Marketing has seen a massive change over the last few years and this has led to changes in managing social media channels. If you are a dietitian business owner and need a way to save time and create amazing content, use a social media automation tool.
These tools allow you to
– Create content on multiple social media platforms at one time
– Publish content on multiple social media platforms at one time
– Organise and edit your social media schedules
I know first hand how hard it is to try to work out what it is your going to post on the fly, particularly when there is no inspiration flowing. By now though, you should have a copy (LINK) of our content calendar (sometimes simple is best right?).
So now you are in the groove and you have a solid plan in place and are creating some content you are proud of but it’s taking up a lot of time and sometimes you actually need to be seeing clients right so you are thinking if you schedule your social media, the set and forget method might work a bit more in your favour?
So if you are tired of manually scheduling and editing social media posts for each the channel, use a social media automation tool. Here is a list of the top 5 social media automation tools to use in 2023.
1. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is one of the best social media automation tools out there. This platform has been around for many years, initially launched in 2008 and was the preferred platform that I used for a previous business of mine. It allows you to upload bulk posts and schedule them all at once and more recently it moved to an auto post feature but you do need a business account or a third party scheduler to auto post. If you have a creator account for Instagram, it won’t allow the auto post feature. It does however allow you to create social sweepstakes or contests on social media. Hootsuite allows you to schedule and post content on all social media platforms, for example, Facebook, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, WordPress and Twitter. The tool allows you to monitor and analyse the social media channels you use. This is important as you can see real-time results and therefore optimize your content. For example, Hootsuite can find out when is the best time to post your content and therefore maximize reach. One of the things I like about Hootsuite is it allows you to send messages back and comments on your social media all through it’s own program/dashboard and it has an inbuilt analytics to view.
Hootsuite used to be free but just like everything else, now has a pricetag. See this page for more details: https://hootsuite.com/
2. Buffer
Another great tool for social media automation is Buffer. Buffer allows you to schedule your posts across several different social media platforms without the need to publish at the time of posting. With its user-friendly design and analytics, social media scheduling will be quick and easy. The tool also suggests the best time to posts and provide monthly social media reports. Plans start at $15/mth (USD).
To find more about Buffer, click this link – https://buffer.com/
3. Coschedule
The Coschedule Editorial Calendar is perfect for solopreneurs- yes all of you in private practice by yourseslves and it not only allows you to schedule your social media, but integrates your blog in there as well. The inbuilt ReQueue function also magically reshares any of your original posts that have previously performed well based on past engagement. It takes the hard work out of things for you when it automatically republishes your top posts. With its intuitive design, you can schedule 40 social media posts and receive monthly reports on their success. Coschedule is a great tool as it allows you to collaborate with your team to make your content and also provide amazing customer service whilst also integrating into Integrate Google Docs, Google Calendar, Evernote, Bit.ly, and your other favorites with Zapier. Whilst CoScheudle has a reputation for being quite expensive, this Editorial Calendar option is a great entry level option starting at $20/month (USD).
If you are looking for a social media automation tool that is cost-effective and user-friendly, find out more here https://coschedule.com/
4. Later
If you are a one a day posting kinda person, Later is your app. It provides 30 free single photo and video posts to Instagram, no push notifications required. It’s a simple drag and drop program which also allows you to preview your Instagram feed so you can see what it will look like when published. Later also has the ability to schedule across Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Linked In, Tik Tok & Twitter. If there is more than one person working on your socials, you can also share your calendar with other people so that everyone is working on the same thing (a great feature for those who are thinking about hiring an intern/student/mentee to help out with some social media work).
For details on current plans and pricing check out the website here: https://later.com/pricing/ meanwhile I’m thinking about the months of the year that have 31 days in them……
8. Meta Business Suite
Meta Business Suite is the social media management tool designed for Facebook and Instagram. You can do things such as scheduling in posts and stories, responding to posts and other engagement, whilst also using their analytics feature and running paid ads. It’s a great all in one platform that makes using Facebook and Instagram easily, accessible and helps you to automate posting in your nutrition business. I particularly like the analytics feature in terms of helping you to tweak your strategy based on the feedback from your statistics so you can constantly be upping your social media game and the ROI you are getting from it.
It’s also free……
If the tool you’ve been thinking about using isn’t included in this list, we have a more comprehensive pro’s and con’s list within this resource Scheduling Tool Fact Sheet, produced by our very own social media educator, Stacey Cranitch from The Social Hub.
If you are struggling to manage your marketing, these social media automation tools are a great way to save time. If you are a social media manager or running your own small business or a solopreneur, social media automation tools will help you greatly. If you want help with your social media or anything related to marketing, I encourage you to drop your questions below or send us a DM and we’ll answer them on Instagram stories. Speaking of, our next blog post will be all about how to schedule Instagram Stories. Until then, have an awesome week.
