8 Tools To Help Small Businesses Tackle Social Media
The world of social media can be a daunting area to enter for a small business when you are competing against large, well-known, international brands that attract a large organic following.
However, social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook can really boost your brand's awareness and drive sales if managed correctly. Here are our favorite tools to help small businesses (and big ones too!) tackle social media and keep their platforms active and engaging.
1. Hootsuite
The key to building engagement and building your social media following is consistency. Our marketing team use Hootsuite for scheduling social media updates in batches, so we know if works! Ensure you are regularly active on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook by pre-scheduling content on Hootsuite.
You simply upload your content, write a caption, choose a time when you want it to go live and boom! Scheduling content for the week ahead is done!
2. Canva
Want to create awesome, high-quality infographics or quotes tiles for your platforms? Give Canva a workout (it's free too!). This is our go-to way to create super quick and easy infographics for our content marketing activities. Useful for everything from Facebook banners to Instagram images, Canva has it all with pre-made layouts to make graphic design a piece of cake.
3. Tailwind
Pinterest is often overlooked in many social media strategies, however it can really drive traffic to your website and blog as you can include links in each pin. Don’t have the time to sit and pin something every couple of hours on your boards? Either do we! We use this nifty service called Tailwind which allows you to pin in batches and schedule them to upload automatically. There is an annual fee for the service, but it pays for itself and reaps rewards in the long run if you consistently use it.
4. Iconosquare
Not sure about your engagement rates on Instagram? Iconosquare is perfect for you! It gives you snapshots about the success of your posts and even helps you determine the best times to post to get the most eyeballs on your content. You can also see which of your posts have gained the most and the least engagement so you can create more appealing content that your followers are more likely to engage with.
5. VSCO
If you want an easy phone app to edit your shots for Instagram, VSCO is an easy way to maximise your image aesthetics. With a large range of free filters and basic editing tools you can dramatically alter every image to keep your content consistent. If you are an enthusiastic Instagrammer, you can even purchase additional editing tools from their library of other filters and features. VSCO is one of the most popular photo editing applications and for good reason too. For more of the best free apps for Instagram, check out this post on 8 free Instagram tools you should be using.
6. Typorama
Another handy app to have on your phone for social media content on the go is Typorama. Want to create some awesome quote tiles or overlay text on one of your images to upload onto Instagram? This app can do a lot of cool things to your images that will help you convey and communicate your message to your followers.
7. Bit.ly
If you want to track your social media clicks, Bit.ly will be your new best friend as it shortens links (like your website, blog URL or most recent blog post) and also track the number of clicks that link receives on your personal dashboard. This helps to see if people are clicking through to the link in your Instagram bio or engaging with a link you post on Facebook. This is a great feature to help you dive into the analytics and improve your content marketing strategy.
8. LastPass
Have a number of social media platforms to manage and a variety of different passwords to remember for each one? LastPass is the best for managing a large number of passwords for social media account and other digital resources that require a log in password (almost everything!). This keeps all your passwords and usernames together so you never forget the login details for various websites. Lastpass works on desktop and phone, so you will always have your passwords with you, and they will always be secure!
Whether you want to enter the social media space with a bang or simply improve your social media content strategy, use these 8 tools to ensure you are getting the most out of your efforts on social media
What is your favourite social media tool? Share it below in the comments! Get in touch
