As a Social Media Manager, I spend a lot of time online. While I do consider myself an early adopter of technology, I also believe in simplicity. If I were to investigate every possible Chrome extension or iPhone app that promised streamlined content creation or increased productivity… I’d never get any actual work done. I’m sharing some of the tools that I use to create content for my clients and make my life easier. If you’ve discovered something better, feel free to comment with what it is and why it should be on my radar.
5 Websites Every Social Media Manager Needs
Canva allows me to feel like a graphic designer, without having to pay for a program or get too involved. Canva is my go-to for creating graphics for Facebook posts or new banner images for whatever platform(s) the client is on. The custom dimensions also come in handy specifically for Facebook ads. I’m able to use custom color codes so that everything matches branding-wise. It’s straightforward, but not too basic. Honorable mention for content creations: If you’re specifically creating dynamic Instagram stories, Veed is a free, easy-to-use tool worth exploring.
Motionbox helps teams create & collaborate on video content and share ideas together in real-time. You can perform basic video editing tasks, like cutting, trimming, cropping, resize, add music and add subtitles. Adding subtitles to your videos will not only help you reach more audiences but will also add value to your content.
Once you choose a social media management dashboard, you go all in. Every option has its perks and its pitfalls, but linking all of your accounts is a sign of commitment. Hootsuite has been around long enough to make adjustments in response to user feedback and tries to stay current with our needs as social media managers. While I could imagine some sort of calendar for content planning, our old-fashioned Google sheet does the trick and happens to be free.
As a digital marketing agency, we use Basecamp 3 to communicate the current status of projects or needs of our clients across departments. As for the social media management department, we create a Trello board for each of our clients and then create “lists” with “cards” to refer back to for blog or post ideas. Once the blog is written or the link posted, the card is archived. Simple, neat, and free.
Unfortunately, there are people out there who click on your social media links without liking the post, or worse, like the post without clicking the link. Bitly allows you to track how many people actually clicked your link, and when. This is a more accurate report of how many people are engaging with your content and what time of day is best to post.
3 Chrome Extensions Every Social Media Manager Needs
Check your grammar in a way “Spell Check” never could. This is especially helpful when drafting blog posts because it catches any potential errors within WordPress. The downside is that it doesn’t function within Hootesuite, so be sure to give those drafts a thrice over before publishing.
If you’re still saving from a website within Pinterest, you’re doing it wrong. The extension speeds up the process of creating pins for new products or blog posts. Bonus tip, make sure you have the Pinterest pixel installed on your client’s website to track what content is most often being pinned.
This is a request rather than a tip. Evernote is a program I’ve downloaded and an extension I’ve installed, but I have yet to utilize. Is it worth incorporating? What does it bring to the table? I need solutions, not more issues!
3 iPhone Apps Every Social Media Manager Needs
A photo editing app that makes you feel like a photographer rather than a social media manager— at least on Instagram. I have my designated packs for each client and I apply whichever filter that keeps the overall photo feed aesthetically pleasing and consistent. I can also copy the filter changes from one photo to another, rather than having to repeat the process of increasing brightness, etc.
If you’ve ever wondered how Instagram accounts splice one image into several, this is the tool. Besides that, Planoly allows you to visualize what your Instagram feed will look like before posting the photo. Once you upload possible contenders, you can then move them around and schedule within the app once your order is decided upon. When the scheduled time arrives, it prompts you to open the app and copy over your caption, much like Hootesuite does for scheduled Instagram posts.
No, I don’t create client’s Facebook ads through the app. I’m the type of person that needs to sit down and see the ad on a computer screen before submitting it. However, I have found that the app comes in handy when I’m on the go and need a reminder as to when the ad campaign ends or how much of the budget we’ve spent so far. I also like that it pushes a notification to my phone every morning with a summary of what was spent from our ad account the day before.
In this industry, it is a never-ending task to stay at the forefront of change. Some tools simplify the content creation and management process, but some are too costly for what they offer or have yet to work out the kinks. What tools could you not imagine your business without?