I’m a firm believer in not reinventing the wheel. Someone, somewhere has made something that can make your life easier. You just have to know where to look. This is definitely true when it comes to small business. Although I love social media, I don’t love spending a ton of time promoting my business when I should be running it. So here are some of my favorite apps and programs that make my business life a whole lot easier.
- Later. This is definitely my favorite program to use to post on Instagram and Facebook. It has a super easy to use interface that allows you to add a bunch of photos, plug them into a calendar, and write up captions for them. Plus there is a feature where you can see a preview of how they’ll look in your profile feed. It doesn’t auto post for you, so you’ll have to download an app that notifies you when it’s time to post. It’s super easy to use and doesn’t feel like a burden to post. It’s free for 30 posts a month.
- Planoly. This platform is strictly for Instagram and you have to pay to use it. It works just like Later does, but now has the capability to auto post for you (I have yet to check this feature out). Plus Planoly lets you respond to comments right in the browser. To me it’s the beefier version of Later and takes a bit more time getting used to and figuring out all the bells and whistles. Let me know in the comments if you want a more detailed walk through.
- Tweetdeck. If you’re on the twitter train, Tweetdeck is super easy to use and allows you to run multiple accounts and follow different hashtags all at the same time. It’s owned by Twitter and and allows you to schedule tweets ahead of time.
- Hootsuite. Hootsuite is a one stop shop for social media. It allows you to run a ton of social accounts in one place so you don’t need to have multiple programs for different platforms. You have to pay to use it, but you’re able to respond to comments and manage everything from one place. Definitely an option if you’ve stretched yourself a little to thin over a bunch of different accounts.
There are a ton of platforms and apps out there to help run social media smoother for your business, but these are the ones I’m most familiar with. If you’d like more specific walk-through’s on any of these platforms, leave a comment below and I’ll type up a more in-depth look.
