Having a strong brand presence on social media has become an essential part of the digital marketing mix. From creating shareable content and knowing what’s trending, to who to talk to and when they’re most engaged, there’s a lot more to being on social media than just sending a few tweets.
As the Social Media Community Manager at Smoking Gun, I wanted to share my favourite online tools to give your social efforts the magic they need to succeed online.
Tweetdeck
Totally free to use, Tweetdeck is a social media dashboard which is ideal for real-time tracking, listening and engagement. It’s the ideal tool for those like me, that need to monitor and tweet from multiple social accounts simultaneously.
My favourite thing about the dashboard is that it is completely customisable to your needs and requirements, meaning you can set up exactly what you want to see. It couldn’t be easier to create your custom dashboard, simply choose between the column options you need which range from Twitter timelines, mentions and notifications to lists, trends and customised searches.
Not only can you choose to tweet directly from the dashboard and schedule posts to be sent at set dates and times, but you can add as many Twitter accounts and columns into the dashboard as your require.
Tweetdeck really is the answer to organising your social!
Keyhole
Working in social media I can guarantee at some point you will have been asked to pull together insight and findings surrounding a specific Twitter conversation or hashtag. Now Twitter’s own search function fulfils this task perfectly as does Instagram, letting you search for keywords and hashtags aggregating them on one simple real-time page and keeping on top of what’s trending throughout the day. But that’s as far as it goes. If you’re looking for real insight then Keyhole is the tool you need.
Keyhole is a hashtag tracker for Instagram and Twitter which displays your results in a simple yet slick dashboard which can be easily downloaded as a pdf or excel file, making it even easier to share with clients looking for results.
Not only does it share the number of times the hashtag has been used, retweeted and liked, but it reports on the potential reach and impressions that it is generating. Dig a little deeper and it can provide you with the most influential accounts utilising and engaging with it, along with a demographic analysis, media source list and associated keywords. Making it easier than ever to reach out and engage in conversation with exactly the right people.
Shorthand Social
Looking to create something different from the norm but don’t have the client budget for expensive design and coding?
Shorthand Social is an online editor that lets you create beautiful stories in minutes. Start your Shorthand Social profile by simply following the steps to link your social accounts, before creating a customised profile page including a biography and brand logo.
Then you’re ready to get started creating beautiful stories to immerse your readers in.
Upload your content, whether it be words, images or videos and simply watch them come to life as they flow with one another to create a flawless look and feel to your content. I still struggle to believe that this tool gives your content such an expensive finish and doesn’t cost a penny.
Perfect for aggregating photography and footage from an event, adding a storyline to your content or just bringing your bog standard blog to life Shorthand Social does all the hard work for you.
Once complete the story can be embedded within your existing blog or you can choose to link and share it directly from the Immersive platform to start spreading your story further.
Prime for Instagram
Finding the right people to talk to and knowing how to engage with them are key elements in a well-rounded social strategy. But imagine how much easier your life would be if you knew the ‘Prime’ time to engage them too? Well look no further, Prime for Instagram now does the hard work for you, ensuring your Instagram posts get the exposure they deserve.
Primes powerful algorithm analyses your followers and when they are actively engaging with you online and generates a personalised Prime time for you to be posting every day of the week.
Missed your Prime time today? Don’t worry the app provides you with the top ten times to engage throughout each day, down to the minute, meaning you’ll get it right at least once.
All of this is amazing in itself, but throw in a sleek interface, a weekly/monthly grid of top engagement times and the ability to compare your last three pictures in terms of their interaction levels and we’re sold! Hang on it’s FREE!
I bet you’re wondering already what your Prime time is?
Let us know on @SmokingGunPR if you’ve got any great online tools that you use as part of your social media strategy.