You’ve set up your social media pages and you’re ready to get posting, but you’re quickly finding that keeping up with all these different platforms is next to impossible. It’s a common feeling among social media managers, and there is a solution!
In a word: tools. There are plenty of great resources out there to make your job easier and let you get ahead on your social media strategy!
I’m going to share the social media management tools that my team uses every day to make sure our clients’ pages are running smoothly and getting them closer to their goals!
Scheduling
Nobody has the time to go through and publish each individual post at just the right time every day. So what’s the solution? Scheduling tools! These little guys can let you write up a bunch of content, then schedule it to post at specific times on your preferred platforms:
- Hootsuite: This is one of the most intuitive scheduling tools out there!
- HubSpot: If you want a scheduling tool with all the bells and whistles (including monitoring your content’s performance metrics), this is the program for you.
- Buffer: While not quite as well-known as the other items on this list, it’s a great program if you find that the other options aren’t suiting your needs.
Instagram is notoriously finicky for its scheduling, which is why you should consider using a tool that’s optimized for Instagram. I’d suggest:
Photos
Need to find stock images for your visuals? I’ve got a few resources that have always done right by us:
- Pixabay: Want a huge, international stock of public domain photos, graphics, and footage? Look no further!
- Unsplash: More than 70,000 photographers post their content here, all copyright-free under the Unsplash license!
- Pexels: Another great source for public domain photographs!
Design
You’ve got your images, but how do you alter them to create your own unique, branded visuals? Try these tools:
- Canva: This is a great tool for beginners, as it’s popular among professional and rookie graphic designers alike!
- Photoshop: If you’re comfortable using more complex programs, this tool should be right up your alley!
- Animoto: This is one of the top platforms for creating video slideshows and other short, moving content!
- Ripl: A comparable product to Animoto, Ripl makes it easy to create animated visuals!
- PicMonkey: Want to go back to basics? PicMonkey is a no-fuss image-editing program that’s also great for graphic design!
Writing
Writing up heaps of copy and content is no walk in the park! Creating content takes time, which is why I recommend not just creating original content for your business but also curating content from other sources. Instead of searching the internet for hours, these tools gather the content into one spot for you!
- Feedly: Feedly lets you search by topics and pulls up great, usable content to help springboard your ideas!
- Grammarly: To proofread any technical issues you may have missed!
- Google Alerts: Set up alerts on industry-relevant keywords to make sure your writing is current and following trends in your field!
- Hootsuite Streams: Track keywords and hashtags to see what others in your industry are posting. If you know what your competitors are talking about, you can figure out how to fill in the gaps they’re missing!
- Hashtagify: Not sure what hashtags will get you attention? Use Hashtagify to track the impact of a hashtag and see what’s best for your posts!
When linking to another site, it’s important not to include the full URL. Many link shorteners allow you to see how many times the link has been clicked, which can help you track how your audience responds to content. Use any of the following tools to get shortened, convenient URLs for your posts:
Don’t Feel Overwhelmed
Being a social media manager is stressful, especially if you’re not using the right tools. Skip that anxiety and use these resources to make sure you’re not only doing your work efficiently, but as easily as possible. No social media manager can be successful without a little extra help, and that includes you!
Do you feel like you could use a little extra help? You can have a free consultation with our team of marketing experts!
