Want to build your brand?

One effective solution is to use social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Since 2015, more than 50 million businesses use Facebook Pages and there are millions using YouTube and Instagram too.

The difficulty comes in optimizing multiple accounts at the same time, managing every post and engagement while keeping track of different metrics too.

This is why most enterprises and small businesses rely on social media tools. These tools automate the tedious parts of social media management while providing the means to monitor data in an efficient manner.

Which ones work the best? Which platforms do they cater to? To help you craft a proper social media marketing plan, here’s a look at the top 10 social media tools to invest in.

HootSuite

HootSuite is not as powerful as other social media tools but it does get the job done. It allows you to add as many accounts as needed and then schedule posts in advance.

It also has a feature to let you study the analytics of your social media accounts, allowing you to determine how well your current marketing plan is performing.

The tool does come for free and this version is ideal for individual social media marketers. For businesses, the paid version is the better option due to the additional tools and features.

HubSpot

Although at face value it looks similar to HootSuite, HubSpot has the advantage in a few areas. Amongst the different social media tools, this one offers the best sales and lead reporting features available.

This tool allows you to see what posts and products your customers like and share the most, giving you the data to plan your next social media plan. You even get to dig in further and check the ROI, interactions, optimal social reach, and engagement rates per post.

Agora Pulse

Of the three social media tools featured, Agora Pulse is the only one that has a unique set of engagement tools. It still comes with the standard analytical and scheduling features but its other options let you set up polls, promotions, and other forms of interactive content.

Another great feature is that it lets you keep track of your competitors and their performance too. This is crucial for companies that want to stay ahead of the game and analyze what works and what doesn’t.

There is a free version but businesses small and big are better off with the additional features that come with the paid version.

Oktopost

This is a tool catered specifically for B2B marketers. It has the options to manage large social media teams and also comes with the scheduling and analytical tools you’d expect.

Oktopost also helps you determine the best profitable leads through social media outlets and quantify the financial value of all your social media efforts. If you want to see the financial value of every click and post you make on social media, this is the tool to invest in.

MeetEdgar

Unlike other tools listed, MeetEdgar works by allowing you to recycle evergreen content. You’ll start by creating a library of content and then organising the content according to a category.

MeetEdgar will then create a schedule in which it will re-post content from that library. This is the perfect solution to drive traffic to your site, as long as you use MeetEdgar for evergreen content that always remains relevant.

Tailwind

Tailwind is the tool if you want effective visual marketing. It caters to Pinterest and Instagram accounts in particular.

Both are ideal platforms, especially now that Instagram has over 800 million accounts and Pinterest sees over 175 million active users a month. People share images and videos more than they do text posts, so this can be an invaluable tool to boost customer engagement.

With Tailwind, you can schedule bulk Pinterest posts at once and manage multiple boards too. It uses an intuitive drag-and-drop calendar to schedule actions and it’s one of the more affordable social media tools available.

Sprout Social

At first glance, you might mistake Sprout Social as another HootSuite or HubSpot. It does feature the ability to schedule posts and provide analytics, similar to those tools, but it offers a little bit more in terms of customer relationship management.

Some of the reports you get include social media mentions, social media trends, and customer engagement.

While there is a trial version, you can cater the paid version according to your company’s size and needs. There is a solution for small businesses, agencies, and enterprises.

IFTTT

IFTTT stands for ‘If This Then That’ and is an automation tool that functions according to a trigger and action.

For example, you can set up a recipe in which the tool will automatically post a Tweet each time you post a new photo on Instagram. You can set up a recipe in which your Facebook account will post a link to each new blog post you release.

It can get complicated at first, but there are multiple recipes to try out and many of them are the plug-and-play type which makes them easier to learn.

BuzzSumo

This tool isn’t tied to any social media platform but it’s a tool you have to get accustomed to as soon as possible. Using this tool, you can discover new and popular content on the Internet. Discover what’s trending right now before your competition does and apply those new ideas into your social media marketing plan.

Enter a keyword and the tool will list trending posts in that specific category. You’ll also get to see who the main influencers are, giving you an idea of who to reach out to.

Bit.ly

Long URL’s are not SEO-friendly. If you want to share something on Twitter or Facebook, a shorter, shareable URL is the ideal tool. You can truncate long URL’s using the Bit.ly shortening tool.

There’s a little bit of contention when to use Bit.ly and when not to but the general consensus is that you should shorten URL’s when you want to post links on social media platforms.

Octopus Creative Social Tools

We have our own social media scheduling & management platform. This versatile tool allows you to schedule posts to every major social media platform, syndicate content from other content creators and automate many of the day-to-day tasks of running a thriving social media profile. Our tool aggregates your social media channels in one place, provides a thorough report and overview of what’s happening online with your brand across all of your social channels.

As one of Octopus Creative’s clients, you can use this platform as much or as little as you want.

Discover More About Social Media Tools Today

These are the best tools to help you and your business get the most out of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. With their features, you can achieve higher conversions, more leads, and higher engagement from social media followers.

Keep in mind that knowing which social media tools are the best and learning how to use them are two different beasts altogether.

If you need help in formulating the best social media marketing plan or how to use these tools to boost your brand, don’t shy away from giving us a call. We’re always at the ready to provide the best consultation for your branding and social media needs.