Whether you’re just getting started with social media, or you’ve been doing it for a while, you might be consuming a lot of information about tools for managing social media accounts.
It’s quite a big topic, so we’ll chat through some of the tools available and what we use within our Social Media Agency, Naturally Social!
Using various tools to help manage your social media will give you back some vital time. And that’s time you get to spend working on your business instead of in it.
It’s not just time that you get back either. Scheduling tools provide you with analytics, so you can learn what works, what’s not and the best times to post.
There are also specific tools that help you to create visuals, and in a way that’s consistent with your brand.
Want to create a video but have no idea where to start? There’s a tool for that too!
Let’s take a deeper dive into what we use here at Naturally Social:
Consistent content comes from consistent planning! Craft some time out in your diary to plan for the month ahead, so you can give yourself some time to consider what will work best on each social media platform.
We love a content calendar! They’re the perfect way to lay out your content, look at your month ahead and then get detailed with captions, links, hashtags and visuals.
We’re a big fan of using a spreadsheet to manage both our own content and that of our clients. They’re simplistic and because we use them across the board any member of the team can open a file and know what they’re looking at!
There are some great free content calendar templates out there, we’d recommend using a document like this one, available via HubSpot.
Once you’ve planned out your month, you’ll want to think about the visuals that will accompany your captions. Whether they’re static images or video, there are some great free and paid-for tools out there.
Canva not only offers free stock images but also has some free stock videos as well. The freebies don’t end there, you’ll also find some free social media templates too!
When using free stock images, it’s worth keeping in mind that these are also available to other users (a lot of other users!). So, try to be a little more selective or add extra elements (like text) to your graphic so that it can stand out from the crowd.
Though not essential, if you have the budget to invest in premium stock images and video, then you’ll have access to a far bigger selection.
Canva Pro provides a vast collection of stock images and there are more stock videos available than the free version. Likewise, Adobe stock has a big library to pick from.
While stock photos are an easy way to get more content out faster, nothing beats genuine photo and video. So be sure to take the time to build up your own library of behind-the-scenes, team, and product/service photos! You can then import this content into a Canva template before getting it out on your socials!
If you’re looking to edit video before uploading to your short-form video platform of choice, such as TikTok (and we recommend this!), then CapCut is a great phone-friendly editing tool. And it’s free!
If you’re editing on your laptop or desktop then Canva offers video editing functions and if you’re looking for software that has an out-of-the-box approach to video templates, then meet InVideo.
Now you’ve written your content and prepared your visuals, it’s time to think about scheduling and there are a lot of scheduling tools out there! So, it’s important that when you’re selecting a scheduling platform for you and your business – you do so by making sure it meets both your needs and your budget. Each platform may show a comparison to its competitors, which offers a good overview of the features on offer.
At Naturally Social, we use Hootsuite but also have a Later and Tailwind (for Pinterest) account. Hootsuite ticks all the boxes for our agency and allows us to schedule multiple platforms as well as overseeing streams to make engaging that little bit less complicated.
Facebook’s Business Suite, Pinterest, and Twitter are just a handful of those where users can schedule their content in-app.
With all those different locations to schedule content, you can see why a lot of people are turning to scheduling tools to make their lives a little easier! If you’re not sure which scheduling tool to choose, find out which scheduling platforms were included in Forbes’ top 5 picks!
In short, unless you’ve got the budget, there are so many amazing free tools out there! If you’ve got the budget to #UpgradeYourSocial then investing in a pro account and a scheduling tool is going to make your life as a social media manager and /or business owner so much easier!
If you’re struggling to make the time to do your own social media and marketing, it might be time to think about whether you’re ready to outsource.
Got questions? We’re across all social media platforms, @NlySocial, so reach out and we’ll come back to you!
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