Marketing

Hootsuite for Beginners

Use the free version to schedule out posts–saving you time. 

By Lauran Hundshamer, Director of Marketing

Let’s face it…no small business owner has additional time to work with. You are helping customers, checking people out at the point of sale, doing inventory and accounting…the list goes on and on. So if there isn’t any additional time, how can I add yet another task to your ever growing list by telling you to post on social media every day, update your website, identify promotional opportunities and with that comes creating flyers and email notifications to send out to customers, analyze Google Analytics, AND then analyzing your return on investment (ROI) to see if it is working? Seems a lot to ask as you are trying to whisk your kids off to soccer practice. 

 

As a B2B marketer, one of my roles is to help our customers grow. My favorite part of the job is meeting with small business owners to determine their needs and then sit with them as we discuss their options. One of the easiest to introduce to my clients is social media. Knowing how to delegate time and using the right platform will create an easy, and inexpensive path to success. 

For the most part, my clients know they need to do something. They just don’t know what platforms are the most efficient to best push their message out. So, here is my first suggestion: Get an automated social media platform such as Hootsuite or Sprout Social. I use Hootsuite’s free version for Tessman Company and it works just fine for my needs. Hootsuite allows you to connect Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter all in one platform–just a note the free version only allows three platforms. The free version also allows you to schedule up to 30 posts at a time saving you time and frustration having to post on all three platforms. Here is a tutorial on how it works. 

Lauran brought her excitement for all things marketing to Tessman in 2018. Her passion is small business marketing with an emphasis on digital marketing such as targeted, retargeted. SEM, SEO, and social media. Feel free to get in touch with Lauran to hear more about how she can help your small business. (Complimentary for our clients!) And remember to connect with her on LinkedIn. 

Marketing, like many professions, is one that requires continuous updates and education. If you are interested in taking your marketing skills further, Lauran recommends following Seth Godin, Hubspot, and Adweek.

Follow Lauran on Twitter! @LauranMarketer