{"id":1248,"date":"2018-10-15T10:36:53","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T10:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/?p=1248"},"modified":"2022-10-17T13:09:13","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T11:09:13","slug":"top-tools-social-media-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/social-media-marketing-blog\/top-tools-social-media-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"3 of The Top Tools to Use in your Social Media Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_3-1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-image align_center\"><div class=\"w-image-h\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"580\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/shutterstock_381680653-e1539599796823.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Social Media Use Image\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/shutterstock_381680653-e1539599796823.jpg 580w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/shutterstock_381680653-e1539599796823-300x207.jpg 300w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/shutterstock_381680653-e1539599796823-290x200.jpg 290w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>As an entrepreneur or solopreneur, you will find yourself in the challenging spot of having to work in your business as well as on your business until such time that it becomes financially viable for you to take on additional people to assist you. Social media marketing is a relatively inexpensive tool which makes it easily accessible for entrepreneurs to use as part of their digital marketing strategy. Thus, having the skills of a social media marketer are indispensable. However, social media is quite time consuming and \u2013 as you will probably be doing this yourself in the beginning \u2013 it could take very valuable time away from what you should be doing: making money and generating new business. We\u2019ve sourced three indispensable tools that can help you save time in your social media marketing efforts and help you to focus on the tasks that matter.<\/p>\n<h2>Social Media Marketing Tools<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Hootsuite<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Each social media channel that you post on has their own best practices in terms of how many times per day you need to post as well as what times are best in order to generate the most engagement. As it is not practical to spend hours and hours each day posting on your various social media channels we suggest that you use a tool like Hootsuite so that you can schedule posts for a couple of days in advance at the times that you want so that your presence on social media is maintained. It\u2019s free for up to three social media accounts and you can schedule up to 20 posts in advance. For a nominal yearly fee you can increase this number. It\u2019s a must-have in any social media marketer\u2019s toolkit!<\/p>\n<h2><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1249 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/shutterstock_298870550-e1539599221801.jpg\" alt=\"DSM - digital school of marketing - social media marketing\" width=\"560\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/shutterstock_298870550-e1539599221801.jpg 560w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/shutterstock_298870550-e1539599221801-300x204.jpg 300w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/shutterstock_298870550-e1539599221801-295x200.jpg 295w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Grammarly<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>As we said in the previous paragraph, social media demands a lot of copy. And, as you are probably trying to minimise the time you take to schedule social media posts, you\u2019ll be generating this copy very quickly. Unfortunately, the quicker you are at this task the more likely you are to make mistakes as you are not thinking very carefully about what you write. These mistakes can find themselves to your social media platforms \u2013 something which is very difficult to live down in any digital marketing strategy.<\/p>\n<p>This is what makes a tool such as Grammarly so unique.<\/p>\n<p>The company behind this product has developed a unique algorithm that analyses text that you input into their platform for grammatical errors. It\u2019s free to use for basic grammatical analysis but if you want more complex editing you\u2019ll need to upgrade to their pro version.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Canva<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A well-designed graphic \u2013 especially on Facebook and Instagram \u2013 goes a long way to increase your audience engagement and improve your digital marketing strategy. You could engage the services of a professional graphic designer to assist you create beautiful bespoke images however, if this is beyond your price range we suggest using Canva.<\/p>\n<p>When you open this app, it asks you what your job title is. Once you\u2019ve selected it, it asks you what you want to create. Canva makes these suggestions based on the job title you\u2019ve selected. Once you\u2019ve made this selection, it gives you templates that you can use to design your project.<\/p>\n<p>Canva gives you loads of functionality for free. When you upgrade you also get access to 400 000 complimentary stock images. In addition, you are also able to organise your designs using multiple folders that you can share with your team. You have the ability to resize your designs easily as well as to save your company\u2019s corporate identity.<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/contact-us\/\">Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>What we\u2019ve shown here is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of tools that can help you in your social media marketing strategy and can help you as a social media marketer. If you want to learn more about how social media can assist you in your digital marketing strategy, sign up for the Digital School of Marketing\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/social-media-marketing-course\/\">Social Media Marketing Course<\/a>. This digital marketing certificate \u2013 which is the only one of its kind to be certified by the MICT SETA \u2013 will help you take your social media marketing efforts to the stars. To learn more about this digital marketing course and to register, follow <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/social-media-marketing-course\/\">this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/social-media-marketing-course\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-761 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSM_Footer06-600x96.jpg\" alt=\"DSM Digital School of Marketing Social media marketing course registration\" width=\"600\" height=\"96\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-btn-wrapper align_justify\"><a class=\"w-btn us-btn-style_2\" href=\"#enquiry\"><span class=\"w-btn-label\">Enquire Today<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">Blog Categories<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_5cd26a65\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><ul>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-1\"><a href=\"\/blog\/content-marketing\/\">Content Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/digital-marketing\/\">Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/cyber-security-blog\/\">Cyber Security<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/graphic-design-blog\/\">Graphic Design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-3\"><a href=\"\/blog\/public-relations\/\">Public Relations<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-4\"><a href=\"\/blog\/seo\/\">SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/social-media-marketing\/\">Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/web-design-blog\/\">Web Design<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">You might also like<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"w-html\"><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/social-media-marketing-blog\/zero-moment-of-truth-benefit-social-media-marketing\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Use the Zero Moment of Truth to Benefit your Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/digital-marketing-blog\/your-complete-guide-to-ppc-marketing-basic\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Your Complete Guide to PPC Marketing Basics. Find out more.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/you-can-convey-a-lot-of-meaning-with-just-one-graphic\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">You Can Convey a Lot Of Meaning With Just One Graphic<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/digital-marketing-blog\/would-you-make-a-great-marketing-manager\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Would you make a great marketing manager?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/in-the-press\/win-with-bona-magazine-and-the-digital-school-of-marketing\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Win with Bona Magazine and the Digital School of Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/in-the-press\/win-a-digital-marketing-course-valued-at-r12-000\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Win a Digital Marketing Course Valued at  R12 000<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">Top Selling COurses<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_5cd26a65\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><ul>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-1\"><a href=\"\/courses\/digital-marketing-course\/\">Intermediate Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/courses\/advanced-digital-marketing-course\/\">Advanced Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-3\"><a href=\"\/courses\/social-media-marketing-course\/\">Intermediate Social media marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-4\"><a href=\"\/courses\/digital-brand-management-course\/\">Brand Management<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/courses\/graphic-design-course\/\">Basic Graphic Design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-6\"><a href=\"\/courses\/advanced-graphic-design-course\/\">Advanced Graphic design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-7\"><a href=\"\/courses\/national-certificate-of-advertising\/\">National Certificate of Advertising<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-8\"><a href=\"\/courses\/national-diploma-of-copywriting-course\/\">National Diploma of Copyrighting<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-video align_none ratio_16x9 has_iframe\"><div class=\"w-video-h\"><iframe title=\"Youtube video player\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4kpKmnuOwjc?autoplay=0&controls=1&origin=https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za&loop=0&mute=0\" allowfullscreen=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/div><div class=\"w-video-icon\" style=\"font-size:1.5rem;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:#fff\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[151],"class_list":["post-1248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-media-marketing-blog","tag-social-media-marketing-tools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}