Hootsuite Nest
Overview
In a crowded social media landscape where authenticity often takes a backseat, Hootsuite Nest bridges the gap between businesses and Gen Z audiences by fostering genuine connections. Designed as a social media matchmaking service, it leverages trusted relationships with content creators to enhance outreach and engagement. By integrating seamlessly into the Hootsuite platform, Nest utilises Hootsuite's existing social media trend analytics to optimize pair suggestions, ensuring businesses connect with influencers whose goals and niches align. This solution earned first place at the 2024 UBC Product Management Club x Hootsuite Case Competition.
Role:
Branding and UX Lead
Timeline:
5 hours (2024)
Skills:
UX Research, UI Design, Branding, Story Telling
Tools:
Figma, Canva
The Problem
Businesses struggle to authentically connect with Gen Z audiences leading to missed opportunities.
With 46.7% of marketers considering TikTok the most important influencer marketing channel and 84.8% finding influencer marketing effective, Gen Z is highly influenced by creators they trust. However, many businesses fail to tap into this opportunity, relying on inauthentic messaging that doesn’t resonate. Particularly, large-scale companies with complex products, such as those in the financial, educational, and government sectors, often struggle to authentically engage with Gen Z. By not leveraging influencer relationships or aligning with the right trends, these companies risk losing relevance with this influential audience.
Our Solution
A short-form content suggestion tool that matches content creators with businesses. It creates a mutually beneficial ecosystem, where creators collaborate with brands that resonate with their audience, and brands tap into trusted influencer-consumer relationships.
Key Features
Integrated Analytics for Short-Form Content
Hootsuite Nest utilizes Hootsuite's Listening feature to provide businesses with real-time, actionable insights into trending short-form content that resonates with Gen Z. These interactive insights connect businesses directly to the creators behind the content, streamlining collaboration. By offering a seamless and data-driven interface, Hootsuite Nest ensures businesses stay ahead of evolving trends, delivering outreach that is timely, relevant, and aligned with Gen Z’s preferences.
Personalized Content Recommendations
Hootsuite Nest allows businesses to filter and specify their content goals, receiving tailored video and audio content suggestions that align with their objectives. By customizing preferences, businesses ensure their outreach is authentic, as the content directly reflects their messaging and values. This feature makes certain the brand’s message isn’t lost in translation, allowing for clear, targeted communication.
Creator Profiles
Content creators can set up detailed profiles on Hootsuite Nest, making it easier for brands to discover and connect with them based on shared values, goals, and content preferences. This feature fosters a seamless connection between businesses and influencers, ensuring a better match for genuine, long-term partnerships.
Relevant Top Creator Browsing
Hootsuite Nest allows businesses to browse a curated selection of top content creators whose work aligns with their goals and values. This feature prioritizes Hootsuite users in results, showcasing their content first to businesses. By doing so, it not only simplifies the discovery process for brands but also incentivizes creators to join and remain active on the Hootsuite platform.
User Research
Wealthsimple
Large-scale financial company that wants to reach Gen Z
Jerry
Gen Z student who finds finances intimidating and impersonal
Wealthsimple wants to reach Jerry.
With Hootsuite Nest, Wealthsimple connects with a content creator whose message authentically resonates with Jerry, forging a meaningful and impactful connection.
Outcomes
Hootsuite Nest enables Wealthsimple to forge authentic connections with its audience by matching the brand with content creators who align with their values and resonate with Gen Z. This approach ensures that messaging feels genuine and impactful, fostering trust and engagement. For Jerry, this translates into discovering financial solutions through relatable and meaningful content, building a stronger sense of connection to the brand.
On a larger scale, Hootsuite has now created a network between the large companies and individual creators it services, enhancing its value as a social media management platform and making it even more attractive to businesses and content creators alike.
Branding and Logos
The branding for Hootsuite Nest reflects growth. The egg logo symbolizes new beginnings, while the name "Nest" evokes a sense of foundation and grounding—a safe space for authentic engagement. By adding to Hootsuite’s existing color palette, the design maintains brand consistency, while gradient imagery adds a touch of creativity and innovation, representing the endless possibilities of content creation and connection.
Key Takeaways
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
When brainstorming for this project, we signed up for a free trial to gain hands-on experience with the Hootsuite platform. This allowed us to thoroughly understand its strengths and weaknesses—insights we wouldn’t have gained by simply reading about it on the Hootsuite website. Using this knowledge, we developed user profiles for both the Hootsuite user and their target audience. This preparation gave us a clear vision for the product, resulting in a smooth and efficient prototyping process.
How you show it is as important as what you show
When speaking with the judges, we learned that a key factor in our product standing out was our ability to present the idea in a clear and visually distinct manner, framed by an engaging story. I realized that having an effective vehicle for delivering your product is crucial for helping the audience connect with your vision—an essential aspect of both design and product management success.
