Save time on social media with these scheduling apps

Saving time is a high priority for many social media managers. It certainly is for me and my busy schedule.

One way to do it is to schedule social media updates in advance. I can maintain a steady drip of great content for my different audiences without spending my entire day chained to a screen.

(And I can still respond to questions, complaints and suggestions in a timely fashion with notifications.)

Here are three tools I use regularly, and usually daily …

1. Buffer [and a referral link]

• Cost: Free and paid accounts available
• Interface: Browser or free app
• Works with: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest
• What it does: Allows scheduling of updates across one or more social networks on a predetermined schedule
• Also: Some basic metrics (more for paying customers). No option for multiple corporate users.
• Wade says: One of my favorites. Easy to use. Very reliable.

2. Hootsuite

• Cost: Free and paid accounts available
• Interface: Browser or free app
• Works with: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and more
• What it does: Allows scheduling of updates across one or more social networks at any date/time
• Also: Some basic metrics (more for paying customers); multiple corporate users; bulk scheduling; live monitoring and interaction on social networks.
• Wade says: Powerful features. Best known among the social media tools. Very reliable.

3. SocialOomph

• Cost: Free and paid accounts available
• Interface: Browser only
• Works with: Twitter at the free level; Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn at the paid level
• What it does: Allows scheduling of updates across one or more social networks at any date/time
• Also: Some basic metrics (more for paying customers); multiple corporate users; bulk scheduling.
• Wade says: The best feature is the daily digest email with custom Twitter search terms: free market research compiled automatically. Ex.: all tweets mentioning #yallconnect or @yallconnect.

Each one is worth trying out to ensure it meets social media managers’ needs and goals. Let me know how your team manages social media in the comments.

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I’m putting together an ebook with more social media tools.
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