Social media has become an essential part of any digital marketing strategy. But with so many social platforms to manage and audiences to engage, it can be overwhelming for marketers and business owners. That‘s where social media marketing tools come in.
The right tools can help you save time, stay organized, and optimize your social media performance. While there are many paid social media tools for running ads and promotions, there are also plenty of great organic tools for scheduling content, analyzing results, engaging with followers, and more.
In this post, we‘ll be focusing specifically on organic social media marketing tools – in other words, tools to help you get results and grow your presence without spending money on ads. We‘ll look at the different types of tools available and share some of the best options in each category.
Whether you‘re a solopreneur, small business, agency, or enterprise, investing in reliable social media tools is key for achieving real results from your social media marketing efforts. Let‘s dive in!
Types of Organic Social Media Tools
There are many different functions that social media tools can help with, from content creation to analytics reporting. Here are some of the main categories of tools for organic social media marketing:
Publishing & Scheduling Tools
One of the most essential social media tools is a publishing and scheduling platform. These tools allow you to plan out your social media content calendar in advance and schedule posts to automatically publish at the best times.
The benefits of scheduling your social media posts include:
- Saving time by batching your content creation
- Maintaining a consistent posting schedule
- Optimizing your posting times for maximum reach and engagement
- Easily scheduling content across all your social profiles
- Collaborating with team members on content
When choosing a social media scheduling tool, look for features like:
- An easy-to-use content calendar view
- Ability to schedule to multiple profiles and networks
- Bulk uploading and scheduling
- Browser extensions to curate and schedule content from the web
- Mobile apps to schedule on the go
Some of the best social media scheduling tools include:
- Sendible
- SocialBee
- Hootsuite
- Buffer
- Sprout Social
Analytics & Reporting Tools
Measuring your social media performance is critical for proving ROI and making data-driven decisions about your strategy. Social media analytics and reporting tools provide valuable insights into your audience, content, and results.
Some key social media metrics to track include:
- Follower growth over time
- Reach and impressions
- Content engagement rate (likes, comments, shares, etc)
- Referral traffic to your website
- Share of voice vs competitors
- Audience demographics and interests
The best social media analytics tools make it easy to track these metrics, benchmark against industry averages, and create professional reports. Some top options are:
- Iconosquare
- Sprout Social
- Hootsuite Insights
- Audiense
Content Curation & Creation Tools
Content is the foundation of your social media presence. Social media content curation and creation tools help you find and create compelling content to share with your audience.
Content curation tools allow you to:
- Discover relevant articles, images, and videos to share
- Set up automated content feeds
- Easily review and schedule curated content
Some popular content curation tools include:
- Quuu
- Feedly
- BuzzSumo
For content creation, visual tools are key. Types of visual content to create for social media include:
- Images and graphics
- GIFs and memes
- Short videos
- Infographics
- Data visualizations
Fortunately, there are many user-friendly tools to create professional-looking visuals, even if you don‘t have graphic design skills. Check out:
- Canva
- Adobe Spark
- Animoto
- Piktochart
Social Listening & Monitoring Tools
Social media isn‘t just about broadcasting your own content – it‘s a two-way conversation. Social listening and monitoring tools enable you to track mentions of your brand, competitors, industry keywords, and relevant topics.
The benefits of social listening include:
- Identifying opportunities to engage with customers and prospects
- Monitoring brand sentiment and reputation
- Staying on top of industry trends and news
- Conducting audience and competitor research
- Measuring share of voice
Top social listening tools include:
- Brand24
- Mention
- Awario
- Sprout Social
Community Management & Engagement Tools
Building an engaged community on social media requires responding to comments, messages, and mentions in a timely manner. Community management and engagement tools help you stay on top of interactions and build relationships with your audience.
Look for tools with features like:
- Unified social inbox to manage all engagements in one place
- Ability to assign and collaborate with team members
- Saved replies to quickly respond to common questions
- Automated moderation to hide spam and offensive comments
Some of the best community management tools are:
- Sprout Social
- Sendible
- Agorapulse
- Hootsuite Inbox
Contest & Giveaway Tools
Running a social media contest or giveaway is an effective way to generate buzz, grow your following, and collect leads. Contest and giveaway tools make it easy to create and manage social promotions.
Types of contests and giveaways you can run include:
- Sweepstakes
- Photo and video contests
- Caption contests
- Tag a friend giveaways
- Quiz and trivia contests
Contest tools provide templates, entry forms, winner selection, and other features to simplify the process. Popular options are:
- Woobox
- Wishpond
- Gleam
- Rafflecopter
Bio Link & Landing Page Tools
Your social media profiles are valuable real estate for driving traffic back to your website or landing pages. Bio link and landing page tools help you maximize the potential of your link in bio.
Instead of just including a simple website link, these tools allow you to:
- Create a mobile-friendly landing page with multiple links
- Track clicks and conversions from each link
- Easily swap out your bio link for different promotions
Some great bio link tools to check out are:
- Linktree
- Shorby
- Linkin.bio by Later
Social Media Automation Tools
Finally, automation tools can help you streamline your social media workflows and save even more time. These tools allow you to set up triggers and actions to automatically perform repetitive tasks.
Examples of tasks you can automate include:
- Sharing new blog posts across social channels
- Thanking new followers and commenters
- Cross-posting content between social networks
- Syncing data between social media and other apps
Some of the most popular social media automation tools are:
- IFTTT
- Zapier
- Integromat
How to Choose the Right Social Media Tools
With so many social media tools available, how do you decide which ones are right for your business? Here are some factors to consider:
Determine your goals and needs: Start by clarifying what you hope to achieve with social media and which tasks you need the most help with. This will guide you in prioritizing different types of tools.
Consider pricing and value: Look at the pricing of each tool in relation to the features and value it provides. While higher-priced tools tend to be more robust, you can find good quality tools to fit different budgets.
Evaluate features and integrations: Carefully review the specific features of each tool to see if it meets your needs. Also look at what integrations it offers with social networks, other tools, and systems you currently use.
Read reviews: Check out user reviews on third-party sites to get honest feedback about each tool‘s pros, cons, and customer support. Reviews can give you a more realistic picture of what to expect.
Sign up for free trials: Most social media tools offer a free trial period. Take advantage of these to actually test out the tool for yourself before committing to a paid plan.
Tips for Using Social Media Marketing Tools Effectively
Investing in social media marketing tools is a great start, but to get the most value out of them, you need to use them strategically. Here are some tips:
Have a strategy and plan: No tool can replace having a solid social media marketing strategy. Use your tools in service of your larger strategic goals and plans.
Focus on quality over quantity: Scheduling a bunch of low-quality posts won‘t get you results. Prioritize creating and curating high-quality, valuable content for your audience.
Test and optimize over time: Use analytics tools to regularly review your social media performance. Conduct tests and experiments to optimize your posting strategy, tactics, and content.
Engage authentically: Social media tools should enhance, not replace, human interaction. Use community management tools to actively listen and respond to your audience in an authentic way.
Wrapping Up
Social media success requires a combination of creativity and productivity. The right tools can help you achieve both by streamlining your workflows, sparking content ideas, and delivering data-driven insights.
To recap, the top social media marketing tools we recommend are:
- Sendible for social media management
- Iconosquare for analytics
- Quuu for content curation
- Canva for content creation
- Brand24 for social listening
- Sprout Social for community management
- Woobox for contests and giveaways
- Linktree for bio links
- Zapier for automation
The best social media tools for you will depend on your unique needs, budget, and goals. Don‘t be afraid to experiment with different tools to find the ideal toolkit for your business.
Remember, tools are meant to enhance your social media marketing, not do all the work for you. Combine the efficiency of tools with your own strategic thinking, creativity, and authenticity for the ultimate formula for social media success.
What are your favorite social media marketing tools? Let us know in the comments!
