Blog Post #13 Hootsuite #MillikinSMW17

This blog post is all about my experience learning to use Hootsuite and becoming Hootsuite Platform Certified.

For our Social Media Writing class, we were given the unique opportunity to participate in the Hootsuite Student Program, allowing my classmates and I to become Hootsuite certified for free! Hootsuite is a platform that allows users and businesses to post to multiple social media sites at once, schedule posts, track hashtags and conversations, and communicate more effectively with their audiences.

The Hootsuite Platform Certification, offered through Hootsuite Academy, is a 65 question exam that tests users knowledge of Hootsuite and its features. Before taking the certification exam, users can learn to use Hootsuite through a 3-part training module, consisting mostly of short and engaging videos.

I took advantage of the training module to learn the ins and outs of Hootsuite. I found the training fun and informative. Completing the training module over the course of a few days allowed me to experiment with Hootsuite and become comfortable with the features before continuing on to the next phase. After the training module, the exam wasn’t too difficult. I regret not completing the certification sooner because I definitely would’ve used Hootsuite throughout this semester in the Social Media Writing course and a few of my other courses!

Of all the great features that Hootsuite offers its users, the one that I found most interesting is Hootsuite Analytics. Analytics allows users to create custom data reports to measure post engagement, follower growth, link click-throughs, and various other metrics. Analytics allows users to see impact of their social media posts and easily share the data with others in a readable format.

I can definitely see myself using Hootsuite in my future profession! In the field of student affairs, social media is huge because it’s the best way to reach the students that I’ll be working with. If in any role I’m in and I’m managing social media accounts, I’ll use Hootsuite to easily schedule posts, allowing me to focus on other parts of my job.

Overall, I really enjoyed becoming Hootsuite Platform Certified. The experience was great and I feel like Hootsuite is a tool that I will definitely use in the future. My only wish is that I would’ve become Hootsuite certified sooner in my academic career.