All about Hootsuite: what it is, how it works, and its benefits

In the world of digital marketing and social media management, having tools that optimize time and processes is essential . Brands, entrepreneurs, and companies seek effective solutions that allow them to maintain an active and coordinated presence across multiple social media platforms without having to do it manually.

Hootsuite is one of the most recognized and widely used platforms for this purpose . With an interesting history, outstanding features, and numerous advantages, this software has become an indispensable tool for many social media professionals. If you're interested in learning exactly what it is, how it works, what it's used for, and what sets it apart from other similar tools, keep reading because we'll explain everything in detail.

What is Hootsuite?

Hootsuite is a social media management software that allows users to manage multiple social media accounts from a single platform . It was launched in 2008 under the original name BrightKit, created by Ryan Holmes and his team at Invoke Media. The need to manage multiple social media profiles led to the creation of this platform, whose final name was selected through a contest with over 100.000 participants. The winning entry, “Hootsuite,” was inspired by the owl in the logo, combining creativity with a touch of humor based on the French phrase “tout de suite.”

Over time, Hootsuite has evolved into a robust solution used by government agencies, celebrities, large corporations, and entrepreneurs . And it's no wonder, since its range of features allows users to schedule posts, monitor social media, and analyze campaign performance, all from a single dashboard.

What is Hootsuite for?

Hootsuite's main objective is to simplify the management of multiple social media profiles , especially for users who need to maintain constant communication across various platforms (such as Facebook , Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram , or YouTube). Below, we explain its main features:

• Programme of publications: You can plan all your social media posts in advance, selecting the exact time and day for them to be published.
• Real time monitoring: With its social listening features, you can keep an eye on mentions, private messages, hashtags, and comments.
• Performance analysis: Provides detailed reports on the activity, engagement, and growth of your social profiles.
• Teamwork: It allows you to assign tasks to team members, configure workflows, approve posts, and maintain optimal coordination.

It is also useful for customer service , as it centralizes messages and mentions in a single panel, speeding up responses and improving user satisfaction.

Key Features of Hootsuite

Hootsuite is more than just a content scheduler. It includes tools that cover almost all the needs of social media marketing professionals . Here are some of its most notable features:

• Custom Streams: You can create specific columns to track topics, mentions, hashtags, or scheduled posts.
• Integrated editor: From the dashboard, you can compose, edit, schedule, and publish without leaving the interface.
• Integration with other applications: From graphic tools like Canva, to content managers email marketing like Mailchimp, to CRM software like Marketo.
• Content Library: Advanced plan users can access pre-designed templates to speed up post creation.

In addition, Hootsuite connects to over 150 million websites and 30 different social networks through its Listening feature powered by Talkwalker , enabling deeper and more effective brand reputation monitoring.

Dashboard and User Experience

The Hootsuite dashboard is where all the magic happens . From here, you can access any of the tool's features thanks to a very intuitive and well-organized sidebar menu. The most important elements you'll find are:

• Stream: View real-time posts, mentions, and hashtags from each connected social network.
• Publisher: Displays scheduled posts, draft posts, and the content calendar.
• Analytics: Access overall or detailed performance by social network, post, or campaign.
• Assignments: Review the activities assigned to each team member.
• Contacts: Segment and analyze the audience that follows your profiles.

Thanks to its user-friendly interface, both novice and expert users can quickly get used to navigating, creating content, and reviewing metrics.

How to create and schedule posts

One of Hootsuite's biggest advantages is the ability to create custom posts for each social network. This process is very simple and intuitive :

1. Select the social networks where you want to publish.
2. Write your text, including mentions, hashtags, links, and emojis.
3. Add editable images, GIFs, or videos.
4. Select the exact time and date for your post (you can do this manually or let Hootsuite choose the best time).

Additionally, you can add geographic location, segment audiences by region, and even adjust the privacy of published content.

Analysis and monitoring of results

Hootsuite is more than just publishing. The tool offers detailed metrics to evaluate how each post, campaign, or profile has performed overall.

There are two key sections in this section:

• Post-Performance: Displays the number of views, comments, likes, retweets, etc. on each post.
• Reports: Allows you to generate customized reports with aggregated data from different social networks or separately.

More advanced plans also offer individual performance statistics for each team member, ideal for evaluating productivity and efficiency.

team collaboration

One of Hootsuite's strengths is its collaborative approach. The tool is designed to facilitate teamwork among different members of a social media team . Its key capabilities include:

• Assigning tasks to different users.
• Review and approval of publications before programming.
• Labeling internal conversations.
• Efficient workflows to avoid duplication or errors.

This not only improves internal organization, but also ensures that all publications are aligned with the established marketing strategy.

Hootsuite Plans and Pricing

Hootsuite is a paid tool with plans tailored to different types of users . While it offered a free version until recently, this has been discontinued since April 2023. The main plans are listed below:

• Professional Plan: Designed for a single user with up to 10 social accounts. It offers unlimited posts, a single inbox, and advanced scheduling. It costs €99/month.
• Team Plan: For up to three users managing a total of 20 accounts. Allows post assignment and role control. Cost: €249/month.
• Business Plan: Includes 5 users, up to 35 social accounts, approval flows, tags, a resource library, and personalized support. Price: €762/month.
• Enterprise Plan: Customized for large corporations. Allows for more than 5 users and 50 social accounts, plus ad campaign management and advanced automation tools. Pricing varies based on needs.

Hootsuite Limitations

Despite its many features, Hootsuite also has some limitations that are worth knowing about:

• The inbox does not centrally group all messages and mentions.
• Shared links are automatically shortened to the “ow.ly” domain, which can generate some distrust among users.
• It does not allow you to schedule the same publication at different times automatically.
• 24/7 customer support is only available for the Enterprise plan.
• It does not have automatic moderation for spam comments or conflicting users.

Alternatives to Hootsuite

While Hootsuite is one of the industry leaders, there are other platforms that offer similar features and may be better suited to certain users:

• Sendable: Allows publishing on social networks and blogs like WordPress or Medium.
• AgoraPulse: With integrated CRM, it makes managing relationships with followers easier.
• SproutSocial: It incorporates advanced analysis tools and location monitoring.
• SocialPilot: Ideal for small businesses due to its low cost.
• eClincher: Offers advanced bulk scheduling and unified inbox features.

Other options to consider include Buffer, Metricool, Postcron, or SocialGest , especially depending on the budget and team size.

Hootsuite remains a benchmark in the world of social media for its ability to adapt to diverse users, from freelancers to large multinational companies. Throughout its history, it has proven to be a solid, versatile, and reliable tool, offering a set of features and benefits ideal for those who value centralized, efficient, and professional management of their social media.