Village Gamer

The makers of social media management system HootSuite have strengthened their ever-expanding App Directory with the introduction of social app plugins. App Plugins make it easier for HootSuite’s nearly 5 million global users to access HootSuite’s social network content from the dashboard, with the option of sending individual posts (native to Twitter or Facebook) to third-party applications outside the dashboard. To celebrate the launch, HootSuite adds three new (and free) app plugins, including Evernote, Zendesk, and Storify —  to help users take control of their content curation and customer service needs.

With the addition of app plugins, HootSuite moves even closer to achieving its goal of offering one secure dashboard for users to streamline online communication, content, and multimedia from multiple social networks, including these newest additions:

• Evernote (Install in HootSuite now): When HootSuite users find themselves having Twitter or Facebook conversations valuable enough to reference later, the Evernote app plugin allows them to save these conversations directly into their Evernote notebooks. With the Evernote app users can also view a stream of notes in HootSuite, allowing them to share notes to social networks, edit notes and more.

• Zendesk (Install in HootSuite now): When Zendesk users come across a Twitter or Facebook posts requiring special attention, the Zendesk app plugin allows users to create tickets directly from posts within HootSuite, complete with Twitter conversation history or Facebook comments. During ticket creation, users are able to edit subjects and descriptions to suit their unique needs, in addition to selecting ticket type, status, priority level, and assign tickets to specific team members.

• Storify (Install in HootSuite now): For users who want to curate social media posts into stories to publish and amplify the social media they monitor on HootSuite, the Storify app plugin for HootSuite allows them to add Twitter or Facebook posts directly to their Storify accounts. Users can select which story elements they’re after, or create a new story to add an element to, and have the option to share these stories to their social networks using HootSuite.

“With the success of our App Directory since its launch in late 2011, we’ve decided to take its functionality to the next level, and have introduced plugin capabilities to increase the interaction possible between the HootSuite dashboard, and other external applications”, says Ryan Holmes, CEO of HootSuite. “With the addition of app plugins, we’re making it possible for our users to monitor their social media properties from the dashboard, then delegate messages for additional handling in external, third party applications. This tighter coupling between HootSuite and its integrated apps extends the power of both.”

“Customers demand interaction on their terms, and social media is an increasingly important channel for Zendesk customers,” said Conan Reidy, Zendesk’s Vice President of Business Development. “The new HootSuite plugin helps customers provide the real-time customer service that social media demands, while maintaining a detailed history of the entire customer transaction.”

Until now, the HootSuite App Directory featured tools created by third-party developers to extend the capabilities of the dashboard that focused primarily on populating streams within HootSuite. You can expect to see more apps that will make use of this functionality for customer support, CRM, digital marketing, publishing, content curation and more in the near future. These app plugins are just the first in a series HootSuite has planned.

HootSuite allows developers to quickly create new apps using the available toolkit. Created apps integrate directly into HootSuite streams or plug into external social networks and tools, allowing a custom user experience within the social media dashboard. To learn more, visit HootSuite Developers or follow @HootSuite_Apps.