So many tools out there and so little idea what to choose? I know exactly what you mean. As a Sole Trader, I have had to make the decision in what to invest my hard-earned money in. In this blog, I write about the tools I have been using for a very long time and you can definitely get the results you are looking from these.
I don’t only use these tools for just myself but also for my clients. They’re ideal to monitor their social media channels and ultimately report on back to them what works.
1. Hootsuite
This app is an absolute go-to for every business. It’s completely free if you only have 3 platforms on it. If you use 4 platforms and one of them are Facebook, I would recommend you schedule on Facebook itself and use Hootsuite for the remainder.
What I particularly like about Hootsuite is how easy they have made it to set up. It’s quite self-explanatory as it goes through the setup process and it does genuinely save you time.
This app has its own section for drafts where you can keep “evergreen” content. So if you have a special offer that goes on for a few months, this is the place to keep it. I would recommend placing all of your own content here to share. So that would incorporate offers, events, blogs and other related stuff.
When you use the free Hootsuite it gives you 30 posts for you to schedule at a time, so you can either spread that out in a week, a fortnight or whatever time period of your choice. Just remember to go back in and update before they run out! I usually leave a reminder on my phone to prompt me. It helps!
There is also free separate analytics section that you can view to see what posts/tweets have had the most reposts etc. It allows you to add sections where you can monitor mentions of your business or persons and any responses you need to make.
2. PostPlanner
I simply adore Postplanner! It has made my life so much easier. It’s a paid-for platform but well worth every penny.
Previously I would be scanning through Google searches for the latest news in my sector but this one simply does all of that for you. Its purpose is to find content that you can share and add your own content in there as well. So its the best of both worlds in my opinion.
Post Planner also allows you to add repeated content. So if you have an event coming up you can preschedule it to post up once every few days or once a week.
Correct as of November 2019
3. Missinglettr
Another paid for tool but as a blogger, it’s one I couldn’t do without. I can spend hours at times pouring my thoughts into a blog. Wouldn’t it be a terrible waste if I then didn’t share the post often enough to help others? This blog post will most definitely be heading to Missinglettr as well.
This one is a scheduler. It’s mission is to share content on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It did previously share content on Google+ but that’s since been sunsetted.
I need only create a blog I want to share and either add it manually into the dashboard or as it’s linked to my website, wait for it to appear as a campaign. This campaign is then emailed to me by Missinglettr, which I then can go in and edit to suit me. It does take a little to create the campaign – maybe 20-30 minutes of edits when you first get started. However, once you hit the start button, that’s your campaign for a year sorted out!
4. AgoraPulse
Another little gem is AgoraPulse. This app is especially good for monitoring and reporting. You don’t have to be a large agency to use this app, although they do use it as well. Like the other apps previously mentioned its another paid for app but you again only pay for what size plan you need.
What I particularly like about this tool is reporting. After you’ve initially signed up to the app/plan, you add the social media platforms you want to monitor and after a week, a month or whatever time frame you want, you can simply arrange for a full report to be sent you by email. This report is delivered to you in Powerpoint and made very easy to read and understand.
Before using AgoraPulse I would look and sometimes print out the analytics on each platform individually. This would be time-consuming and frankly, I found them confusing, especially Facebook about 5-6 years ago. It might be easier now but it probably won’t be as easy as this is!
