10 Tools for Social Media Managers I Can’t Live Without

Social media managers are extremely busy people. We may juggle multiple clients, brands, and social media platforms simultaneously. So, we need helpful tools to make our jobs easier and more streamlined. Here are the essential types of tools for social media managers, covering the key areas of strategy and planning, content execution, reporting, and the day-to-day management of admin.

Scheduling and publishing tool

First and foremost, every social media manager needs a reliable scheduler. If you’ve done a load of content batching (especially for multiple types of platforms and clients), it’s beneficial to schedule it all in advance using one system. While you may opt to schedule natively on the platform itself, a few schedulers I currently recommend are Later, Hootsuite, Metricool, Sprout Social, and SocialPilot.

Hashtag And Keyword Research

An essential part of social media strategy is hashtag and keyword research. These allow you to find trends in your industry, discover what keywords your customers are using, and which ones to use in your social media content to increase your visibility. The good news is, you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for helpful tools! I like to use Google Trends, Answer The Public, and DisplayPurposes.

Content Creation

Content creation is the heart of all great social media marketing and usually a social media manager’s biggest task. It’s a huge beast, so there’s a plethora of content tools available. I could dedicate a whole blog post just to this! But in the interest of time, here are some of my favourite content creation tools: Canva, CapCut, ChatGPT, Unsplash, and Dupe.

Content Curation

Let’s not forget about content curation. It’s important to keep an eye on relevant trending news, niche stories, and shareable content ideas that we can share on a brand’s social media. Tools like Feedly, Pocket, Curata, BuzzSumo can help out with this.

Viral Content Research Tool

If you want to find out what kind of content is performing well and going viral on other related accounts, you need a tool! My favourite one is ViralFindr. It’s a great way to research your next top-performing post (just remember to get inspiration from it, not copy it!).

Social Listening Tool

Something that can be forgotten about – social listening. This is where a social media manager keeps tabs on mentions, sentiment, and feedback from customers across the internet. Mention, Sprout Social, BuzzSumo are super handy for this.

Project Management And Content Planning

In my humble opinion, keeping your business organized is just as important as doing the work! Every good social media manager needs a project management tool to stay organized and on track with content calendars. Trello, Asana, and Notion are top contenders.

File Management

Speaking of organisation, you need a tool to store and share assets with your clients. Google Drive and Dropbox always do the trick for me.

Analytics and Reporting

Reporting can be a finicky and time-consuming task, so it’s great to make it easier using a reporting tool. Sprout Social, Google Analytics, Iconosquare, and even insights native to the social media platform are all great ways to monitor the numbers and report back to clients.

Video Editor

Videos (long and short form) are some of the most important types of content in a social media manager’s toolkit. Thankfully, there are numerous apps that make it easier to edit from our phones on the fly, like CapCut, Instagram’s Edits app, and InShot.

These the most essential types of tools for social media managers. If you have any other recommendations that you can’t live without, let me know!