As a business owner, a strong online presence is essential to both sales and growth, right? But, as a business owner, there are about a million and one things that take priority over scheduling social media posts? Also right.
Well, we’ve been there, so we’re here to outline five of our favourite social media automation tools in 2019. Whether you’re a veteran digital marketer, just starting out, or a business owner at their wits end with online engagement, we promise that at least one of our favourites will strike a chord in you.
Why should you automate your social media?
For most small businesses, finding the time to do everything is a challenge. By setting up an automation system, you can drastically reduce the amount of time needed to share valuable content, giving you more time to create meaningful connections with the people interested in your services.
What many T2GO clients do is spend an hour once or twice a month, curating content that fits the message they want to deliver through their social media channels. They schedule the posts via their favourite automation tool and then get on with their business. They don’t need to spend any time in social media unless they get a message request from a prospect or client. It’s an efficient way to deliver great content without spending a ton of time or money.
If you have questions about curating content or configuring your automation tools, contact us – we’ll help you find the right answers for your specific situation.
#5: SocialOomph
Promising to “boost your social media productivity”, SocialOomph is a Canadian company that has been in the social media automation business since 2008. Originally focused solely on Twitter, SocialOomph has expanded its scope to encompass Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Plurk, blog posts, and RSS social updates.
Hailed as versatile, easy to manage, and fair-priced (offering a free 7-day trial and under $20 CAD bi-weekly), SocialOomph is perfect for companies with multiple pages looking to get the ultimate bang for their buck.
#4: IFTTT
IFTTT: free and customizable, If This Then That (IFTTT) is an app that focuses on meaningful audience engagement. Orbiting around veteran techies, IFTTT gives people who are already well-versed with social media to link accounts for maximum engagement and reach. Want your Twitter to send out a post every time you post to Instagram? IFTTT has got you covered—and yes, it’s all free!
There are a ton of possibilities with IFTTT – if there’s a digital trigger (whether that’s hitting your daily step goal or an email from your favourite client) you can set up an action with IFTTT. Check out this article for 9 great IFTTT recipes.
#3: Hootsuite
Tailored to entrepreneurs and small business owners, Hootsuite (another Canadian start-up) helps users engage with audiences, schedule content, and track insights all at the click of a button.
Offering up to 10 social profiles per solo account, unlimited RSS integrations, a $500 monthly boost spending limit, and in-dash live support, Hootsuite offers four plans (Professional, Team, Business, and Enterprise) for maximum budget and account preference flexibility—perfect for businesses with a focus on visual content and analytics reporting. Plus, try it free for an entire month!
#2: SproutSocial
With an astronomically high user rating, accessibility, and unique option to uncover digital marketing trends via Sprout Social’s brand analysis, competitive insights, and industry intelligence, the automation service Sprout Social truly does the heavy lifting for you. By offering their myriad of in-depth demos, blogs, solutions based on business type, and recommendations based on both social platform and need, it’s clear to see why Sprout Social comes so highly recommended.
#1: Buffer
An automation program built for both mobile and PC usage, Buffer is used by over 80,000 businesses worldwide. By offering all of your social platforms in one place using an easy-to-use toggle feature, a straightforward scheduling calendar, analytics, and the option to set the access levels for each and every one of your team members, Buffer is fantastic for entrepreneurs because of its Free feature: the opportunity to have three social media accounts and 10 posts per month on any social media platform for free.
Let us take care of it for you