 2009, Hootsuite became an independent company known as Hootsuite Media, Inc. and suddenly became a global phenomenon. Soon it received funds from companies such as Hearst Interactive Media, Blumberg capital and the Leo group, LLC. This was just the beginning of their success as stock prices started to rise and companies such as OMERS Ventures started taking interest in the upcoming business investing $20 million in the company. Over the years Hootsuite started to grow, it made such a huge difference for people in business that by the beginning of 2017 it secured $50 million in growth capital from CIBC innovation banking. A unique idea which helped thousands of people to make a living, it is truly something very remarkable in the growing economy.

Uses

Holmes saw many people and organizations having issues managing multiple social accounts online, and so he made a platform which helped its users manage and track their social network channels at one place. This helped these organizations in effective customer care as they could now know what people were saying about their product and instantly allow them to help and reply to their customers. This platform made the lives of old businesses-that had just started marketing online-and start-up businesses very easy.

Advantages

Keeps track of multiple accounts in One Place It is the reason why Hootsuite was actually made in the first place-to manage several different social accounts at one place. Posting to numerous accounts at once is also an added benefit as it is a real time saver. If an emergency situation arises alerting all the customers will be an easy job adding to the array of advantages it brings to the table.

A team helps you manage your business Hootsuite has a team management facility which allows users to allot responses to different team members. This helps divide the responsibilities thus working in a systematic way. Communication between team members is easy as Hootsuites messaging feature allows members to interact with each other effectively. Accessible on different platforms Hootsuite can work on many platforms such as Mac OSX, Windows, Linux and mobile platforms which gives it a distinct advantage. This gives them the ability to reach every consumer and thus no one is left behind allowing them to expand their parameter and reach all over the globe.

Get reports via email Not only is Hootsuite used for business purposes but it is also used by basic consumers to manage their accounts. If it is used to only manage multiple accounts then a very useful feature would be the weekly analytics reports. Hootsuite goes too far lengths to make everything for its consumers easy. It sends (. pdf) reports containing graphs showing different things such as: number of clicks per day, most visited websites and geographical information on the people visiting. Nothing in this world comes perfect thus everything-including its advantages- has its disadvantages, and there are quite a few cons relating to the all successful company known as Hootsuite.

Disadvantages

Expensive reports

There is no doubt that Hootsuite has done an incredible job in customer satisfaction however they are not perfect. Hootsuite provides users with reports of their work and though the first 2 reports are free the consumer will need to spend an additional of $50 to buy points through which users will be able to get more report. There are unfair charges that are being charged by Hootsuites to small companies, charges which do not affect large companies much.

Issues with Facebook

Many people use Hootsuite for managing their accounts and to receive relevant reports. However with Facebook things are not that easy as Hootsuite does not record the person’s likes and dislikes or comments in the reports. This might upset the people who want their information to be compiled and stored.

High charges for teams

Hootsuite has complicated many things for the basic user in addition to doing that they have also made some pricing upgrades for teams. So in order to use this feature users must now buy the team plan which can only include 3 users, costing 34. 99/user/month. If the consumer requires more than 3 members then they would have to pay for the business plan which costs $7000 per year, an offer which would force many upcoming businesses to look for other means of managing their business online. Having its pros and cons it is not to be forgotten that Hootsuite has stood tall since 2008 and it is still going strong. A big company tends to lose its way along the way and the disadvantages show exactly what it has lost. Hootsuite started because Ryan Holmes wanted to help people and organizations and so they should keep doing that but considering everyone, adjusting the price for every business according to their current market position, keeping everything fair for the long term users as well as the new ones.

Place in the Market

In the economic world Hootsuite is doing extremely well for itself securing markets all over the world. Truly it has become a leader securing 34. 8% of the market. It would be abnormal to say a leader doesn’t have competitors because that’s just what Hootsuite has. A lot of people have followed on its footsteps and have built rather very compelling companies. Capitalizing on the idea lay down by Ryan Holmes companies like buffer, sprout social; Oktopost, Shortstack and Spreadfast have catch up to Hootsuite. While having a market share of 10. 1% buffer is the closest and the first in line to compete against Hootsuite. But if looked closely the difference between these two is of great proportions. Whilst Hootsuite is a complete social media managing dashboard buffer just concerns with pre scheduling content. However people tend to use these two tools together to schedule social media posts more efficiently. Sprout social comes third as a competitor to Hootsuite with a market share of 6. 67%. A business which is continuously growing, they both give practically the same benefits and both have the same features. People want the best and sprout social just doesn’t work as the best for people. Whether it’s the user interface or the features sprout, social lacks at some point and thus gets beat by its competitor. Oktopost, Shortstack and Spreadfast are the lower ones in line but still are competitor’s that need to be monitored closely. While they might lack in market share: Oktopost with 4. 28%, Shortstack with 3. 04% and Spreadfast with 4. 75% they have the potential to match up to Hootsuite. Businesses work in different ways. Every business has a unique way to function and that is what gives them the edge in the market. Though Hootsuite is leading the market, every single one of its competitors has the potential to beat it in this race. As it is not a very saturated market competition is limited so Hootsuite has time to catch a breather but as time passes it can be said that competition will increase. Not everyone can be a leader forever.

Popularity

Over the last decade Hootsuite has taken over rapidly, helping out millions of people all around the world. It gave many people a foothold to make a strong customer relationship and ease of communication. Hootsuite was built in Vancouver; it is the birth place of this prestigious platform. Now 10 years later over 16 million people are a part of this global success. Whether for business purposes or for personal use it is used in more than 175 countries. Indeed the founders wanted everyone to enjoy its benefits and so they made it free. However if anyone wishes to enjoy its full benefits then signing up for Hootsuite pro would be the best option as the package costs $19 a month which allows the user to manage 10 social accounts a month.

User Testing

I created a survey about Hootsuite to find out do people know about it. The first thing I did was showed a video of what Hootsuite is and then I created a survey and asked these questions:

• Did you ever hear of Hootsuite before this Video? Which of these do you have an account for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or other?
• Reasons why you don't have a Hootsuite account?
• What is the likelihood of having a Hootsuite account in the next 6 months?
• Where did you hear of Hootsuite?
• Do you have a Hootsuite account?

I sent the survey out to my class mates to complete. 83. 3% said they had never heard of Hootsuite while 16. 7 said they have heard of it. I then asked what social media are they on and the most common answer was Instagram. The reasons why people won’t create a Hootsuite account is that they have no time or that they are just not interested in using a tool like this. 60% of my class mates said there is a chance that they will join it in the next 6 months. Only one person in the class has a Hootsuite account. All of the class mates heard of Hootsuite through college. The reason I think people are not interested in Hootsuite is that it is for companies not individual people.

Conclusion

As now in the 21st century customer care is what matters the most, the faster and efficient the person is with customer dealings the more successful he is in his business and Hootsuite is just what every business lover needs. Hootsuite is a must for companies as it saves them loads of time and they get to interact faster with their customers. I feel after reading this report the only Social media tool people will consider using is Hootsuite. It’s easy to use and keeps everyone updated on different forms of Social media.