We all love social media, but sometimes there are just not enough hours in a day. Whether you blog full-time or work full-time, managing all of our channels and communicating with our followers can quickly take over our days. Today I'm sharing a few options for automating your social media posts.
A few things to note before we talk about automation...
- Always make sure to review your channels and respond to comments, questions, or the things others post on your wall. The key to social media success is engagement and interaction!
- As we talked about last week, try your best to NOT post the same content on every channel. Mix up your posts to keep your followers guessing what's coming next.
- Test, track, and analysis your posting to see when is the best time for YOU to post to your followers.
Now onto a few options:
- Buffer - bufferapp.com {Basic account is FREE}
- Basic service is free, upgraded account is $10.00 per month.
- Allows for scheduling of posts to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and App.net.
- According to their website, Google+ integration is coming soon! --> Updated! Google+ was JUST added today!!
- So easy to use; there are extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari making it super easy to snag and share blog posts and images you love as you're doing your daily reading.
- Provides basic analytics to help track engagement.
- The free services works for me, but if you are a contributor to multiple blogs or maintain many different Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn profiles the paid version would be worth it.
- Hootsuite - Hootsuite.com {Basic account is FREE}
- Manage up to 5 social media profiles for free, Go Pro for $8.99 per month for additional profiles and accounts.
- Allows for scheduling of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Foursquare, Wordpress, Mixi, and App Directory.
- Has an Auto Schedule feature to post at the optimal time for best exposure.
- Fairly easy to use, but the screen is a little more cluttered than Buffer.
- Facebook Scheduling {FREE}
- Facebook allows for scheduling of posts right on your page! You can pick any date and time!
- The scheduling option is within the normal update box, bottom left-hand corner (see below).
- Scheduled posts show in your Activity Log within your page for editing until they are posted.
- Viraltag (formally Pingraphy) - viraltag.com {30 day free trial, and then a monthly fee}
- Allows for scheduling of pins for Pinterest.
- 30 day free trial, after that option is $12 or $28 per month, depending on your plan.
- The $28/month plans does allow for up to 5 accounts; I've heard of bloggy friends joining forces and 'sharing' an account to cut down on the expense.
- I'd recommend trying the 30 day free trial and TEST, TRACKING, ANALYSIS your results. As a food blogger, Pinterest is a great tool for me and Viraltag might keep traffic coming your way while you are on vacation, working your day job, or juggling day to day tasks.
- Virtual Assistant {Fee can vary based on services provided.}
- Maybe software isn't your thing and you'd rather hire someone to help with your social media channels! This is happening more and more! My recommendation would be to reach out to your fellow blogger friends and your network to gauge offerings, compensation, and overall set up.
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