Every Social Media Manager Needs to Know About!
Best and Free are two exciting words to those who are new to the world of social media management. As a new small business owner, new social media freelancer or new agency owner you will have start up costs to your business.
In that case, every penny saved, counts.
Yet to do your job as a social media manager well and effectively, you need tools and tools cost money.
Or do they?
Two of the most FAQs in our Social Media Managers Facebook group include these:
‘What are the best social media management tools?’ and
‘Where can I find free social media management tools?’
In this article, we will give you our version of the 10 Best Free Social Media Management Tools every social media manager should have in their toolbox.
The Best Tools for Social Media Management
The old adage of ‘the best tool is the one you use’ comes into play when we discuss tools.
You could have a trunk full of expensive video equipment but if you need to take photographs, those tools are somewhat useless!
The same can be said for social media tools.
Take scheduling tools for example.
There really is no ‘best’ scheduling tool because each social media manager will have their own needs, solely based on their current clients, industries they work in, social media channels and their budget.
Therefore, the question ‘What are the best social media management tools?’ is answered by ‘The tools you use’.
Social Media Management Tasks
Here is a list of daily, weekly and monthly tasks social media managers perform. Many of these tasks can be simplified by using a tool.
Simplifying repetitive tasks saves time, and time is money.
Here are a few examples of repetitive tasks.
Daily tasks
- Create graphics
- Communicate with team
- Manage team
- Schedule content
- Publish posts
- Monitor social media accounts
- Email management
- Social listening
- Community management
- Curate content
Weekly Tasks
- Edit videos
- Blog writing
- Communicate with clients
- Facebook advertising
- Video calls
- Online learning
Monthly Tasks
- Invoicing
- Marketing
- Website updates
- Analytics
- Data reporting
- Strategic planning
- Updating social media profiles
- Email newsletter
You might have many more items on your task lists, and we get it! You need tools!
Free Social Media Management Tools
Let’s get to it.
Here are our Top 10 free social media management tools we think you’ll like!
1 Creator Studio by Facebook
Posting content on Facebook and Instagram now can be done on desktop, for free with a tool created by Facebook!
Introducing Creator Studio.
Is it the best tool for scheduling content? That’s debatable as social media managers are still reporting glitches.
Is it free? Yes! It’s free; no monthly fee, no paid plan.
While this is a fairly new product, we use Creator Studio for scheduling our posts, and we know many social media managers who’ve made the switch and are saving money!
2 LastPass
As soon as you have your first client, the need to keep track of password becomes evident.
Questions we are frequently asked include
- How can I keep my passwords safe?
- How can I safely store my client's passwords?
- How can my clients share their password with me without risk?
The easy and free solution we use is LastPass.
It’s available on desktop and mobile, as well a super convenient Chrome extension, and is seriously handy when you have the need to toggle between accounts at neck breaking speed.
3 MailChimp
Email lists. Newsletters. Funnels.
This free tool does it all!
We are talking about MailChimp.
The tool is easy to use and free for up to 2000 email addresses. For a social media manager who is just starting out, or working with a small business with a limited budget, this is a great tool to use to build lists.
4 Slack
Team communication!
Whether you need team communication as part of an agency, or need a communication tool for your own clients, Slack takes the (free) cake!
Files can be shared. New channels can be created to keep things organized. Slack calls can be made and Slack can be accessed both on desktop as well as mobile.
Check it out to keep track of all your communication!
5 Bit.ly
Oh, those ugly old URLs.
Never again.
When you need to re-share a Facebook post, and want to hide the ugly long URL, or you have a need to track your social shares, bit.ly does the job well. We particularly like the ability to customize the shortened link to reflect a word or action!
6 Wave.video
The folks at Wave.video have a great product for social media managers. Their free plans allows for creating simple videos to attract more eyeballs on your clients' social posts. Simple, easy to use, free. Give it a whirl.
7 Boomerang for Gmail
Being able to work at all times of the day and night – you chose to work when it's most convenient for you – and being able to work from anywhere in the world means you might work across timezones. If that's you, check out Boomerang for Gmail!
Boomerang gives you the ability to schedule your emails! Imagine the possibilities!
- Create and send all invoices once per month, but schedule them to be send on different days.
- Work at 1 AM, but send the follow up emails to arrive at 7 AM.
- Schedule recurring emails (holiday event reminders, appointment confirmation etc)
8 Answer The Public
Need inspiration for content creation? Try Answer the Public. Throw out a keyword or industry term, and see what people are searching for online. Use these questions to create content to answer the public!
9 Canva
If graphics aren't your thing, try Canva. Canva will make creating graphics fun and (mostly) stress-free!
Canva will turn just about any new social media manager into a content creating machine. The cool part about Canva is that they have a large library of how-to videos as well as a seemingly endless supply of templates to use.
The free version is adequate when first starting out!
10 Headline Analyzer
For those who blog, this is an awesome tool for that extra bit if SEO juice.
Headline Analyzer by CoSchedule allows you to refine your headline idea into a workable and SEO friendly headline!
BONUS Feedly
If curating content is part of your social media strategy, you will need an RSS feed aggregator. Try Feedly!
Feedly allows your to group publications to follow. May we suggest you group them by industry or client, for easy access to the latest published articles? Feedly integrates with several chrome extensions, including those form Buffer, Hootsuite, Twitter, LinkedIn and WordPress making sharing right from the Feed.ly feed on desktop so very easy!
What Free Social Media Management Tools Do you Use?
We'd love to know if you are using additional free tools not mentioned above for social media management! We'd love to be able to share these tools with our readers. Please leave a comment and link to the tool! We'll review and write a follow up article! Sharing the love!
I am a Certified Social Media Manager, Strategist, International Keynote Speaker, Organic Specialist and Agile marketer! Blogging is my creative outlet. Running, hiking and skiing are how I recharge. You'll recognize me on stage and online by my always present orange glasses, a nod to my Dutch heritage.
