Social media can be a goldmine for marketers looking to reach a broad target audience. According to We Are Social, there are 2.8 billion global social media users, ultimately amounting to 37 percent market penetration. For social media managers who work for small businesses, social marketing is the way to go.
It is vital for companies who want to reach new audiences and have a robust marketing strategy. MarketingSherpa found that adults aged 18 and 34 are most likely to follow a brand via social networking.
All companies have an opportunity to increase their social media presence, but first, they need to have the right tools to manage social media projects and tasks. Below are the five of the top project management tools for social media managers.
Buffer – Great for Starting Out
Buffer helps social media managers get their social marketing on track. The software allows for automatic post scheduling, scheduling among multiple social platforms, and various types of analytics so managers can see which content is resonating with customers.
Buffer helps managers by taking away the worries of manual daily posting by providing easy post scheduling. This tool enables managers to put most of the focus on content.
Also read: Buffer vs. Hootsuite
Asana – Manage Tasks
Now, who on the social team will be responsible for finding content, scheduling it daily, and producing analytics reports? This is where Asana comes in. This program is an online team collaboration tool that allows managers to regulate workflow management and task assignments.
Managers can assign tasks and related sub-duties to team members and include information and documents workers need to accomplish it. Asana is a one-stop shop productivity tool.
Deskaway – Asana with a bit more customization
While Asana is pretty comfortable to jump onto, Deskaway is a little more nuanced, but its customizations may be what social media marketers are looking for.
Deskaway is an online collaboration tool made with small businesses in mind. The features are custom-made, and users can even increase their tool usage depending on what features they’re looking for. Managers can not only assign tasks, but they can also monitor time spent on projects, timelines, and how employees are progressing throughout the day.
Coschedule – A dynamic editorial and social media calendar
Coschedule shines as an interactive social media calendar. This program does the usual: scheduling social media posts, tracking analytics, and facilitating collaboration. However, users can also use a calendar view to schedule (via drag and drop) and plan both social media and blog posts.
Coschedule allows marketing managers to plan out their whole social media project schedule on a master calendar that other team members can view. The program also has integrations with WordPress.
Sprout Social – Turn social media success into real business value
Sprout Social is for savvy social media marketers who are ready to use the results of social media activity to create tangible ROIs.
Sprout Social lets social media marketers track their brands, manage content, schedule posts, and produce reports from analytics. Marketers can look forward to having all their business’ social analytics stored in one place, and they also can re-post content that performed well from the platform.
Bonus Tool: nTask – Task management plus other organizational tools
nTask is a free tool for individuals and teams looking for a visual, easy-yet-informative way to keep track of tasks, projects, timesheets, and more. It offers 7 modules built natively inside the tool that take care of important functions such as task management, project planning and reporting, meetings, risk management, bug and issue tracking and more.
It is easy for social media marketing managers to become overwhelmed, especially if they are working with a smaller team for a small business. However, with the right tools and project management strategies, marketers can hope to turn a social media presence into increased conversions.
About the Author
Chanell Alexander currently resides in Atlanta, GA. When she’s not traveling and trying new restaurants in the Metro Atlanta area, she writes about the latest technology and tools for TrustRadius.
