What is Hootsuite?Hootsuite is a social media management platform designed to help businesses manage their social media presence across multiple platforms.  Whether your business has a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or something else like LinkedIn, Pinterest, or YouTube, Hootsuite aims to improve how you connect with your customer base on social media. Benefits of HootsuiteOften considered to be one of the most useful and versatile social media tools on the market, Hootsuite allows you to manage, plan, and monitor your social media content by consolidating all of your profiles within its own platform.  In the modern world, which is placing more emphasis on social media content, businesses both large and small struggle to keep on top of their content output; Hootsuite makes all of this easier and gives you and your team more time to focus on other aspects of your business.  Hootsuite's FeaturesHootsuite offers a range of social media tools that are built to simplify your marketing, accelerate sales, and streamline customer service. Some of the features available on the platform are listed below: automatic post schedulingsocial media monitoringperformance analysis basic task management As well as the above, the platform also allows you to break down which staff members have access to which profiles, allowing them to focus only on what they need to. This also increases accountability within your team, with errors being easy to trace.  The simplicity Hootsuite offers with its integration is also a stand-out feature. With options to integrate with over 100 different applications, linking up your most effective social media platforms has never been easier.  Hootsuite's most useful feature, however, is the Hootsuite Academy, which offers a large range of courses that teach and coach businesses like yours on how to make the most of social media marketing. This is a great way to save money on training either yourself or your staff and further integrates your social media strategy with Hootsuite's system. How Much Does Hootsuite Cost?This is often the most important thing businesses want to know, especially ones that are just starting out. In the case of Hootsuite, the answer is nothing; at least not to begin with. At the time of writing, they offer a free 30-day trial for a lot of their packages and, after that, the amount you pay depends on what kind of features you need. The most limited subscription is the professional package, which gives you access to the basic features, and costs £89 per month. From there, it goes up steadily for the more advanced features. A team subscription is £249 per month and a business subscription is £660 per month.   The prices shown here were accurate in the summer of 2024 and, depending on when you're reading this, they may have changed. As ever, it's important to assess exactly what features you need before you commit to any subscription. Make the most of the free trial so you know how Hootsuite's features work for you. Is Hootsuite Good For Small Businesses?Hootsuite's innovative features make it a safe bet for any business looking to have more control over its social media marketing. By consolidating functionality and grouping data into its all-in-one system, it can quickly become an invaluable tool for a business.  While it does offer features designed for large businesses with big media teams, it also offers simpler and, perhaps more importantly, cheaper alternatives to suit smaller businesses with less to worry about in terms of their social media. So, if you have a smaller business and want to keep on top of your channels, Hootsuite can provide you with the solutions you need. 

What is Digital Marketing?Digital marketing, sometimes called digital advertising, can be defined simply as any marketing you do via digital means; through social media advertising, pay-per-click, or search engine optimisation.  Businesses all over the world in all kinds of industries utilise digital marketing. It offers opportunities to attract new customers and nurture long-standing customer relationships, giving businesses access to the digital spheres where consumers spend their time. Its benefits are obvious.  How Much Does Digital Marketing Cost?While digital marketing does offer limitless opportunities for your business to grow, it does come at a cost. Marketing businesses is one of the main ways that the big search engines and social media platforms make their money; their systems give businesses like yours access to the customers you want to engage with, and they often charge for this access. There is no definitive answer to the question, as the cost of digital marketing is essentially however much you choose to spend. There are ways of doing it cheaply, for example by only advertising a limited number of products or services on a limited number of platforms, and there is an opportunity to make digital marketing your primary focus, spending big budgets on multiple platforms.  There are also ways to use these platforms to market your business for free. Many businesses rely solely on free methods of digital marketing, and many of them can have success in doing so. However, the businesses that pay can jump the virtual queue, so that their business is the one that gets seen first. Popular Marketing PlatformsPopular digital advertising platforms include Facebook ads and Instagram ads, both of which are owned by the common parent company, Meta. They are two of the most used social media platforms in the world; each with user numbers in the billions. It's no surprise, then, that they're also very popular with businesses.  Many businesses choose to utilise these platforms to market their business. Furthermore, many of them choose to use the paid advertising options provided as a way of boosting their online presence. Both of them offer several ways to advertise your services and also ways in which to monitor your adverts.  One of the newer platforms to establish itself in a position of influence is TikTok, which has amassed a billion users since its launch. For this reason, many companies have flocked there too as its number of users ensures that target audiences are on TikTok. Like several other platforms, TikTok also offers scope for businesses to advertise to its users.  Different social media platforms will suit different businesses better, with platforms like Instagram and Pinterest being better for visually stimulating products and platforms like LinkedIn being better for more B2B-focused businesses. The best platform for your business, therefore, will depend on the nature of your business. 

What Is Digital Marketing?Digital marketing promotes your business using digital channels like social media, search engines, and even emails.  Billboards, newspapers, and the Yellow Pages were once the go-tos for marketers. Social media are today's newspapers, with a staggering 4.7 billion users all waiting to see what your business has to offer them. Search engines are just a much faster version of the Yellow Pages, with Google processing 8.5 billion searches every single day. And billboards... Well, billboards are still here, but they are now using digital technology to broadcast your business to the masses. Still not convinced? Well, here are five ways that your business can benefit from a properly utilised digital marketing strategy.