There are so many activities that surround management of relationships and brands in Social Media, it would be virtually impossible to effectively maintain consistency without the use of Tools to help you to schedule and provide you with a Dashboard to Moderate.
One of my favorite tools is
HootSuite.
It is affordable, flexible and allows you to post to most of the popular social media platforms.
It even has the ability to integrate over 70 apps to make your life even easier.
I have a testimonial that was shared with me about
HootSuitefrom a brand manager we trained recently.
She words for a small Dental Office here in Colorado and struggled to remember each day to post something to
Facebook,
LinkedIn and
Google+.
She actually had a time span of 2 months where she neglected to post anything because it was just too inconvenient to dedicate her self to a specific window of time each day.
She was also getting stuck in a negative loop of dry ideas and lost the ability to come up with any original content. Frustrated, we sat down for training and she realized there were tools she could use to overcome these obstacles.
Here are my Top 3 Tools right now:
-> HootSuite
For the ease of the dashboard and consistent schedule abilities
-> Buffer
For the Suggested Content Ideas and the integration of Pinterest scheduling options!
-> Commun.it
For helping me communicate more effectively with my twitter audience
People ask me all of the time why I feel scheduling is so important.
My theory is simple.
When I am actively doing my work, I’m not thinking about what to post at 9am.
If I take the time to effectively put together a good
editorial calendar and get updates out, I can respond better “real time” to engagement and not always have to feel “on” to generate new content.
Some days I run dry, other days I am free flowing with thought, ideas and creativity.
I have found that if I maximize my creative time as much as possible, the brand won’t be lacking when my juice is spent.
Additionally, I believe that there should be “real time” posts woven through the scheduled posts as well. Examples could be: a moment just happened, attending an event, news or trends are current and relate to something in our day; these are things that should be shared “real time”, as often as possible.
Every single
SMM (Social Media Manager) will tell you how “they” like to do it.
Neither is right, neither is wrong, both types of processes set you up for success if that is a method that works for you.
That is the most important thing to take away.
Find a tool that works for you, use it, own it, learn from it and make it fun.
If we aren’t having fun, we are doing it wrong! #BeAwesome
If you would like to learn how to use HootSuite, our next Webinar can be found at: http://thesocialpro.eventbrite.com
~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~
Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a “Be Awesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Conent Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them. Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars
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