(2 min. read)
Managing your social media can be complex. Fortunately, there are a ton of resources widely available out there to help you juggle it all. There are tools that help you design your posts, others to streamline your posting schedule across multiple channels, and finally, sites solely dedicated to analyzing the performance metrics to help you adjust your approach for better results. In this post, we are going to focus on just a few of these tools, however there is a whole industry that exists for the purpose of making social media manageable.
Photography
An eye-catching image can stop people from scrolling right past your posts. However, you should only post images that you have permission to use. There are many great websites where you can pay a fee to access and use their images in your social media. There are also sites that offer royalty-free use of their images.
Royalty-free is a type of license that grants the buyer a determined set of rights to use the image in multiple ways. Pay for it once and you can use it over and over again – albeit, there are stipulations to accepted usage. The sites listed here do not charge a fee, but always remember to read the fine print. Sometimes they will request a photo credit be included in the post. That’s a small concession to make when it gets you the right image for free. Depending on what you are looking for, you may have to search a variety of different keywords, and through multiple sites before finding the perfect image.
Below are a few sites we have found useful in finding appropriate images:
Unsplash
https://www.unsplash.com/
Pixabay
https://www.pixabay.com/
Pexels
https://www.pexels.com/
Burst
https://burst.shopify.com/
Posting Platforms
There are also many sites available which allow you to connect your various social media platforms and manage them all with a single login. You can designate posts for each platform and schedule when you want them to deploy. These sites can make planning out your posting schedule a breeze. However, it may be beneficial to pay for a service. Having a paid version will grant access to significantly more tools and allow you to connect more platforms. These sites also include analytics so you can track progress and see how your posts are performing and select the best days and times to push out your posts.
When it comes to selecting which site to go with, check out the packages they offer, watch some demo videos to get a feel for how the platform performs and start with a free trial.
These are some of the sites we have found useful:
SproutSocial
https://www.sproutsocial.com
Buffer
https://www.buffer.com
Hootsuite
https://www.hootsuite.com
Loomly
https://go.loomly.com/
Design Sites
When it comes to maintaining consistency, using a design site can simplify the process. Most sites offer many pre-designed templates, conveniently sized for each platform. Some allow you to save your projects so you can reuse the design with new content or graphics. Like all sites, the paid version will offer additional options such as saving brand colors, uploading your own graphics or logos and creating your own templates. This is another area where you may benefit from a paid account. If you don’t have a graphic designer on staff, the right tool can make it sure look like you do. Below are some sites we have used:
Adobe Express
https://www.adobe.com/express
PicMonkey
https://www.picmonkey.com/
Snappa
https://www.snappa.com
We do not partner with any of the sites listed in this blog, nor do we recommend any specific site. Consider this as a jumping-in point. These represent just a few of the many options but it’s up to you to find the right fit for your needs. And it’s worth noting that even with all the great options available to make things easier, doing social media right, and in a way that positively impacts your business, requires a ton of effort.
Creating compelling, relevant content that connects your business with existing customers, while driving new customers in the door comes with a tremendous time-cost. But fret not, this is exactly what GLM Custom does – and we are here to help!
GLM Custom delivers social media packages custom tailored to fit the needs and meet the goals of our clients. Ask us to build a strategy and management plan that’s perfect for your business! Visit us at www.glminc.com.