Social Media Dashboards – Which is Right for your Business?

Michedolene Hogan
Michedolene Hogan, publisher of TheAllergySpot.com, lives in a quiet rural neighborhood of NC. She and her four children enjoy the quiet atmosphere after years of living in Southern CA cities. On two acres of land she has found the perfect atmosphere for working as a freelance writer covering a wide range of topics. She prefers writing about alternative allergy solutions but enjoys dabbling in other topics as well. In her spare time she and her family enjoy working with rescued dogs from high kill shelters around NC that need a little special TLC to re-learn how to be part of a family.
Michedolene Hogan

@theallergyspot

I am a multi-trigger, long-term allergy sufferer who loves animals, big fluffy pillows and relaxing in the springtime breeze while enjoying symptom free days!
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With the social media drive at the forefront of businesses, it is becoming increasingly important to have the right social media dashboard employed in your business to meet all the requirements of your brand. Depending on what services you’re providing, what you’re hoping to achieve and how much money you want to spend, you can choose the appropriate product for you. Having a social media dashboard gives you the functionality to plan your posts ahead of time and schedule them to run automatically, saving you time better spent on addressing real time business issues.

Hootsuite

The Advantages:

1.     Hootsuite is a multifunctional tool which allows you to have up to 5 different social media profiles (on the free version) co-releasing at any one time from a whole host of social networking websites. Additionally, Hootsuite has the functionality to plug in WordPress blogs. For $5.99 a month, users can have unlimited capabilities in terms of adding social media sites.

2.     Hootsuite provides an excellent set of analytics to showcase user statistics. This allows you to analyze the behavior of users concerning your business pages, conversion rates and further activity.

3.     It gives all the functionality of the social media sites you are connected to and allows you to deal with customers straight from the platform

4.     The profile management system is entirely customizable

5.     More than one person in an organization can access the system to work collaboratively

6.     It is possible to publish the same post across all social network sites in order to reach all of your separate audiences. In addition, social media sites can be hand selected so that only some are used and some are left out.

7.     You can plan releases well in advance and set them to run on a 24 hour period in order to appeal to a global audience

8.       It is entirely web-based meaning that no program has to be downloaded. In terms of a fast paced business, this is very important as your company’s users can access it at any time from any computer.

The Disadvantages

1.     The URL shortener can give a ‘tacky’ appearance which sometimes seems like a spamming     link

2.     The iPhone app only works for Twitter which limits access on-the-go making it difficult to respond to consumer inquiries in real time

3.     Specific searches do not always work

4.     It is slow to update meaning that you can miss information

5.     Inactivity makes the program go to sleep which can be annoying in terms of updates as the dashboard can miss some of the posts through Twitter.

CoTweet

The Advantages

1.    CoTags allow the addition of a personal touch which accredit the author by adding a signature to tweets

2.    A member of your business can be assigned as the ‘on duty’ tweeter, allowing them to have access to the system and to be held responsible for content as well as replies throughout the day

3.    Lists and searches can be created and accessed easily in order to organize a list of pre-determined topics which may consistently need to be researched and discussed within the forum of your business.

4.    You can easily refer to and access archived tweets

The Disadvantages

1.    The tool is not multifunctional and solely works with Twitter. While it is useful in keeping Twitter up to date, a large corporation or a busy business may need to keep all social media functioning underway and employing CoTweet would mean engaging another tool to deal with the other systems.

2.    Locating specific tweets can sometimes be difficult. This may be an issue if queries are related to something you have previously stated or you need to verify previous information you have provided the public.

Seismic

The Advantages

1.    The ‘Contact Manager’ function allows you to analyze the people following you on certain social media and access information regarding them and their activity on your profile.

2.    The multiple columns allow you to watch many different social networking sites at once but still see conversations in real time

3.    iPhone, iTouch, iPad, Android, Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry apps are available which means that it can be used from a variety of locations

4.    Unlimited Twitter accounts and unlimited Facebook accounts (Facebook on web-based version only) can be added meaning that the whole span of your business’ social media marketing can be placed in one program

The Disadvantages

1.    There’s no analytics system which means you cannot analyze the general behavior of your followers or fans. This is an issue if you are using these patterns to drive targeted campaigns and advertisements.

2.    The Android client is very slow making it difficult to use while out and about. Due to this,  replying to queries and comments from users in real time can be difficult.

3.    Some of the features are only available in the web-based version meaning that on-the-go functionality is limited.
Comparing social media platforms is important to gauge the best outcome from the work put in. Social media forums rely so heavily on timing and content that a platform can be a saving grace when ensuring everything happens according to plan. As was stated in the DIY Thesis theme review concerning WordPress, an online platform or tool widely used, doesn’t always make it the best. Only in researching a variety of tools will we find the right one for our businesses.
 

Comments

  1. This is very informative. I still do not understand it though lol. That’s because i am new to this online marketing thing.
    Pher Lee recently posted..the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you are trying to say.My Profile

  2. Hi Hogan,
    These social media dashboards as you have suggested are just great. I have never come across this Hootsuite and Co-Tweet before and I do find it very interesting as well. I like the advantages and the disadvantages that you have shared. Thanks for the share!!!

  3. i am working as a SEO executive but i am not sure about hootsuite and Cotweet before.I will check these all as soon as Because as you suggested and i think hotsuite can good for me.
    Bhushan recently posted..Property Inventory SoftwareMy Profile

  4. I am using HootSuite and it works great. It has all the major features I’d like, but what I’m missing is the simplicity and a better overview. And I’m looking for a social inbox, where everything I’m doing in social ends up in one place, like the inbox in email.
    Jens P. Berget recently posted..I had to walk away to find the true meaning of life and marketingMy Profile

  5. All people are looking to get more and more benefits for their sites but if they will use these tactics with right steps then they will get good response in that.

  6. Well, Hootsuite just bought Seesmic so that’s them together :)
    I have a fondness for one called MarketMeSuite actually – do check it out as it does have some value. I’ve personally never really liked Hootsuite – I think it’s the ugly interface.
    Martin Cooney recently posted..$25 Paypal Cash GiveawayMy Profile

  7. I am using Hootsuit for quite long and i am fully satisfied with its services,if not fully satisfied i would say i am satisfied by what Hootsuit provides almost in every sense except sometimes when its hard to sees the missed updates and the visibility it has.
    Aditya recently posted..Mobile Recharge Software with API DelhiMy Profile

  8. I havent tried any of the others, but HootSuite is pretty cool, despite some of its glaringly obvious drawbacks. For Twitter and Facebook, Tweetdeck is an excellent alternative, the best that I know of! It used to support MySpace too, but the latest version doesnt. It’s pretty quick and has a really cool (simple) interface too.
    Mike Dawson recently posted..How to Make Visitors Respond to Your Call to Action and Increase ConversionsMy Profile

  9. I was using Hootsuite before making Gremln a catchall service. Now I strictly stick to Tweetdeck since there is nothing but noise in the twittersphere anymore.
    tony recently posted..113tidbits.com Search Index Status Timeseries – Google WorkMy Profile

  10. Your article highlights the dashboards well and provides great information. I prefer Hootsuite after trying a few before it. Many users are scared by social media dashboards and shouldn’t be. They’re easy to use and make automation fun!
    Maria Snyder recently posted..Blog 2 where are you?My Profile

  11. Hey Michedolene,

    Interesting stuff here. I have heard of HootSuite, but have not used it. CoTweet sounds too limited to be effective, but Seismic I think deserves a closer look.

    I have not been reall good about Social Media, but know I need to get with the program. I now have a new item on my TO DO list.

    Thanks

    David
    dwakeman recently posted..TaylorMade Burner Superfast Hybrid ReviewMy Profile

  12. The Social Media Dashboards are very useful tools for increase the impact of ou social media publications, nice article for get better in our business, very well explained, thanks for the information

  13. Awesome Articles! I am totally agree with you.I am fully satisfied of HootSuite. I prefer Hootsuite after trying a few before it. Many users are scared by social media dashboards.Really HootSuite is best for me.Well thanks for sharing this.

  14. I just dont understand how to bussiness with this blog..but thanks for the information
    stephenbun recently posted..DOWNLOAD INTERNET TURBO 2012 GRATISMy Profile

  15. I’m a huge supporter of Hootsuite and encourage all my social media clients to use them. They keep adding apps and platforms to their software that it blows away any competition. They recently increased their monthly cost to $9.99 – still a steal if you ask me.
    Willie recently posted..Search Engine DirectoryMy Profile

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