Is Hootsuite A Content Management System (CMS)? [Explained]

Hootsuite is a social media manager that helps businesses schedule and keep track of their social media accounts.

Hootsuite is also known for its convenient plug-ins that allow you to sync up your Hootsuite account with other accounts you may have, like Basecamp, Dropbox, Salesforce, and a whole host of others.

Like a standard Content Management System (CMS), Hootsuite can create a smooth workflow between team members and streamline your business.

Here’s What You Need to Know about Hootsuite as a Content Management System:

Hootsuite is considered a Content Management System. It helps users manage their social media profiles and offers convenient integrations and plug-ins, collaborative tools,  a media library, and a calendar app to help users track content across online platforms.  

What Exactly Is a CMS?

A Content Management System (CMS) is software that helps users manage digital content.

Basically, it lets users create and manage websites. An example of a CMS would be WordPress. WordPress allows users to easily upload and update their own website hosted on WordPress.

Content Management Systems are sometimes further categorized as Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems, Enterprise Content Management systems, or Web Content Management systems.

• Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems are used for managing and storing media and documents. Cloud services like Google Drive are a DAM system.
• Enterprise Content Management focuses on the collaboration of different users under a single platform. CMS, in this context, pertains to file-sharing, workflow sharing, and other applications that let a team work while able to provide real-time updates to a job. An example of this is Salesforce.
• Web Content Management, meanwhile, focuses on developing websites. It includes features that allow you to manage websites, including media and pages, without the need for complicated codes and programming languages. WordPress is a CMS that is also a Web Content Management system.

Some services offer an overlap of features from Enterprise and Web Content Management. These include Hootsuite and Social Studio by Salesforce.

Does Hootsuite Offer the Features of a Basic CMS?

Hootsuite offers the basic features of a CMS, especially when integrated with plug-ins and apps.

• Hootsuite is a collaborative application that lets teams work together in managing the different social media profiles of a business.
• Hootsuite lets you assign people to handle particular tasks or profiles, submit draft content, and work together under a single calendar for a harmonious workflow.
• It also has an asset manager similar to an Enterprise Content Management system. Hootsuite lets you build a media library that you can pull from for posts. There are also stock images you can use, and an editor that allows you to edit photos for your content.
• You can also integrate Hootsuite with other CMS systems to help you manage your website.

Check out our article on using Hootsuite as a website manager for more information.

Do You Need a Separate CMS System Besides Hootsuite?

Depending on your needs, you may want to invest in a separate CMS system outside of Hootsuite.

First of all, you need to know what kind of content you are managing.

• If your concern is mostly managing image files and your social media content, then you can use Hootsuite on its own.
• If you are dealing with videos and other file types not recognized by the Hootsuite dashboard, you may want to consider a CMS to manage these digital assets.

Also, if you integrate your website dashboard with Hootsuite, you will need a CMS that it can understand. See below for more on that.

What CMS Systems Does Hootsuite Integrate with?

Hootsuite can integrate with a number of CMS systems.

• For website management, it can integrate with WordPress. However, it must be a WordPress.org, self-hosted website—not a WordPress.com blog site. See our article for more information about Hootsuite’s ability to manage WordPress sites. 
• For cloud storage, you can link Hootsuite with Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and others.
• If you need collaborations for sales, Hootsuite can integrate with Salesforce, Bynder, and others.

Does Hootsuite integrate with WordPress?

Hootsuite can integrate with self-hosted WordPress.org websites, but it cannot integrate with WordPress.com blogs.

You can use Hootsuite to post content on your WordPress-enabled, self-hosted website, but your WordPress site must be at least version 3.4 and XML-RPC enabled.

There is also a WordPress plug-in that you can install on your dashboard that will link your site to Hootsuite. There are two versions of the WordPress plug-in for Hootsuite: a free version and a paid version.

• The free version allows you to publish your WordPress posts to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn on the Hootsuite dashboard.
• The paid version lets you publish to your Instagram and Pinterest profiles as well as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all on your Hootsuite dashboard.Check also our article here about Hootsuite and Snapchat!.

  Check also our article here about Hootsuite and Snapchat!.

You can read more about Hootsuite’s ability to integrate with WordPress here. 

Does Hootsuite integrate with Salesforce?

Hootsuite can integrate with Salesforce using a plug-in, which can help you integrate your social media operations and your sales department.

With the plug-in, you can import leads generated from social media to Salesforce so that sales representatives can follow up with prospective customers.

Note that while the Salesforce plug-in for Hootsuite is free, it only works with Salesforce plans of Enterprise or above.

See our article for more details about Hootsuite’s integration with Salesforce. 

Can you integrate Hootsuite with cloud storage services?

Hootsuite can integrate with cloud storage services.

Hootsuite lets you add your Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft One Drive accounts to your Hootsuite account in order to give you a large media library you can pull from for your social media content.

Cloud storage integration is an ideal solution for businesses with team members who need convenient access to a database of files and images for use on social media.

Should you go for an all-in-one CMS?

It may be tempting to sign-up for a single CMS to handle all the needs of your business.

It means fewer invoices to deal with and fewer accounts to keep track of. You may even be getting a discount for bundling your services.

However, there can be disadvantages to having an all-in-one CMS.  

• If you suffer a security breach that affects your CMS, you will have a massive problem on your hands.
• If your system must go down for maintenance, your workflow will come to a halt.

But, if you maintain several CMS apps that integrate, you can avoid these issues. The added security may be worth the trade-off.

Sources:

Content Management System (CMS) Apps Integrated with Hootsuite

Hootsuite and WordPress integration

Publish and monitor your WordPress content