Social Media Tools Review – Hootsuite, WiseStamp, & Shortstack
Social Media Toolkit Tuesday - 5/22/12
It is easy to become overwhelmed by the seemingly limitless choices of social media tools available to you. Assuming your schedule is as busy as mine (if not more so), who has the time to learn yet another tool? At Be Visible we try and test new tools all the time.
Here are three social media tools to help de-clutter your business’ online life:
Hootsuite is a single interface that allows you to manage multiple social media accounts from the same place. For example, you can add your personal Facebook account, business Facebook Page, any and all Twitter accounts, and your LinkedIn account to name a few. Within the Hootsuite dashboard you will be able to see all incoming Facebook updates, tweets, messages, etc. from the various networks you have provided. You can respond, reply, or re-tweet these messages from within the Hootsuite dashboard.
Perhaps the most convenient feature of Hootsuite is the ability to schedule messages. You can pre-compose tweets, including any links or photos, and designate them to the appropriate social media account. You then choose a date and time, and the message will appear on a social media editorial calendar. You can plan as far into the future as you like. For business owners who don’t have an in-house staff, or time to tweet during normal working hours, this is a great way to utilize the time you don’t have.
The Takeaway: Hootsuite combines all of your business or brand’s social networks into a unified interface, allowing you to track notifications on each of your social profiles while also enabling you to schedule brand communication in the future. Paid accounts even allow you to add additional team members (admins) to your social media profiles and access better analytics and reporting functions.
Wisestamp is an extension for Google Chrome that adds your social media profiles to your email signature. After downloading the extension you can choose from about 40 leading social networks to add to your signature, everything from Pinterest to Facebook and everything in between. What’s more is you have the ability to add “email apps” such as live updates of your blog or even your most recent tweet.
Here’s the WiseStamp signature that appears at the bottom of my emails:
The Takeaway: WiseStamp is a great way to remove inordinately long links from your email signature, connect with email contacts across your social channels, and promote the social aspects of your business – and it’s free!
Shortstack is a tool that enables you to build Facebook applications for your Facebook Business Page. For standard and custom apps you do not need to understand code or write in HTML.
With Shortstack you can choose from an array of templates, ranging from fan photo contests, to coupons and giveaways, to your blog RSS, or even your most recent tweets or latest pins from Pinterest. Here’s a screenshot of Be Visible’s Pinterest application on our Facebook Business Page:
Anyone who visits our Facebook Business Page can view our Pinterest boards or directly follow our Pinterest business account (if you haven’t set your Pinterest account up yet, here’s an easy guide). The Shortstack interface has step-by-step directions and is very intuitive. Any problem we’ve encountered, the support staff has quickly remedied.
The Takeaway: For a free service (free for up to 2,000 Facebook “likes”) Shortstack is incredibly handy for creating Facebook applications without requiring you to have the prowess of a seasoned web developer.
If you’d like to learn more about Social Media tools and services, or social media marketing in general – contact us!
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