Marketing has always been harder than it seems. Social media marketing has opened more doors and opportunities for marketing as a whole to broaden its impact. Social media marketing made things a bit easier, but at the same time made the competition greater. It is not just about the number of likes or shares you get at the end of the day, but the number that actually gets converted into sales or viewers that become a customer.
Making “that” impression on your followers, keeping them, and attracting new ones are important, but can be hard to keep up with since you have to create content at the same time, which makes social media management tools the best helpers for this type of needs. Tools and apps such as these greatly help social media managers keep track of planning content, posting them, and keeping engagement with their audience robust whilst analyzing how they are performing in order to be able to make amends in case results need improving.
We have compiled a list of free – yet efficient social media management tools that could help social media managers with their day-to-day tasks.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is probably the most known social media management tool at the moment. It can cater to both individual users which are best suited for bloggers/vloggers and even for businesses and larger corporations. They offer everything from content planning to scheduling your posts and creating analytics in their dashboard – which is pretty much everything a social media manager needs. Hootsuite allows you to not only schedule posts in advance but also monitor activity and trends across multiple accounts. You can also view the comments and likes on your posts and see relevant conversations and trends about your posts.
Hootsuite is a paid service but offers a competitive free plan. With the free plan, you can add two social accounts and schedule up to 5 posts on each account (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest), so choose wisely.
Buffer
Buffer is just as well known as Hootsuite that aims to drive up social media engagement for their users and clients. Working closely with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, you can add up to three accounts using their Forever Free plan (minus the analytic feature) and schedule up to 10 posts per social media profile. They also allow you to edit posted posts via their interface and even suggest what hashtags you can use on Twitter for your posts.
Crowdfire
Crowdfire, similar to most tools on this list, eases social media managers’ burdens but it does a little more than that by curating content for your business page as well as it helps you find the best articles, images, and more on your social media profiles. You can schedule up to 10 posts per social media profile with their free plan
Planoly
Planoly is definitely a hot contender for a top all-in-one content planner for Instagram. The mobile and web app interfaces are well designed and easy to navigate. Both iterations support all the same features and are easy to use in tandem. You can post free for one user and Instagram account for up to 30 posts per month.
Canva
Canva stepped up their game, from being one of the most efficient graphic design tools, they now offer social media management features in their services. Have the convenience of scheduling or even directly posting a graphic design you have just accomplished easily.
