5 Tools for Posting on Social Networks

When I first began the great big dive into Social Media, I was scared to dealth... Literally shivering in my shoes... It can be very overwhelming tweeting, posting, retweeting, favoriting, direct messaging, and so on and so forth. As I began to get more adventurous and brave, I discovered some great tools to better manage my time and help me be the most effective.  I have listed the ones I use below. Each of the tools I use helps me solve a certain struggle I had with new media marketing. I hope you can find these solutions helpful in your efforts as well!

1. Content Aggregation:  When you begin any marketing strategy, it is paramount that you begin with a content blueprint.  This is an outline of what you are posting when, where, and why. It is important to really listen to your audience, and study your industry to filter through only the best stuff to pass along to your audience.  My two favorite tools for this are

Google Alerts and Feedly. Use them everyday and they make researching my content an absolute breeze!

2. Time Management: We all start this social media thing doing the same thing over and over again. We spend hours on end trying to figure out how to listen and share, share and listen. Before long we are speaking in hashtags and dm's. This is where Bundlepost has proven to be invaluable!  I can spend half the time scheduling posts after my content is gathered, and more time listening.  I would much rather listen than speak, that's just who I am!

3. Frequency of Posts: Hootsuite is an absolute must have in the social media arena.  I never knew how awesome scheduling my posts could feel until I realized how normal my life looked after Hootsuite!  Using Hootsuite in conjunction with Bundlepost is a breeze and a true answer to Social Media overload!

4. Analytics: While Hootsuite does a terrific job with analytics, I truly enjoy SproutSocial for my account analysis. The presentation is seamless, simple to read and interpret, and just the most comfortable Social Media Portal I have experienced.

5. Twitter Conversations: TweetDeck is my go to desktop application for twitter conversations. The real live feed and alerts makes following and engaging in any discussion and event simplified and profitable.

And what would be a good social media strategy without a CRM component!  NOTHING! That's why I use NimbeCRM which has a direct integration with Hootsuite! This way I can easily qualify my social leads by importing them into my CRM for more analysis, opportunity tracking, and historical reference across all my platforms, including email!

Without a strategy and a well thought out plan, these tools are not fully utilized and effective. You can waste time and effort figuring out just what to do next with what platform. STOP!  Get some help from an expert.  They can lead you the right way and save you more time for your business. They can even manage your strategy for you!  Don't dive in without your life vest!  Be a smart marketer and invest in the right gear to keep your boat afloat and get you where you intend to go!  You can do it!  Don't wait!