Does managing your social media make your head spin? Are you gaining followers – or losing them? Do you seem to spend less of your working day working and more of it wondering what to post on Twitter?
Why struggle when you don’t have to juggle? These simple social media tools are designed to help you see a clear way ahead rather than a brick wall and help your business take off.
Why put a finger in the air when you can put it on the pulse
Discover if there are any searches related to you or that show a potential need for your service or business. For instance, with Google Trends you can ‘Explore what the world is searching’ within a category and time frame.
Planning a blog or website? Check out my post on SEO tips and tools: Freelancers: How To Choose SEO Keywords Without Head Scratching Or Swear Words
Not interested in getting a high ranking for your website the organic way (I did this though, oh boy, did it take time)? Google Keyword Planner is a free tool (though you need a Google Ads account) to help you find the most relevant keywords for SEO for your business and map out your advertising budget.
Why go global when you can aim local
Even in this highly digital age, customers like to find a good local business so make sure you’re active by being listed on Google My Business, Bing and online business directory Yell. Add photos, upload a virtual tour, respond to reviews and amend your business hours for times such as Christmas and Easter.
Use Facebook advertising to target people in your area, for instance with an incentive to attract new customers.
Why write when you can film
Blogs are brilliant for giving info, especially if headlines are easily digestible (such as ‘How To…’, ‘!0 Tips For…’, ‘7 Reasons Why…’) yet a simple video created on your phone can be even better for the short-attention-span-generation (look at the success of TikTok).
Biteable with its instant video templates (‘Make a masterpiece in minutes’) and Magisto with its choice of payment plans (‘Be a video superhero’) are great apps; use these social media tools to speedily create videos and explainers to promote your business.
Want to turn your photos or videos into works of art – try the VSCO app. And if you need to add subtitles to your films, try Rev.com.
Why talk to just anyone when you can talk to someone
Who’s your target audience? What makes them tick? Google Analytics will help you understand and analyse customer behaviour, how long viewers stay on a page and which pages are most popular.
Facebook Audience Insights is a social media tool that shows who your followers are and who you’re reaching so that you can ‘create content that resonates and easily find more people like the ones in your current audience’. Twitter Analytics helps you work out how to create Tweets that make your audience want more and how to measure their impact.
Why spend hours perfecting when you can spend minutes instead
Canva is a user-friendly graphic design app for on the go with an excellent free version, and with different templates across channels. Create graphs, make diagrams, add headlines to photos –there’s loads to play with. Every picture is worth a thousand words but when it isn’t, use the Word Swag app to add text.
And just before you publish your blog or Tweet, run a quick check for grammar and tone on Grammarly.
Who needs a freelance copywriter?
Why multi-task when you can out-task
Feeling overwhelmed by how much time your social media is taking up? Some of these social media tools are free; others offer a range of pricing plans to suit your business type and budget. And some, just like your washing machine, have more features than you may really need:
- Hootsuite – get organised by scheduling and managing all your social media channels on one useful and customisable dashboard that lets you set up different streams.
- Sprout Social – claims to be ‘the only all-in-one social media management platform built for connection’. You can see all messages from your connected social media accounts in one stream.
- TweetDeck – monitor and manage your Twitter activity (especially worthwhile if you’re a company wanting to delegate access to Twitter without sharing passwords), track topics and customise your Twitter experience.
- Iconosquare – another content scheduler that helps you keep a beady eye on how you’re doing on Facebook and Instagram as well as on your competitors.
- Buffer – a simple way to schedule posts on the times and days you want and to create graphics and images for them.
However, don’t be a poor work person who always blames their tools – now discover How To Engage Your Audience On Social Media.
Written by Caroline Gibson, freelance copywriter, good with social media tools and not too bad with DIY ones either.
E: caroline@carolinegibson.co.uk T: +44 (0) 7957 567766
P.S. Follow on Twitter
