As marketers, we’re always looking for the best tools, apps, platforms to help level-up our clients, and our own productivity.
There’s a quote that we like from Erik Qualman that says “We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how WELL we do it."
The role of the social media account manager has evolved a lot over the last decade. The role is no longer about just snapping a quick photo and throwing together a caption.
Today’s social media marketer is a photographer, strategist, writer, producer, storyteller, community-builder, and so much more. Being productive and successful in the role can be largely dependent on one’s ability to utilize tools to save time.
Given that it’s 2021, there are seriously so many tools available that we can tap into, to up our skills, and become better content creators, bloggers, website designers and just overall organized human beings.
We decided to put our heads together as a team and round up what we think are the best apps for social media marketers today... WITH LINKS!
(click the line items below for a deep dive into those tools)
Bonus >> If you'd like the best apps for remote team members, here's another list you may enjoy!!
Social Media Management & Social Listening
1. AgoraPulse
Okay, we really could talk about Agorapulse for days.
This easy-to-use, intuitive social media management software allows you to engage with your audience, publish content, execute social listening, collaborate with your team, measure and report, and understand your audience.
AKA it’s the vehicle to building authentic relationships on social media, and it’s ALL in one platform.
Plus, the HUMANS behind the brand are really what set this company apart.
2. Hubspot
Given our love of inbound marketing, it should be no surprise that we have a lot of good things to say about Hubspot.
This is the platform we use to manage our blog, write and send out emails, and nurture and manage our relationships, among other things.
You can schedule social media content, analyze reports and so much more with this tool.
3. Later
We love this tool specifically for Instagram.
Out of all of the tools out there, this has been a go-to for years because of the functionality and ease of use. Plus, they’ve got great customer service which you know is important to us.
Later lets you have a media library, schedule your content, execute hashtag research, dive into analytics and SO much more.
4. Talkwalker
As stated on their website, Talkwalker is your extra set of eyes and its. It gives you real-time insights into what’s going on across social channels and online media.
It’s a powerful social media analytics AND monitoring tool with awesome listening capabilities.
5. MissingLettr
We love this tool because it’s a great way to save some time when it comes to repurposing content from your blog. It’s a social engagement/content creation tool “for companies that blog,” as they say and we definitely stand by it.
We love having it synched up to our blog to auto-generate campaigns (that we tweak to personalize) to share our content.
It’s definitely worth looking into if you’ve never tried it!
6. Clubhouse
Clubhouse is an exclusive, invite-only audio app where people can tune into different virtual rooms and listen to, and or participate in, conversations that are across the board.
There are rooms around world affairs, arts, meditation, health, mindfulness, business, marketing, podcasting, you name it - it’s there.
The quality of conversations, and therefore the deep relationships that can be built as a result, is really what makes this app stand out. Plus, the diversity of creators is HUGE!
7. Facebook Audience Insights
We love this Facebook tool because it makes getting to know your audience a lot easier.
Thanks to the tool, you can get aggregated information about people connected to your page AND just people on Facebook generally. We’re able to see age, gender breakdowns, education levels and so much more.
8. Facebook Pixel Helper
This epic troubleshooter tool is a must because it lets you assess whether your pixel is working correctly.
Working-behind-the scenes, it looks for conversion or FB pixels to share real-time info - detailed overview of the page’s pixel: successes, warnings and errors. It’s easy to install and saves you tons of time guessing.
Content & Writing
9. Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator
Got writer’s block? Hubspot is here to help. You’ll literally never run out of ideas with this tool.
10. Portent’s Idea Generator
Similar to the tool above, we love this tool for helping you come up with catchy titles to draw your audience in.
11. Blog Title Idea Generator
One last tool to help you come up with a great headline!
12. Buzzsumo
We love this tool because it helps you find content that will perform well. Search for trending topics, which can help spark ideas for your own content, while also finding creators that are aligned with what you’re looking to talk about online.
13. ContentGems
This content discovery tool helps you find relevant and timely content that you can plug into social posts or use to spark blog post ideas. It scans articles from the best online sources and then presents you with a stream of content. It’s perfect for social media, blogs, newsletters and more!
14. Convert Case
Literally as simple as it sounds. This tool will let you change the case of your type. Because let’s face it: sometimes we NEED to shout, and then dial it back a notch.
15. Hemingway Editor
We like this tool because it helps humanize our writing. Regardless of what you’re writing, you can take text and drop it into the editing box and let this tool take your words from confusing to clear. It shows what sentences are worth breaking up, which phrases can be simplified, plus grammar tips to make you a better writer!
16. Airstory
We love this app for creation and research. It lets you capture research and use it in your writing. You can easily save your favorite online research as a note and then drag it into anywhere you’re writing online. The note will automatically merge with the source URL included so that you can easily cite sources.
17. Grammarly
This is one of those “can’t live without” tools. It automatically detects potential grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice and style mistakes in writing. It’s available as a web or desktop editor, as a browser extension, AND as an app.
There are free and paid versions available, and we can’t recommend checking it out enough. We promise, you’ll thank us later.
18. Frase
This is sort of like a writing meets SEO tool, and we’re freakin’ loving it! This tool helps you dive into topics that you want to write about and find other articles that have written about the same topic.
This lets you enhance your writing and content creation efforts because it lends clarity on how to structure your blogs not only for SEO but for flow!
Design
19. Canva
We spend hours every week inside of this tool. It’s perfect for designers. Heck, it’s perfect for social media managers that don’t consider themselves designers.
It’s available on any device and your designs are saved and held in the cloud, making for easy access. They have tons of free templates too, making it a fun place to play around when it comes to graphic creation.
20. Eye Dropper
Simple but totally necessary, this little tool lets you use the eyedropper extension to find the hex code for any color you can stumble across.
Phone Apps for Design
21. Over
Since Stories are really all the rage, we can’t get enough of this app lately. This app will help you elevate your graphics game and post text graphics on Stories that are eye-catching and gorgeous.
As our friends Later remind us in their blog, Over’s stock video library has tons of different animations which let you bring more life to your creations.
22. Unfold
This is another app that we can’t get enough of for upping our Stories game!
23. InShot
This is a definite must have app when it comes to video-editing - especially if you’re on the go. You can easily add text, music, sound effects to videos and even edit them with jump cuts. This is the perfect app for making short and sweet edits to your videos before posting them to IGTV.
24. VSCO
This is a definite go-to tool. This mobile app has so many presets and editing tools that make it super easy to create beautiful imagery.
25. Adobe Spark
This tools makes it easy to make beautiful graphics, web pages, and video stories. With this app, you have access to imagery, beautiful fonts and easy-to-use layouts. Projects are automatically synced across the web and mobile app, making it super easy to work on the go.
26. Photoshop Express
This is the perfect photo editing app because of i’s intuitive interface. Perfect for on-the-go edits.
Youtube & Video
27. TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy is a browser extension that adds a layer of tools directly on top of YouTube's website. It can help with almost almost everything from bulk processing to SEO to research.
28. Wave.video
We refer to Andres on our team as the “wave guy.” He just KNOWS this tool inside and out and it’s allowed us to make some pretty epic video content as a result.
It’s a video maker that lets you make videos - for posts or ads - in minutes.
There’s a library of royalty-free video and audio clips to choose from, or upload your own media and use the editor!
Our favorite part: the ability to instantly resize the video to different formats to suit the social channel. Ah, a social media manager’s dream!
29. Streamyard
We love this tool for live video! It’s a browser-based live streaming studio that lets you stream directly to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and other platforms.
It’s extremely user-friendly and the functionality is fantastic. You can host a broadcast with multiple people, share your screen, and so much more.
Video Email
30. BIGVU
This tool is super fun because it lets you script, film and edit videos with their teleprompter. Plus, green-screen replacement capabilities and more, make it a must-try when it comes to video messaging.
31. Bonjoro
Speaking of video messages, we love ‘em.
This tool lets you add video into your email, and it’s so easily customizable with your branding and unique calls to action.
Plus, it’s got the ability to measure the effectiveness of the email by tracking the open-rate, views and click-throughs. Oh, and did we mention that they’ve got awesome customer service… yea, we love them!
Planning & Organization
32. Todoist
We’re all about a good to-do list, which is why we’re into this task manager.
Our account managers use it to manage their punch list... it’s super easy to organize and prioritize tasks as well as assign a collaborator to line items if it’s a team effort. Plus, it works across many devices, making it easy to use on-the-go.
33. Trello
This is a fantastic tool for planning out content with a team. It works by use of boards, lists and cards, and it lets you organize and prioritize tasks.
34. LastPass
This is our favorite tool when it comes to passwords and security. This tool securely stores all of your passwords and auto-fills them when you go to log in.
It also lets you share access with teammates to passwords, so you no longer have to give them the actual password. It’s a dream for any social media manager.
35. ClickUp
This has got to be one of our favorite tools yet. It’s the project management tool that you’ve always dreamed about. You can create different accounts, make lists, set tasks, assign them, create due dates, log time, etc…
We started using ClickUp in the fall of 2020 and definitely aren’t looking back.
Web Development & SEO Tools
36. Wayback Machine
Who doesn’t appreciate the Internet Archive? This awesome tool lets you search through the years on the internet. It’s basically like the library of the internet, providing free access to researchers, scholars, and the general public. We use this tool for going back to see old versions of websites AND to do research.
37. Yoast
We can’t say enough good things about this Wordpress tool. It’s an SEO must that lets you track keywords, set up meta descriptions and get a feel for how your page will rank. With both free and paid versions available, this is a no-brainer for all websites.
38. SpyFu
This powerful tool lets you literally spy on your competition and see what they’re doing. You can learn every keyword that they’ve bought on Adwords, where they rank organically and see their ads. There’s SO much information that you can use to up your own ad game thanks to this tool.
39. SERanking
We love this all-in-one SEO software. It’s a game-change when it comes to SEO analysis for websites. With this tool (there is a 14-day free trial available) you can see stats for where you’re ranking, dive into your SEO and also look at SEO and PPC of your competitors.
It’s a must when it comes to getting advanced with your SEO strategy.
40. ShortPixel
Don’t overlook how powerful this tool is which helps compress the imagery on your website, therefore speeding up your site. In a matter of a few minutes it can compress hundreds of images with one-swoop.
When it comes down to it, we’re all about tapping into the wide variety of tools available that allow us to save time while also becoming better at what we do: help clients tell their story.
Do you have any tools that you’d add to the list? What’s your go-to tool in 2021?
Let us know in the comments below!
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