Social media management tools - which ones are right for my business?
In todays world, having a strong social media presence is fundamental for your company and your brand. After all, it is a way to to stand out from the competition and connect with your customers in a profitable and sustained way. As many of you already know, this involves creating timely, relevant and engaging content as well as monitoring the reception and success of this content. However, with a number of social media platforms to choose from, actively creating and managing relevant content may feel like a daunting task.
To save both your time and energy DigitalParade has provided a summary of the tools we think work best to get the job done efficiently and effectively. These tools carry a range of functions, some focus on research, some on scheduling content and some on post analytics, helping you to determine your social media approach. On top of that, some social media management tools are low cost or even completely free to use, allowing you to reach your social media goals without burdening your marketing budget!
BuzzSumo is a content search tool that allows you to find latest content, trends and influencers relevant to topics of your choice. This tool is particularly useful for finding timely and relevant content, such as news articles or blog posts, and its a great way to stay up to date on the latest developments on topics relevant to your business. Besides content, the tool’s influencer search is also particularly thorough and robust, as it enables you to determine relevant social media thought leaders specific to the topics related to your business. You also have the option to then engage with identified influencers, or indeed you can elect to go past them to their audiences, either with organic or paid content.
A strong-hold in the social media management arsenal. The main features of Hootsuite include the ability to schedule social media posts and monitor them across a variety of social media platforms, making social media account management more time-efficient. The tool itself is inexpensive but the add-on features, such as the number of users or the analytics tool raise the price quite significantly. Hootsuite has also been noted for its good customer service, which is always a great bonus.
Buffer is another social media management tool that enables posts to be scheduled across the main social media platforms. Buffer can be noted as intuitive and easy-to-use, which contributes to notable efficiency. Besides this, Buffer is also media-friendly making it easy to add pictures, links or even video to your outgoing posts. Similar to Hootsuite, you can upgrade your account to ‘Buffer Pro’, which comes with a variety of more advanced features such as social analytics allowing you to better analyse the traction your social media posts are receiving.
TweetDeck can help you manage your Twitter account(s), posts and relevant hashtags. Its multi-column layout makes following and participating in multiple simultaneous conversations on Twitter easy, thus making the fast-paced world of Twitter more manageable. Besides community management, you can also schedule tweets and manage your incoming messages.
Unum is an app that can help you design, plan and manage your Instagram profile. Its account management features involve reminders for posting pictures, a preview of your Instagram grid, saved hashtags and picture captions, as well as a photo-editing tool. Unum is a particularly useful tool to help you communicate your brand’s visual language to a wider audience.
Unsplash is a stock image site that contains high-quality, authentic images that can be used for free. This site is particularly useful for social media managers, as rich media, such as images or videos, are a great way to improve the traction of your social media posts. The Unsplash photo library contains a wide range of professional images that can be searched for with chosen keywords. While downloading and using photos from Unsplash is completely free, crediting the photographers is considered to be best practice.
Hubspot (and other marketing automation tools)
Marketing automation tools such as HubSpot offer a comprehensive solution for social media management. HubSpot offers an integrated marketing solution, combining social media management, CRM and your website into one easy-to-manage platform. Through HubSpot, all of your business leads, landing pages, SEO, blog posts and email marketing are in one place, making managing and measuring your marketing efforts simple. When focusing on social media management, it should be noted that the closed-loop reporting systems contributing to advanced social media analytics are a notable strength of HubSpot. However, a major downside of HubSpot (and other comprehensive marketing automation tools) is the related cost, as these tools can be quite pricy.
Lastly, it should mentioned that many of these tools also offer a free initial trial which can really help you determine which one(s) are best suited for your business’s needs.
Whether you are a small start-up business looking to make your mark on an industry or a Global Enterprise looking to coordinate and streamline your online content across multiple locations and teams, the correct mix of social media management tools can help you achieve your goals and make your business stand out!
Happy posting,
DP Team
DigitalParade
At DigitalParade we help our clients define which channels, for them, are the best channels to participate and connect with their audiences, and how on those channels, they can build and maintain the ‘best’ followers to offer them the best chance of conversion and advocacy.
Our social media services include audience and influencer insights, channel and content strategy formulation, social media measurement and community management. Whether you’re looking to establish your presence on social media, or dial it up all the way to using it as a CRM tool integrated with your entire business - we can get you there.
