Using Hootsuite to cross post your content

Being able to post the same content on multiple social media platforms at the same time is something that a lot of businesses find very useful, since it helps them maintain a very active social media presence. Cross posting actually makes it easier for businesses to reach more fans, friends and followers without having to retype the same information more than once. While it’s true that there are already plenty of solutions out there that allow websites to cross post, none of them is as effective and as versatile as HootSuite. So what is it?

Well, HootSuite is a social media dashboard that allows you to update your WordPress, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter account from a single application. In order to track growth, it uses custom analytics, but it also incorporates Google analytics and Facebook Insights. On top of that, the app also makes it easy to schedule posts in advance and configure RSS feeds to automatically update posts. While the software can be used free of charge, if you want to unlock its true potential, you may want to upgrade to the Pro plan.

Social Streams: Using HootSuite to improve your online presence

If you’re a business and want to present an effective and also well rounded presence on the social scene, then you need to maintain an eighty to twenty ratio for posted articles. Therefore, eighty percent of the posts on your social media channels should come from other users and twenty percent should come or be about you. That’s because if you’re just talking about yourself, then there won’t be too many users interested in hearing that story. As a result, this making finding and eventually using sources for high quality content that you can share with your audience can be quite difficult. Rest assured though, since this is where HootSuite steps in.

Check your social media accounts

In order to make the most of it, you’ll need to double check that on your main social networks you’re connecting with and following people who only provide valuable info and content. If you follow just about anybody so that they can follow you back, then you’ll weaken the value of your home streams.

The next step would be to consider setting up Streams within 1 or more tabs and then proceed with connecting the news feeds from your main social networks. As you’ll continue to create more connections with people that share valuable content, you can, at any given time, select high quality posts that you want to share with your audience and use HootSuite to distribute them across your desired social media platforms.

However, the benefits don’t stop there

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What makes this software so essential for this purpose isn’t only the fact that you can now check the status of all your social media channels in one place, but if you find an update on any of them, then you can easily share it with the rest of your networks. Just make sure to check your streams a few times a day in order to look for interesting people and high quality content. When you find it, you can also add your personal twist to it and don’t forget to use the AutoSchedule feature that HootSuite offers to organize everything.

HootSuite Syndicator

The Syndicator is another great way of finding high quality news stories and content. The way it works is that you can set up as many RSS feeds from any sources or websites you want and when new content is posted, HootSuite will post it on your chosen social media accounts. If you want, you can have all your RSS feeds placed in 1 stream, but you can also have various types of streams for a wide range of topics. In the end, this is something that’s going to be different for everyone, so choose what works best for you.

If you want to save time

If time is at the essence, then you can also choose to set up just one stream with 1 RSS feed from your personal website. By doing so, it’s going to be a lot easier for you to re-share different versions of your blog posts to your desired social media platform.

Adding the RSS app to your account

If you want to do this, then you should just click on Add Stream, go to Apps and then click on HootSuite Syndicator. You’ll notice that you currently have an empty stream, so make sure to click on its RSS icon and then add any number of RSS feeds you want. The minute you have 1 or more subscriptions, they’re going to be displayed in the list. They can be easily edited or deleted at any given time and if you want, you can even group them in various categories.

Sharing content

Let’s say that you saw a high quality article that you want to share with your following. To do that, you should click on its title and when you do so, a new window is going to open that allows you to review the text to make sure it’s worth sharing. If the article looks good, then just close the window and share the content using HootSuite by clicking on the left arrow icon.

You already have a message ready, so how about you start editing? In fact, it’s at this part of the sharing process that you can paste in a quote, add some personal commentaries and also add some hashtags and edit the title. Finally, you need to select the social media platforms you want the content to be shared on and then click Send. It’s recommended though that you use the AutoShare feature, since this makes it easy to share content at the best time for each network.

If you do decide to use this function, make sure to take a few minutes to carefully read the posts every morning and only share those that are interesting enough. You can then attend to other more pressing matters, having the peace of mind that your social media channels will be automatically sharing high quality content throughout the day.

All in all, these are just a few ideas on how you can use HootSuite to maintain a strong social media presence, but there are certainly many other ways you can use it to provide value to your potential customers and followers.

If you don’t have enough time to manage your social media channels and need good quality content and video for your presentation you can call us today for a free consultation.