Dave checks in while preparing swag and other gear piled high on a lawn in Austin, Texas awaiting the HootBus while SXSW 2013 gets underway.
Tag Archives: startup
HootSuite Talks China Plans: Simplified Character Support, Chinese Branding via TechinAsia
From the archive for historical record (and to recall the efforts of me and my marketing/community/international teams at Hootsuite) – of course, i no longer work at/with the company and this is not official in any way, was once part of the public internet. #AlwaysBeArchiving
HootSuite Talks China Plans: Simplified Character Support, Chinese Branding Coming Soon
Social media in China is huge. So huge that nobody wants to ignore it. And while lots of people think “Twitter” when they hear HootSuite, the folks at HootSuite are taking China seriously. We already know the company has recently added traditional characters and Sina Weibo support, but what else is in the cards? I got a chance to talk with Dave Olson, HootSuite’s community VP, who gave me the lowdown on the company’s China plans.
Why is HootSuite interested in China?
Since launching almost 4 years years ago, HootSuite’s goal was to make our social media management system available to as many people as possible.
With this in mind, we monitor conversations about HootSuite and reach out to markets in which we see rapid organic growth. Afterwards we work to localize these unique markets. We started with Japan, then Spanish speaking countries, around Europe and then onwards into other Asian markets like Indonesia.
We knew the Chinese market was important but wanted to make sure we avoided missteps that we observed from other companies. We also knew that HootSuite is blocked by association in China because our core product includes access to Twitter and Facebook.
HootSuite is very cognizant that Chinese social media users have different networks, different needs, habits and culture along with different language. In addition we know there is more than one Chinese market with different expectations around China’s provinces including communities in Hong Kong, Taiwan/Taipei, Singapore and the huge ex-pat community such as in our home city of Vancouver.
We also learned that despite the difference, people using Chinese social networks share some of the same needs as users in the West, which are: sharing content across networks, managing multiple online profiles, and help listening, responding to, and analyzing their online interactions.
We’ve learned a lot from localizing elsewhere, and are hoping to use these lessons in bringing HootSuite to Chinese users. We want to tread lightly, and listen attentively.
As such, we are taking a diplomatic and educational approach to build community, share knowledge and deliver on expectations. Eventually we can build a business case as well.
What are you doing to get into the China market already?
Along with adding Sina Weibo support, we translated HootSuite’s web and mobile social media dashboard into Traditional Chinese and released it on October 8th in order to start the conversation with social media enthusiasts in Hong Kong, Taiwan/Taipei, etc.
However, before starting the translation project, we held a Chinese Localization Symposium in which we invited a cross section of Chinese social media users to discuss the linguistic, cultural and logistical challenges. The event was a success and we followed it up with a fun translathon with Chinese themed decorations, music, food, tea and more!
We also built a company presence on Sina Weibo, created a Twitter account, published a variety of videos to say hello and discussed our vision of collaborating with Chinese social media users.
Now, with the Traditional Chinese version launched, we’re underway with working on the Simplified Chinese version. We’ve also started developing a Chinese specific branding as well, to share our name and culture in Chinese characters.
We aim to keep things pretty grassroots, talking with people through our @HootSuite_CN and Sina Weibo accounts to see what is working, what isn’t, and what they want to see in the future.
Building relationships with users is our biggest priority.
What comes next and what are your long term plans?
Next up is getting our Simplified Chinese translation released by the end of the year. We will also increase Sina Weibo integration features, and are exploring integrations with other Chinese social networks like Renren and other Tencent properties. A lot of our next steps will be based on what we hear from conversations with our Chinese users.
We also hope to find quality social media industry events for our CEO Ryan Holmes to speak at and share our culture and story.
Long term plans are based on the feedback and reaction from these initial steps. Obviously, there are challenges facing foreign companies wanting to operate in Mainland China – especially technology companies like HootSuite – so we’ll stay focused on finding ways to get HootSuite in the hands of as many users as possible, perhaps with a China-specific version.
What are you finding the differences are between your Chinese and international users? Between weibo and twitter users?
First off, Chinese users can say a lot more in 140 characters!
Social media has broad appeal, regardless of which network you are using. The desire to connect with people, to broadcast, listen, and share, spans cultures.
Social media usage patterns and attitudes for Chinese specifically – and international in general – is a topic we spend lots of time researching. Getting a finger on the pulse of those differences is something we hope conversations with our users will produce.
For example: Weibo has a focus on media-rich content like photos and videos, as well as things like emoji. Comments and ‘likes’ on posts also helps keep the conversation going.
Overall, feature differences between networks reflect and/or inform usage patterns, so there are definitely some differences between Sina Weibo and Twitter users. We’ve embraced the differences in Twitter usage between North America and countries like Japan and Indonesia, so we’ll continue listening to the Chinese users for guidance.
Mr. Olson also shared some cool extras with us, like this Chinese pronunciation guide an enthusiastic employee made and an introduction video in Chinese (embedded below). I’m sure not everyone at the company is learning Chinese, but this is still a nice, friendly touch that shows the folks at HootSuite are really working to communicate with Chinese users on their terms. Here’s hoping that HootSuite can move even further into the Chinese market (and that that pronunciation video will stop people from pronouncing weibo like “way-bow”)!
Source: HootSuite Talks China Plans: Simplified Character Support, Chinese Branding Coming Soon
Social HR and and International Culture – a soliloquy
Using social media and community-building tactics for various HR-related objectives including: recruiting quality by tracking and amplifying stories, fostering company culture, and spreading messages across borders.
Dave Olson (then VP Community at Hootsuite – a social media management software company) gives a fast-paced and candid talk about using social media and community-building tactics for various HR-related objectives including: recruiting quality talent by tracking and amplifying stories, fostering company culture (especially in time of international growth), and spreading messages across borders. Includes many examples and anecdotes.
Recorded in 2012 at unknown location/circumstance.
Listen to: Social HR and and International Culture – a soliloquy (33MB, 192k mp3, 23:37)
Curated tours app Urbandig in Vancouver Sun – Featuring me and beer
I made a tour for a startup app called Urbandig which shares “locals” tours of special interests in various cities. This article by Gillian Shaw at Vancouver Sun shares the story with some blurbage on my Gastown Beer Tour contribution.
##
Vancouver startup firm puts a new twist on travel apps
Urbandig is like having a best friend who can show you all the cool spots
By GILLIAN SHAW, Vancouver Sun October 19, 2011
VANCOUVER – What do the digerati do when they’re sitting around wondering how they can discover the really cool spots in town that only the locals know about?
Why, they make an app for it, of course.
That’s just what happened last spring in Los Angeles, when a group of Vancouver new-media types were chatting with friends there about the difficulty of finding those out-of-the-way places that may not even rate a mention in the travel guides.
{snip}
Dave Olson, marketing director for Vancouver’s HootSuite, was the first curator in Vancouver, where he writes under the name of his personal blog, uncleweed.
Olson is “incredibly busy” with the fast-growing HootSuite, creator of the popular social-media dashboard, said Rodgers, but like others involved in the project, he made time to share his passion for a subject dear to his heart — or his tastebuds — craft beer.
“He is a good friend of mine and I know he’s constantly logging the beers he tries on a site called Untappd,” said Rodgers. “We wanted it to be content from subject-matter experts. When you open up the app and Dave Olson tells you to go to Six Acres and try the Raven Cream Ale, you know that you can trust Dave is going to guide you to the right place.”
{more about my pal Mikala}
Mikala Taylor, creator of the popular music website Backstage Rider, is another Urbandig curator. “I cranked out a tour based on some of the places I seem to live in, which are really all the music venues in Vancouver,” she said. “Rather than just say ‘Here are some great music venues,’ I flipped it on its head and aligned it with the stuff I like to do, which is hang out with bands.”
And so you’ll find Taylor’s tour includes tips on the best places to stand if you want to meet the band, where the tour buses are parked, the backstage area and other insider tidbits.
“I remember when I first moved here there was a book, eat.shop vancouver, which had really interesting takes on some of the cooler places in the city,” said Taylor. “Not so much like a Lonely Planet or Time Out guide; it seemed to be more in the trenches.
“To me, Urbandig seems like an app version of that book. If you really drill in there are some really cool tips from the experts, people who really know something about what they’re writing about.”
Source: Vancouver startup Urbandig wanders off the beaten path with its new travel app
HootSuite Takes A Little Cash Off The Table To ‘De-Risk,’ Aims For Bigger Game via Venture Capital Dispatch, WSJ
Early investors and employees of the social media management company have sold $20 million worth of shares.
Social media management company HootSuite Media has ballooned since it started a little over three years ago, winning business from global brands and growing to nearly four million users, with $75 million in revenue expected this year.
Now HootSuite’s founder, Ryan Holmes, and some of his fellow shareholders are taking money off the table–they sold $20 million worth of shares to OMERS Ventures, an investment arm of one of Canada’s largest pension plans, in one of the biggest venture capital deals in Canada in the last decade.
Bom Dia Brasil! ~ HootSuite Releases Portuguese Dashboard
From the archive for historical record (and to recall the efforts of me and my marketing/community/international teams at Hootsuite) – of course, i no longer work at/with the company and this is not official in any way, was once part of the public internet. #AlwaysBeArchiving
Bom Dia Brasil! HootSuite Releases in Portuguese
This spring, the Owls are flying south as HootSuite releases Portuguese web and mobile versions of the leading social media dashboard plus an Orkut integration. To celebrate this, we’ve written this post in both English and Portuguese.
See the Portuguese version here. Clique aqui para ler em português.
Owly has graduated from a course in Portuguese, bought the perfect carnival outfit and watched countless hours of soccer to prepare for launching in Brasil. So, we are pleased to announce the HootSuite Dashboard in Brasilian Portuguese.
Along with the new Portuguese web dashboard, we also updated and released fully-translated versions of HootSuite for iPhone / iPad, Android and BlackBerry.
Among the dozens of practical tools, HootSuite allows you to schedule your posts, save drafts, manage multiple accounts, and measure the success of your social media powered campaigns.
Orkut Integration Coming Soon
Localization means more than just translation. With this in mind, we asked Brasilians where and how they hang out on the social web. The overwhelming consensus? Orkut, which will be integrated in the HootSuite App Directory.
It’s almost ready to go (still needs a bit of polish)! Sign up and be the first to know when it’s integrated:
Register For Orkut
Long before Google+, Wave or Buzz came Orkut… And it’s wildy popular in Brasil with over 34 million visitors monthly! Orkut is a place to share “scraps” (think status updates and messages) and pictures amongst this social-savvy country. The social network also allows companies to set up communities to outreach to fans, giving them an outlet to share their thoughts.
We’ve joined in on the fun with a new community on Orkut where you can view discussion forums and loads of other information: Orkut HootSuite Brasil
Brasil, A Unique and Growing Market
Brasil is on a roll! Not only is Brasil hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, but Brasil was revealed as the 2nd biggest Twitter market and the world’s 6th biggest economy.
With over 40 million mobile phones in Brasil, social networking fever isn’t only limited to computers. 6.8 million of these are also equipped with 3G Internet connections.
HootUp in São Paulo
We’re proud to be in on the Carnival fun and are celebrating Brasil with a HootUp in São Paulo a week after the festivities on Feb 28th at 7PM at MyJobSpace. Be sure to attend to win special treats, including 2 new Owl stickers special made to celebrate Brasil’s two most famous things – Football and Carnival.
Sign up at: HootUp – Let’s meet in São Paulo, Brasil
Can’t make this HootUp? Learn how to organize a fun meet-up in your city starting with this HootUp Guide in Portuguese.
Special Obrigado
As we’ve worked to learn about the Brasilian audience, we’ve enjoyed help from some true Owls. Special thanks to the contributors to the crowdsourced translation project and HootUp: Alvaro Beckerig, Hugo de Melo (@hdm), Leonardo Muniz, Mayra Paiva (@MayraPaiva), Matheus (@Matheuselemesmo), Thiago Leite (@thiago_leite) and Maria Carolina (@mariacarol).
No matter where you are, stay connected and on top of your social world. Now that HootSuite has arrived in Brasil, you can enjoy an efficient and practical way to manage your media on the web or on the go with all your favorite networks in one dashboard.
Sign up now at www.hootsuite.com and join the revolution!
Wise owls stay current with the news via @HootSuite_BR – use this profile to get the latest news, share your thoughts, learn handy HootTips, and even contribute your favorite owl photos!
NOTE: After asking locals, we chose to use the traditional spelling of “Brasil” rather than the common English variation of “Brazil.”
Bom Dia Brasil! HootSuite Lança Aplicativo em Português
E as corujas voam rumo ao sul com o lançamento do painel líder no gerenciamento de mídias sociais, HootSuite em português, para web e dispositivos móveis, além de integração com Orkut.
Após finalizar seu curso de português, arrumar uma fantasia para o carnaval e ficar fera no futebol a coruja está pronta para criar seu ninho no Brasil, por isso é com muito prazer que anunciamos o Painel HootSuite em português.
E não é só a versão web que vem com tudo. Em versão definitiva, lançamos HootSuite para iPhone / iPad, Android e BlackBerry, todos em português.
O Painel HootSuite permite a você agendar suas publicações para quando for conveniente, assim como salvar rascunhos de mensagens padrões, gerenciamento múltiplo de contas, além de poder medir o sucesso de suas campanhas nas redes sociais.
Integração com Orkut (em breve!)
Localização é mais do que uma simples tradução. Com isso em mente, nós perguntamos aos brasileiros onde e como eles gostariam de interagir nas redes sociais. O que mais escutamos foi, Orkut! Sendo assim, decidimos integrar o Orkut ao Diretório de Aplicativos HootSuite.
O aplicativo está quase pronto (só precisando de um polimento final), mas registre-se hoje mesmo para ser um dos primeiros a saber quando a novidade for lançada. Para se registrar, clique no link a seguir:
Registre-se para anúncio do Orkut
Muito antes do Google+, Wave ou Buzz, veio o Orkut… Rede esta com mais de 34 milhões de visitantes ao mês no Brasil. Orkut é um lugar para compartilhar os famosos scraps e fotos, pelos quatro cantos desse país tão fissurado pelas mídias sociais. O Orkut também permite a empresas criarem comunidades para atingirem seus fãs e estabelecer um meio de comunicação com os mesmos.
E nós já estamos no Orkut, com a comunidade HootSuite Brasil. Visite para fóruns de discussões e mais informações!
Pra Cima Deles Brasil
O Brasil está com tudo no cenário internacional – não somente como o anfitrião da Copa de 2014 e das Olimpíadas de 2016, mas também foi apontado recentemente como o 2º maior país do Twitter e a 6ª maior economia mundial. Não é brinquedo, não!
E a febre das redes sociais não se limita somente à tela dos computadores. De acordo com a Anatel, são 40 milhões de celulares no Brasil, sendo que 6,8 milhões desses celulares são equipados com tecnologia 3G para rápida transmissão de dados.
É Hora de Festejar
Nós também temos prazer em anunciar e celebrar o Brasil com o HootUp São Paulo, no dia 28 de fevereiro às 19 horas, no MyJobSpace que com certeza será o primeiro de muitos. Faça seu registro em: http://www.meetup.com/hootup/Sao-Paulo-BR/197451/ e ganhe nosso HootKit, que vem com os dois novos adesivos da coruja, feitos especialmente para celebrar duas das maiores paixões nacionais: Futebol e Carnaval.
Perdeu este HootUp? Saiba mais com nosso guia de HootUp em português e até mesmo faça um em sua cidade.
Agradecimentos Especiais
Trabalhamos arduamente para traduzir milhares de palavras e entender o que o brasileiro quer. E este trabalho não seria completo sem a ajuda de nossas corujas. Gostaríamos de agradecer especialmente a organizadora do primeiro HootUp no Brasil, Maria Carolina (@mariacarol), assim como nosso time de corujas tradutoras que doaram uma parte preciosa de seu tempo ao Translation Project, são elas: Alvaro Beckerig, Hugo de Melo (@hdm), Leonardo Muniz, Mayra Paiva (@MayraPaiva), Matheus (@Matheuselemesmo) e Thiago Leite (@thiago_leite).
Não importa onde esteja, o brasileiro quer se manter conectado e estar a par de tudo o que acontece e é por isso que chegamos com tudo no Brasil, para proporcionar a você um serviço mais prático e eficiente no gerenciamento de suas mídias, na web e em plataformas móveis, integrando todas as suas redes num só painel.
Acesse www.hootsuite.com e faça parte dessa revolução!
As corujas mais espertas ficam atualizadas através do nosso canal especial no Twitter, o @HootSuite_BR – use este perfil para saber das últimas da coruja, assim como compartilhar seus pensamentos, aprender com as HootTips e até mesmo compartilhar fotos!
Obs.: Nos posts em inglês, adotamos Brasil com “s” como mais uma forma de carinho a você, usuário brasileiro.
The post Bom Dia Brasil! ~ HootSuite Releases Portuguese Dashboard appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.
Notes about Building a Posse – Social Marketing Kung Fu
3 buckets
– diff motivations that they care about
– don’t identify them and put them in the right bucket – you’ll lose them or they’ll go rogue
1) rockstars – want to be affiliated with the brand and have it’s fame shine onto themselves (what can they get out of their relationship with you) – respect amongst peers
2) gardeners – diligently test your system for bugs (kind quiet emails that notify us of our mistakes)
3) interns – gain practical knowledge to advance their careers – loan yourself out – you give me skills, I give you labor
clearly identify what they want to do and need constraints
they’ll feel that they’re authorized to speak on the company’s behalf – they’re not
– be clear that they are here to accomplish very specific goals and tasks
– make the objective the objective
specific goal:
– translation project – see int’l growth and diff languages
– starting with japanese – people out there answering questions full-time in their free time
– listen and pay attention to them
– brought on japanese intern
– get market research from japanese
– keep asking what your market is doing
– keep pinging people
– create strings to be translated
– pitting countries against each other (in a friendly way)
– recognize contributors publicly and amplify it
– build assets through recognizing people
– fb, content goes to die
– hootups
– don’t start support in other languages until you have “critical mass”/enough momentum
– customer support can be an endless black hole for time/money -> not necessarily the key to success in tech
– next belt – unpleasant situations
– figure out what makes your helper click – credit internally, public pats on the back,
– comment obsessively
– reinforce and build their confidence by giving them inspiring and rewarding tasks
– have them participate and put their name on it
– use visual assets
Rockstar Training School – Tips for Managing and Inspiring Interns (from InternMatch)
Written as a day-job project for InternMatch.com and posted on my birthday, Aug. 16, 2011, archived here for the record as this was an epic labour of importance to me. I’ve wanted to create an “former intern club” of some kind to keep an eye on all those i mentor to some degree, but for now, this is my distillation of most of the tactics i use to keep the train chooglin’ forward in the workplace. If you like, tweet or comment on the Internmatch version.
Rockstar Training School – Tips for Managing and Inspiring Interns (from InternMatch)
Guest Post By Dave Olson, Community Marketing Director of HootSuite.com
From start-ups to established enterprises, there’s rarely enough time for all the tasks and new initiatives on your list. Investing time to find quality interns can be an ideal solution… if done correctly. If you aren’t prepared to integrate your helper correctly, you’ll end up micro-managing and draining your time – while also demotivating the once-eager intern. Over 15 years running marketing and community teams I’ve sponsored dozens of internships and along the way, found future employees, ideal collaborators and even a few friends. I’ve also dealt with under-performers and a few disgruntled slackers who can negatively affect your company culture. From these experiences, I’ve compiled key nuggets of wisdom to help your company reap quality contributions from an intern who truly enjoys their challenging work experience. Remember, you can’t spell INTERNET without INTERN.
Hire Like an Employee
Post intern openings the same as paid openings with expected qualifications, application process and defined roles. This shows you are taking the search seriously and not just looking for a warm body to do menial tasks. Remove the mystery and set the expectation and you’ll start off right.
Introduce Loudly
On their first day, introduce them to your team in an email – be sure to include personal interests and previous experience as well as an overview of the sorts of tasks they’ll work on. This helps the intern feel valuable and sends a message to your team to start collaborating right away.
Upfront with Terms
My internships are (almost) always non-paid. Opinions throughout the industry differ on this point, but it’s your choice to make. Just ensure you are clear about the terms from the beginning. If you don’t have budget, let them know and explain the types for benefits they’ll receive from their efforts: Internships are valuable learning experiences and a great way to get a foot in the door of competitive industries.
Give them a Title
Sadly “intern” is sometimes used as a synonym for “lackey” – this can be de-motivating and even embarrassing for your diligent helper. Instead, bestow a title upon them which describes their role. These titles can be fun but not condescending. At HootSuite, many Interns work on international outreach so we call them International Community Ambassadors. When you introduce them, use their title to show respect for their efforts.
Specific Tasks
While this seems obvious… Assign your padowans specific tasks with meaning and deadlines. By clearly defining to-dos, you not only keep Interns from spending their days on YouTube, but you give them valuable benchmarks of learning and achievement. We use Basecamp to organize tasks for employees and intern to a granular level.
Reports for Accountability
Each Intern should have a weekly report to fill out (I use Google forms which populate a spreadsheet) and measure some empirical evidence of their work as well as providing space for their ideas and insights and a grade their “happiness level.” This process holds them accountable, shows that their work matters and allows you to get in front of any problems whether for work or personal burn out (especially for international interns far from home).
Farm System
For start-ups, Interns can fill a critical role to get a product out and promoted on a limited budget. For established companies, they can populate a “farm system” for entry-level employees similar to a sports teams’ minor league affiliate. Interns allow you to cultivate a new batch of talent and “taste test” a number of candidates to see how they react in real-life work situations before committing to a contract.
Coffee is your Job
Do I ever ask interns to fetch me coffee? Almost never. This task is a menial “make work” task for them and (honestly) going for a cup of coffee is one of the best parts of your day. Instead, invite your intern out for a chat over a beverage and everyone wins. Also, make sure they are invited for company events, after-work beer sessions and other “team building” activities – it’ll pay off with passion.
Mentor your Padowan
You are receiving free (or cheap) labor and in exchange, you should share you experience, feedback and inside tips and tactics. Go beyond the simple assignments and take the time to explain the “why” beyond the “what” and “how.” Giving this contextual meaning to their tasks will help them emotionally invest in the project. But don’t coddle– they are humans, not puppies, and your real advice will be of more use than unwarranted compliments.
Part of a Legacy
One by one, Interns come and Interns go, but let your newbs know the legacy they are continuing. We tell stories and share photos of past Interns. For example: one intern left a Danish national soccer team jersey as a gift. Now, this is awarded to the Intern who has shown “heart and soul and tenacity” for the week and is handed off by one recipient to the next… Make an intern hall of fame gallery to connect the people to one another and you may find they end up as virtual friends.
Overwhelm (& Support)
From day one, give them a list of tasks. They won’t gravitate or complete all of them but you’ll quickly learn where their skills are. Make sure they know how to get help from others and at what point to come to you for assistance – without bothering you. Schedule :15 catchup sessions to avoid slow downs.
Lackey Work
I promise each new recruit that every task I assign to them is something I’ve done many times before – from stuffing envelopes to assembling desks, the jobs might sound mundane but if they know you’ve done the boring stuff too, they’ll understand it’s all part of the process and culture of a start-up.
Parting Gift
Since your Interns are non-paid, you want to ensure you provide some career assistance when they need it. This starts with a Linkedin recommendation and well-thought-out letter. Plus send a Tweet publicly to thank them and recommend them to other companies and offer yourself as a reference for jobs.
Field Trips
If someone really stepped up, introduce them to industry peers, either by email or by bringing them along to speaking gigs so they can make an impression in person. Tip: Start-up accelerators and incubators with newly funded companies are a great next step for your star Interns seeking work.
Keep in Touch
Remember each intern comes from a unique background and you can (and should) help elevate and fast-track them into the job world. Follow their career with interest once they are gone and invite them back for a coffee or office party.
HootSuite: A software-as-a-service success story via The Next Web
Source: HootSuite: A software-as-a-service success story By Mike Vardy, July 6, 2011
HootSuite may just be a Twitter client to some, but there’s no denying that its software-as-a-service model as served it and its users well.
Earlier this week, The Next Web covered HootSuite’s achievement of reaching the 2 million user milestone. Considering that the Vancouver-based company has stood the test of time while other social media and Twitter clients have either sold out or bowed out, this is a remarkable accomplishment. But there’s a lot more to HootSuite’s success than just being a great Twitter client; HootSuite’s rise is a testament to how a great idea that stays the course can reach great heights. And the heights it has reached compares with that of some pretty stellar companies that are also part of the software-as-a-service/freemium business realm.
HootSuite has seen growth to date that is on a similar trajectory to the widely popular Evernote, Yammer and Dropbox. The data below outlining Evernote’s, Yammer’s and HootSuite’s rise to 2 million users illustrates that there is significant market success of SaaS tools and Freemium business models.
Evernote and Dropbox have continued to grow rapidly after the 2 million user mark, and HootSutie shows definite signs of trending in the same manner. International growth is a key contributor to HootSuite’s user base, having sped this via community building, outreach and crowd-sourced translation.
HootSuite’s reach and trends (courtesy of Alexa) also rank with that of the aforementioned companies, as well as Dropbox and SalesForce, other examples of business using the SaaS and Freemium models:
Also worth noting is the relative growth rate of users on each of these services:
HootSuite beta Launch: December 2009
HootSuite 1 Million: November 2010
HootSuite 2 Million: June 2011Evernote Launch: June 2008
Evernote 1 Million: May 2009
Evernote 2 Million: December 2009Yammer Launch: September 2008
Yammer 1 Million: July 2010
Yammer 2 Million: Feb 2011Dropbox Launch: April 2008
Dropbox 1 Million: May 2009
Dropbox 2 Million: Sept 2009
While the data clearly shows that SaaS and Freemium models are fast becoming a widely used solution for many users, it also foreshadows something for HootSuite in particular: it may be the only third-party social media client left standing in the future because of how it has done — and continues to do — business.
Release Day – Social Media Kung-Fu Purple Belt
What to release
Substantial and ready to rock
Iterate rapidly, bundle around features and themes
Code names (useful)
Know your Coverers
Make Lists (Twitter and Email) – divvy it up, invite personally
Kindness, not condescension
Understand their beat
Respect time (make it easy)
Craft Stories
Same (3) talking points > into different forms
Quote from customers (CEO sparingly)
Lead with “why this matters”
Tune your vocab and tense (active not passive)
Images to support theme (illustrative)
Line up Dominoes &/or House of Cards
Constant – Media kit tune up blog.hootsuite.com/media
Thursday – Internal memo: master plan to share with squad
Monday 1PM PW Local Press release with assets
Monday 1PM Media preview email: short with embargo deets, interview, assets (infographic!)
Monday 4PM Key client preview email (optional)
Tuesday 5AM Blog post (canonical ~ everything points here)
5:15AM Twitter
5:15AM Facebook
5:20AM General email
5:30AM Wire release
9AM Linkedin groups
9:15 AM Forums, Q &As
11AM Webinar
+ Interviews
then….
Listen
Reply
Thank
Share
Repeat
Prepare for pushback (haters & carpetbaggers) with comment copy
Remember Yellow Belt? Log it all with tags
Thursday – News Round-up with “mini-release” push (trackbacks too)