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5 (FREE) Time Saving Social Media Tools
Written by: Diana BourgeoisArticle Overview: So many times, people embark on social media marketing with the idealist understanding that it is as easy as tweeting a thought in 140 characters or posting a few words to followers every few days. In reality, social media marketing involves more hand holding than direct marketing. Why, then, are literally millions of businesses joining the social media movement every year? Because, quite literally, companies can reach out to potential clients with less cost (provided they understand the time vs. money formula of social marketing) and gain market share through brand exposure.
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Free Download - 5 (FREE) Time Saving Social Media Tools By Diana Bourgeois |
5 (FREE) Time Saving Social Media Tools
"Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."-Chinese Proverb So many times, people embark on social media marketing with the idealist understanding that it is as easy as tweeting a thought in 140 characters or posting a few words to followers every few days. In reality, social media marketing involves more hand holding than direct marketing. Why, then, are literally millions of businesses joining the social media movement every year? Because, quite literally, companies can reach out to potential clients with less cost (provided they understand the time vs. money formula of social marketing) and gain market share through brand exposure.
Besides the afore mentioned misunderstanding about the true investment in time for a successful social media campaign without remembering that time is money, people often feel overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of managing multiple social media streams scattered all over the webosphere!
As a social media marketer, these are a few there tools I use to make m y life much easier!
• Seemic: This is one of my favorites. If you have a Facebook and Twitter account, the split screen view of Seemic makes it easy to follow what is happening in each account. With the ability to add any pages you manage on Facebook and directly post / report information in one screen, my favorite thing about Seemic is that I can post to Facebook and Twitter at the same time! Of course, that means that you have to limit the Facebook post to 140 characters, but what a time savings it is to have one place to call home for your Facebook and Twitter accounts. If, like me, you have several accounts for each (Magic Marketing USA and Networking in High Heels), then the ability to import all of those accounts into one places brings order into chaos.
• TweetDeck: If you are truly wrapped up in the tentacles of social media, then TweetDeck is the application for you! With the same multiple accounts split screen view; TweetDeck brings the management of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and mySpace within easy grasp. The main difference between Seemic and Tweetdeck is user preference. If you are limited in your interactions to Facebook and Twitter, the Seemic is amazing at delivering both of those to your virtual doorstep. If you want to include outside accounts like LinkedIn and mySpace, then Tweetdeck gives you all of that in one simple place.
• Social Oomph: All I can say is OMG! When I first tried Social Oomph (which was TweetLater to those of the old school of last year!), I thought I had died and gone to Twitter management heaven! Although this application is only for Twitter, Social Oomph gives you the advantage of customizing a message to send to everyone who follows you, lets you decide how to accept followers, and...ready for this? Social Oomph lets you schedule tweets! While I definitely DO NOT suggest that anyone spam their Twitter list, there are many times when I want to share what I am doing with others without stopping several times during the day to put it in 140 characters. When I am traveling, this is the perfect way to let people know where I will be or send out reminder tweets about upcoming events. Remember, NOTHING replaces actual interaction with the people in your social media sphere.
• SMS (your cellphone!): It is safe to say that almost every social media application these days has a way for you to update your profile or status via your cell phone or smart phone. While it can definitely make life easier when you can just text in 140 characters or do a quick update to your FBP (Facebook profile), it is addicting too because it connects you every single minute that you carry your phone. Mostly, this has been responsible for the incidents of texting updates during church or in the bathroom. If you are going to take this route, then please be conscious of the people around you before your spouse reaches over and drops your phone in your water glass at dinner (I swear...I saw this happen!). And, realize that NOT EVERYTHING needs to be shared.
• Automatic Updates: There are positives and negatives to completing the circle of social media. If you enable automatic updates in your social media accounts, then you should be aware that mean EVERYTHING you tweet, blog, and post hits every possible avenue immediately. In creating 360 degree coverage of all of your materials, promotions, and ads, this is the quickest way to make sure all bases are covered. BUT...and this is a biggie...be sure that you really want everything to feed directly into your accounts especially if some accounts are for business use and some are for personal use.
Quick point in fact: Before I go on, I want to make sure that it is clear to every breathing person on the web that Facebook has business accounts and, if you are using Facebook for business, this is the type of account you should be using! There are many reasons, but transparency and market segmentation are two of the biggest reasons. My next article, Facebook for Business: Fan or Friends, will explain this in depth, but using a personal level Facebook account for business not only violates Facebook TOC, but it also isolates you from the privacy protection and promotion of your business.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program, automatic updates can be set up for bring blog posts into your LinkedIn account, share LinkedIn updates on Twitter, and add a tweet your Facebook entries and blogs. The one exception is, in a business account, Facebook does not update to Twitter. As of now, Facebook only updates Twitter if you have a personal account. Solution? See above for one of the great FREE applications that allow you handle all of these tasks in one place!
Although there are tons of other applications and time saving tips for social media management, any these will get you started. As they are all free, I suggest that you try each one on for size to see what works best for you. The most important part is to save time and produce quality information to connect with followers, friends, and fans. Even though most of these applications might sound difficult, they are each easy to install with a wizard that walks you through it. Since it is easy and FREE, what else could be better?
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Article Tags: facebook, marketing, networking, seemic, social media, tweetdeck, twitter
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About the Author: Diana Bourgeois RSS for Diana's articles - Visit Diana's website  With over 7 years in the field of social media, internet marketing, and blogging, I never get tired of teaching and learning about new ways to help small business owners market their businesses. After spending years in the corporate structure, I became fascinated with the �Ah Ha� moment that happens with small to medium sized businesses when they hit the homerun of growing their businesses beyond their wildest dreams. In many cases, social media and marketing is about working smarter, not harder to establish relationships and share your world with others. From LinkedIn to Twitter too all of the media in between, you will find me giving marketing advice to small business owners, especially women based businesses, on the way to create success through marketing! When you are ready to grow your business and find success through your marketing, join me at http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?p=oi&m=1102267844221 to receive your free monthly newsletter. Check out our new premier, women-only networking group Networking in High Heels at www.networkinginhighheels.com. Click here to visit Diana's website   Warning U R Contaminating Your Marketing Pool Consistent Branding for Social Media Marketing Four Worst Email Marketing Errors Dont Let Social Media Ruin Your Email Marketing 5 FREE Time Saving Social Media Tools Customer Service Stabbed Marketing in the Office with a Knife |
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Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas
- Hi,
I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing.
I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO.
Jeff
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas
- [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi,
I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing.
I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO.
Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g]
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas!
- GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though!
Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists.
Overall the new categories are:
- Looking For, Networking and Events
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- Brags and Rants
These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts
- Hi Shri,
Thanks for posting this.
I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Social Media Marketing Ignorance
- [quote="vbn411":7qciluxl]Social Media is space that you have to be in to succeed in our current climate. People are going to be discussing your brand / product whether you like it or not, so you might as well join the conversation and add value. [/quote:7qciluxl]
I think that's probably one of the most realistic way to think about it.
There's no real textbook way of understanding Social Media, it's the networks of people and their interactions that will exist with or without your input.
As for Jennifer,
You can always have 2 Facebook pages. Many people do. There is also LinkedIn, which is like a professional networking version of Facebook.
The only way to know is to try it.
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