Running a small business and all the moving parts can be daunting. First, you got to find the work, do the work, promote the work and cross your fingers and toes that your client is happy with the work. And then, let’s not forget that you have to promote your business/brand, be active on social media and grow your audiences on multiple platforms too. Man, all of that can be so overwhelming, it sure is to me!
So, here’s where automation can help you: it basically simplifies your life, makes you more efficient in terms of planning your content strategy and posting on your social media platforms. Growth on social media takes time as well as an overall content strategy. Ain’t nobody got time to think every single day, willy nilly of what they are going to post; there are rules to this ish.
I came up with a list of tools that may help you automate and simplify your planning of your social media posts:
Gamblr is a free desktop application that you can use to upload photos and videos to your Instagram account. You can have multiple Instagram accounts and can easily switch from one account to the other to upload photos/videos and your witty caption from your computer to Instagram. You can so schedule upcoming posts by using the schedule feature. Gramblr also has this feature called Gramblr Coins. Gramblr coins are a sort of currency; you can earn coins by liking other users’ photos or you can buy coins to promote your own photos. Being a crusader of all that is organic, not sure about the Gramblr Coins, but might be something to try to position specific content you have on your Insta that you want to receive a high number of likes.
Hootsuite is the OG in the automation game. A one-stop-shop for all your social accounts, Hootsuite allows you to program your content for up to 35 social platforms to basically any target demographic. Data is important and with Hootsuite; you get real time analytics about the performance of your posts so you can tweak your strategy if what you’re doing isn’t working.
Buffer is a scheduling tool that lets its users schedule and share posts to social media profiles. You can keep track of all your posts, get analytics and figure out what works best for your social media audiences based on that data.. Buffer integrates Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest. You can schedule multiple posts and customise your scheduling — Buffer is an all around great tool to stay organised.
This is app is really a one stop shop and really brilliant for those not only needing to automate their social media but also blog posts (there’s a WordPress plugin for this app). CoSchedule is an editorial calendar you can use to to schedule, plan and promote your posts, all in one spot. There are so many dope features to this app like how you can upload your Google Docs and edit directly in the app, invite other team members to collaborate and issue deadlines. The app will even help you with your title, (like, you know how hard it is sometimes to come up with a good headline), CoSchedule will analyse your headline, which you can then optimise to make it more compelling. You can even plan your social media messages in bulk, it will tell you when the best time is to schedule so you don’t need to guess; it’s pretty much a magic tool for those (me) who need to streamline and organise their content marketing.
I know I just wax poetic about how automation is key, however, I think it’s still super important to manually go on your social media platforms and engage with your followers and those you follow. Nothing beats a real time interaction coming from you, that shows you’re interested in what people have to say about what you post and vice versa.
Do you automate your posts on your social media platforms? Are there tools out there in these streets that are amazing and not listed above? Tell me, I want to know!
Bisous,
Winy