The Best Social Media Marketing Tools That Every Blogger Needs

It seems like a blogger’s work is never done. You write your post, edit, create graphics, insert screenshots and examples, promote your posts, engage with followers, and then rinse and repeat. So to say that we need a few tools in order to make things even the slightest bit easier for us is quite the understatement. And since social media is such a prevalent marketing avenue for those of us in the online blogosphere, I’m sharing with you my top eight favorite social media marketing tools for bloggers.

1. Buffer

Buffer is a social media scheduling app and I seriously cannot sing enough praises for it. I have said this time and time again. There are a number of reasons that I choose Buffer as my personal scheduling app:

• Interface: I have used other scheduling apps before and the interface isn’t nearly as pretty or user-friendly as Buffer’s is.
• Analytics: I love the analytics in Buffer–you’re able to see how many clicks, retweets, shares, etc., that each of your posts got. It shows you your top posts of the week and even emails you a weekly summary comparing this week’s posts to the previous week.
• Bookmarklet: This is probably my favorite part. If I’m reading an article that I want to share (even on my phone or tablet), I can add it to my Buffer queue directly from the article. I have a browser bookmarklet on my computer and can add the app to my preferred sharing tools on my mobile devices.
• Scheduling: One thing that is extremely time-consuming with Hootsuite is having to individually schedule each one of your outgoing posts. Buffer allows you to create a preset schedule so that each time you want to schedule an article, you only have to add them to your queue and they automatically go out at their specified time.
• Pricing: They have both free and paid options

2. CoSchedule

This is probably one of the coolest scheduling apps because its interface is a freaking calendar. Um, genius? Yes, I think so. And it has multiple uses. You can use this plugin to view the posts you have published for the month, posts that are in the works, and the posts that you have planned. Not only that, but you can also share your blog posts to your social media right from the CoSchedule plugin! AND (this is my favorite part) it can be integrated with Buffer to up the social sharing ante even more.

3. Click to Tweet

One great way to encourage social shares in your blog posts is to include a one-click, pre-made tweet for your readers. CoSchedule has a really great FREE Click to Tweet WordPress Plugin that allows you to insert said pre-made tweets right into your blog post! Here is a sample, go ahead and try it out!

Want to know the 8 best social media tools that every blogger needs? Here you go:
Click To Tweet

4. TweetDeck

Are you a Twitter chatter? If not, then you need to be. Check out this fantastic calendar for Twitter chats for creatives. (or join my favorite chat, #createlounge, every Wednesday at 7PM CST!) If so, then you know how incredibly fast those things move. TweetDeck is my absolute favorite way to keep up with the craziness.

Simply login with your Twitter handle and then create a separate column for: your notifications (so that you can see when someone replies to your tweets or directs a question/comment to you), the Twitter chat’s hashtag (so that you can see all of the tweets for the chat), and the host(s) of the chat (so that you never miss a question). I participate in Twitter chats once or twice a week and have found that this is the best way for me to not miss any of the action!

5. OnePress Social Locker

I personally have never used this plugin, but I think it’s a fantastic idea and I keep it on standby. This free WordPress plugin allows you to lock certain content until a reader shares it on social media. This guarantees a social share for each person who wants to read your post.

6. HelloBar

This is an awesome app to include on your blog and it has several different uses. I started a new Facebook Page when I rebranded my blog (one, because I couldn’t change the name of my old Facebook page and two, because I plan to do a case study of how I gained likes and exposure to my page), so I use the HelloBar social converter to add a box in the lower righthand corner of my blog that allows readers to easily like my Facebook page. It’s done really well so far, so I highly recommend it.

However, you can also use HelloBar to drive traffic to another page of your site or to gather email addresses for your e-newsletter. They also have both free and paid options.

7. Topsy

This tool is amazing for so many things:

• Searching for relevant content to curate.
• Searching for social media analytics on specific users, hashtags and keywords.
• Checking out current trends on social media.

It’s seriously an all-in-one for any kind of social media information you could possibly look for. Search for a topic that you’re interested in finding good articles to share on your own social networks. Check out your own replies or the replies of fellow bloggers in your niche. And see what’s currently trending that you could play off of by writing your own blog post or social media post.

8. Google Docs

This is one of my favorite ways to create my social media editorial calendar. I create a document, add a table with seven columns (one for each day of the week), then I put all of my statuses, links, and images inside of the table before scheduling them all out. This makes it easy for me to visually see what content I have planned all at once. And you can use it fo’ free.

Haven’t started blogging yet or in a rut? Check out Ciera’s new e-book, Blogging With Intention and How to Give Your Readers Exactly What They Need.

Do you have any favorite tools that we missed here?

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