What Tools Do You Need As a Social Media Manager

What are the must have tools for a social media manager to have in place in order to run an incredible social media management business? Well, that's what we're going to cover today.

For me and my business, when I started it back in 2018, I kinda was just figuring things out on my own. I had five years experience in the digital marketing arena. 

I worked for two different advertising agencies. I was a marketing consultant for both of them. 

So I would be on the front lines of working with businesses and helping them to figure out what type of marketing strategy they needed for their business. 

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I took all of that experience and decided in the fall of 2018, that I was going to start my own freelance business. So outside of work, I would start freelancing creating website designs, cause it was not a conflict of interest and I could do that.

And within a couple of months decided all right, time to leave my corporate career and just go all in on my website design freelance business. 

Well, by the third month I started getting inquiries about social media management and helping people with managing their business’ Facebook and Instagram accounts. 

Creating social media content, creating graphics, putting together a strategy plan for what times of day to post and what days to post and doing all of the things necessary in order to have a successful social media marketing strategy for a small business. 

And so I had about five clients that I started with and my goal with leaving my corporate career was to put myself in a position where I could make the same amount of money, but with less hours, but that's not the case. 

Within the five months or so of me really getting my business started, I was still working 40 hours a week and had just delivered our second baby.

So I needed to figure out some ways to put systems in place. I needed to make sure that I was using tools that were out there instead of just trying to recreate the wheel myself. 

And I don't know if any of you ever been like this, but I can be just a little bit stubborn to where I think my way's the highway… 

And no, that just doesn't always fly. 

So I began to do some research on different tools that would help me streamline my processes as far as creating content,managing my client's accounts, as well as reading data and analytics. 

And here's the tools that I found that really worked the greatest for me and my business:

Social Media Tool: TRELLO (COST:Free)

So from a planning standpoint, I love to use good old pen and paper, but also I like to use Trello. Trello is an amazing tool for organization, planning, and project management.

It's like a bunch of digital post-it notes that you have on an online website. 

And it really keeps my ideas in order. It keeps my focus on the projects at hand. It gives me a great visual as far as what's coming up next on my list of things to do so I really, really like Trello.  

It sometimes can be overwhelming to someone that's new, but they have so many templates that you can follow video tutorials that you can learn from. And for me it's been free. 

I don't pay for Trello. Now. There's some things that you can pay for-little upgrades here, little upgrades there, but I've been using the free version. 

You'll find this as we continue on in this conversation that everything I'm going to talk about is either free or super, super cheap...because I am frugal Freddy.

Social Media Tool: Google Suite ($6 Basic Plan)

Okay. So another tool that I like to use for planning and organization is just my Google Suite. So with my business URL, which is bridgecd.com, I get my email through that. 

I get my Google calendar, Google docs, Google spreadsheets, you name it, all the Google things. I get access to those. And I think you get them with just a regular Gmail. But I really enjoy all of the tools that are inside of that. 

I basically don't have any programs on my laptop that are like, you know, Microsoft word or Excel. I don't use any of those things cause, everything I use is on the cloud with Google and the G suite. 

So I'll use my spreadsheets for my own bookkeeping.

I have an incredible, incredible resource for you guys when it comes to small business bookkeeping.

It's called a small business starter kit and my very good friend and fellow mompreneur, butt-kickin lady, Katie Ferro. 

She created this wonderful starter kit for small businesses. So you guys need to check that out here. 

But I also use the Google sheets for planning out my content calendars and tracking activity. And so all of my data and I throw into a report in the spreadsheet. So those are some tools that I absolutely love to use. 

I'll use Google docs for writing out my captions and saving kind of a template for my content creation. 

So I can attach a picture with the caption and put the date that I'm gonna put it on there. And I like to keep a copy of all of that because of repurposing content.

And so, I really like to use Google docs for that. You can even use Google slides as a presentation guide and all of that. 

So the G suite is just so awesome from a lot of things. And then I get to use all of that on my cell phone too, because it's all cloud based. 

Social Media Tools-Canva (Free) 

So the next thing that I like to use for more of a graphics standpoint is Canva. 

Canva has really incredible tools for managing or creating graphics and in documents and anything that you could need to create from a visual standpoint for your business.  whether it's through advertising and a marketing or even flyers to pass around or business cards

Whatever it may be,Canva literally has all of it. And there is a free version of Canva.

I recommend people invest the $9.95 per month to get the pro version because there's a lot more photos and tools that you get access to like animated photos and videos or graphics that you can create so many, so many resources. 

So I use canvas quite a bit. 

Social Media Tool: Stock Photography (Pricing may vary)

Another thing that I like to use for graphics is I will use stock photography. And so I do pay sometimes for stock photography from some female entrepreneurs that I like to support that are stock photographers. 

I really enjoy supporting them whenever they run sales.

One of my favorites is Tide and tree  just because her aesthetic completely matches my aesthetic. 

But you can also get free stock photos on websites like Pexels, Pixabay, and Shutterstock. I really liked to use Pexels and Pixabay.

Social Media Scheduling Tools- Creator Studio by Facebook (Free)

For scheduling tools as a social media manager or as a small business owner who is looking to incorporate more scheduling and batching of content, which I've got an whole article on the importance of batching your content. 

So make sure you check out that article, but scheduling tools. So first and foremost free is the way to be. 

So I will use Creator Studio by Facebook to schedule out on Facebook and Instagram. You do have to make sure that your Instagram and Facebook accounts are linked. 

If they are not linked, you cannot schedule on both platforms. So that's very important. Another thing that is important with that is you need to understand that sometimes you'll find that your graphics, when you push from Instagram to Facebook, it doesn't look the best on Facebook. 

So you might need to create an Instagram graphic, which needs to be at 1080 x 1080, and then a Facebook graphic, which I believe needs to be like 1240 x 800.

So a square versus a rectangle. But I really liked that tool because you can also read your data and insights there. 

Other Social Media Scheduling Tools: Hootsuite (Free 30 Day Trial), Buffer (Free 14 Day Trial), Later (Free for 1 account)

The other tools that I've used and I do enjoy using are Hootsuite and Buffer.

I have used later.com and considering moving back to that platform.

All of those are really alike, if you have less than I think three social media accounts that you're wanting to schedule out content there is a free option. 

Check with their pricing model so that you can find out which will work best for you. 

Social Media Tools: Google Analytics (Free)

Outside of scheduling content some other tools and resources that have really helped me in my business is Google analytics. 

So making sure if you have a website for your business that you've set up in connected your Google analytics tracking so that you can see, like, where is your website traffic coming from making sure that you have the demographic and interests tabs turned on so that you can really learn about who your audience is on your website.

That's key...that is so key and essential to understanding where your audience is and where they're coming from. A couple other things like some little extras for you when it comes to creating your own photos for graphics, you can use your iPhone. 

I actually purchased some presets from light and airy presets and also from 123presets, I've got links to both of those here. I liked the presets that I got from them. 

You do have to make sure that you pay for Adobe creative cloud so that you get Lightroom classic on your phone as an app or on your desktop so that you can have the presets available there. So the presets don't just magically show up. 

Like there are steps, but they give really good and easy to follow instructions. 

I like light and airy and 123 presets because I also get emails from them regularly where they are teaching you  how to take better photos and what angles look better and how to do proper lighting.

And here's some ideas for fall and things like that. So I really liked those two companies and following along with them. 

Social Media Tools: Kajabi (28 Day Free Challenge)

And then I would have to say another tool that I probably should have talked about earlier is Kajabi. 

Kajabi is an all in one platform for a website hosting online course, hosting, email management, CRM, you name it. 

I can do literally anything inside of Kajabi for my business, really. And I've really grown to fall in love with this program because it has become one of the best places for me to create products for my business. 

So if you are an online business owner or you're wanting to do more online business, I really think you should look into doing Kajabi. You can set up a website, you can get your email marketing strategy set up in there.

This free link gives you the 28 day free challenge where they teach you how to set up and use their program. And that 28 days, that's what I did. And I found it to be very successful.

So definitely check out Kajabi, if you're an online business owner looking to do more online revenue for your business, I think that's it. 

This was a long blog post, obviously, but for those of you again, who are an aspiring small business owner, social media marketer, you're wanting to freelance, maybe you're a virtual assistant looking to add social media to your book of business. 

I think it's very important that you really take a look at the resources that you are using. 

So real quick rundown and run like recap on like the cost of these things:

Google suite, I think that costs me maybe five or $6 per month, but it did became free because the way that I purchased my domain and everything that I purchased through the website. 

so that's actually free, but I know if you purchase your domain and stuff through Wix, it can be like an additional $5 a month for you to have your email with them.

And then you get access to the G suite and all of that. So let's just say maybe $5 a month for that

Canva is $9.95. 

Again, Creator Studio's free, but Buffer (if you're paying for that) or Hootsuite, it's around $25.

Kajabi starts at $149/month.

And I really think that that's it from a monthly subscription standpoint. 

So you can really keep your overhead low in your business if you just utilize the resources that are out there. don't try to recreate the wheel and don't overpay for things. 

So if you have questions, maybe you're wanting to get your own business started. 

Maybe you're wanting to become a social media freelancer, or you're a virtual assistant, or maybe even your an Instagram blogger or affiliate marketer who's ready to add more social media marketing services to your repertoire so that you can create extra income that way. 

I'm  going to be hosting a free live masterclass on this inside my Facebook Group. 

So you'll have information for you here, as well as I'm going to be opening up a group coaching program where I'm going to teach 10 selected individuals how to go and create what I've been able to create as a busy mom of two, business owner of two businesses, social media marketer, all the things. 

And I went from, you know, starting this business and the after hours of my job, when my kids would go to sleep, I was freelancing this on the side. 

So from a, maybe a few hundred dollars a month to within three months, I surpassed my full time income. So I was able to walk away from my corporate job. 

And then by month nine, I had my first month where I did over $10,000 of revenue. And I've been able to really live a life on my terms since then. So if you want to learn what I've done and get coaching on that and hands on help, I am going to be doing a three-month coaching program for that.

So anyways, always love getting a chance to share with you guys, send me a DM or drop me a message here so that I can hear from you on what it is that you want to be learning about. 

And I look forward to talking with you in the next chat.

Hi! I’m Danielle and I’m from the Land of Oz, a.k.a. Kansas! I’m a mom of 2, married to an awesomely funny dude, I have owned a Toto dog in my lifetime, and in case you’re wondering… yes I’ve walked the yellow brick road.

I am also a seasoned social media and digital marketing coach for local small businesses and I have a passion for empowering and educating people to take more ownership of the marketing efforts for their business.

Make sure you join my Free Facebook Community for live trainings on topics like this and how to best utilize social media to grow your business!

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