Social media mangers right now are being asked to wear a lot of hats - especially when working for a small business or nonprofit! SMMs must copywrite, manage social interactions, analyze and interpret data - oh, and they're often asked to assist with graphic design and digital marketing strategy in a myriad of ways that extend beyond social media itself.
So how can they do it? One word: TOOLS.
And there are three basic tools that each social media manager needs to thrive:
Post Scheduler
My Top Choice: In-Platform Planning Tools
In the past, the only way to schedule posts to publish at a later time was through third party multi-platform tools like Hootsuite, Hubspot, or Sprout Social, each of which have their strengths and weaknesses with usability, cost, and reliability.
However, recently pretty much all platforms offer ways for you to schedule your posts ahead of time through their specific posting tool. Even X (formerly Twitter) has made that switch! It's a game changer for organizations with small budgets and more time than money.
The only in-platform planning tool that really just doesn't exist at any level of satisfaction is an Instagram grid planner, which I have found Later to be the best fit for small budgets. Its free version lets you upload planned posts, drag the images around to get it right, and even lets you integrate directly to Instagram to publish if you'd like.
If you're managing 3-4+ platforms at once, a multi-platform scheduling tool is a wonderful time saver. But even if your organization doesn't want to spring for a third party software, most in-platform posting tools make it pretty simple to schedule things ahead of time nowadays!
Graphic Design Software
My Top Choice: CanvaPro
Most social media managers have one of three problems when it comes to graphic design: 1) they don't have a team handling it for them, 2) they have very little experience doing it themselves and must learn on the fly, and/or 3) the cost for most graphic design tools may be prohibitive for their organization.
Enter Canva! It's a wonderful starting tool for social media managers and budding graphic design aspirers who want to dip their toes into the world of graphic design with user-friendly tools, low costs, and tons of easily customizable templates. I made the switch to CanvaPro early on and have never looked back! Stock photography, design sharing, and so much more make it worth every penny in a stretched budget.
Other tools do exist, but I find Canva is the sweet spot for both low cost and maximum usability, especially with very little previous design experience.
Analytics Tools
My Top Choice: Microsoft Excel / Google Sheets
Why should data analysis be such a big deal in socials management? Because it's the only way you can gauge ROI and whether your audience is seeing and caring about the content you are working so hard to put out.
Each social media platform will provide you with at least some level of data and analytics for your page's performance, but it's helpful to get all that data from the various platforms into one place to see how everything is working cohesively together.
If your organization has a big budget and wants a tool with comprehensive social reporting capabilities, you can look into things like HubSpot or Sprout Social, but for smaller marketing teams, good old fashioned Excel or Sheets charts work just as well, though of course more labor intensive.
Each platform will let you download your performance data in formats that are easily integrated with Google Suite or Microsoft Office, so analyzing that data is just a matter of sifting through the noise, deciding on the most relevant metrics, and then telling a compelling story with the insights you glean.
So there you have it. With these three tools in their pocket, SMMs can tackle any basic socials management task that comes their way!