Social Media Marketing Tools: Top Ten Tips, Tools, & To-dos for Social Media

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There’s nothing better than free, is there? Well, actually there is: free tools for free marketing on social media. Here’s our updated list of the best free tips, tools, and to-dos for social media marketing 2023. Pro-tip sign up for my free dashboard and free Marketing Almanac for the complete list of incredible tools!

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Tools

  1. CrowdTangle. This amazing plug in for Chrome / Edge, allows you to take a post and see its engagement, especially on Facebook. Another fantastic tool, admittedly “paid” is Buzzsumo. For example, browse popular content on the New York Times and see its Facebook interactions via CrowdTangle.
  2. Start.me. Content marketing means tracking a lot of content, content themes, and tools. Use a platform like Start.me to build a “dashboard” for you and yoru team. In addition, use tools like ChatGPT and other emerging AI tools to help generate “first drafts” of blog posts, tweets, and video summaries.  Pro-tip: bookmark important hashtags and keyword searches across platforms, so you can quickly and easily participate in “interactive” content.
  3. LinkedIn. As the #1 B2B / business-to-business platform, LinkedIn can seem, well, a little boring. But a few tricks such as bookmarking LinkedIn hashtags like #smallbusiness, and using filtered searches like “small business” posts,  can help you quickly follow your prospects and interact with them. Pro-tip: test your LinkedIn prowess by viewing your social selling score. Pro-tip: use a Google search such as site:linkedin.com/pulse “small business” past year to see “articles” posted to LinkedIn on that topic. Pro-tip: do this on other platforms like Twitter, and use Start.me to bookmark these searches.
  4. Make a Meme. Who doesn’t like funny memes? Use a tool like Make a Meme, Remix by Buffer,  or Pablo by Buffer to quickly and easily add text to images.
  5. Answer the Public. What do your target customers talk about “online?” What are the best “themes” for your content marketing on social media? One way to discuss this – ironically – is via search. What people “search for” has a strong relationship with what they talk about online. Use a tool like “Answer the Public” to input some seed keywords or themes, and brainstorm ideas for blog posts, short form video, long form video as well. Pro tip: use Instagram hashtags and YouTube search suggestions for more ideas on how to identify your keyword themes for social media.
  6. Feedly. You need a lot of content to succeed at social media marketing – your own content, other people’s or curated content, UGC content, and interactive content. Focusing just on “curated content,” tools like Feedly or Google News can help you keep up-to-date with content themes that engage your audience. Pro tip: use tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, or Later to schedule your posts of “curated content” across time, and position your brand as a “helpful expert.”The Marketing Almanac
  7. RiteTag. Hashtags are common on Twitter, TikTok, and even LinkedIn. Hashtags help users (and social media algorithms) identify and find relevant content. Pro Tip: create a list of common hashtags relevant to your content themes and use them in your posts. Use tools like RiteTag, TagDef, Hashtags.org, and Hashtagify.me for hashtag research, but don’t forget just plain ole Twitter and Instagram hashtag searching!
  8. VidIQ. Video is the future of content across social media platforms, so you gotta get good at video.  Tools like VidIQ and TubeBuddy help you analyze what’s working and what’s not across YouTube. Pro-tip. Become adept at researching keywords / themes on YouTube, and using YouTube advanced search to filter in what has high video counts, as well as engagement (thumbs up / comments).
  9. TikTok. If you’re not on TikTok, get on it. It’s recommendation engine / AI, has revolutionized the industry and created copycats such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Use a tool like Snaptik to download your TikToks, remove the watermark, and post them to Reels or YouTube Shorts.
  10. Social Media Examiner. Keep up-to-date with the latest industry trends by following the Social Media Examiner, not to mention their yearly trade conference, Social Media Marketing World. Pro-tip – also follow SocialMediaToday, which produces a fantastic blog (and add both to your Feedly!). Pro-tip follow the “Creator” channels on platforms like YouTube or TikTok for “insider tips” on how to create better content.