Social media marketing can be a daunting task.
Especially when you’re starting off.
At face value it looks easy, but it’s not until you’re in the thick of it when you realize all the teeny tiny details that make a difference require an investment in the form of time and energy. It can overwhelm you, leave you feeling out of your depth because these tasks require different skill sets and disciplines.
Here’s a few tools that will ensure that you don’t get bogged down by the minutiae when growing your social media presence:
1. Buffer & Hootsuite
Over the last month, we have assessed the social media profiles of various small and medium sized companies. The most recurring problem the respondents have reported is that they find it hard to carve out the time daily to post on social media.
They feel that on top of doing their regular duties, growing their companies, meeting their targets, being parents, keeping their homes in order… they just don’t have enough time left in their day to craft good content for their social media. At least not regularly. Once in a while they’ll post up something well thought out, but on the most part it’s a quick update posted on irregular intervals.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Facebook has a feature that allows the admins of a page to schedule their posts. Buffer and Hootsuite enable someone to bring all their social media accounts on one dashboard and schedule their posts for later times. Just using one of the two apps reduces your workload by half.
The solution is quite simple. Instead of adding to your daily duties, I suggest you allot some time weekly – an hour or two – to plan out your posts for the week and queue them. Regular posting will increase your brand visibility, and the social media algorithms love users who feed them.
2. Canva
Canva is a graphic design software that is an alternative to using stock photos. It’s a free tool that allows you to create designs and presentations with a strong visual impact. This tool contains dozens of social media marketing templates for making all sorts of designs that you may need: from posters, Twitter headers, website headers, Ad creative, blog images, YouTube thumbnails, all the way to business cards and fliers.
The best part of it is that despite deploying some pretty sophisticated functions, it still remains an obviously easy app to use. The interface is simple, and everything works the way you expect it to. You can edit a photo, edit the layout, add clip art, play around with text… it’s quite easy to use, and a lot cheaper than Photoshop. If you want to create conspicuous images that communicate, Canva will get the job done.
3. Fiverr & Upwork
Say you need a logo for your website. Or you need to edit a video clip to use for your Facebook ad.
But you don’t know the first thing about video editing. And the only logo you ever designed was your signature.
The good news is you can tap into a vast database of freelancers through these two websites. You can reach professionals from all sorts of disciplines: copywriting, survey design, email marketing, web design, virtual assistants, ad managers, accountants, you name it! All starting from $5 in the case of Fiverr. And you pay once you’re pleased by the work done. Both platforms have got protection features for their users, mediation and friendly customer service to handle any issues that may arise.
By outsourcing certain tasks, these two toolswill help free up your time, allowing you to focus on working on your business instead of just working for it.
4. MicroWorkers.com
Oh, this one’s a gem. And grossly under-priced. The workaround to most online marketing challenges.
What’s the simplest way to get real people to upvote you on Reddit/YouTube or to share your Facebook post? Why, pay them, of course.
MicroWorkers enables you to find people to do micro tasks for you on the internet, and it gives you control over the quality of the work done. You can assign people from specific countries only or exclude specific countries or regions. It allows you to collect proof of work before you approve payments to your workers. You post the task that you want done, select the number of workers you need, and set your budget.
And did I mention how cheap it is? One-click tasks like upvotes cost $0.09 per user. Retweets and Facebook shares start from $0.23. Every order has a minimum of 30 workers, and you can even set standards for eligibility such as the minimum number of followers required to do the task. $7 seems pretty cheap to boost your reach by 30x, don’t you think?
And it’s not just for social media. The site has powerful features that you can use for building backlinks, testing an app or service, generating traffic, and many other tools to cement your place on the internet.
5. Telegram Messenger
For most people, Telegram is just another messaging service like WhatsApp but with cloud-based storage for your messages.
But we know better.
The most attractive feature of the app is its channels. Channels work a bit like WhatsApp groups, except only the admin can create content, and other than viewing content, the subscribers do not contribute anything, except maybe take part in the polls that admins may post. It’s really that simple. The beauty of it is that if your channel has interesting content, getting subscribers shouldn’t be hard. And good Telegram channels do blow up rather quickly. With such a personal connection with your audience, Telegram can help your business grow in bounds, as long as you keep on producing high quality content. Here’s a few of my favourite channels: t.me/googlefactss , t.me/bestmemes, t.me/WallpapersGram, t.me/WorldWideHipHop.
The other BIG thing that Telegram brings on board is engagement groups. Did you ever have one of those Instagram groups whose main purpose is to engage with each other’s posts? Engagement groups are like that on steroids. Instead of buying likes or followers, users use them to find real people who will engage with their content. The concept is simple: users post links to their Instagram posts, and other users engage with their IG posts.Every group has rules. For example, if you’re in a “dx20 L+C” group, then you have to like and comment on the last 20 posts in the group, before you can post a link to your Instagram post. Most of these groups are managed by bots (Telegram’s a jungle), and if you fail to give the required engagement you are penalized. Here’s a few groups so you can see how it works: t.me/Boostchatinfluencers, t.me/d8boost, t.me/BoostGramDx30
One thing I’ve noted is that the guys at Telegram have been working hard at this app, bringing in new features and pushing the limits with each new update. They’re regularly bringing in new exciting features, not just fancy social media tricks, but features that are useful for other aspects of your business such as reporting and receiving payments.
6. Jarvee & Everliker
So, you’ve been reading our articles and have decided to start an Instagram account for your business. You’ve consistently posted content with a high VRIN score, but your notifications are as dry as the Sahara. You’ve asked your friends to shout out your new account, but you’re not getting your ideal kind of followers. You could buy followers, but we all know that doesn’t work…
Here’s a simple hack:
Look for influencers in your industry and follow them. Go through their posts and follow the users who engage with their content. Reciprocation is big on Instagram, so if your profile looks appealing enough, that should be enough to pull them into your ecosystem. Engaging with their content comes with two benefits: increased exposure for your brand, and an awareness of the latest trends. The later of which is crucial to surviving on social media. If you do this for 20-30 minutes daily your Insta is bound to skyrocket.
Or you can automate the whole process: Jarvee and Everliker enable you to target users by hashtags or accounts they follow. They can then follow them and like their posts, unfollow, etc. you just need to give the program your instructions.
A bit of caution: Don’t go crazy with the bots and follow and unfollow a thousand people per day; don’t use them to do something a single human isn’t capable of doing. The guys at Instagram won’t like that.
I should also point out that while engagement groups and bot accounts are a good way to get your brand in front of people, they’re just simple hacks and not a strategy to running a sustainable business. They’re good for getting some traction when starting off, but past some point they won’t be enough anymore. The sure way to grow a business online is by providing value and connecting with customers — never forget that.