According to HubSpot, 90% of marketers believe that the key element of a successful social media strategy is building an active online community. Additionally, 64% of professionals consider social networks to be the most effective channel for attracting potential customers.
High competition and constant algorithm changes complicate the life of SMM specialists, forcing them to seek effective work solutions. In this article, I will review key services that are useful for every SMM manager for social media management, quality content creation, and improved audience engagement.
Please note that the prices listed are current as of the publication date.
Tools for Content Creation and Editing
Visual appeal directly influences the effectiveness of an SMM strategy. The tools listed below offer user-friendly templates and allow quick video editing without a complex interface. They come in both free and premium versions.
- Canva — A graphic editor with thousands of templates, stock photos, icons, and fonts. It features an easy-to-use interface, helping users create posts, banners, presentations, and animations without design skills. Available as a web version and mobile app for teamwork.
- Canva Pro — Includes an extended content library, brand fonts and colors, AI tools, and a background remover (from $10/month).
- VistaCreate — Similar to Canva with a focus on animation and video, offering a wide range of templates, effects, and high-quality export options. Suitable for team collaboration.
- VistaCreate Pro — Access to premium templates, unlimited downloads, brand kits (from $10/month).
- InShot — A mobile video editor with basic cutting, speed adjustment, text, music, and effect options. Easy to use, ideal for content creation directly on a smartphone.
- InShot Pro — Removes watermarks, adds premium effects, music, and filters (from $4.99/month or $34.99/year).
- CapCut — An advanced video editor with AI-based filters, automatic subtitling, effect overlays, and sound editing. Optimized for vertical video.
- CapCut Pro — Extended effect library, background remover, 4K export (from $29.99/month).
Scheduling and Automation of Posts
Strategic planning ensures content consistency, avoids chaotic posting, and supports brand activity on social networks. Automation allows efficient resource allocation and reduces human error risks.
Some tools not only help plan content but also analyze performance and integrate multiple platforms from a single interface. These include:
- Hootsuite — A social media management platform that supports multi-channel scheduling, post automation, and interaction analytics. Allows replying to comments and messages in one interface.
- Hootsuite Pro — Advanced analytics, team collaboration, bulk content scheduling (from $99/month).
- Buffer — A convenient tool for automated posting, supporting scheduled publishing, content queues, and integration with Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Offers a simple interface and mobile app.
- Buffer Essentials — Enhanced analytics, Pinterest integration, first comment for Instagram posts (from $5/month per channel).
- Meta Business Suite — The official tool for scheduling Facebook and Instagram posts. Allows page management, analytics viewing, campaign creation, and message responses in one window. Free for all Facebook and Instagram users.
Also read: What Should Be in the Ideal Social Media Content Plan?
Analytics and Monitoring
Analytics tools help evaluate content performance, while monitoring services track mentions on social media and other online sources. Google Analytics and Sprout Social analyze traffic, engagement, and user behavior, while Brand24 and Mention monitor brand reputation and enable prompt responses to feedback.
- Google Analytics — A web analytics service for tracking website traffic, traffic sources, content effectiveness, and user behavior. Integrates with other Google tools. Basic features are free.
- Google Analytics 360 — An advanced version with enhanced analytics and BigQuery integration (from $150,000/year).
- Sprout Social — A multifunctional SMM analytics system that tracks content performance, analyzes competitor activity, and schedules posts. Integrates with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more.
- Sprout Social Standard — Supports 5 social profiles, performance reports, and content management (from $199/month).
- Brand24 — A monitoring tool that analyzes online mentions in comments, news, blogs, and social networks. Evaluates sentiment and automates alerts for negative mentions.
- Brand24 Plus — Advanced sentiment analysis, historical data, automatic reports (from $199/month).
- Mention — A real-time social media monitoring service that tracks brand mentions and integrates analytics with other platforms. Supports automatic alerts for new mentions.
- Mention Pro — Access to historical data, influence analysis, competitor tracking (from $41/month).
Communication and Team Collaboration
Using tools to coordinate teamwork helps avoid chaos, automate communication, and control workflows. The most useful services include:
- Trello — A visual organizer based on the Kanban board system. Allows task creation, checklist addition, file attachment, and project discussions.
- Trello Standard — More automation, unlimited boards, and enhanced workspaces (from $5/month).
- Asana — A task management system for planning projects, tracking progress, and automating workflows. Integrates with Google Drive, Slack, and more.
- Asana Premium — Includes timelines, request forms, advanced reporting, and task automation (from $10.99/month).
- Google Calendar — A tool for scheduling meetings, managing work schedules, and setting reminders. Integrates with Gmail, Google Meet, and more. Free for all Google users.
- Google Workspace — Advanced business functions, including team access and event control (from $6.30/month per user).
- Notion — A universal platform for note-taking, file storage, content plan management, and internal documentation. Supports team collaboration and integrates with other services.
- Notion Plus — Advanced team features, workflow automation, more storage (from $10/month).
Working with Text and Subtitles
Quality text content impacts audience engagement, brand perception, and conversion rates. Errors, stylistic issues, or the lack of subtitles in videos can reduce the effectiveness of SMM campaigns.
Grammarly and LanguageTool analyze texts and offer grammar corrections. Kapwing and Subtitle Edit provide automatic language recognition for subtitles and flexible editing options. More details on each tool:
- Grammarly — An online text editor that corrects grammar, punctuation, and style errors. Supports English and integrates with browsers and text editors.
- Grammarly Premium — In-depth style analysis, tone detection, sentence rewrites (from $12/month).
- LanguageTool — A multilingual editor checking spelling and grammar. Supports Ukrainian, English, German, and others.
- LanguageTool Premium — Extended stylistic checks, Microsoft Word and Google Docs integration (from $2.50/month).
- Kapwing — An online platform for video creation and subtitle addition. Automatically detects languages, edits subtitles, and exports in various formats.
- Kapwing Pro — No watermarks, express rendering, cloud project storage (from $16/month).
- Subtitle Edit — A desktop subtitle editor for creating, editing, and syncing subtitles with video. Supports many formats and automatic timing. Fully open-source with no paid version.
Additional Tools
Besides everything mentioned above, SMM specialists also benefit from link shorteners, chatbots, and artificial intelligence tools.
Link shorteners simplify content distribution and allow click tracking, while chatbots automate communication, improve customer service, and increase conversion rates. AI tools assist in creating specific types of content.
Bitly and Cutly help shorten links, while SendPulse and Chatbots.Studio offer solutions for automating audience interaction in messengers.
