This month Social U is putting a focus on things that we love in relation to valentine’s Day. This week’s focus is strictly on resources we love. We will save apps we love for a later date. Each resource discussed will have its reason why we, as social media managers, love it. 

 

Social Media Examiner

 

The first resource we love is Social Media Examiner. This is our number one resource out of every resource we will discuss. Social Media Examiner is the perfect place to find everything you need to know about social media. We use this resource for training, podcasts, and youtube. It is free, and it will tell you almost anything you want to know about social media. 

 

Answer The Public

 

Answer The Public is a well-kept secret that many people do not know about. It is an extremely useful resource for any business. Although you can only use this resource one time a day, it provides plenty of information to help your business each day. All you need to do is type one to three keywords and it will generate questions that people are asking about the topic. It will generate a PDF or Excel document that tells you what people want to know about your business. It is a necessity when generating content because it helps you inform your audience on topics they want to know about. You can use the questions as topics for blog posts, videos, or even social media posts. 

 

Buffer and Hubspot

 

Buffer and Hubspot are software programs that promote inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is content marketing meaning that it attracts clients by creating content designed for them. Outbound marketing is when you interrupt a client’s day to show material, but when you do this the client is much less likely to close. Inbound marketing has a much higher overturn and closing rate. Buffer and Hubspot both help businesses with analytics, scheduling, and content creation. So, what is the difference between the two apps? Buffer is the cheaper option out of the two resources. Although Buffer is cheaper, Hubspot has more features and capabilities. 

 

Hootsuite

 

Hootsweet is an incredible resource that most businesses can use for free. Some of its best features include a great blog, a scheduling tool, and a function that allows you to see your information in a dashboard setting. You can use three different platforms for free on Hootsuite, and it will even show you your social media messages and mentions. Hootsuite also offers helpful analytics for your business. The only downfall to Hootsuite is that it often shuts down for no reason, but it is a great resource if you periodically check its connection. 

 

Google Analytics

 

Google Analytics is the best analytics resource for your website. Not only does it inform you where your business is coming from, but it also tells you how they found your information. It also tells you how much time people spend on each page of your website. If your viewers are bouncing between pages too quickly, you know your website needs to be changed. 

 

Grammarly

 

Have you ever looked at someone’s caption on social media and seen far too many grammar mistakes? It happens too often, and Grammarly is an easy way to fix this problem. Grammarly is a free tool that can fix spelling, punctuation, and even sentence structure. Although the paid version is great, most people benefit enough from the free version. 

 

Hashtags 

Hashtags are a massive social media resource that many people overlook. They are extremely important on Instagram and Twitter but can be used on almost any platform. Businesses must take the time to find hashtags valuable to their business. Hashtags should be relevant and specific to you. 

 

Google My Business

 

Google My Business is a free Google resource that can help move your business up on the search page. If you want your business to be found more easily, Google My Business might be a resource for you to look into. Monitor your account, verify your information, and watch your business move up. 

 

Canva 

Canva is a resource that can help you build absolutely anything. Do you need a logo, graphics, videos, and more? Canva is the perfect place to look. If you have used Canva in the past but don’t anymore, you should give it a second chance. Canva has recently added many incredible features and they continue to add five to six new features each month. Canva is one resource that we recommend purchasing the pro version. Although the free version works well, the pro version allows you to use videos, create a brand kit, use a background remover, and use many more images and fonts. 

 

Mail Chimp

 

Mailchimp is another important resource that we love at Social U. Email is one of the best tools available and can grow your business rapidly. Studies show that for each email a business sends they will make $1. This means if you send 300 emails each month you could make $300. The opportunities with email are endless. Mailchimp is a free resource that can hold up to 2,000 emails. It is also great for creating templates. Mailchimp is easy to use and has a great customer service team

 

Youtube

You can learn anything from youtube. Seriously, anything. Although you can and should use youtube as a platform, it is also a great resource. Ted talks, teachable, and skillshare are all fantastic resources that can be found on youtube. Although it is a simple resource, it is incredibly effective. 

 

Asana

 

Asana is a free project management resource that is great for organizing your projects. In Asana, you can have multiple people working on the same board. You can also organize social media posts. It allows you to put in graphics, captions, and make comments about your work. It is easy to allow others to pre-approve posts in asana. 

 

Zoom and StreamYard

 

During the pandemic, it is important to have options for those who are cautious about being face-to-face with others. Zoom and StreamYard are both resources to help you with video media. StreamYard is great for live videos and interviews while Zoom is best used for virtual meetings. In StreamYard you can display comments and other information on the screen. You can also stream live to multiple platforms if you use StreamYard. StreamYard is free, but it comes with branding so it is worth the paid subscription. Zoom is great because it is easy to use, can be recorded, there is a screen share function, and you can add co-hosts. 

 

Quickbooks

 

Quickbooks is a great resource to help you keep up with the financial aspect of your business. It makes payments easy and convenient. Clients can pay with just the click of a button. It is also useful because you can see if customers have seen your invoice. 

 

Maximize Your Resources

Don’t let useful resources that can save you time and money go unused. There are many resources we love at Social U that can help your business run more efficiently. It is well worth your time to check them out.