For both individuals and big companies, knowing where to send social media updates can be a tricky proposition. With so many different social media sites available to potential users and customers, having a large enough digital net to catch everyone is essential. Fortunately, HootSuite, which is based in Vancouver and has raised $5 million dollars in funding, is helping users find their audience across the internet.

HootSuite has a massive appeal to anyone that’s trying to grow an audience, according to Sandy Pell, HootSuite’s Public Relations specialist. “HootSuite is a social media management dashboard system which helps both individuals, organizations, and enterprises use the social web to launch marketing campaigns, identify and grow audience, and distribute targeted messages across multiple channels.” HootSuite allows users to post and schedule updates to their different social media pages, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ Pages, WordPress and more. It also features an App Directory, where users can integrate their updates with Tumblr, YouTube and Get Satisfaction, among others.

Pell believes that HootSuite’s success has been due to the HootSuite dashboard that customers use to send out information, which was built based on four specific pillars. “These pillars include: (1) assisting users as they engage with audience through drafts, bulk scheduling, search streams and message assignments across departments; (2) collaborating with users’ teams by securely sharing access to social network profiles across teams with external collaborators; (3) analytics reports through over 30 social analytics report modules; and (4) our customized security feature access to a company’s social media assets without giving up control over valuable branded profiles,” Pell said. “Each pillar plays an important role in the success of the social media platform as a whole.”

As HootSuite has gained popularity, its growth has been staggering. “We’re excited as we grow close to 3 million registered users - a great accomplishment considering the short time-frame (HootSuite was formed in 2008) and small but growing team. HootSuite’s employee numbers have grown from 7 to 84 since November 2008 and the company continues bringing on top talent. HootSuite will further evolve by adding additional social media profiles and functionalities in the future,” Pell said. As more social media outlets continue to pop up, managing all of them from one place will become even more desirable. HootSuite’s media dashboard has the tools to do the job.