Today I wanted to share with you a few tools I use to help make my social media marketing easier, less time consuming, and more effective.
As I’m sure most of you are aware by now using social media as a marketing strategy is a necessity if you want to keep up with your competition. You can no longer say Facebook and Twitter are just a fad and a waste of your time ~and if you do you are really missing the boat on what is working in today’s world of small business marketing. With that being said most small businesses are still confused on how to effectively use social media as a marketing tactic without wasting tons of valuable time that we as business owners all know we don’t have a lot of.
So today I want to share with you some great tools that will not only save you time but will also get your message in front of more people effortlessly and effectively.
Social Media Tools
- The first tool is called Hootesuite. This is a great tool for systemizing your social media efforts by giving you a central location to manage all of your social accounts, it gives you the ability to schedule out your posts in the future, manage your incoming and outgoing messages, shorten your links, and a whole lot more.
- For the second tool I suggest NetworkedBlogs. This tool gives you the ability to have your blog posts feed right into your Facebook Profile Wall. So every time you write a blog post your friends will see it right in their newsfeed without you having to lift a finger. Automation at it’s best.
- The third tool is the Twitter App for Facebook. This app allows your Facebook posts to automatically post to your Twitter page. So now all of your Twitter followers will be up to date with what you are doing on Facebook without you having to take extra time to post in both places.
- The fourth tool can be found on your Linked-In profile under the applications section. This tool can link your Twitter posts straight to your Linked-In profile to allow for your Linked-In network to be updated with what you are up to on Twitter automatically.
- The last tool is SocialOomph. This tool has alot of great options and can be used as a free service or you can also upgrade to the paid version. It has a lot of the same features as HooteSuite but the free version allows you to set up an automated welcome message for your new followers on Twitter. So everytime someone new follows you on Twitter it can automatically send them a welcome message for you to say hello.
All of these tools are great time savers but I do want to point out that even though these tools are great and can make your marketing efforts easier and quicker they are not to be used as a replacement for you. What I mean is ~ Social Media no matter how you look at it is supposed to be used for one main purpose and that is BEING SOCIAL — that is why it is called SOCIAL Media. So no matter how much you automate things (and you should absolutely automate some things) don’t forget to keep yourself in the conversation and use your social media effort as a way to build relationships. Once you have built strong relationships with your friends and followers you will be surprised at how easy the rest of your marketing efforts become.
To Your Success!
Kate Wilber
PS Disclaimer: The link in this blog post is an affiliate link and if you decide to purchase from it I will make a small commission. Thanks! Just remember I only recommend products that I use myself and feel would be beneficial to you and your business!