Managing social media accounts can be challenging for marketers, brands, agencies, and organizations. Luckily though, social media management tools like Hopper HQ help you plan, schedule, organize, and direct your social media marketing strategy efficiently. 

Hootsuite is one of the most known social media management tools on the market. Although Hootsuite offers a range of subscription plans, you may want to consider Hootsuite alternatives for various reasons like; 

The high pricing of Hootsuite plans
Hard to get over the steep learning curve 
Support isn’t available for all plans 
Team collaboration is only provided on higher plans

Let’s take a look at Hootsuite and discover some of the most popular social media scheduling tools that are considered the top Hootsuite alternatives.

1) Hopper HQ: Best for Ease of Use and Value

Hopper HQ is a visual-first social media management tool known for its ease of use and great value, making it a great Hootsuite alternative. It offers an array of enticing features to help social media and marketing teams with planning, creating, and team collaboration.

With only one subscription plan, you’ll have access to AI assistance like image resizing and caption generation, as well as, bulk scheduling, team collaboration features, and more. Making it a perfect fit for agencies and SMEs.

l was looking for a more cost-effective option than Hootsuite. Hopper HQ is actually better and much easier to navigate. The Bulk edit and drag and drop calendar are easy peasey.

Dean

Hopper Key Features:

Features	Hopper HQ	Hootsuite
Platforms	Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube shorts	Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube shorts
Free Trial
Price	$16	$108
Users	Unlimited	1
Additional Users	Unlimited
Visual Grid Planner
Approval Workflows
AI Assistance
Analytics and Reporting
Bulk Scheduling
CSV Upload
Cross-channel Scheduling
Mobile App

Hopper HQ vs Hootuite

Competitive pricing:

Hopper HQ is one of the most cost-friendly social media scheduling tools when compared with Hootsuite (if not the cheapest). The cost to use Hopper HQ is just $16 a month while, for Hootsuite, it’s a hefty $99 a month. Although in Hootsuite you can connect 10 social media accounts, Hopper HQ only offers one subscription type, meaning you’ll gain access to all the features available without needing to pay more.

Speedy support:

At Hopper HQ, all users are valued the same and get prompt support whenever needed and for free. You can reach out through email, by chatting within the app or you can get in contact through their social media profiles as well. You can also find a detailed and informative help center, where all Hopper HQ knowledge is shared. There is also a weekly webinar demo of Hopper HQ, where anyone can join and deep dive into what the app can do. Hootsuite on the other hand, does not provide such variety and may charge you.

No Learning Curve:

Hopper HQ stands out for its elegant and easy user interface, which greatly simplifies the process of scheduling and autoposting social media content. With just a few intuitive steps, users can efficiently manage their social media posting schedules. The clean and well-organized design ensures that navigating the platform is a breeze, making it easy to upload, schedule, and manage posts across various social media platforms.

The Best for Small Businesses

Hopper HQ offers cost-effective, efficient, and user-friendly solutions that cater to the needs of agencies and SMEs. Whether it’s managing multiple clients or optimizing social media strategies, Hopper HQ’s features and analytics, combined with its affordable price, make it a valuable tool for businesses looking to enhance their online presence on a low budget. While brands that use Hootsuite tend to be larger with bigger marketing budgets.

2) SocialPilot: Best for Facebook Analytics

SocialPilot is a social media automation tool and a good potential alternative to Hootsuite. It is a versatile tool with scheduling and content customization prowess. It effectively handles all the social media marketing needs of businesses and agencies and is considered one of the best Facebook analytics tools. 

Key features:

• Content scheduling abilities
• Bulk scheduling 
• Flexible content calendar 
• Analytics with automated report generation 
• Social inbox for multiple social platforms 
• Team and client approval workflow

Supported platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Google My Business, YouTube and TikTok

Pricing: SocialPilot’s basic pricing starts at $30 a month.

Hootsuite vs. SocialPilot

If we were to compare SocialPilot to Hootsuite, the first major difference would be pricing. Although not as cheap as Hopper HQ, Social Pilot is still over $70 less than Hootsuite’s basic subscription.

However, in both plans for the cheapest subscription, you’ll only be able to have 1 user, which can be limiting for for agencies and companies with a slightly bigger marketing team. With this in mind, it makes sense why both Hootsuite and Socialpilot don’t provide workflow management in these basic plans. So for team collaboration features you’d need to purchase a more expensive subscription

It’s also important to note that, even though SocialPilot is significantly cheaper, Hootsuite does provide analytics on their basic plan, while on SocialPilot you don’t. If analytics is an important aspect of your social media strategy, yet you’re price sensitive, Socialpilot might not be the best choice for you.

3) Buffer: The Right Choice for Social Media Integrations

Buffer can be considered the leading alternative to Hootsuite when it comes to extensive integration capabilities. Buffer offers a comprehensive solution that is ideal for businesses and individuals seeking to interconnect their social media management with a wide array of third-party services.

Key Features:

Possibility to create a sales landing page
Connects with Google Business profiles
Integrate with popular apps like Zapier and MailChimp
Provides a social inbox and replies to comments

Supported Platforms: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Mastodon, YouTube, Google Business Profile and Pinterest.

Pricing: Freemium subscription or starting from $6 per social channel

Buffer vs Hootsuite

Buffer provides a freemium subscription which is not currently available on Hootsuite. However, as expected, there is a limit to which features are accessible. For example, it does not provide you with channel analytics, you can only connect up to 3 social channels and you’re limited to 10 scheduled posts per channel.

With their first paid subscription, you’ll gain access to analytics as well as publishing features like first comments and a hashtag manager. However, you can find the same features on the first subscription plan of Hootsuite.

Keep in mind that if you choose to use all the channels available on Buffer, you will have a monthly cost of about $54. Which can become unaffordable for many agencies and small businesses. Also, for team management features you’d have to purchase the Team subscription which is $12 a month per social channel.

4) StatusBrew: Best for Reporting

On the fourth, we have Statusbrew, renowned for its ability to handle large-scale engagements through its unified inbox. Today, we’ll focus on its reporting capabilities and how they compare to Hootsuite. Statusbrew offers customized reporting templates for social media, customer support, competitor analysis, and more, supported by 230 KPIs and metrics. For those who want to delve into data without spending much time on setup, this tool is worth considering.

Key Features:

• Easily digestible white-label reporting templates
• Options to share reports in PDF, CSV, or live link formats
• Community management and social care features
• Automations for publishing, engagement, and reporting
• Custom integration with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zendesk

Supported platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Google My Business, WhatsApp, Pinterest, App Store, Play Store, and Line.

Pricing: Provides a 7-day free trial then pricing starts at $69 a month

Hootsuite vs. Statusbrew

With Statusbrew, you get the flexibility to work with your team without worrying about a hefty price tag. Their premium plans offer 8 user seats and 15 social profiles, along with features like sentiment analysis and social listening, which Hootsuite provides on much higher plans. You can build automations based on sentiment and phrases to automatically hide, delete, or reply to comments, thus securing your brand’s reputation.

Statusbrew helps your brand operate faster on social media with minimal effort. The tool offers comprehensive features to improve your social media strategy. However, if you prioritize employee advocacy, you may prefer Hootsuite.

5) Meet Edgar: Best for Repurposing Content

MeetEdgar, also known as Edgar, is a popular social media scheduling tool popular for its content recycling features that keep your profiles evergreen. You can organize your content into categories so that you can always have something to post about. It has shown to be a good fit for entrepreneurs and freelancers. 

Key features:

Repurposes content automatically 
Categorization of content 
Automation with unlimited scheduled content 
Tracks history and performance data for everything you post
Monday to Friday customer support 

Supported Platforms: Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile 

Pricing: The cheapest subscription, the Eddie annual plan, starts at $24.91 on the yearly plan

MeetEdgar vs. Hootsuite:

With MeetEdgars’ basic plan, the Eddie plan, you will have access to unlimited scheduled posts and up to 20 team members. Although you also get unlimited scheduled posts on Hootsuite, for you to add team members you’d have to purchase the Team subscription for over $260. Keep in mind that this only gives you access to 3 users rather than only one. 

Even though you may have access to more users on MeetEdgar, you’ll only be able to connect 5 social accounts on their basic plan, while with Hootsuite´s initial plan, you’re allowed to connect up to 10 accounts. 

If your main need for a social media scheduling tool is the achieve the autonomy of having content automatically published, Hootsuite might still be the best option. On the Eddie plan, you’ll only be able to automatically post 10 times a week. For 1,000 automations a week, you’ll need to purchase their second plan at $41.58 a month.

6) SproutSocial: Best Tool for CRM Features

Similar to Hootsuite, Sprout Social is a versatile tool capable of handling various aspects of social media marketing. It connects several social media platforms, allowing for centralized management from one unified interface.

Beyond social media platforms, Sprout Social also incorporates numerous additional app integrations, including Canva and Bitly. Collectively, these integrations assist users in significantly expanding the scope of their marketing activities.

Key Features:

All in one social inbox
Review Management 
Tasking and social CRM tools
Paid promotion tools for Facebook 
Profile, location, and keyword monitoring 

Supported platforms:  Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, WhatsApp, and YouTube.

Pricing: The standard SproutSocial subscription starts at $249

Sprout Social vs Hootsuite

Sprout Social is possibly the tool with the closest pricing to Hootsuite. Although their initial plan is pricier than that of Hootsuite, it does offer a lot of features. This is a great alternative for larger companies who have the budget to spend on martech. 

Sprout Social is great for brands that are well-established and keeping a social media presence is crucial for their marketing strategy. It allows you to control everything that is social media in one place, from day-to-day posting to ads management and even customer relationship management.  These intricate features compensate for its more expensive subscriptions. 

Keep in mind though, if you’re looking for white-label solutions, then Sprout Social might not be the best fit for you, unlike Hootsuite, it doesn’t provide it. 

7) Postify: Best Tool for The Basics

Postfity. app is an efficient and cost-effective alternative to Hootsuite, catering primarily to users who manage Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. It stands out as an affordable choice for individuals and small businesses, offering a range of basic features including a social calendar, Instagram story scheduling, bulk import, post preview, and a social inbox. 

This combination of features, along with its user-friendly interface, makes Postfity a practical and accessible option for social media management.

Key Features:

Content Scheduling and automatic posting 
Invite team members and assignment tags
All social inboxes in one 
Live support every day of the week 
AI content for Description, hashtags, and images 

Supported Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn

Pricing: Postify only provides one type of subscription which starts at $41 on the yearly plan or $44 on the monthly one. 

Postify vs Hootsuite:

Hootsuite supports a broader range of social networks, whereas Postfity concentrates primarily on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. So, if these are the only channels you work with this can be a potential alternative. 

Pricing for HootSuite begins at $105 per month for 10 social media profiles, in contrast to Postfity’s starting price of $41 per month for an unlimited amount of social media profiles. Also, Like Hopper HQ,  Postify only has one subscription type, which means you’ll be able to access all their features, including adding as many team members as you want. 

Consider Postify as a Hootsuite alternative if you’re not present on all social media channels and are looking for an accessible tool.

8) Loomly: Great for Team Collaboration

Loomly is a social media management tool used for branding and content creation. It integrates with popular tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams but has limited integrations for big businesses and some apps.

If you’re looking for a tool that provides AI features, then Loomly might not be the best option for you. Although it shares a variety of useful features, it does not support AI or in-app image editing. 

Key Features:

Scheduled analytics report 
Slack & Teams integration
Automate team workflow
Custom Branding 
FAQ, chat, and email support 

Supported platforms:  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, and custom channel 
Pricing: The basic plan starts at $32 a month expanding to $277 for the premium subscription.

Loomly vs. Hootsuite

The main difference between Loomly and Hootsuite will most likely be the unavailability of AI assistance. While Hootsuite provides it to all its subscription plans, Loomly does not offer this feature yet at least. 

Loomly however is a great tool for team collaboration, it provides users with the capability to automate workflows. It also allows you to integrate with communication apps like Slack and Teams, where you get notified every time someone in your team makes a change or adds a comment to a piece of content. 

When it comes to scheduling, with Loomly you’ll not manage to bulk schedule your content to different channels. If you’re a brand that publishes content frequently or several times a day, Loomly might not be the best option for you. 

9) Social Champ: Good for Managing Multiple Projects

Social Champ is a good alternative to consider if you work with multiple projects at the same time. It provides the basic features expected from such a tool plus some related to content ideation and recycling. Similar to what MeetEdgar provides.  

Key features:

Create a Posting Schedule
Bulk Scheduling
AI Content Wizard
Performance Overview Report
Post previews 

Pricing: Provides a free plan with limited features with the cheapest plan starting from $26 a month. 

Supported Platforms: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Mastodon, YouTube, Google Business Profile and Pinterest. 

Social Champ vs Hootsuite:

Like Buffer, you can access Social Champ through a free subscription but again, this comes with limitations like not being able to schedule for Twitter. Also, you can only have one user and schedule 15 posts at a time. If you have more active social media accounts or work as a team, you’d have to purchase their paid subscriptions. 

On the first paid plan at $26 a month, you can gain access to unlimited scheduled posts, and 12 social media accounts instead of 3, and you may have one extra user. However, on the Hootsuite basic plan, you’d also benefit from unlimited scheduled posts and bulk schedule 350 posts compared to 300 in Social Champ. 
Social Champ also utilizes a social media calendar to keep track of published, scheduled, and draft posts. However, it is not as visually aiding as the Hopper HQs’ calendar which seamlessly shows the posts on each day. 

Wrapping Up:

Hootsuite has been a notable social media scheduling tool for some time, but now you may easily find Hootsuite alternatives that are more feasible and fitting to your needs. This article has brought to light 8 potential options that agencies and small businesses can commit to. 

With cost and ease of use being a primary concern for most, Hopper HQ can be a great alternative to consider. Providing to be the cheapest option as well as having all the essential features like AI assistance, scheduling and autoposting, visual grid planner, bulk scheduling, and much more, Hopper is a perfect alternative to Hootsuite. 

Try Hopper HQ out with its 14-day free trial and take full advantage of an array of social media boosting features

The post 9 Best Hootsuite Alternatives in 2024 appeared first on Hopper HQ.

Fenix Media focusses in design and web production, they offer to take care of your entire web presence. From web development, design, layout, content, operation and domain management to search engine optimisation, further development and social media. The full package!

As well as this, Marie-Therese founded Photogenique Academy, a professional photography business specialising in professional portraits and branding.

We had a lovely honest chat about her businesses, the importance of social media and good content creation.

Introducing Marie-Therese…

I’m Marie-Therese and I have a media bureau called Fenix Media.  It’s a company that helps other companies with their Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

How did you decide to create Fenix Media?

Well, I’m a photographer and two years ago my clients didn’t use my photos on social media as they were supposed to use them. And they said: oh, I don’t know. I don’t know what to write. I don’t know how to do this!

Thus, I found out that it’s better for us to take care of their social media as I can take the picture and then schedule it on Hopper HQ.

And then me and my clients have open communication, whilst I schedule for the month ahead. And if they want something unique, they can schedule it themselves – but often they don’t do that. They are so happy that we, Fenix Media, do everything. 

Is Fenix Media completely solo or do you have a team around you?

We are two people – myself and Ewa.  We’re working together now and we want to continue growing our business together.

We have been doing social media management for one year.  I’ve been a photographer from the beginning.  I have my accounts and my colleague, Ewa, has her accounts.  However, now we like to take a more cooperative approach around each account. Ewa writes the texts and I make the pictures and the graphic.

Ewa’s the communication side of things and likes to write and I don’t!

How did you meet Ewa?

We have known each other for a long time living in Sigtuna in Sweden. Both of us live in Sigtuna.  Sigtuna is near Stockholm Arlanda Airport and is one of Sweden’s oldest towns.  It is very beautiful. 

Are most of Fenix Media’s clients Swedish?

Yes, they are mainly in the city of Sigtuna and some others in Stockholm.

What does Fenix Media offer clients in regards to social media management?

It’s different per client.  We have companies where we help them a little bit and we have other companies like @activkonsult_sigtuna – a consulting agency – where we do everything. 

I think it’s so funny for my clients, such as @activkonsult_sigtuna, to see what comes up on their Instagram everyday. Although, it’s not optimal because I do think it should be a cooperation between the client and me. And I think they should do something also because it can get a little impersonal.  

What other accounts does Fenix Media have?

We have an account called @vasamamma – a private midwife clinic.  I think it’s a lovely account, especially because the client doesn’t interact too much.  Meaning, that I can do what I like, and make a nice grid with nice photos.  However, when I go up and take pictures at @vasamamma, I have to tell them what clothes to wear, because if they don’t, I may have to change the colour of the clothes manually afterwards so I don’t destroy my grid.

We also have a scaffolding client, @safeconab, which is nice because I can take nice pictures of the guys working.  I am going to start working harder on this account, because the account can be so beautiful.  And everyone else in the construction business tend to not be aesthetically focused accounts.  I enjoy going in and fixing this.  Our clients can count on that.  I hope I get more clients like that. 

We work with graphics as well.  We have some clients who own restaurants and things like that, and we make the menus for them for example.  I’m not graphic-educated, but now I work so much in Canva I think I’m good enough!

Why did you choose Hopper HQ for Fenix Media?

We like Hopper HQ.  We think it’s very, very good to post through Hopper HQ as we have a lot of clients, you know, house brokers and magazines, etc.  So we have maybe 10 different kinds of accounts, which is made easier by Hopper HQ.

I haven’t seen any other programme that is similar to your system.  I tried Buffer and Hootsuite but it was complicated.  I looked at them both, but I think it’s too complicated for me.

Also, we’re not doing much analysing either – and that’s bad.  We should be better at that.  This year, we are just getting things started.  And then, moving forward with our accounts we will do more analysing and make it more professional.  

What do you think the key is to high quality content creation?

I think consistency throughout.  You have to avoid bad pictures and you have to hold your colour in the feed for it not to get messy. 

For example, with @fenixmedia, I recently decided how I would like the Instagram to look! This is because it can get messy with the customer’s pictures and they have their colours and we have our colours. And so, I decided to make the grid a grey theme, and have each picture with a grey background.

Check out our Instagram page where you can see our aesthetic and what we’re doing at Fenix Media!  We have grey, empty squares here and there, to ensure it doesn’t get messy. 

I was actually inspired by the Netflix series Dark and they have a lovely Instagram (@darknetflix).  And I thought: what a nice feeling with this clean account, and the ongoing and building puzzle with everything fitting together – I don’t have the patience to do that.  So, I skipped the puzzle, also because when it’s not in place, I think it’s messy.

What photo editing tool do you use?

Photoshop in past years, but more recently Canva.

You know, in Canva, you can take the background off in one second. If I do that in Photoshop, I have to sit for one hour to do it. Canva is amazing. 

Another app is Picsart.  It’s good because you can change the colour of things in Picsart very easily.  I have lots of photo apps because obviously you can do some things you can do very much faster in your phone than in your computer in Photoshop.

How important do you think social media is for businesses like in 2021?

There is no alternative.  Where else are you going?  Show yourself?  And say, hello!  Here I am!  There is no other place. 

I think before it was Facebook, but now more and more I feel like Instagram is number one.  It’s quicker and people have little time.

What tips would you give to other people starting out on social media?

I think the most important thing when you’re working with social media is that you have to have a plan. And that’s why companies themselves, they don’t have the time and they don’t have the knowledge and they don’t make a plan.  So we, as social media managers, plan for them.

For example, we had a @photogeniqueacademy event yesterday.  We were doing a photoshoot for a businesswoman.  And for the first time, in my own company, I did it by the book. I worked in Notion and I wrote down everything: time, date, what kind of picture.  Everything is planned in advance. So, before and during the event we had a social media manager that was taking videos and we sorted it into stories and feed posts, when and where we should publish it. And now I’m working with the result and publishing the results – which is exciting.

And if I didn’t do that, it is impossible!  Because when I am in an event, my event, and I am taking pictures and then, you know, time runs and I can’t really do all the social media myself.  And make it successful with hashtags, usertags, captions and story script.  

I think it’s fantastic nowadays to run the Instagram account for my clients because I take new pictures for the website, new portraits each quarter.  At that time, I also take pictures that I can use on Instagram.  It’s perfect because I have a plan when I go out to take the pictures, I know what I need. I go out, take pictures and then make their social accounts, it’s really easy for me. 

So it will be very, very problematic if you don’t plan. Planning is one of the things you have to do.  My advice: make a plan. 

What is your favourite Hopper HQ feature?

I think it’s just so easy to click and make decisions about where everything goes.  It’s easy to duplicate posts, it’s easy to click the picture to edit.  I like it.  And also I like the way you can edit and write on the picture.

Another thing is that I can take 50 pictures and upload them at one time.  And then afterwards I  choose where and how they publish.

It’s so easy. I can’t think of any other way to do this better. 

The post In Conversation with Marie-Therese Karlberg | Hopper HQ Spotlight appeared first on Hopper HQ.

Founder, Keri Haw, is an inspirational advocate for mental health and wellbeing. Not only does she work as a house mistress, and consult in schools for mental health and wellbeing; as of two months ago, she took the leap, followed her passion and became an entrepreneur!

Keri’s passion and love for her work is extremely evident. The love she’s put into launching her business in such a short time proves this. In our chat we covered everything from her business, to social media scheduling tips, and platforms new business owners shouldn’t be without!

Introducing Keri…

I’m Keri.  I am many things: my day job is that I’m a housemistress at a boarding school, as well as a mental health and wellbeing lead.  So nothing to do with small business really!  Recently, I decided to start a ‘side hustle’ (as they say) and I’ve started a print on demand business, consisting mostly of t-shirts, sweatshirts and mugs.  My business is aimed at spreading joy and raising awareness about wellbeing and mental health through t-shirts and sweatshirts.

Did your background in social care lead you to create Adventures in Wellbeing Apparel?

Exactly.  Mental health and wellbeing is my jam – in all ways!  It has manifested itself in lots of different ways.  Professionally, I support young people.  I lead on our mental health and wellbeing provision, and created a whole school approach to this.  I also consult in different schools too.  Thus supporting mental health and wellbeing in education as a whole.  

But also, it’s my passion, my drive and my raison d’etre.  I get very geeky about mental health and wellbeing.  It comes out in all areas.  My social accounts are very much focused towards that, and that’s very much the focus of my products that I produce.  

For example, we’ve got an affirmation series, t-shirts and mugs that have an affirmation focus.  But also a little tongue-in-cheek!  Because as much as I’m slightly obsessed with wellbeing, I’m also a bit rubbish at it!  It’s trying not to take myself, or ourselves, too seriously along the journey.

Is Adventures in Wellbeing Apparel something you take into school and your consultancy?

To a degree, but mostly in a sense that my students who know me really well take the mickey out of me for it.  

A lot of the phrases that I’ve used on the products like “Recovery is possible”.  They hear me say all the time.  “I’m not judging, I’m noticing” – they are signature me phrases in school and out. This one came about during a mentoring conversation with a student. I always talk about listening non-judgmentally and during our conversation I reacted with a bit of judgement and they called me out on it. In a moment of quick thinking I joked that I wasn’t judging, I was noticing and the phrase stuck. Again, it’s about not taking ourselves too seriously, even around serious topics like mental health and wellbeing.

What is Adventures in Wellbeing Apparel‘s mission statement?

Adventures in Wellbeing Apparel is wearable joy for the wellbeing warrior.

If you had to describe Adventures in Wellbeing Apparel in a couple of adjectives what would you choose?

Adventures in Wellbeing Apparel is: 

• Joyful – it has to be!
• Tongue-in-cheek – can this be an adjective?
• Produced for the wellbeing warrior.

How important is social media to Adventures in Wellbeing Apparel?

My business is brand new.  I’ve only been doing this for just over a month!  Whilst I started out on Etsy, I’ve since created my own website.  In terms of starting out and being fresh on any platform, I’m relying almost entirely on social media to build my community, to grab people’s attention and hopefully to eventually create that community where people like me feel seen.  

I want those people who have a passion about looking after themselves, self care and wellbeing for improving our mental health.  But also, not really taking ourselves too seriously.  I want those people to find me and for us all to find our tribe, and be something together.  

Social media is absolutely vital for doing that.  If you’re just set up on a website, how do people know that you are there?  Especially on Instagram, I have found you discover your people and you connect over something really silly.  You know, I’m a massive Drag Race fan, so I’ve got a couple of products which are a little bit Drag Race-y.  And I did something on my Instagram stories the other day and mentioned Drag Race, and somebody straight away was like “oh my gosh, you’re my people!”.  That’s what social media can do.  

You know, starting out a new business, there are a few things that are really important to me.  One is definitely community, and that can only come from engaging with social media really.

@adventuresinwellbeingapparel has amazing Instagram Stories, how do you keep that channel active?

It’s all a bit bonkers really!  My day job is a 62 hour week already.  So this is all on top of that.  But that’s where Hopper HQ comes in and how Hopper HQ has been absolutely game-changing.  Because it means that I can have posts going out really easily and I can be 100% confident that they are going out exactly how I want them, when I want them, when it suits my community and my audience, not when I have free time – which is really limited.  That’s been hugely key for me, with keeping up with things.  

I think from what I’m picking up,  I’m not really au fait with social media.  My sister is very much more ‘in the know’ about all of these things.  But from what I am picking up, with stories, the key at the moment seems to be, not being on there all the time.  Previously, I think it used to be ‘keep that light on all the time’, and ‘make sure that you’ve got stories posted all the time’.  But now, it seems to be actually if you take a break for a day, come back to it, do something with purpose, ask questions, use the polls, etc.  Then you get much more engagement that way.

You recently said Adventures in Wellbeing Apparel went through a rebrand, would you like to talk us through that?

When I first started the company, I used an old logo, which I had set up for a blog a few years ago.  It was fine, the Adventures in Wellbeing has been part of my identity for a while.

I used that logo to get things going, and I wanted things to be colourful and bright etc.  A couple of weeks in I asked my sister for feedback, as she’s much more cued up as she does a little social media managing – she’s a lot more entrepreneurial than me.  Actually, she recommended Hopper HQ when I asked what scheduling tool she uses, as I’ve used Later before, but she recommended Hopper HQ as she really liked the interface.

So I arranged a call with her for a little bit of coaching.  And she had a look at my feed and said “ooooh it’s a lot isn’t it, there’s a lot going on’.  It had all different colours and was quite busy.  So anyway, bless her, she didn’t say ‘I think you need a rebrand’.  I just came away from it knowing I can rethink this.  Thinking about it, it was a pink and grey theme, and it felt very 2017 Keri and I thought actually maybe now is a good time to have an overhaul!  I went away and played with some colours.  And came back with a more succinct colour palette for the branding.  I did it all on Canva – love Canva!  What’s not to love?  And yeah!  Hopefully the colour themes will start coming through a bit more consistently.

Also Read: How To Embed Instagram Feed On Your Website

What’s fantastic is I already had quite a lot of content scheduled on Hopper HQ, but actually it’s super easy to move things around and change things up.  Again, that’s another reason I’m obsessed with Hopper HQ.

Also, your social media is scheduled in Hopper HQ until August! How have you done that?

I’m just a keen bean as it’s early days.  Again, what I’m finding and what’s been really good, is that I know there is no point in me sitting down and thinking ok, I have to do this now.  Rather, I have to go with the flow.  I can procrastinate, and put things off, because if I make myself do something if I’m not in the zone to do it, it will be 10 times as hard and take me 10 times as long.  Whereas, if I can, wait for that moment when I’m in the right zone for it, it’s so much easier.  

And so, that is why scheduling is really important as well, for helping me work in flow.  So Friday is meme day.  I’m definitely not always in the right frame of mind to be making memes, but you know if I can schedule those as and when the creative juices are flowing, they go straight in the scheduler and then I know that it’s taken care of.  And I’m not thinking on a Friday ‘ oh gosh it’s Friday, I need to post a meme today I don’t really have any inspiration’.  Actually it’s all already there, because I’ve harnessed those moments when I’m in the right place for it.

Meme fridays? Is that something you’re bringing out on your account?

Yes, another tip from my sister was to post certain things on certain days.  So that’s another thing that I’ve chopped and changed and moved things around about.  So the calendar view in Hopper HQ has been really useful for that.

Tuesdays are shareable content, Thursdays are quotes, and Fridays are memes.  And then interspersed around that is actually stuff that I’m trying to sell!

I’m genuinely such a fan, it’s been the most fantastic tool, it really has.  There are a few things that have been absolute game-changers in terms of making it easy to start a business and using social media for marketing, Canva, Hopper HQ, and Placeit are right up there.

What’s Placeit?

That’s a website for mockups.  Basically all of the images that you see are product mock-ups.  They have a huge variety of different scenarios, flatlays, and they’ve got lots of different models.  That’s another fundamental thing that I want to promote through the social media accounts is representation of lots of different body types and ethnicities and they’ve got a fantastic selection of options you can use for your mockups.

I’m really keen to make sure that there are people with disabilities, different genders and ethnicities showing up on my feed.  Anybody that comes to the account can feel like there is somebody like me on there.

What would your advice be to someone on the fence for starting a new business?

I think it would be; just do it.  Don’t wait for the right time because there won’t be a right time.  Whatever is holding you back, there will be a way around it.  I don’t have any startup or anything, and so I’ve gone down a print-on-demand route.  So I don’t need any startup.  There is always an answer to things and I think we can be held back by, waiting for the perfect time.  It might not come.  

But there are ways of working smart and making life easy for yourself.  There are ways around any possible hurdle.  Just start and feel your way as you go.  It’s ok if you make mistakes.  For example, the very busy rainbow of my first few posts was very much in your face and colourful – but you know that’s fine!  It’s ok to go on a journey with it and feel your way as you go.

If you had to pinpoint a favourite Hopper HQ feature what would you say it is?

I think I really like the calendar view, because it gives me a really good overview of everything that is coming up.  

There’s too many features!  I love that you can schedule the first comment!  That’s where all my hashtags go.  I love that when you enter your hashtags it gives you potential suggested ones.  And also, how many people follow that hashtag so that gives you an idea of where you should be placing that.  

Everything in one place which is absolutely fantastic; the fact that you can schedule carousels.  Other scheduling tools that I’ve used can do some things but not everything.  Whereas, I haven’t come across anything in Hopper HQ that I wish it did.

The post In Conversation with Keri Haw | Hopper HQ Spotlight appeared first on Hopper HQ.

Maintain is a digital marketing agency powered by a team of game-changing strategists, enthusiastic collaborators, forward-thinkers, and passionate creators. They love what they do, which is probably why they are so good at it.

We were lucky enough to steal 20 minutes out of Elisa’s jam-packed schedule to ask some wonderful questions about Maintain, her client process, opinions of social media and, of course, Hopper HQ.

Be sure to check out their Instagram @MaintainDigital to stay up to date with everything they are doing in their company and their community.

Introducing Elisa…

I’m Elisa, wife to Jonathan and mother to three little humans but also the Owner and Creative Director of Maintain – a digital marketing company that my husband and I started about four years ago from our little home in Florida.  It started as Jonathan freelancing at first – building websites and managing Google Adword accounts – while I freelanced as a photographer; all this in the midst of having babies. 

Now we have a full fledged team of marketing, branding, photography, and videography experts – Along with social media, of course.  And we’re just taking it day-by-day and growing as we go.  As far as the company goes, we do everything from inbound marketing to web design to social media management, branding, photography and videography.  We’re kind of a one-stop shop for companies who are all around us.

What is it that makes Maintain unique as a digital marketing agency?

I think something that makes us unique, is that our clients become a part of our family.  As I said Jonathon and I are married and we have three kids, so our employees become part of the mishmash and craziness of our lives. And along with that our clients do as well. I really think the hospitality we provide our clients really sets us apart. And our dedication to stay true to our clients and what makes them, them. Maintain does not ever want to turn them or their brand into something they are not.  We encourage an in-depth exploration process while giving our expertise and our advice and steering them in the direction that we believe will work best for them, and their audience.

Also, we try to make ourselves available, just the ability to get hold of us, whenever they can, and not have to go through a lot of communication lines is probably something else that sets us apart too.

What’s your process with taking on a new client for digital marketing?

The first process we go through with our clients is called a deep-dive.  We’ll all usually meet in person – during Covid it was a lot of Zoom calls – and still some Zoom now.  For the deep-dive, we will usually meet in person and dive into everything: from brands that they look up to, to the clientele they’ve had in the past, any pain points that they are having now, to where they see themselves and their company in the future.  So it’s generally a couple hours of really getting to know them as a company, and getting to know the thought leaders they find inspiring, and their goals and aspirations. 

And then, the real fun begins.  We book a creative meeting to talk through all  “the fluff” –  colours, textures, photography, branding. What they love, what they hate, and how they want their company to make others feel.  

Then, we meet back up as a team and decide on a content strategy for website, ads, branding and social media. Making sure it all correlates in a way that will bring their potential clients through a journey of discovery and getting to know them and then actually becoming a customer.

In your perspective what’s the key to quality content creation for businesses?

As we’ve been getting busier we’ve started noticing something that is the key; an initial plan and setting boundaries. Whether it’s in creative and you are using a moodboard or branding colours or through content and you are sticking to a specific subject matter, boundaries and planning are key. For example, we have a tree company as a client and hurricane season is coming. We are going to plan all our content around hurricane season and getting ready for that in the Bay Area.  As a creative it’s easy to look here and there and everywhere, and think you need to do that – oh and a little bit of that- ah and that too.  And you kind of wind up with a lovely mess of beautiful photos, graphics and content, but they don’t really go well together. They don’t really tell a story.

So, I think the initial planning, and that’s something we are working on now with our team, THAT is where a lot of success can start.  

• Knowing your target demographic
• Setting boundaries that you want to work within content-wise and aesthetically
• Taking the planning process one step at a time

How important is social media presence for businesses in 2021?

I would like to say it is of utmost importance, but not any more important than all the other moving parts within a business. I believe that being on social media is important, but it’s not everything.  Rather, it’s important for companies to maintain their health on the inside of their company so that it shows on the outside of their company.  

And that’s kind of where social media comes into play. Where you can highlight the really good things that are happening, or what you are doing in the community or new products you’re coming out with.  And all that is all really important and really beautiful, but you want to make sure that your company is healthy as well.  It just kind of all works together. You can have all of the planning in the world, but still have your company fall apart, because you’re not maintaining the health of your employees, or the health of yourself, or your financial health.  Putting all that first and then doing some planning on the pieces that you really like about your company, or what you’re offering people and kind of let it shine from the inside out.

Do you think it’s important to break down that third wall and have a face behind the content and the company?

Yeah, I think that’s super powerful for people to see the raw ‘what’s going on?’ ‘Who’s the owner’?  ‘What’s the owner doing?’ ‘How did you make that furniture’ ‘Where did your company start?’ – just kind of seeing the everyday, because then people aren’t just getting this beautiful sheen on the outside. They are gaining the value of  ‘what it’s really made of’ and that’s what draws people in, you know, knowing the story behind something.

I’ll tell you this – I won’t go out and buy a $50 mug.  But if I know the mug was made by someone in another country, where it was sourced well and they were paid right, then I will pay $50 for that mug, because of the story of that mug.

A more personal question, I fell across your Instagram account @the_morey_story, how do you have the time to keep that channel active and beautiful?

I don’t always have the time.  It’s just my own personal account where I can share pretty snaps of the every day. Plus the kiddos are just full of so much life and craziness! 

To be able to capture that and look back on it really brings me a lot of joy.  There’s not really any time for that, but somehow we fit it in.

Is there anything exciting that we should keep an eye out on Maintain accounts?

We are in the middle of rebranding.  So we’re going to have some new stuff popping up later on this year.  And we’re in the process of finding a physical location for ourselves and to share with other artists in our community.

So there’s something exciting on the horizon.

What do you think about Hopper HQ?

We really like using Hopper HQ.  We did a lot of research before we decided on Hopper HQ.  A huge thing that our social team likes is the ability to see the grid on the side and move things around that way.  

The chat is also super helpful. When I chat with support they are always really good about letting me know when an issue will be fixed, or what’s going on, and what I can do on my end.  So they are really responsive, which I love.

The post In Conversation with Elisa Morey | Hopper HQ Spotlight appeared first on Hopper HQ.

Working with almost 2000 businesses in a team of just 30 people, Jumper has grown rapidly since it was born in 2016, and isn’t slowing down anytime soon. With its headquarters set against a Californian coast, their company culture leaves nothing to be desired, as I learnt when stalking the business on Instagram – team bonding aboard a yacht anyone?

       
An insight into Californian agency life at Jumper Media, we’re not jealous at all.

Even though I didn’t get to go to San Diego to meet the team (or try out the company branded surfboards) for myself, I was lucky enough to have a chat with Colton Bollinger, CEO and Co-Founder of Jumper Media, to talk all things Instagram and find out a bit more about the agency and their awesome client work!

After some classic chat about British vs. Californian weather, we got on to the good stuff…

So Colton, what were you up to before Jumper Media, and what led you to establish it?

Before Jumper I was actually working in another start up in the golf industry! We were running an app for golf instructors to schedule and manage online payments. That’s what drove me into Instagram and social media, as I was managing that side of things for the business. I had a prominent golf company reach out to me after they’d seen how I’d grown both my personal and the company’s social profiles. They asked me to manage theirs as well, which is really what jump started everything! I picked up more and more clients to the point where I couldn’t do it myself anymore. My 2 best friends were in San Fransisco at the time and we came together and decided to form the company – and somehow the clients kept rolling in!

Colton Bollinger, CEO & Co-Founder of Jumper Media

So Jumper Media is a social media agency, but it’s Instagram specific?

Yeah it’s primarily Instagram, we offer full management as well as content creation. We also manage paid ads on Facebook, but don’t tend to create content or do general account management for any other social network. 

Awesome! So why did you decide to focus on Instagram?

When I first started in this industry, content seemed to be created Facebook first and then it was shared to Twitter and Instagram. Over the past two and a half years, I’ve seen that shift. Basically 100% of content is Instagram first now, and I’ve been along with the clients as that shift has happened and they’ve been trying to keep up. There’s many different dynamics that go into creating content for Instagram versus Facebook, with stuff like Boomerang and Stories, people have had to adapt. Quite honestly I just think people are spending more time on it! In my first sales pitches when potential clients asked me why they should invest in Instagram, I would just ask them what they did when they went to the bathroom these days, and most of the time they weren’t on Facebook anymore, they were scrolling Instagram. 

The Jumper Media team in their collaborative office space in San Diego

That makes sense, Instagram is undeniably addictive and has become a necessity in any social media strategy! So say a client comes to you guys wanting full Instagram management as well as a certain amount of content creation, what’s Jumper Media’s process from there? Could you talk me through it?

Sure, so for content creation the first thing to do is understand all the finer details like where they’re based, what the product is, whether it’s going to be shipped to us or if we can travel to them etc. Typically with our content creation packages, we include a 3-4 hour video/photoshoot for a client’s product, service or business. So we’ll schedule out the videographer to get a date in the calendar, then they’ll either send us the product and we’ll plan the shoot internally, or where possible we’ll go to shoot at their location. 

From there we put together a rough shot list and get some clear ideas from the client of what they want us to capture or create. If there’s any models necessary we aim to plan around it – most of our clients are small to medium businesses so we try and save them that expense by suggesting they use people they know!

If the client has given us some content in advance we start publishing that prior to the shoot to get some buzz going. If not, we can shoot and edit everything up in under a week and get it over to the client for approval. Once that’s done we create a 2 week content schedule which the client can approve and make amendments to, and then we start posting! With any client, that first month is all about learning the voice of the brand, getting feedback from them on what they liked and what they didn’t – and most importantly, finding out if they want to carry on working with us or not!

With any client, that first month is all about learning the voice of the brand, says Colton Bollinger, CEO of Jumper Media. Read the full interview here!
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That last part must be pretty vital, as I’m sure it takes a great deal of empathy and communication to get into the mindset of another business in order to produce unique and authentic content for them?

Completely, and we never create 100% of content for a client. Even if we’re doing content creation, it’s only ever a supplemental amount to their overall content strategy. We still want them to be telling company stories you know? Like posting boomerangs of their company culture and their colleagues doing funny stuff in the office. We want them to capture a sense of the behind-the-scenes fun aspect of the business, as that’s something we can’t really create for them day to day. It’s a collaborative effort!

Some of the team at Jumper Media in their office headquarters in San Diego

I think that’s really important, especially with Instagram making it easier than ever to get to know the humans behind a business with Stories and Live! So Colton, agency life must have its trials and tribulations, what issues would you say you struggle with day to day?

Hmm…mostly managing communication with the client! There’s a lot of people who can run an Instagram account, you can read enough blogs on best practise and watch enough videos to educate yourself to be a social media manager. But what sets anyone apart in order to work with clients at scale, is really the communication and expectation between both parties, and how you handle and meet those expectations.

I suppose it’s not just managing and nurturing Instagram accounts, but also the relationship between you and the client!

Exactly, and that’s our biggest challenge day-to-day I’d say: how can we get better at communicating with our clients, setting expectations and ensuring we meet them. A client is never unhappy when they agree to expectations and you meet them, but they’re always going to be unhappy when you set expectations that are not met!

Strong selfie game from the women at Jumper Media

Definitely. Now Jumper Media gets amazing engagement on Instagram, so you guys clearly practise what you preach! One grievance we often hear at Hopper HQ is that it can be hard to think of content ideas when you don’t have a product to photograph. What advice would you give to other B2B companies to improve their Instagram content?

Okay so there’s 2 good approaches here. I think most B2B businesses realise Instagram is never going to be their biggest avenue of sales. Instagram is more of a consumer facing platform, it’s just how it works. So the app may not be the best place to spend lots of time and resources to gain clientele, BUT, it’s a great source to motivate and attract new employees! Some businesses will focus their efforts primarily on recruiting through Instagram. They invest time in showing company culture and giving the consumer an idea of what they do – it’s a tactic that we’ve used with our own clients. At Jumper we’ll strategise a content plan around the question: ‘how do we show people how awesome your company is and attract them to want to work for you?’. 

For B2B companies, Instagram is a great source to motivate and attract new employees! - Colton Bollinger, Jumper Media.
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That’s a really interesting strategy! And if your profile is appealing to your ideal employee, chances are it’ll have the same effect on your ideal customer too. What’s the second approach?

Precisely! The other approach is becoming the thought leader in your industry, which is kind of what we did with our own profile. We just look for other businesses who do a great job with their online marketing – they could be some of our clients, local businesses, or even lead gen! If we highlight a business we’d like to work with on our Instagram, we’ll point out what they’re doing really well and maybe even something they could improve on. But the big takeaway from that is that they get a notification on their Instagram saying ‘@jumpermedia tagged you in a post’ and they’re gonna be like “who the hell are jumper media??”.

It’s a great conversation opener, they’ll come to our page and get an idea of who we are as a brand and hopefully research what we do. Granted, not every business is going to be managing their own Instagram, they could have an agency like ourselves managing their accounts, and chances are the person at the company might never actually see it! In that sense it may not be the best lead gen, but it’s still a good strategy. It makes your page look good and then when people visit they can see businesses that are succeeding on Instagram and get inspired to improve their own content.

Any final tips?

I’d suggest using this strategy to highlight existing customers! That’s one thing we’ve definitely learnt – whenever we highlight a current client, they really love the gesture and the exposure, and they see a lot of value in it. It’s a great way to keep clients happy and potentially attract a few new ones!

Also, keep in mind that the number 1 goal with any Instagram content is consumer value – Instagram is first and foremost a consumer facing platform – so if you’re not giving something for the consumers to come back to and value, they’re not going to want to follow you. 

We’ve featured @jumpermedia on our Instagram #HopperHQSpotlight – check it out

Great thanks Colton! Are there any industries or sectors you think Instagram marketing is most difficult for?

The hardest one that we’ve come across is service providers like lawyers. They’re quite difficult businesses to market on social media, so then it’s really about showing a sense of humility and personality around the professionals in the company. There’s undeniably pre-conceived notions about professions like law, people might think the employees are sly or even untrustworthy. So the way you need to go about a content strategy is by thinking: ‘how can we dismiss those stereotypes from a consumer who comes to the page?’. For example, showing that they have kids, they like to play volleyball, drive cars and so on, it shifts the ‘sleazy lawyer’ image into a real, relatable human being. Every company is different, but I think that’s a great first step for businesses who you perhaps wouldn’t traditionally think would be on Instagram. 

For my final question, I’d love to know what you look for online to help you stay at the top of your Instagram game?

For the most part just being on Instagram all the time, that’s the number one thing. My team follow blogs from all our competitors and news sources to keep up to date with what’s being posted, what’s not, what people are looking for, and we’ll go to Google to see what’s being searched for in the Instagram space. Personally I just go to Instagram itself, I look at sponsored ads, see what other businesses are doing well, get inspiration and ideas for our own clients. There’s a lot of stuff you wouldn’t see unless you’re on the platform a lot, as everything people are writing about and sharing is already dated! 

Amazing!  Thanks for your time Colton.

No problem, thanks for reaching out!

Keep up to date with Colton and Jumper Media on Instagram

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