Related read: Try My Fave Blogging & Social Media Tools
Part of my aversion to social media is laziness. I don’t want to spend time learning something that has little practical use. The other part, the largest part, is I don’t have the time to stay actively engaged on social media. I have a full-time job, hobbies, and other activities I like to do. All of which doesn't leave me with a lot of time for social media.
Even social media for A Relaxed Gal. I currently have three active social accounts for A Relaxed Gal - Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. These social media channels are vital for reaching and communicating with my blog audience, but manually maintaining them can be time-consuming.
To help with that I use social media management tools. With these tools, I’m able to automate or pre-schedule all of my social posts so I don’t have to spend hours every day manually pinning, tweeting, or posting.
Because there are so many social media management tools available I've tried several in an effort to find the ones that work best for me. That quickly got exhausting So I finally sat down to decide which social media management tools to use for my social media channels I realized I needed to take into consideration how I was going to use the tool and whether it would help me save time.
These considerations may also be helpful for you if you’re researching and evaluating social media management tools whether you are using them for your blogging business or to manage social media accounts for clients.
After determining what I wanted, needed, and could afford in a social media management tool I then went out to see what my options were. What I found were multiple tools that all have many great features. No two tools were alike which made the selection of a tool really hard.
- Which social channels do you want to manage?
- How often do you want to post on each channel?
- What’s your budget? How much do you want to spend on a tool?
- What do you want the tool to do for each channel (e.g. post, loop posts)
After determining what I wanted, needed, and could afford in a social media management tool I then went out to see what my options were. What I found were multiple tools that all have many great features. No two tools were alike which made the selection of a tool really hard.
Tailwind
You may have heard about Tailwind before. If you have, it’s probably been in the context of managing your Pinterest profile. What many people don’t know is Tailwind can also be used for Instagram. The kicker is right now you can only use Tailwind for one Pinterest account or one Instagram account. You can’t have both linked.
I completed a free trial of 100 pins and did see a small boost in my Pinterest engagement and followers. After the free trial, I opted to not continue with Tailwind and use another scheduler that was cheaper even though I did like Tailwind's easy-to-use interface and robust analytics.
After a year or so with that cheaper scheduler, I switched to Tailwind because it included so many more features such as analytics, schedule creation, and a browser extension to schedule repins directly from Pinterest.
Tailwind has some great features for Instagram such as
You can read more about several of the features Tailwind for Instagram has in these posts
I completed a free trial of 100 pins and did see a small boost in my Pinterest engagement and followers. After the free trial, I opted to not continue with Tailwind and use another scheduler that was cheaper even though I did like Tailwind's easy-to-use interface and robust analytics.
After a year or so with that cheaper scheduler, I switched to Tailwind because it included so many more features such as analytics, schedule creation, and a browser extension to schedule repins directly from Pinterest.
Tailwind has some great features for Instagram such as
- A hashtag finder that is color-coded to show which hashtags were most popular
- A schedule generator so you didn’t have to guess the best time to post
- Smart.bio which is an advanced and customizable link in bio tool for Instagram (and is free by the way)
- The ability to recycle your top performing posts with their Smartloop tool
You can read more about several of the features Tailwind for Instagram has in these posts
SmarterQueue
Probably one of the most important features for me in a social media management tool is being able to loop or recycle top-performing content. While I’ve found a few tools with this feature I’ve found it’s hard to find tools that will not just recycle content but do it well.
SmarterQueue is one of the few tools I found that recycles with its evergreen content feature. The evergreen feature is really easy to use which is a plus.
There are several other great features SmarterQueue has that make social media management easier
With SmarterQueue you can post to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram. I did a 14-day free trial using the tool for Facebook and Twitter. I would have continued with a paid plan, except it didn’t fit into my current budget. Paid plans start at $25 a month.
Besides the discounted price the feathers of the tool also drew me in. SocialPilot is one of the few tools that allows you to manage most of the top social channels from one platform. All in one platform you can manage Pinterest boards, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and TikTok. I have used this tool to manage key Pinterest boards, Facebook, and Twitter.
With SocialPilot some of the things you can do are
SmarterQueue is one of the few tools I found that recycles with its evergreen content feature. The evergreen feature is really easy to use which is a plus.
There are several other great features SmarterQueue has that make social media management easier
- Categories so you can organize the content you’re posting
- Curation of content from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter sources you chose
- Scheduling with a calendar format
- Analytics
- Competitor analysis
With SmarterQueue you can post to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram. I did a 14-day free trial using the tool for Facebook and Twitter. I would have continued with a paid plan, except it didn’t fit into my current budget. Paid plans start at $25 a month.
SocialPilot
This tool was a random find and can’t even remember how I found it. I started with a free trial and liked the features enough that I considered paying for a plan. I ended up paying for a plan when I was offered a 40% discount! I couldn't resist. It was such a good deal.Besides the discounted price the feathers of the tool also drew me in. SocialPilot is one of the few tools that allows you to manage most of the top social channels from one platform. All in one platform you can manage Pinterest boards, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and TikTok. I have used this tool to manage key Pinterest boards, Facebook, and Twitter.
With SocialPilot some of the things you can do are
- Schedule content including customizing posts for multiple social media platforms
- Bulk schedule as many as 500 posts in one shot
- Manage content with a scheduling calendar
- Customize your Facebook branding so your brand is highlighted in the post versus the tool
Related read: 7 Things I Did To Grow My Blog Traffic & Readers
RecurPost
The key feature of RecurPost is the recurring posting. So not only do you have the option of posting your content once, but you can save your posts and have them posted again and again until you tell the tool to stop.
With RecurPost you can post to Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can also get integrations with Canva and a cool feature of sorting your posts into color-coded categories.
RecurPost has a few different plans available
RecurPost has a few different plans available
- Fledgling: This is a good plan for bloggers as it's made for individuals and small business owners with a single business
- Professional: This is the more popular plan according to RecurPost. It's good for those who have one main business and a few side businesses
- Business: Best for those who manage a lot of social media accounts of their own or for others
I will say the prices for RecurPost have gone up since I last used it. If you don't want to commit to a plan, you can use the 14-day free trial to see if you like RecurPost or not.
Later
You can use Later to plan, schedule, and auto-post your posts to Instagram. Additionally, with a paid plan you get access to some analytics about your Instagram profile.
If you're a blogger there are four plans to choose from though Later is pushing their paid plans:
If you're a blogger there are four plans to choose from though Later is pushing their paid plans:
- Free plan: With the free Later plan, you connect up to one social profile each for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can post up to 30 posts a month for each profile.
- Starter Plan: This is good for bloggers, those just starting out, and those with small budgets. This plan includes the connection of one social profile for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Access for one user. You can post up to 30 posts a month for each profile, and also get access to up to three months of analytics.
- Growth Plan: Allows for the connection of up to 18 profiles (three profiles per platform for up to three platforms) and access for three users. Up to a year's worth of analytics and 150 posts per social profile. You also get collab tools for creators and brands and team and brand management tools.
- Advanced Plan: You can connect up to 36 profiles (six profiles per platform for up to six profiles), unlimited posts, up to a year's worth of analytics, collab tools for creators and brands, team and brand management tools, and live chat support.
Whichever plan you sign up for you also get access to Later's Linkin.Bio tool which allows you to add links to your Instagram images by creating essentially a landing page you can link to in your Instagram profile. The page resembles your Instagram feed and displays your posts as clickable images.
Planoly
This was an app I tried out for my Instagram feed around the same time as Later. With it, you can plan and schedule your content for multiple social channels - Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook - as well as plan and schedule pins for Pinterest.
Planoly offers a free plan that allows connection with two social profiles (one Instagram profile and one Pinterest profile), up to 30 image uploads a month for each profile. You can do a bit more with the paid plans that allow for connections of more social profiles, more uploads, more analytics for Pinterest, and some additional planning tools for Instagram. I've only used the free plan as it did exactly what I needed it to do.
Planoly has a seven-day trial that allows you to try out the more advanced features and determine if you'd like to pay for those features or stick with the free version.
Missinglettr
This tool is one I discovered through another blogger. I actually signed up for it, never used it, and then randomly decided to give it a try and have been using it ever since. The Missinglettr tool automatically turns blog posts into social media content.
Once set up Missinglettr detects new posts on your blog, it then analyzes the content and automatically creates a series of social media posts that are pre-filled with quotes, hashtags, and images for you to review and approve or disapprove. Once you've done your approvals you can schedule the campaign and let it run. I use it for Twitter and it's made creating different and unique tweets for each of my new blog posts so much easier and less time-consuming.
Missinglettr has three advertised plans
- Starter: Includes a connection to one social profile and scheduling of up to 50 posts.
- Solo: Includes a connection to three social profiles, scheduling of up to 500 posts, and access for one extra user.
- Pro: Includes a connection for up to nine social profiles, scheduling of 3,000 posts, access for an unlimited number of users, advanced analytics, and more.
I've used the free plan which isn't advertised so I don't know if it still exists or if I was grandfathered in. With the free plan, I was able to connect one site and social profile and schedule a limited number of posts. If you aren't able to sign up for a free plan, you can give Missinglettr a try using their free trial.
Metricool
This tool seems to be getting more and more popular as I'm hearing about it more and more from content creators. Metricool says they are "a single tool for all social media tasks: for everyone, whatever your skills, knowledge, and resources."
Features include
- Scheduling a month’s worth of content
- Being able to select the best hours and hashtags
- Measurement of your site and social channels all in one place
- Analyzation of competitors
- Being able to reply to comments
- SmartLink their link in bio tool
Metricool allows you to post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Tiktok.
There are six paid plans, including a free one, that you can choose from based on the size of your team and how many profiles you want to post to.
Additional options
Meta Business Suite
It's Meta's free native tool that allows you to create or schedule posts, stories, and ads for Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, it includes insights into how your page and profile are doing and you can respond to messages and comments you receive from followers and fans.
Pinterest's native scheduler
All Pinterest business accounts have access to this to this tool. This scheduler is available via the Pinterest iOS app and desktop. With it, you can schedule Pins up to two weeks in advance in your current time zone. You can only schedule one Pin at a time, but you can have up to 100 Pins scheduled for the future.
What I use (updated June 2022)
Currently, I'm using more than one tool
Depending on your needs you may find a mix of multiple tools is best or you may find one that works best for you.
- Pinterest native scheduler
- The Tailwind free plan to schedule pins more than 2 weeks in advance
- Meta Business Suite for Facebook and IG
- YouTube's creator studio to schedule my shorts and long-form videos
Depending on your needs you may find a mix of multiple tools is best or you may find one that works best for you.
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Nice informative blog will be sharing with my readers
ReplyDeleteThanks Eileen!
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