The following is part of a series about understanding social
media
Now that you’ve graduated social media 101 on platforms like
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, we’d like to share some of our favorite tools
to take you from beginner to social media extraordinaire.
Bitly – Let’s start with one of the most simple social media
tools available out there. Bitly at its most basic is a link shortening
service. This type of service is particularly helpful when sharing content on
Twitter as it reduces the number of characters in your link. This means you
have more characters to use for your own commentary. Other common link
shortening services include ow.ly and TinyURL. Anyone can use Bitly without
signing up for an account. However, a Bitly account allows for better social
tracking as you can view how many people clicked through to your link.
Hootsuite – Hootsuite is one of the most popular social
media management tools available today. Hootsuite allows you to schedule posts
across a number of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
and more. Posts can be scheduled with a specific time or in a bulk, automated
queue (the latter feature is only available with a paid plan). Hootsuite also
has an extensive dashboard to monitor your social accounts. You can set up
feeds to watch Twitter mentions, trending topics, Facebook posts… anything your
social media heart desires.
Buffer – Buffer is very similar to HootSuite in that it
allows you to schedule posts across various social media platforms but in a
much simpler format. While Buffer does allow time-specific scheduling for
posts, it also allows you to set up a queue of content to be posted throughout
the day at pre-selected times. Buffer accounts are available for free or on a
paid, premium basis. One downside to a free account: you can only add up to ten
posts in your queue.
Topsy – Topsy is a great tool for discovering the social
reach of a link. While Bitly analytics show how many people engaged with your
link, Topsy shows how many people have shared a link. Perhaps the most helpful
element of Topsy is that it searches beyond proprietary sharing. Even if
someone copies and pastes the link into their own tweet rather than retweeting
yours, Topsy will find it.
What are your favorite social media tools? Share with us on
Facebook or Twitter or even pen your own guest blog.
