The Lessons I Learned from Hootsuite Social Marketing Platform Training and Exam

Technology and social media have changed the layout of how businesses operate and respond to consumers. Consumers have the information they need about IT companies at the palm of their hands, and media trends make preferences change more than ever. This creates demand high and competition through the roof as online businesses frequently have to analyze and monitor media trends to satisfy what consumers need in the market. Learning about this crucial information in my Digital Public Relations Course at Bentley University, I came to understand that there is a lot more to upkeeping an online business.

Social media managers use media management interface systems to keep their content, campaigns, advertisements, drafts, and data in one spot, such as Hootsuite. My professor assigned us a Hootsuite Platform and Social Marketing completion Certificate at the beginning of the fall semester, where I was able to gain more knowledge about social media marketing with the use of Hootsuite. This social media marketing training gave me valuable lessons and tips that inspired me to share my Hootsuite Platform experience.

What is Hootsuite?

Hootsuite is a platform that manages and integrates multiple social media business accounts in one space. The interface works through a dashboard where business owners get a birds-eye view of what is happening around the world around them, can respond and like comments and photos, and can track the performance of the individual’s online business using their analytics feature.

Hootsuite and Social Marketing Training

At first, I was ecstatic to hear college students who can register under their Professor get free access to training and the use of the platform if and when they pass under their school credentials. I benefitted from this feature, which allowed me to the stress-free, quick, and easy registration process.

Although the training duration for both social marketing and the Hootsuite platform was an extensive, eight-hour process, the venue did a phenomenal job educating the reader.

Hootsuite has customers take the general platform training first, followed by an exam to ensure that individuals understand the available mechanics of Hootsuite and other additional social media platforms. For instance, I learned about Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter’s algorithm and how social media marketers utilize their unique features to attract different customer segments. I also learned how to keep a consistent brand voice and image across all platforms, which increases loyalty in their followers. Hootsuite has multiple chapters that integrate a written lesson, videos, and a quiz at the end of each chapter, which helped me recap and keep my learning interactive.

The format of the Social Marketing training was the same, with lessons, videos, and quizzes, which I appreciated because it was easy for me to familiarize myself with how they delivered the modality. I learned about how social media managers specifically manage their businesses. For instance, they create calendars for campaign launches, develop schedules on a file for when they post content, and make contracts with their team to ensure they follow a uniform codebook so that their brand does not become inconsistent. I also learned where and how marketers analyze data and metrics to improve the quality of their business.

Hootsuite and Social Marketing Exam

After I finished all lessons for each training certificate, I took a timed exam for both. Although I successfully passed the exams, Hootsuite was encouraging to let their customers retake the test as often as they want until they achieve a passing grade. Hootsuite immediately granted me access to the Hootsuite Dashboard, where I could begin exploring my creativity.

Conclusion

Overall, my Hootsuite experience was undoubtedly a positive one, giving me a simple, educational, and interactive learning environment that I am grateful I could be part of. I have so much appreciation for my Professor, and Hootsuite, because I now use the platform to practice my social media marketing with my involvement in organizations on campus, allowing me to enhance my skills for my career post-graduation.