Sharing content regularly on social media is critical for staying top of mind. Yet many businesses struggle to find the time to do daily social media posts.

While sharing timely posts live is important, pre-scheduling social media posts using social media management tools helps you save time.

Planning your posts also helps you to align your posts with upcoming promotions and topics on your marketing calendar.

Last but not least, planning and scheduling your posts ahead of time can give you peace of mind from the worry of “what should I post about today?”.

But with all the tools out there, how do you know what the right one is for your business?

Here’s some of our favourite social media management tools you’ll want to check out:

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a free tool with a Pro option that helps you track and manage your social media posts.

Not only does it allow you to manage what others are saying about your brand and enables you to interact with your social media accounts, but it also allows you to schedule posts on multiple social media channels.

Hootsuite also has the ability to curate content to help with your content marketing efforts as well as schedule posts in bulk. Their auto-scheduler will also suggest ideal times to post content, based on your followers’ online activities.

The free version let’s you manage up to three social media platforms. If you need to manage more, you can upgrade to the professional version for $9.99/month.

Buffer

Save time on social media with Buffer. This free app (with upgrade options) makes social media scheduling simple.

This tool makes it easy to share other people’s Tweets. Plus, you can spread your Tweets out throughout the day for greater visibility.

One feature that makes Buffer a great tool is its easy integration with other social media tools like Followerwonk (an analytics tools) and Feedly (a news aggregator).

Hubspot

HubSpot’s Social Publishing tool makes it easy to publish to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It also allows you to select a custom time to post your content.

It gives you custom tools to discover the best times to publish your content to reach the biggest audience. Their Social Inbox tool allows you to optimize your engagement strategy.

Postcron

Postcron is another social media scheduling tool that allows you to schedule posts to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram.

Costs start from $8.33 per month with unlimited posts, a bulk uploader, content recommendations and the ability to add your watermark to image posts.

Postcron also has the ability to re-use previously published material and can auto schedule posts based on when your users are prominently online.

Meet Edgar

Meet Edgar is more costly but behaves quite differently than the typical social media publishing tools described above.

Not only is it a scheduling tool, but using a content library concept, it also thinks on your behalf by re-purpsosing your own best content and re-distributes it over a period of time. Essentially, the automated queue of content could fill your social media stream with valuable content forever.

Social Media Content Tips

While pre-sheduling posts can save time, you also need to supplement that with on-the-fly posts about where you are, who you are meeting with, big insights, and breaking news.

Followers want to know they are getting the inside scoop and to-the-minute updates on what you are up to with your social media. It’s like a reward for being an active follower to know the big news first, before anyone else.

In addition to informational posts, social media graphics, and videos, it’s important to share regular calls to action. Always share an exciting way that followers can go deeper with you to experience your products and services.

Author's Bio: 

Susan Friesen is the founder of eVision Media, a boutique web development and Digital Marketing firm of over 15 years that specializes in designing, building and marketing professional, unique websites for entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations.

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