Social media has taken over the internet by storm. From Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn millions of users are engaging on daily basis with each other or their favorite brands. You’ve heard about it, others have told you that there’s a need for it in your business, but quite frankly you don’t know how to approach social media efficiently. Back by popular demand in search I decided to elaborate on the subject of top social media management tools. Do not worry young grasshopper. The force shall stay with you. Unfortunately I won’t tell you how to push informative and engaging content. That’s something that you’ll need to master on your own.
Monetizing Your Social Media Efforts
Although what I can share today is how you can better measure and monetize your social media efforts via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. With so much activity going on it can become quite overwhelming to stay on top of your social media activity. Thankfully there are more than a handful of top social media management tools to assist with your measurement and tracking success. Before approaching any of the suggestions social media tools I would highly suggest that there’s a clear social media marketing strategy in place that you’re willing to follow proactively.
SproutSocial
Recently I started using this particular social media management tool simply out of curiosity for functionality. By no means it’s considered new as it has been around for quite some time now. It’s intuitive enough for an all-around solution that gives you the ability to monitor and manage your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn channels. Available reporting features provide activity status via your social media channels. While it’s only a web-based application to help you with your social media marketing efforts there’s the option of a downloadable iPhone app to make things easier. A free trial without the necessity of a credit card won’t break the bank either, at least for the first 30 days. After that it’s a small $39/month fee for the Small Biz solution should you choose to move forward. There are various additional SproutSocial features that I didn’t mention but i’ll let you find out more about them on your own. Give it a try.
Raven Tools
If you’re looking for a web-based social media management tool that encompasses and utilizes full potential this may be your weapon of choice. It’s a bit of an advanced solution that’s commonly known to be used by agencies seeking integration with search engine optimization as well. White labeling features are available as well should you choose to utilize that option. To my knowledge there aren’t any mobile applications available for this social media solution. However you can check out all the Raven Tools features and judge for yourself if it’s a suitable option for your social media needs.
HootSuite
Many are familiar with this particular social media management tool by now due to its popularity. It’s a web-based social media solution that lets you manage your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare and other secondary social media platforms. Seamless Google Analytics integration will provide deeper insight into your activity while giving you an idea of success areas. Optional message scheduling makes it easy for steering of all your social media channels simultaneously. This particular social media management tool also offers great apps for major mobile devices so you take it on the go. Give HootSuite a spin for your social media needs.
TweetDeck
For those that are fans of the dashboard applications you will love the options and possibility that this nifty social media management tool has to offer. It bolts directly on the desktop of your Windows PC or Mac and can be toggled as you please. Like HootSuite there’s column viewing based on the individual streams that you choose to select from your favorite social networks. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, FourSquare and even MySpace, TweetDeck can handle the challenge. You can stay on top of all your social networks directly from the desktop of your computer. Personally I’ve been using TweetDeck as a social media management tool of choice for quite some time quite frankly due to its desktop flexibility. Although I must admit that there have been issues with its iPhone application which has failed me on numerous instances. Not sure if it’s just my device that’s having technical difficulties or in general the app has experienced loading problems on the device. TweetDeck is free to install and use. Take it for a spin.
These social media management tools are probably some of the most efficient and inexpensive ones that I’ve encountered thus far. I’ve used each one of the ones mentioned above at some point or another both personally and professionally. The race for building the most effective social media management tool is not over yet as many different companies are in the race for building one. Although if you’re looking for a social media marketing solution that offers intuitive all-around features give any of the ones above a try.