How To Manage Your Social Media Updates More Efficiently

When it comes to social media, it seems as though we are all frantically trying to complete the same goals.

We build our social campaigns and hope and pray that people notice them. However, there is not enough hours in the day to stay connected to all of the social sites that we are active on. Heck, it takes all day just to keep up with one of them!

Here are 4 such tools that will help you handle your social media profiles and also help you manage your time as a small business owner. The common features of these tools are affordability, friendly interfaces and the inclusion of a free trial, thus giving you room to decide which one you will be most comfortable working with. 

  

1. Hootsuite: http://hootsuite.com/

Hootsuite is one of the oldest social media management tools. It boasts many awards and is preferred over other social media management tools in its caliber. The best part is that you can get a free plan (among other paid plans) for this incredible tool.
Unique selling points of the tool:

• Free basic version.
• Schedule post updates.
• Includes Google+ integration.
• With the new Hootsuite interactions feature you can connect with real-time users of the tool.
• Custom reports with Facebook Insights and Google Analytics.
• It has recently acquired another social media management tool called Seesmic.

2. Social Sprout: http://sproutsocial.com/

 SproutSocial integrates an easy-to-use, all-in-one platform to monitor and manage your brand on social media.

Unique selling points of the tool:

• Savvy dashboard that pulls activity from all your social media profiles into one stream.
• Schedule post updates.
• Follow, respond and retweet from within the dashboard.
• It gives recommendations on who to follow and who not to.
• Option to export reports in excel or PDF formats.
• Free mobile apps.
• Google Analytics integration.
• Unlimited reporting on all plans.
• Keyword monitoring.
• 30-day free trial.

3. Postling: https://www.postling.com/

Postling is a social management tool that integrates Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, WordPress, Tumblr and Flickr in a user-friendly platform. You are not required to log in to these accounts individually.
Unique selling points of the tool:

• Schedule post updates.
• Receive email alerts of brand mentions and comments. You can reply via email.
• Low cost, just $5 per month to manage 5 social media accounts.
• One-stop social inbox that allows you to publish content directly to your social media profiles.
• Read and respond to comments on an iPhone. The Postling app is free for registered users.
• Gives you suggestions, for instance, it tracks influential users and suggests who to reach out to, follow or offer discounts to.
• Notifications of brand mentions on the web, for example, in a press release or blog.
• You can track your competitors or specific keywords.

4. Croodbooster: https://crowdbooster.com/

Great for small businesses, Crowdbooster is a real-time social media monitoring tool that keeps you abreast of what is being discussed about your brand on the web. However, it only works for Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Unique selling points of the tool:

• Schedule post updates.
• Integrates Bit.ly and aids with shortening URLs.
• Measures engagement across multiple networks.
• Provides suggestions to improve engagement.
• Email summary of weekly updates on all your social media accounts.
• Basic plan at a low cost of $9 per month.