Running a resort and an online life can be a daunting task for those unprepared. Planners and pocket calendars may have left us decades ago, but the concept of organising your schedule is still very much applicable to today’s digital society.
So if you or your resort or apartment has an extensive online presence in different social networking sites, you can manage all of them successfully by checking out some of the following services that allow for scheduling social media updates across multiple platforms.
For Multiple Platforms:
Hootsuite
Hootsuite has a broad range of apps, including their web-based original, mobile apps (iPhone and Android), desktop apps (Windows, Mac and Linux) and add-ons for Firefox and Chrome, all with the power to schedule updates. The desktop and web-based apps allow you to schedule to Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Pages, LinkedIn, Ping.fm, WordPress, MySpace, and Foursquare, while the mobile apps are limited to Twitter and Facebook.
Here at eTourism, we use HootSuite to manage our multiple accounts and also pull in RSS blog feeds and broadcast them to Twitter. It has really made our online activities more organized. Here’s how to sign up.
LaterBro
On the sign-in screen, you can log in using either your Twitter or Facebook information. After choosing your time zone, you can either start scheduling updates or add more social accounts. You can add multiple Twitter accounts and are limited to one Facebook account. When scheduling an update, you can choose which accounts the update should be posted on and when.
CoTweet
CoTweet is an enterprise-grade tool for monitoring an establishment’s, like your resort’s, Twitter accounts and engaging with customers. One of the many features is the ability to schedule tweets by time and date. CoTweet can also be configured to send updates to Ping.fm. The Ping.fm configuration allows you to send updates to any of the social platforms that your Ping.fm account is hooked up to.
Twaitter
After logging in with your Twitter information, choosing your time zone, and providing an e-mail address, you’re on your way to scheduling tweets with Twaitter, soon to be called Gremln. Scheduled tweets appear in a queue and can be edited or deleted prior to being sent.
For Twitter Only:
FutureTweets
FutureTweets allows you to sign in using Twitter OAuth. Choose your time zone and get to tweeting.
What’s different from FutureTweets is that it allows you to “flip” your tweet upside down and in reverse. Why you would want to do this, we are not so sure, but strangely they offer the option.
Tweetsqueue
If you want frequency, then Tweetsqueue is the scheduler for you. Although currently in closed beta, you can request an invite, and after gaining access, simply sign in using your Twitter account, choose your time zone and set your tweet frequency (e.g. every 45 minutes). This queuing system allows for a constant flow of tweets at a predetermined interval.
DynamicTweets
Tweets can be scheduled in advance by the hour or for a specific time and date using Dynamic Tweets. Its most unique feature is the option to upload a CSV file of planned tweets, including information for the time, date, Twitter account, tweet and optional tracking code. This could be useful for companies that have massive lists of scheduled tweets planned.
Taweet
Taweet asks of users, “What’s happening in the future?” instead of Twitter’s default, “What’s happening?”
The purpose of Taweet is to allow users to schedule future tweets in coordination with events they are planning on participating in. When scheduling, you have the option to share a tweet that announces your future tweet. For example, “On October 31st, our resort is throwing the Ultimate Halloween Night.” In the example above, you scheduled the tweet and shared it with your followers in case anyone was interested in joining you — killing two birds with one stone. If you’d rather not share the future tweet at the time of scheduling, you can deselect the “Share Now” button.
From the Taweet platform, you and other users can comment on future tweets. This can be useful for planning and coordinating.
