Hootsuite’s Best Blog Posts of 2015

Here on the Hootsuite blog, we pride ourselves on producing a lot of high-quality content. Like, around 500 blog posts in the last year alone.

You’re absolutely forgiven for having only read, you know, five or 10 of them? But we still want to help you discover all the gems you might have missed. With that in mind, we’ve gathered the 15 best blog posts we produced in 2015. These aren’t necessarily the posts with the highest traffic, but posts that were well-received, that earned a lot of social shares, or that, to be perfectly honest, we’re very proud of. Have a look.

8 Common Facebook Mistakes Social Media Managers Need to Avoid

What social media manager hasn’t suffered some degree of anxiety, worried about making a big mistake that causes their brand’s reputation to suffer. The truth is, the tiny day-to-day mistakes are the ones you should be focused on. This post looks at 8 common Facebook mistakes that can easily be avoided, from posting overly-promotional content to deleting posts from your wall.

Snapchat Features You Didn’t Know Existed or Didn’t Know How to Use

Snapchat was to 2015 what Instagram was to 2013: a mystery to most businesses. As brands start to dabble on this quickly growing social network, it’s clear that many don’t really understand how to actually use the app. This post strives to help them on that journey, explaining 11 Snapchat features you might not even know exist, let alone how to use them.

5 Things to Do During Your First Week as a Social Media Manager

It’s your first day as a social media manager for a new company. Where do you even start? Your first day or week at a new social media job should be spent doing a lot of listening and learning. You need to establish what works, what doesn’t, and what goals you’re trying to meet. To help you kick things off on the right foot, here are five things to do during your first week as a social media manager.

16 Facebook Accounts + 16 Twitter Accounts That Will Make You Smarter

These are actually two different posts, but they share the exact same purpose: getting your brain working. People often see social media as a distraction, but really social media can help you learn new things, become more knowledgeable and develop new skills. These two posts highlight 16 Facebook accounts and 16 Twitter accounts full of insights that might just make you smarter.

I Tried Instagram Automation So You Wouldn’t Have To

Image by Langfordw via flickr

A lot of people, in an effort to gain an edge on the competition, have resorted to either directly buying Instagram followers, or automating their accounts with bots that complete certain actions on their behalf—liking, following and commenting. It’s an appealing pitch: save time and earn real followers. But you know what they say about things that seem too good to be true. I tested two of these automation services and discovered the pitfalls of relying on bots, so you don’t have to.

How to Deal With Trolls on Social Media

Unlike the trolls of fairy tales, trolls on social media work out in the open where they have the best chance of attracting an audience. They thrive on negative attention, working to incite hatred and provoke anger with each and every keystroke. But who are they and what should you do if you or your brand encounters one? This post provides the answers.

6 Underappreciated Skills for Social Media Professionals

How many social media professionals have encountered someone who downplayed their job as simple—lots of time spent surfing the web or chatting with friends. This misconception is rampant. Being a social media professional means wearing a lot of hats, from writer to analyst. While people outside the industry might not see it, people in social media need to have a wide array of skills to succeed. This post looks at six skills in particular, from SEO to photography.

The Role Social Media Plays in Curbing Homelessness

Image by Chris Walter

Mark Horvath had a successful job, and then he didn’t. He worked his way out of homelessness again, only to lose it all in the 2008 economic collapse. Almost facing homelessness a second time, Mark picked up a camera and started interviewing people living on the streets, posting the videos to YouTube. In this he found his calling. This blog post is the story of nonprofit Invisible People, and how social media has helped turned them into an absolute force for fighting homelessness.

The Hierarchy of Needs for a Social Media Audience

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory that explains why high-level desires don’t arise unless the lower-level needs such as food and shelter have been fulfilled. Over the years, Maslow’s pyramid has been adapted to many different environments, because of the clear underlying structure: building up from the most basic necessities to the most difficult ones to achieve. We felt this applied to social media as well, and this post imagines how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs could help a social media manager win their followers’ hearts.

Lessons From 5 of the Most Successful Marketing Campaigns of the Last Decade

The Old Spice Guy. K’mart’s “Ship My Pants.” These are campaigns that defined the last decade of marketing. But they’re all big brands, right? How can you compete? The truth is, the best campaigns in recent memory all have core elements that primed them for social media success. They succeeded not because of how much they cost, but because they understood fundamental truths about social media users. We explore those truths in this post.

Why We Sent a Single Tweet 44 Times

“Repetition” by elPadawan under CC BY-SA 2.0

In just three months last winter, Hootsuite’s main Twitter handle (@hootsuite) Tweeted a single piece of content 44 times. We’ve done it several times since. That may make some of you question our smarts, but that’s what this post is for. Throught extensive testing, we discovered that the risk of repeating content was well worth it. This post will teach you why.

Running Your First Social Media Campaign? Use This Checklist

Social media campaigns have proven themselves to be up to 60 percent percent more effective than traditional advertising campaigns. So why aren’t more brands running them? Launching your first social marketing campaign can seem daunting. There are a lot of moving parts and factors to consider. That being said, if you’re prepared, social media campaigns can actually be simple—even fun to build. Follow this step by step guide and start capitalizing on one of the most effective social media tools for business.

Coming Clean: 10 Social Media Confessions

We all do things we’re not proud of. With social media, though, these dirty little secrets are often broadcast for the world to see. Whether you’re a fanatical retweeter, a manic sender of Facebook game invites, or a sneaky Instagram deleter, know that you’re not alone. Admitting that you have a problem is the first step on the road to a life free from shameful social. This post lists some of the most common social media confessions you can probably relate to.

Expert Perspective: How to Go From 1 to 111,000 Instagram Followers

Instagrammer Emanuel Smedbøl

Emanuel Smedbøl is quasi-Instagram famous. He now has over 120,000 Instagram followers and brands such as Travel Alberta hire him to do Instagram influencer campaigns. He didn’t just get lucky. He works at his craft, and in this post was willing to share some of the tactics and techniques that allows him to earn such a following. There’s a lesson in here for just about everyone hoping to make an impact on Instagram.

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