Level Up on Social Media with These 5 Best Social Media Tools!

IN ADDITION TO MY BLOG, I’M ALSO A CONTRIBUTOR FOR ENTREPRENEUR AND THRIVE GLOBAL | CHECK THEM OUT & KEEP READING!

The use of social media is undeniably important and has rapidly evolved since the pandemic, especially for businesses. With companies adopting the work-from-home setup, there has been a 43% increase in time spent by consumers scouring social media platforms.

With 4.2 billion people using at least one social media site, businesses are restrategizing and shifting focus on social media as drivers of brand awareness, lead generation, and conversions. If you want your product or service to reach the maximum number of people, you need to be present on these platforms.

However, it can be time-consuming, not to mention the tasks involved in it span from hashtag research,  writing impactful copy, and designing graphics to tracking analytics. But the good news is there are social media tools available at your disposal to help you save time while making sure you put out quality content that can be scheduled in advance.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL

Various social media tools offer a wide range of services. Social media tools help you save time by keeping your digital assets organized, so choose one that is tidy, intuitive, and has a user-friendly interface.

Secondly, these tools don’t have to be expensive! A lot of good-quality tools are even free (or have a free version), like Tailwind, which is perfect for Instagram and Pinterest. Most social media tools are budget-friendly and offer free trial runs so you can find the one that works best for you. 

My Top Social Media Tool Recommendations

CANVA

Canva is a graphic design website/app where you can create on-brand graphics for your social media accounts. It has tons of templates available – from Instagram stories, Facebook banners to posters and infographics – that you may choose from if starting from scratch seems a little intimidating. Canva also has a handy resizing tool so you can create one design and easily resize it to post it to each of your channels with the optimal ratios. Canva now integrates with some social platforms like Instagram so you can post directly from within the tool.

LATER

Later is a social media marketing platform that helps you plan and schedule your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and TikTok posts. It enables you to map out and schedule your posts on a drag-and-drop calendar view, seeing how your feed will look.

Later also tracks your analytics, helping you figure out the best time to post along with the best hashtags to use. The Linkin.Bio feature for Instagram helps your posts become instantly shoppable and give your urls staying power. 

BUFFER

Buffer is another intuitive, streamlined social media management platform that helps drive meaningful engagement and results on social media channels. While it doesn’t permit you to load hundreds of posts, it integrates from an RSS feed, enabling you to publish posts from blogs. It also integrates with another product called reply, which gives you access to a Social Inbox.

It currently has a limited client management support (CMS) system and does not feature influencer search. But overall, it is an intuitive, easy-to-use tool that helps simplify content planning. 

SOCIALPILOT

SocialPilot is a social media management tool geared towards digital agencies or medium-sized businesses that manage multiple clients or multiple social media accounts. It is worth looking if you are interested in creating workflows with collaboration tools, permission settings, and custom reporting for your clients. 

It provides the basics and includes a social inbox feature, allowing users to engage with their audience within the platform. It also offers social monitoring and listening features – a feature required among most businesses as we shift focus to remote environments.

HOOTSUITE

Hootsuite is tailored for the more experienced marketers out there, as its tools integrate with the usual social media platforms and Youtube and Google+, giving you a much more precise breakdown of your analytics. It even allows you to integrate community-based venues such as Tumblr, Reddit, and Storify! It also allows for collaboration across team members – you can assign tasks, plot a social calendar, and schedule updates within the platform.

New social media tools pop up all the time. The key is to find ones in tune with your marketing needs and efforts and invest some time learning them. Do not be afraid to add new tools to your toolkit, but don’t discard your tried and tested ones whenever something fresher turns up because one thing I have learned is each tool continuously adds new features in order to stay competitive.