HootSuite blog – Social Media Dashboard

Owls are everywhere — or they seem to be at least — with conversations and coverage about HootSuite coming in from all corners of the globe.

To explore the opinions and anecdotes, we head east for a trip … starting in France and Spain, before flying over Eastern Europe to Russia, then moving towards China for a stopover before a return to Japan for more news from the enthused fans in Nippon.

Back in the nest in Vancouver after the whirlwind world trip, we sorted out the souvenirs and packaged up a fresh news round-up of very owl-ized articles for your international (albeit auto-translated) enjoyment.

So, put your seats and trays in an upright position and fasten your seatbelts for take-off across the Atlantic and the Pacific:

Descary.com (French) - HootSuite ajoute des outils de CRM et intègre Foursquare à son application iPhone

HootSuite adds CRM tools and features to its iPhone application Foursquare – If you are using as a client HootSuite Twitter, the service also offers the ability to filter information according to the level of influence of those you follow. Thus, you can determine a score Klout minimum for a tweet appears on your space.

Blog eTc (Spanish) – Se acaba la fiesta: Hootsuite de pago

These coins may not be valid in your country but can be spent on owl-feed

The party continues is over: HootSuite payment - One day had to happen. HootSuite, one of the best tools to manage social networks, was becoming too good to be true. Or at least, to be true and free.

{snipped}

Not the end of the world. The average user can use HootSuite as normal, a little lost. Yes, HootSuite in free version is the level (so that by eye) of Tweetdeck or Seesmic. Professionally can continue to serve for accounts with low volume and did not need a team behind.

Digitark (Estonian) – Kuidas mitmes sotsiaalvõrgustikus toimuvat ühest kohast jälgida?

How many sotsiaalvõrgustikus-out from one place to follow? - Today, the majority of active Internet users in Estonia joined some social networking, in order to obtain information and communicate with friends there. The more accounts, but it no longer be visiting the various portals. Help in the Web services and applications that bring together social media accounts in one place together. Tutuvstan briefly own favorite – Hootsuite.

Eikasia.cz (Czech) – HootSuite: 10 výhod pro správu sociálních médií

Hootsuite 10 benefits for the management of social media – Hootsuite is a website that will change your perspective on social media. Hootsuite is a web application that allows you to work with social media effectively. Hootsuite addictive application that will make you write an article for it without getting paid. I’ve never wrote a review of the software or online application. Hootsuite is but a tool, which you should at least consider, if you want to manage more than one account on the social networks.

Your Twitter (Russian) – Новые возможности HootSuite для общения в Twitter

This article mentions the new features in HootSuite and also includes 2 videos in Russian with a detailed overview:

New Features in HootSuite for communication in Twitter – HootSuite is an excellent service to work effectively in Twitter. Yesterday they presented new opportunities for all users.

Cnet China (Chinese) - HootSuite根据影响力分类Twitter用户

HootSuite Twitter users according to impact category – Beijing July 15, according to the foreign media reports, the social media management platform Hootsuite announced yesterday a launch of several new features to help SMEs better understand what Twitter users’ concerns are. HootSuite (hootsuite.com) is clearly trying to make more satisfied business owners.

Japan’s Cellphone Edge – HootSuite gets serious about Japan

This article is in English, but it covers the Japanese version of our service and has some insights from the HootSuite CEO, Ryan Holmes:

This week I attended a Digital Garage sponsored Open Network Lab event where I had a chance to chat with HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes who was in Japan to spread the word about his powerful Twitter client. <…> Ryan revealed big plans for HootSuite in Japan. I was surprised to learn that he was able to meet with Softbank’s godfather Masayoshi Son.

Kotohanooto (Japanese) – HootSuite 1.1.2 for iPhone　日本語ローカライズ

A little outdated but still interesting article about our iPhone app was spotted in Kotohanooto blog:

Japanese localization HootSuite 1.1.2 for iPhone – A tool for managing multi-user dashboard and timelines and multiple simultaneous publishing, and sophisticated statistics tracking, HootSuite (the iPhone app: “HootSuite” (350 yen) and “HootSuite Lite” (free)) has been updated to 1.1.2 version.

Netafull (Japanese) - ツイッターのウェブクライアント「HootSuite」が高機能すぎてヤバい！！

Twitter web client “HootSuite” rocking some features are too high! – This is a detailed review of the latest HootSuite’s features. It has lots of useful information with many screenshots.

ITmedia News (Japanese) – アクセスの4割が日本から　カナダ製Twitterクライアント「HootSuite」日本語版公開へ

Made in Canada from Japan 40% of Twitter Client Access “HootSuite” to release the Japanese version – Popular Twitter client “HootSuite” (the Japanese version) will be released around July. Despite that the service is in English, 38 percent of all traffic comes from Japan. A Japanese support site was also published.

Isuraeru - Open Network Lab with HootSuite

Open Network Lab goal is to encourage innovation and Internet based Start-Ups, which may explain the 40 minutes long panel on “How Engineers can start Companies”. HootSuite recently launched a Japanese version of their service,with the aid of Digital Garage which is heavily invested in the Twitter phenomena and related tools/services.

More HootSuite

Pre-board your own flight by following HootSuite’s social bookmarks and/or follow @hootwatch to get fast access to all the missives from around the world.

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Email and social media are both powerful marketing channels on their own but, when by using the best attributes of each medium, you can enjoy even more successful campaign results.

With this in mind, HootSuite and email marketing company Constant Contact have announced a co-marketing partnership which will inject a bit of social-bility into your email blasts — plus provide ways to augment your social media outreach tactics with targeted email messaging.

Certainly, marketers want access to as many tools as possible so we’re excited to announce this new relationship which will add a few more implements to your mighty tool kit.

The gist of the partnership is summed up in the press release’s tag line “Partnership Increases Reach of Two Industry Leaders; Extends Marketing and Social Media Tools to Meet Broad Customer Needs.”

Read the full release: HOOTSUITE JOINS THE CONSTANT CONTACT PARTNER PROGRAM AS A CO-MARKETING PARTNER

Here’s a quick overview of some of the benefits:

• This agreement provides HootSuite with a marketing channel to Constant Contact’s more than 350,000 small business and nonprofit customers.
• A co-branded landing page will create a custom gateway to Constant Contact’s services for HootSuite’s rapidly growing client base.
• HootSuite customers will have access Constant Contact’s archive of tools, expertise, and educational programs through a partner extranet.
• HootSuite will share revenue and can utilize Constant Contact’s online reporting tools and emailing services.

Ryan Holmes, HootSuite’s CEO, had this to say about the partnership in the release:

“We look forward to working with Constant Contact as a co-marketing partner to provide more methods for HootSuite customers to spread messages and grow audiences. With Constant Contact’s stellar reputation and vast experience, we’re very pleased to add this powerful partner to our team.”

You likely know about HootSuite so here’s a little about Constant Contact in case you haven’t tapped into their services yet:

Constant Contact’s email marketing, event marketing, social media marketing, and online survey tools help small organizations grow their businesses by building stronger customer relationships. More than 350,000 small businesses, nonprofits, and member associations worldwide rely on Constant Contact’s easy-to use, affordable online tools to create and deliver personalized, professional communications that engage casual customers, members, prospects, and passionate customers wherever they congregate online — from their email inboxes to their social networks. All Constant Contact products come with unmatched education, training and personal coaching services, and award-winning technical support. Founded in 1995, Constant Contact is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: CTCT) with offices in Waltham, Mass.; Loveland, Colo.; and Delray, Fla.; and a Silicon Valley office scheduled to open in 2010.

To learn a bit more about Constant Contact check out their site and blog. Oh, and of course Constant Contact can also be found on Twitter @constantcontact and on Facebook plus a great blog Constant Commentary.  Read more about the co-partnership agreement from the press release and let us know ways you add a bit of social to your email marketing campaigns.

hootsuite news campaign, CEO, constant contact, email, HootSuite, marketing, news, partnership, ryan holmes, toolkits, tools

Big in Japan

Continuing on with Ryan’s busy schedule in Japan comes a video and interview in TechCrunch Japan which includes a special “hello” video message in the article: [jp] hootsuiteが7月に大幅アップデートを予定。Ryan Holmes氏インタビュー auto-translated to: HootSuite plans major updates in July – Ryan Holmes Interview.

One of the questions addresses the differences between HootSuite and other social media tools – here’s a translation:

How do you differentiate Hootsuite from Twitter Apps Seesmic and TweetDeck?

First, We think we should divide into consumer and enterprise Twitter users. For example, Twitter web page is used by the common people. Seesmic and TweetDeck are for power Twitter users. In our term of classification (or category), we are hoping to target the enterprise market. So, for the power user features that you have a Seesmic or TweetDeck and as such, the next step further for business users is to move to HootSuite for features such as teams and analysis.

In addition, Japan seeks support for services like mixi and GREE. HootSuite now offers Japanese version of the page and are listening to requests with two Japanese staff.

Lab Report

Photographer Zuco Pietro recapped the Open Network Lab event featuring Ryan along with Shinnichi Fujikawa, founder of Movatwi. Zudo is an Italian Photographer & Blogger , living between Tokyo, Rome and Barcelona and tweets in English, Italiano, Español & 日本語.

He had this to say about Ryan’s remarks about entrepreneurship in his post: Open Network Lab with Ryan Holmes from HootSuite:

I went to that meeting to learn something new. I hoped I could learn some new formula, something that will give me the elements to start my own business. Is there a procedure? Something that I should do first? Some ancient book with the secret of success?

At the end, after listening to their experiences, the initial problems they had, some advices and the whole saga… the conclusion was so so simple!

Follow your dream, don’t stop, listen to people with common sense and run away from the negative ones. Adapt, learn, and remember that mistakes are good and let you learn more. Jump!

More from the Road

touchannel station blog — by takaaki John TATSUMI and kazumichi Paul NISHIMURA, who “connect cocoro to kokoro” — spread the word about Japan and Ryan’s visit in: HootSuite – Hoot Tour in Japan フートスイート ツアー ジャパン – Ryan Holmes has come to Japan !!

matiere posted: HootSuite、日本語ヘルプデスクサイト開設 explaining that HootSuite has translated the iPhone App to Japanese, and added a Japanese Help Desk and Twitter account HootSuite Japan.

Netafull blog also shared the news about the Japanese community site in: HootSuite（フートスイート）」日本語サイトを開設 or {translated} HootSuite opened Japanese site.

Missing Owl

One small foible on Ryan’s trip is described by yOomii in Lost in flight – perhaps you can help?:

Oh dear, it seems that my mini hootsuite owly got lost in flight while on a business trip. He lost his way somewhere between San Francisco, New York, Washington, and Japan! If you see this small owl, please let me know. He’s probably scared being in a new area which he doesn’t know, and most likely he wants to be back home in Vancouver. If you spot him, please leave me a quick message to let me know, or help spread the word (especially if you live in these locations). Here’s hoping that he will be found and safely return home (:

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Image of Innovators from BC Business

Continuing on with the News Round-up catch up … in late April, Invoke Media / HootSuite were listed at #5 in BC Business Magazine’s 2010 Guide to Innovation which included B.C.’s 20 best companies at executing world-changing technology. The Invoke team covered the event in the post: Breaking The Top 5: Invoke & HootSuite recognized as innovators.

Certainly we’re pleased to share the list from our home province with companies in diverse industries from urban development, space exploration, pollsters, computer chip makers, citizen news aggregation, e-commerce, alternative fuels, and global auctioneers.

Danielle Egan wrote an in-depth piece after an interview with CEO Ryan Holmes and members of the HootSuite Board of Directors. She chronicles our relationship with founding agency Invoke and the big picture of the changing paradigms of media creation. Here are a few snippets:

Within six months of launching, HootSuite was the app of choice for 100,000 tweeters, and a year later it had received numerous awards. The company has adapted it for LinkedIn, Wordpress and Facebook’s estimated 350 million users, as well as a mobile app for iPhone. HootSuite now has 400,000 users including Disney, Fox, the U.S. Army and Dell, along with thousands of individuals from power-bloggers to amateurs.

Hear Ryan Holmes and other BC innovators discuss other innovators at the award gala

“Today everyone is a media channel,” says Holmes, who starts each day groping for his iPhone and uses words like “truthiness” and “stickiness” when describing effective social media brands and technologies. “Corporations need tools to deal with that constant stream of information quickly.”

Of course, like Twitter and Facebook, HootSuite is feeling the pressure to monetize. Until recently it was bankrolled by Invoke Media, which Holmes co-founded in 2000, but this past January HootSuite became an independent company. That’s when HootSuite received $1.9 million in financing from venture-capital firms including Hearst Interactive and Blumberg Capital (Holmes became the new company’s CEO, while maintaining his stake and position with Invoke). HootSuite aims to turn a profit by mid-2010, with new apps and mobile partnerships in the pipeline and plans to charge corporate users a nominal fee.

Members of HootSuite Media Inc.’s Board of Directors add their comments saying:

“Hootsuite will still be the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to get a grip on disruptive mass communication platforms like Twitter and Facebook,” says investor David Blumberg, the 50-year-old managing partner of Blumberg Capital and a specialist in social media technologies, who compares his pre-HootSuite Twitter experiences to “drinking from a fire hose.” By contrast, “Hootsuite filters that torrent of information and makes it useful whether you’re an individual or a corporation.”

Tools like Twitter have levelled the playing field, says Blumberg, who notes that as the debate on social media’s stickiness percolates, the pace and clout of online communities accelerates. “Younger generations live and swim in this soup. It has smashed traditional hierarchies. Corporations can’t hide out like dictators. They have to dive in.” Whether brands sink or swim, HootSuite is clearly riding the wave.

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A wee bit old but while we’re catching up on News Round-ups over the next few days, here’s an artifact from SXSWi back in March.

This time it’s a video interview with CEO Ryan Holmes with Folk Media. Ryan shares some insider info about how we build and promote HootSuite, the channels we use to spread the brand, and what we measure to gauge success.

Take a look and be sure to answer host Nichole Kelly’s question:

After you watch the video leave a comment below and let us know which category Ryan fits in and why…
1) Houdini – all smoke and mirrors
2) Miami Vice – definitely trendsetting
3) CSI – Crime Scene Investigator – so smart with social media measurement that NOTHING gets by.

Note: I chose 3) CSI cause i know (almost) no mention of “HootSuite” slips by on Twitter, web, or elsewhere thanks to a listening dashboard of feeds which diligently harvests mentions from the outer reaches of the Internet.

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While in Toronto for Sprout Up, HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes sat down with Karim Kanji of Tech Vibes to deliver his insight about the SXSW experience, Vancouver’s start-up community, how HootSuite got started, and what the company is working on next.

Ryan Holmes, CEO of HootSuite – Interview with Karim Kanji of Techvibes

As a bonus, check out this guest appearance by Dave Olson, HootSuite’s Community Marketing Director again by Karim Kanji.

A HootSuite shout-out to Karim Kanji for these great interviews.

hootsuite news business, dave olson, HootSuite, hootsuite news, interviews, Invoke, karim kanji, news, ryan holmes, SXSW, techvibes, uncleweed, video

Attention Vancouver iPhone Developers

No, this isn’t an April Fool’s joke, it’s true that HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes will share knowledge with mobile developers and aspiring entrepreneurs in Vancouver when he speaks at the iPhone and Social Media meetup on April 1 at the Guinness Tower in Vancouver.

Be sure to attend if you are interested in hearing Ryan talk about the HootSuite mobile launch for the iPhone and Android platforms including the backstory behind the promotional campaign behind the launch.

Date/Time:
April 1, 2010 at 6pm

Location:
Guinness Tower – Presentation Room
1055 West Hastings St., Vancouver, BC

Details
iPhone Developers Meetup

Blurb:

Ryan Holmes will be speaking about a case study of the mobile launch rollout of HootSuite for iPhone and Android. He will review how they lined up their launch to get maximum exposure, and achieve the 1st place rank in their application category in the app store, 13th place in Canada, 18th place in Japan, and 34th in the US app store for the month of December.

Also, Aaron Hilton (CEO of CellMap, Inc.) will offer his thoughts on Key Value Observing, and a speedy way of using NSPredicates to crunch your data.

events events, hootsuite for iphone, iPhone, iphone app, launch, marketing, presentation, ryan holmes, social media

Greetings from Driftwood Texas - photo by @johnbiehler

After a hugely successful and enjoyable week at SXSWi (which deserves a mighty recap/roundup of its own), HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes is T.O. bound to speak at Sprouter on Wednesday, March 24th 2010 6pm at The Pilot, 22 Cumberland St. Toronto.

While in town, Ryan and I (Dave Olson Marketing/Community Director) seek to meet TorontoLand customers, entrepreneurs, media and tech luminaries to talk about what they need to spread messages, build audience and track results.

Want to meet up? Ping me @daveohoots to arrange a time for a conversation.

The Sprouter Toronto event looks fantastic and has a huge audience already RSVP’ed. Here’s the blurb to give you a flavor:

Sprout Up is a free monthly event for forward-thinking Toronto area entrepreneurs to gather and mind-meld. A great chance for startups around the city to get friendly, discuss current trends, and network in a casual, open, and focused setting. Attendees will walk away with new insights, new friends and actionable ideas for their businesses.

Join us on March 24th for the next Sprout Up! We have a special guest flying in from Vancouver for the event – guest speaker Ryan Holmes, founder and CEO of professional Twitter client Hootsuite. Ryan will be talking about his journey as a serial entrepreneur (from founder of a paintball field to tech startup CEO). You’ll also hear from new local startups about their businesses.

More Sprouter

Web: http://sprouter.com/sproutupto

Email: Erin at erin[at]sprouter[dot]com

Twitter: @sprouter List: Sprouter/sprouterteam

Tag: #SproutUpTO #sprouter

PS

We also have some collectible Owl stickers to share (8 different designs!).

events austin, ryan holmes, sprouter, SXSW, sxswi, toronto

Ryan Holmes Movember at TedX Vancouver by KK

Do you know the Web20 show? Well you should and not just to hear Ryan Holmes, Founder of HootSuite talk about pursuing VC funding and the joys of iterating your product. Here’s how they set up the segment:

We talked about how they iterated to get to the full on Social Media Dashboard that HootSuite aims to be. Originally it was just Twitter in their Radar, but soon after they pulled in Facebook, LinkedIn and Ping.fm to use as sources for your social content.

In the “Twitter client” space and the Social Media Dashboard space, there is a lot of demand for features and the competition is strong. Ryan helps us to understand what they are doing different to differentiate themselves from the competition regardless of the platform, web, mobile, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc.

Ryan and I talked quite a bit in this episode about their recent Series A round of Financing of $1.9 Million dollars back in January 2010. In today’s startup world it’s sort of a “no no” to take funding, but for them they really needed that financial backing to take HootSuite to the next level and the places they want to take it.

So head over to listen to the Ryan Holmes episode and follow @web20show on Twitter for updates.

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Reach Magazine with HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes

The new issue of Reach Magazine features Boys Co, Carlie Wong and HootSuite complete with mug shot on the front cover and a “day in the life of Ryan Holmes” narrative inside.

The article: “The Who’s Who of HootSuite” by Melissa Welsh delves into the day-to-day events of a start-up company from early wake-ups to constant connectedness plus sheds light on Ryan from his attire to yogic practice with at least 2 mentions of his hair :

When Ryan Holmes rolls over in his bed in the morning, regaining consciousness from an unusual lapse of solitary respite, instead of stretching a lazy limb to grasp a cup of coffee like most morning inefficient people, his fatigued fingers clasp his iPhone. They rest but for a moment, until they jump into action typing, checking email.

Tumbling out of bed, the tweet update is the next item of business, even before as much as a morning bite or sip of herbal infused tea. With Holmes’ dog Mika in tow, the pair take a quick jaunt down the streets of downtown Vancouver’s east-side and enter the doors of Invoke media’s trendy work studio, just off Dunlevy Avenue, to begin the already started work day. Their entrance diverts my eyes from the black, blue and white art graffiti on the walls of the foyer.

We sit in one of the office’s boardrooms; the walls and table are white. Holmes sits in front of me, dressed in a red plaid shirt and jeans. A baseball hat dons his head, covering a crop of slightly disheveled ginger hair.

Even though his days are filled with navigating the convoluted and interconnected roads of the virtual social networking hemisphere, he seems at ease. Perhaps it’s a bought of clarity that he managed to hold onto from his yoga session the night before.

Not only does Ryan’s dog Mika get name-checked but also manages to get in the photo – peering out the window keeping a close eye on the proceedings. Ms. Welch goes on to explain about HootSuite features like admin/editor control, integration points beyond Twitter including Facebook, a list of recent awards and some solid quotes from ‘Tenacious R.’

Ryan Holmes at HootSuite HQ with dog Mika

The software’s universal usability has caused HootSuite to take home a number of notable awards. This past year alone, HootSuite has won Mashable’s Open Web Award for Best Twitter App, a Shorty Award for Best Application, and most recently a Canadian New Media Award for Best Social Media Application. The software was also finalist in the prestigious 2009 Forrester Groundswell Awards.

“It’s such an honor,” Holmes said, taking his hat off to rake his fingers through his tousled hair. “I think we have pretty good gut instincts on stuff.”

But even though Invoke may seem to be doing impossibly well, Holmes knows even award winning companies will always be in a competitive process. Sitting at the sleek white table, leaning forward, this rather inconspicuous-looking man is actually a tenacious businessman.

“It’s all been grinding,” Holmes said, adding that while the company’s reputation helps, you as an entrepreneur have to make things happen. “Nothing is owed to you, you have to earn things.”

Download the entire Reach Magazine issue to learn more about Ryan and Melissa’s conversation about the behind-the-scenes happenings at HootSuite.

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