One of the primary reasons that Hootsuite is such a good Twitter client for the individual is that, from the start, the goal was to create an interface for managing all your social networking accounts. Not only was it created to manage your brand, but was built for groups to manage a brand. Up until recently, you only had the option of adding other managers for your accounts, but there was no hierarchy. Everyone had access to the social networking accounts, but here was really no way to coordinate.
That changed with the creation of Owners and Teams. Now, it’s simple to add an account and invite team members to help manage it. It gives you the power to organize efforts without sacrificing the security of your social media accounts. It also helps your brand to be more agile and react in a timely manner. You can modify team member roles at any time and team members can even integrate their personal accounts into the same interface to keep things simple.
There was still a missing piece here. While it was easier to coordinate, there was still no real way to delegate work or track what others on the team were doing. You could easily end up duplicating efforts or having messages fall through the cracks. This could be highly detrimental for your image.
With a few new feature additions, Hootsuite has filled in the gaps and taken your social media management to the next level. Most important is the Message Assignment feature. Use this to assign specific updates and messages to specific team members, including an optional note to give them a heads-up. This allows you to divide work among your team in an efficient and simple manner. For instance, customer complaints, technical support, blog posts, and kudos could all be handled by specific individuals. As the manager, you can see what your team is doing and ensure quality. Team members can also forward messages to each other in the case that another team member could better handle the situation.
To increase efficiency, reduce redundancy, and keep everyone on the same page, Hootsuite has shared columns and drafts. This means the whole team sees the same set of columns and messages. The shared drafts allow you to store pre-written responses to make sure there is a level of consistency in your communications. You can quickly see what messages have been taken care of, what is outstanding, and which have been transferred using the Assignment Tracking feature. Finally, use the Forward Updates by Email function to share messages outside of Hootsuite. This makes it easy to show off your hard work to upper management or handle special issues.
Hootsuite helps you monitor what’s going on in your niche and respond quickly where necessary. The team management features can help organizations of any size maintain a consistent brand image and maintain favorable sentiments. All this in a simple and easy to use interface.
How are you managing your brand?