Wk16: Social Media Management Tools

      I have been using Hootesuite for a few years now to help manage my online content creation. As my businesses are quite small and do not use many media outlets I am able to get by with the limited Free plan which allows you to connect two social media accounts, schedule up to 5 messages, and have one user logged in at a time. I am quite happy the Facebook has updated their Instagram integration since I began using Hootesuite (you used to be able to have 3 accounts under the free tier, I had Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) as it has made the limited Free account much easier to use. 

     As I had mentioned Hootesuite does have a Free option but they also have 4 tiers of business options for subscription. The first is their Professional tier which allows you 1 user, 10 social media accounts, unlimited scheduled posts, and access to all inbox messages in one space, this tier costs $49 per month and includes a 30-day free trial. Next will be the Team tier which allows 3 users, 20 social accounts, unlimited scheduled posts, access to all inbox messages in one space, manage your team access and roles, and manually assign posts or comments to specific users, this tier costs $129 per month and includes a 30-day free trial. Following that we have the Business tier which allows 5+ users, 35 social accounts, unlimited scheduled posts, access to all inbox messages in one space, manage your team access and roles, manually assign posts or comments to specific users, review posts before they are published, extended functionality with some apps, and 24/7 support access, this tier costs $599 per month and includes a 30-day free trial. Finally, we have the Enterprise tier which allows unlimited users, 50 social accounts, unlimited scheduled posts, access to all inbox messages in one space, manage your team access and roles, automatically assign posts or comments to specific users, review posts before they are published, extended functionality with some apps, 24/7 support access, a quarterly business review, unlimited post promotions, reports on team performance, and custom solutions, this tier requires you to contact Hootesuite with an upgrade request.

     I can honestly and easily say I can see myself remaining with Hootesuite for the foreseeable future for its ease of use and the features I have access to in the free tier. As my businesses grow I think it would be a fantastic investment to grow my Hootesuite subscription alongside it to keep a good control over my social media accounts in one place.