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The social media management software has also launched a resource platform as well as inked new partnerships

Global social media management platform Hootsuite has appointed its first General Manager of Asia-Pacific to fuel its growth in the region.

Rich Meiklejohn was formerly the CEO of APAC for Zafin, a provider of relationship banking software solutions. Prior to that, he was a Partner at recruitment and leadership consultancy firm Heidrick & Struggles, and before that, he managed key partnerships for Cognos, an IBM-owned business intelligence and performance management software company.

In his new role, he will be responsible for growth strategy and overall performance in the region, and will report to Hootsuite’s senior vice president  of sales, Bob Elliott.

This announcement comes off the back of Hootsuite’s aggressive hiring spree in 2016. A press release said that Hootsuite APAC added 50 per cent more people to its team this year — and will continue to do so in Asian markets including Singapore.

Hootsuite APAC also now supports more than 2.6 million users at companies including Woolworths, OCBC Bank, ANZ Bank, Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, RAA Insurance and Telekom Malaysia Berhad.

“APAC has always been a vibrant, dynamic region, and today it continues to evolve as the world’s biggest growth market for social media. Hootsuite is the leader in this space and I’m very excited to take the helm as we expand our operations in APAC,” said Meiklejohn.

Hootsuite has also launched several new features in recent weeks. One of which is an increase in paid social advertising platforms — a market that, according to eMarketer, is set to hit US$35.98 billion in 2017.

In this regard, it partnered with six new paid social advertising platforms to allow Hootsuite customers to complement their organic social media efforts with optimised social advertising campaigns by running social advertising initiatives directly from the Hootsuite dashboard, such as creating and optimising advertising campaigns and boosting organic posts.

These platforms include AdEspresso, self-service solution for Facebook and Instagram advertising optimisation; Adaptly, a technology and services company that enables advertisers to scale campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest; and Nanigans, provider of advertising automation software for in-house marketing teams.

Earlier this month, Hootsuite also announced the roll out of Hootsuite Academy, a comprehensive social media resource portal. This allows its over 15 million users to obtain videos, resources, and industry certifications (through tie-ups with Mayo Clinic and academic institutions such as Syracuse University’s Newhouse School) that can their boost social media skills and credentials.

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Image Credit: Hootsuite

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