Do you find yourself spending too much time trying to manage your social media accounts?  There are now a number of online tools that can save you time each day in planning and scheduling your social media marketing campaigns.  These tools, all of which are free, have the added benefit of providing valuable analytics which will enable you to measure the success of your efforts.

Tools For Scheduling

 

One of the best new tools is Buffer, a website enabling you utilize Twitter to your greatest advantage by scheduling tweets in advance.  This makes it possible for you to avoid missing out on a chance to reach your audience even when you are busy with other things and are not able to update your tweets.  In addition to this scheduling tool, Buffer suggests the best times to tweet and offers analytics showing which of your tweets generated the most response.

 

Facebook users will benefit from scheduling tools offered by Roost, which allows them to quickly design and schedule a week-long marketing campaign pursuant to Roost’s structured recommendations.  Using Roost, all of this can be accomplished in less than one hour.  Utilizing Roost, you can engage your Facebook audience and receive analytics provided by Roost when the campaign is over.  Roost also provides a scorecard which analyzes data from your Facebook page to create a report showing your coverage and the distribution of your audience, as well as making suggestions for future marketing efforts.

 

Tools For Streamlining And Remote Updating

HootSuite is a popular social media dashboard that is already being used by many big-name companies.  This time-saving tool will allow you to post to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media accounts all at one time.  It is specialized for mobile devices as well as computers.  As with the tools mentioned above, HootSuite offers valuable analytics in the form of customizable reports to help you determine the success of your marketing campaigns.

 

 

If you are someone who is often on the go and away from the office, Ping.fm will make your life easier by allowing you to post updates to your social media accounts using a variety of methods, including phone apps, emails, and even text messages.  This practical tool enables you to send updates across social media platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogging sites.

 

Tools For Automating

 

For those businesses whose social media marketing efforts are primarily tied to their blogs, Twitterfeed will enable them to automate the process of sending new posts to their Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.  Twitterfeed also provides helpful analytics, allowing you to see your audience’s reaction to your posts in real time.

 

Guest Author: David Ching is the marketing director for EQA Office Furniture, which sells cubicles and office furniture and also offers free virtual 3D design services. Visit their website to view their selection of quality office cubicles.