Last Updated on September 29, 2015 by Chef Mireille
The old adage goes to make $ you have to spend $. This week I am introducing you to FREE tools to help make your blog into a money making venture. To that end, social media is very important. If no one knows you are out there, you are never going to get advertisers to use your services. Many people in the blogosphere know about Hootsuite. For those who still don’t know how useful it is, here is a guide. Hootsuite is a platform that allows you to schedule your posts across your social media platforms. It is FREE for up to 3 social media networks. You can add more, but then Hootsuite charges a fee.
In addition to using Hootsuite to schedule posts, you can also view and comment on posts in all your streams using Hootsuite. You can view multiple streams simulatenously. You are able to Retweet and Fave twitter posts, Comment on FB posts, Like and Comment on Instagram posts from your feed. If using hootsuite, there is no need to log on to those multiple accounts to check your feed daily. Just use the hootsuite app on your phone and you can check them all.
FREE: Hootsuite is free for up to 3 social media networks
HOW TO SIGN UP: Create a username and password. That’s it!
WHY TO USE: It allows you to easily schedule your social media posts in advance. It also allows you to post dynamic photos to instagram instead of mediocre cell phone pics.
HOW TO USE: Schedule your posts with shortened links and photos.
Which Platforms to Use in Hootsuite
Instagram – The most important platform to use Hootsuite with is Instagram. Anyone who uses Instagram knows that there is no way to post photos directly from your computer to Instagram. Cellphone photos are not usually going to have the same quality as your camera photos which you download to your computer and are edited to perfection. As food bloggers, we want to publish our best photos on social media.
Facebook – Blog Page – Many networks will post to your FB personal page, but using Hootsuite you can publish to your blog page.
Twitter – With Twitter, it is good to republish your posts at different intervals so it gets more exposure. I have started to schedule my posts to Twitter 6 times over a 2 month period at different times of the day for increased exposure. Using Hootsuite, I can do this as soon as the post is live and then forget about it.
Using Hootsuite to Post on Instagram
Step 1 – Install the hootsuite app on your phone.
Hootsuite for Android & iPhone
Step 2 – Schedule the post using hootsuite.
Step 3 – Open the hootsuite app on your phone. Click on the scheduled post. It will prompt you to open it in Instagram.
Step 4 – Once in Instagram. Hold down your finger in the text part of the screen. A paste button will pop up. Click on it and the text you wrote for your Instagram post will paste.
Step 5 – Publish it.
Step 6 – When I publish it, I also select Facebook in Instagram. This feeds to my Facebook personal page. That’s one less social media platform I need to add to Hootsuite, since there are only 3 FREE ones.
Now let’s learn how to use Hootsuite.
Here are the steps to scheduling posts in Hootsuite after you’ve added your social media platforms.
Scheduling Posts in Hootsuite
Step 1: Click on calendar icon.
Step 2: Popup window will appear. Select social media platform you want to schedule the post for.
Step 3: Write the text. Enter the link to your post. Click on shrink so that less characters are used. Hootsuite keeps a character count for you so you know when you’ve exceeded the Twitter count.
Step 4: Add your photo that you’ve completed using the Canva template. Click on the paperclip icon and add your custom size photo you’ve created using Canva.
Step 5: Either Send Now or click on the calendar to schedule it in the future. Select date and time. You can click to have a notification email sent to you when it is published, if desired. Click on Schedule.
Step 6: To view all of your scheduled posts. Click on plane icon the left.
Step 7: You can now view all of your scheduled posts if you forget which ones you’ve scheduled.
Now most of us won’t always have time to do all of this scheduling so tomorrow I am going to present a super easy way to keep track of all your social media scheduling.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 56
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Awesome post Mir, thank you so much for taking the efforts. Though I have known about Hootsuite, never got around using it…now you have prompted me to try it out..can’t wait to read your next one..
Err.. I think I sent the comment in our group mail. Does IG helps with page visits?
not necessarily but it helps when you want to work with advertisers as it all adds to your social media numbers. I am getting more new Instagram followers on a regular basis than any other of my social media platforms.
Hootsuite is such an awesome tool, because you’ll be able to utilize everything ,especially the social media accounts. Thanks for sharing these tips!
I signed up but have not explored it at all. Thanks for doing this post. I will came back later to go through step by step instructions on how to use the app.
I have never used Hoot suite on my phone, after reading this post will probably download this app.
Very useful post Mir. Never use hootsuite and I’m definitely going to open an account right away.
Am hearing for the first time about hootsuite, now i have to think about opening an account there..thanks Mir.
I need to re read all your three posts , they are great and very useful. Thanks for sharing. As of now my schedule just doesn’t permit me to read and understand and implement , but let me settle and then will come back again.?
Fantastic job Mir. Kudos.
This is a very useful post. I need to explore this leisurely.
As a social media manager and business owner, I use HS and actually pay the $99/year for the service… not huge for running around 30+ accounts through it. I have used it for IG once and well, it sucks, but there aren’t any other options that are “free” either. Great post for basic information.
I would also suggest using G+ as it keeps Google happy and if you want to show up in search, use Google… however, HS isn’t as function for G+ as it should be. Google API, go figure!
Also, I post to FB, LI, G+ and Twitter but never connect profiles so that if you post to one it posts to another and I would suggest to any of my clients to not do it.