7 awesome social media management tools you should keep in your arsenal

If your job title contains the word ‘digital’ then change and stress is something you are quite familiar with. Being immersed in the digital age means that no two days are ever the same. Facebook tonight is probably different to Facebook tomorrow, new platforms pop up overnight the rules of the game are constantly evolving.

Managing digital platforms is no longer as easy as updating your Facebook status. Now you need to worry about which messages are relevant to which platforms. Is your message on Twitter the same on LinkedIn? When did you last add a new pin or grow your circles?

The problem is that many of us just don’t have the time or resources to dedicate to managing numerous social media platforms – so what can you use to make sure your social media strategy doesn’t fall flat?

Tools of the trade

Everyone needs a bit of help from time to time, and in the digital world there’s no time to be shy about asking for it. Luckily no one really needs to know you’re not as pro at multitasking as you would have them believe.

The bottom line is that managing social media platforms is now a full-time job, yet managing them from different internet browsers, tabs or windows becomes quite frustrating not to mention time-consuming and ineffective.

To alleviate the stress there are a number of desktop, tablet and mobile applications available which will help you organize multiple social media accounts, platforms and information sharing across a variety networks. Each tool offers something different — from the layout and features to the interface — but the common denominator is that they all enable you to keep tabs on your different platforms effectively and efficiently.

Easy as pie
As there is so much choice out there, here are 10 great tools that will help you manage all your social media platforms, without having to blink or think twice.

1. HootSuite

Possibly one of the most popular tools (and a personal favourite of mine) simply because it has so many options, settings and features. Without resting in its laurels, this application speaks for itself. It allows you to monitor and post to numerous networks from personal and business perspectives. The easy to use interface lets you see all the activity on each platform at a simple glance. A built-in custom analytics system, the ability to monitor selected keywords and the option to conveniently schedule posts makes HootSuite a force to be reckoned with in the social media game. And the best thing of all? It’s free!

2. TweetDeck

As runner up to Hootsuite, TweetDeck isn’t far off the mark. One of the benefits of this application is that it is not limited to the web and can be installed as a separate program on your hard drive as a desktop application. Allowing for real-time post streaming, this management system also offers greater flexibility in that it is compatible across multiple platforms and comes without a cover charge.

3. SocialOomph

As many social media strategists will know your blog plays a big role in any digital strategy. SocialOomph not only allows you to manage your Facebook and Twitter accounts, but it also allows you to manage and schedule posts to your blog.

With a free and premium service available SocialOomph lets you schedule tweets while you track keywords, promote social media platform profiles, shorten URLs, and manage your direct message inboxes all from one place. Now that’s what I call multitasking. It must have been the invention of a woman.

4. Buffer

This tool helps you not only plan but optimize your Twitter updates by scheduling them and spreading them out throughout the day. A common problem for social media users is information overload. Within the span of a few minutes or so, you might find eight different pieces of content you want to share with your Twitter followers, but posting them all at the same time could flood their streams. Buffer is a great tool for scheduling tweets, LinkedIn posts and Facebook updates.

5. SocialFlow

SocialFlow is based on a unique optimization algorithm that uses your Twitter data to rank and send out your tweets in real-time, based on when your followers are the most receptive and active on Twitter. In other words, SocialFlow helps you get your message out in front of the most real human eyes, at the most optimum time possible.

6. SpredFast

For the social media user who is crazy about measuring analytics, SpredFast is the tool that excels at data feature integration. This tool allows users to manage and measure data gathered from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr to see how many people are being reaching and whether or not your target audience is being engaged by your content. The data is presented in formatted graphs, which you can use to compare and benchmark campaigns against other strategies.

7. TwitterFeed

Don’t let the name fool you – TwitterFeed does more than just manage your Twitter account. Community managers, bloggers or webmasters can effortlessly update social media accounts with their RSS feed posts by integrating TwitterFeed into their social accounts. RSS feeds can be connected to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and StatusNet for automatic updating. Newly published blog posts are pulled from the feed and their links are posted to all your social media accounts.