Village Gamer

To drive innovation in the social space, HootSuite has announced the launch of HootSuite Labs, a team focused on developing the next generation of social technologies. With origins as a ‘startup within a startup’, Labs explores emerging digital technologies and engages with HootSuite’s early adopters and select customers to shape the future of social media and digital marketing. As part of Connect via HootSuite in San Francisco, HootSuite Labs hosted an Innovator’s Breakfast where enterprise clients were invited to help shape the product roadmap and provide feedback on the latest developments.

“HootSuite has established itself as the leading social relationship platform because of its ability to innovate,” says Matt Switzer, HootSuite’s vice president of partnerships and corporate development. “HootSuite Labs aims to extend our customers an unfair business advantage through accelerated innovation and customer-centric development.”

Key areas of focus for HootSuite Labs include:

• Developing disruptive products that provide customers with the tools and edge to win against the competition;
• Experimenting with emerging technologies for future innovation;
• Promoting lean innovation through events such as hackathons, design sprints and  workshops.

The Hootlet is first in a series of new products to be developed by HootSuite Labs. The free Chrome Extension allows users to easily share and schedule content to multiple social networks from anywhere on the web. A key Hootlet feature is a Google Maps integration which shows localized Tweets from any place in the world.

“We’re bringing together world-class designers, developers and product people to make the future of social media a reality,” says Michael Tippett, HootSuite’s director of new products. “We’re lean, agile, disruptive and world-changing. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

HootSuite Labs is hiring innovators to join its growing team of designers, developers, and product leaders.