So you jumped into social media with various networks, and you are overwhelmed. Am I right? You were pretty excited in the beginning but now that the firehose that is social media is hitting you in the face, you need some way to save you from drowning. Here are 5 ways that you can get this under control.
Hootsuite.com – I use Hootsuite daily. I have written about it numerous times, and it has been one of the tools that has served me the longest. The reason I love it is not just that I can manage multiple networks and post updates to them from the same interface, but it organizes itself into columns which are visually simple to consume. And you can create columns that show you when people are talking about you or mentioning you, so you can respond to them and stay engaged. Finally, the Hootsuite app pulls in all your desktop settings for quick setup and a consistent experience on your phone.
Mailchimp.com – I use Mailchimp as my email marketing tool. Email? Seriously Steve, since when did email become social media? I am so glad you asked. What I love about Mailchimp, aside from the amazing metrics it gives you on clicks and opens and forwards, is that it has some amazing social media integration. Not only can you provide all the social media sharing tools in your email campaigns, such as the Google+1 button, Facebook like, Twitter tweet buttons, etc, you can also connect your campaigns to your Facebook and Twitter accounts so that your campaigns are automatically posted to those networks. Email now becomes social. 🙂
Google Alerts – Oh how I do love free. Free is hard to pass up, especially if it’s good. I use Google Alerts to notify me every time my name or business is mentioned on the Internet. And I do mean EVERY time. I have found some really obscure places that have mentioned me or something that I wrote about or said. It’s pretty scary how good Google is at this. Create alerts for stuff like your name, your products, your employees names, your business name, etc. Anything you want to keep track of on the Internet, use Alerts.
Postling.com – If you want to combine the benefits of Hootsuite and Google Alerts, and pump them up with a little steroids, that’s Postling. A 30-day trial costs you $1, and $10 a month for 5 accounts if you like it. There are some pretty expensive tools out there, trust me, so Postling is a deal-and-a-half comparatively. With it not only can you post to your networks and schedule those posts, you can keep track of activity surrounding your competitors, get instant email notifications of things, and have multiple people help you manage the whole thing. You get alot of value for what you pay.
Jugnoo.com – This one is brand new, but what I have reviewed is pretty darn cool. This tool is in beta which means that if they get a bunch of folks signing up, it won’t be free for long. You get a staggering 20 accounts for free, with up to 3 team members participating. You have listening tools, posting tools, analytics tools, and promotion tools. And the dashboard screen looks just like Hootsuite, so I feel at home. You need to check this one out folks because it looks fantastic.
So there you go. Don’t work yourself to death, let these tools work for you. You’ll save time, which we all need more of, eh?
