5 Social Media Tools for Small Business You Need to Try
Social media has permeated the marketing world and it is here to stay. The amount of social media users is continually increasing and it is predicted that there will be 2.5 billion users worldwide by 2018. Based on that information alone, it is easy to understand why a business must have a social media presence in order to succeed. In fact, 92% of small business owners that market through social media say that it is important for their business. Many of you already know that social media is important and have already set up your social media profiles. If you haven’t created yours, you will want to do that immediately.
Creating a social media profile is relatively easy but managing it? That is something entirely different. Making social media work for you requires a lot of time and effort. However, there are many different tools out there that will make it easier to manage. While there are several types of software, we have compiled a list of 5 social media tools for small business that you will want to look at.
Google Analytics is a great software and it is completely free. If you have a website or a blog, chances are pretty high that Google Analytics is already installed. Not only is it free, but this software can tell you how many visitors you have on your website, how long they stay there, and where they are. This comes in handy for social media and can help you better target your posts to the right people. In addition, Google Analytics also creates a social media analytical report plus so much more. If you do not already use this software, you definitely should give it a try.
2. Canva
Canva is one of the best social media tools for small business because it allows you to create high quality images without expensive software. Because It is becoming more and more important to use visuals in social media, many turn to Canva to fill that need. Most small businesses do not have the resources to hire a designer merely for social media purposes but Canva offers numerous templates that allow anyone to look like a great designer. While Canva can not replace a professional designer, it does a good job at allowing anyone to create high-quality images for social media.
3. Brand24
Researching what people truly think about your brand can take a lot of valuable time. Brand24 is the tool to help with that. This software organizes and delivers information on what people are saying about you. An additional feature is that it can also monitor your competition. Using Brand24 helps you stay on top of all feedback and respond quickly and appropriately. Managing your feedback on social media correctly is one of the best ways to improve your online reputation.
4. Bit.ly
Who has not heard of Bit.ly? This fantastic software is most known for shortening long URLs. It was often used in Twitter (before Twitter created it’s own URL shortener) or just to make things look nice. But as a social media tool for small business, it has so much more potential. Bit.ly has the capacity to track your link’s performance and perform several other analytical functions. It is far more than just a URL shortener and worth a second look.
5. Buffer
As one of the social media tools for small business, Buffer definitely comes in handy. The basics of this software are that it allows you to easily share or post to almost all of your social media networks at once. This saves you valuable time because you do not have to log into each individual account to post the same thing. In addition, Buffer also allows you to schedule your posts early for social media. That saves even more time because you can schedule a week’s worth or so in an hour, rather than logging in every day for each individual post.
These 5 social media tools for small business (Google Analytics, Canva, Brand24, bit.ly, and Buffer) will be useful for you in managing your social media accounts. While this list certainly does not include all the social media tools out there, it is a good place to start. What other tools/ software do you use to manage your social media networks?
