HootSuite Launches Social Networking Channel Partner Program

Depending on your level of immersion in the Twitter-verse, you may already be familiar with HootSuite, a social media dashboard primarily aimed at helping businesses build their brands in the bold new world of user-generated content. Now HootSuite has launched a pair of solution provider partner programs, designed to help systems integrators and VARs help develop their customers’ social strategies across Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and more.

The program comes in two tiers: the first, primarily affiliate-based in nature, enables smaller organizations to refer mostly SMB customers to HootSuite Pro. Meanwhile, the HootSuite Enterprise Solution Partner Program is probably where it’s going to be at for most TalkinCloud readers — it’s aimed at helping VARs, systems integrators, consultants and other players in the channel space capture larger customer deals.

In both cases, partners get recurring revenue streams, since HootSuite is billed on a monthly basis. According to HootSuite, partners also get access to marketing materials, a partner portal featuring tons of information, best practices, partner badges for their websites and more of the usual one might expect from a full-blown channel program.

“With market research firm Forrester predicting that enterprise social software will become a $6.4 billion market by 2016, HootSuite’s Solution Partner Programs will provide solution partners with a best-of-breed tool and support materials allowing them to capitalize on this growing market while increasing their social media credibility,” HootSuite said in the blog entry announcing the programs.

Social remains a hot topic in the cloud services market, and Salesforce.com has made its own play for social network brand management with Salesforce Service Cloud/Radian6. I expect to hear a lot more of this kind of announcement or similar at Cloud Connect Feb. 13-16, 2012, so stay tuned.