So many tools out there and so little idea of what to choose? I know exactly what you mean. As a Sole Trader I have had to make the decision on 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 for from these.
I don't only use these tools for myself but also for my clients. They're ideal to monitor their social media channels and ultimately report back on them what works (or not).
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 tool simply does all of that for you. It's purpose is to find content that you can share and add your own content in there as well. So it's the best of both worlds, in my opinion.
Postplanner 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.
I have been using it for many years now and would highly recommend it for fellow Social Media Managers.
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 blog often enough to help others? This blog post will most definitely be heading to Missinglettr as well.
This one is a scheduler and a curator, so you can find content here like Postplanner AND you can upload your own content here to be found and shared by others as well. It's mission is to share content on Facebook, X, Google Business Profile and LinkedIn pages (personal and business).
You create a blog and you 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 can then go in and edit it to suit me. It does take a little time 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 created and scheduled for anything from 2 weeks to a year. It's a no brainer in my opinion. Please note this is shared largely in the US, so if you're trying to target a local audience (like Ireland or event the UK), don't use this!
I bought my Missinglettr account through AppSumo in a Life Time Deal (LTD) for $100 back about 6 years ago. It's been a valuable resource for the podcast I have with my co-founder Esther Ocampo. Our largest listener base is in the US.
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, it's also another paid-for app but you again only pay for the size plan you need.
What I particularly like about this tool is the 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!
I only mention Meta Business Suite (MBS) here, as so many businesses are still not using this to its fullest capacity, if at all. You can use MBS for Facebook and Instagram, one or the other or both at the same time. You can only use MBS for Business accounts (or an Instagram creator account) on both platforms. There are some differences, however, from using MBS on your phone or on a laptop.
You can do soooo much in MBS. You can schedule, edit, analyse, create, add music and more. Don't forget you can add team members, edit access to assets, and work with your ad accounts (only on a laptop) and it's completely and utterly FREE!
I hope you find this list useful. I appreciate almost everything I have listed now has a fee but honestly, using the free or cheap tools has worked out more time consuming for me. Once you have a staple of regular clients or a sensible marketing budget for managing your business's marketing, you need to check these tools against their competitors and work out which ones would suit you and your business best. I only list the ones I use, but there are a LOT more.
Working with clients Nationwide from base in Mullingar.
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