The skills and responsibilities demanded of today’s social media managers are growing at a rapid rate. The profession has transformed from a “nice-to-have but not deemed necessary” part of the team to a vital driving force for business success. To many outsiders, a career in social media seems like a walk in the park. But the reality is, there’s so much work that goes into creating a “quick post”. From developing a marketing strategy and planning content to designing, copywriting and analysing — social media professionals wear many hats. Fortunately, as the demand for social media skills increases, so too does the plethora of fantastic social media tools designed to streamline processes, increase productivity, and raise success. Topic research, content curation, scheduling, analytics, design and more —  in 2022, there are game-changing tools available for so many different aspects of social media management. So, without further ado, let’s dive on into some of the best social media tools used by some of the world’s most well-known brands.

Buzzsumo - Content sourcing

We social media marketers have all been there —  those days where we’re staring at the screen blankly, just praying a wave of fantastic content ideas will appear magically out of nowhere…right?! On those trying days of searching for a sense of direction with content marketing, BuzzSumo offers a much-needed helpline. The platform enables users to find the most shared content and trending influencers across a variety of topics. But it doesn’t stop there. BuzzSumo’s ‘Content Insights’ feature provides a comprehensive report detailing information such as best performing platforms for the content, which content format is most popular for the desired topic, what content length goes down best, and which days your content is likely to get the most engagement. Using BuzzSumo, you can even track the performance of the content your competitors are creating. So, this super handy tool is a good bet for social media managers looking to benefit from data-backed insights to create engaging content.

Clipchamp - Video editing

Video content has become one of today’s most consumed form of content across social. In fact, in Wyzowl’s most recent State of Video Marketing survey, 92 percent of marketers said that video is an important part of their marketing strategy and 86 percent revealed that this form of content has been effective in generating leads.This is unsurprising when we look at the success of video platforms such as TikTok and the announcement from Instagram’s Adam Mosseri last year that in 2022 the platform would be doubling down on video, with a firm focus on Reels.For time-strapped social media professionals looking to capitalise on this trend, Clipchamp is one of the best free online video editing tools around. Whether you are creating videos for social media posts or a product video showreel for your website, Clipchamp has everything you need to produce some impressive content. Easily clip up videos, resize and reformat depending on dimensions required per social platform, lean on its library of pre-made templates, stock video and audio, plus heaps more. This recommended tool takes away the scariness from video editing for those who aren’t experts.

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Grammarly - AI writing assistant

Writing is a large part of social media management — whether that’s writing captions for a social media post, blog content, or a marketing strategy presentation to deliver to company executives. Hereby enters our next recommended tool for social media managers: Grammarly.This AI-powered platform helps users write error-free copy with its all-in-one spellcheck and grammar tool. Our favourite part of Grammarly is its free Chrome extension tool that works on a variety of web pages including Google Docs, Gmail and social media platforms. It acts as a digital proofreader, scanning text whilst writing, highlighting grammatical and spelling errors, whilst also providing suggestions on how to improve your writing. It’s a firm favourite in our social media marketing toolkit!

Slate - Content creation

Okay, let’s not be surprised here that we made out own list. Even if I wasn’t a content writer at Slate, I would still recommend Slate platform as a top content creation tool that is transforming the marketing game, one happy and rejuvenated social media manager at a time.The powerful content creation tool allows social media professionals to produce high-quality social media content all in one easy-to-use platform. In literally just a few seconds, creators can produce branded content such as Reels, graphics, and GIFs and share it directly to their social channel of choice. All users need to do is upload their brand assets to the Slate content management platform, use these assets and the creative tools available to produce real-time content whenever from wherever via the Slate mobile app, and then literally share away! This ability to rapidly create organic, engaging and on-brand content is especially important in today’s competitive market, where social media managers are required to easily react to real-time moments and trends.

Hootsuite - Social media scheduler

With the to-lists of modern social media managers growing by the second, tools that can automate even the most basic of tasks are very much welcomed with open arms. The automation of social media posting in particular is saving SMMs hours each and every week.While many of today’s most popular social media platforms have introduced the native ability to schedule posts, Hootsuite is a tool that enables users to schedule posts across all social networks in one integrated interface. In just a few clicks, SMMs can schedule content and review posts in a calendar view, making it easy for users to visualise what is set to be published.It’s not just the scheduling function that makes Hootsuite so well-loved by marketing teams from some of the biggest brands around. The social media platform also gives users the ability to keep an eye on social conversations and brand mentions, quickly respond to comments and messages in an inbox that combines all conversations from social networks, view social analytics in a simple dashboard  (handy right?!), plus so much more.

Unsplash - Stock photos

We all know that leveraging visual elements in social media marketing is essential for boosting engagement. In fact, research has shown that people who take in information without visual clues have a 10 percent retention rate when asked to recall information a few days later, compared to 65 percent for those who took in information which was partnered with an imageDespite the proven benefits of good visuals in marketing, one of the struggles of content creation for social media is having the resources for professional photography. Enter: Unsplash. Unsplash is a huge library of professional photos that you can use… for FREE! Social media marketers are able to access thousands of incredible images shared by creators all around the world. It’s the perfect tool for finding professional imagery for your latest blog, social media post, client proposal document, and more. If you find a certain creator whose look you enjoy, you can even follow them to keep up to date with their latest work. Be sure to credit the photographer where you can as thanks for them letting you use their work for free!

Planoly - Instagram scheduler

Creating an attention-grabbing, professional and aesthetically-pleasing social feed requires some serious planning. A tool that has been praised by social media professionals everywhere is Planoly — an app/website that enables the planning of Instagram feeds. Maybe you have a theme you like to follow, you want to ensure your brand is visually shining through, or perhaps you need to identify content blocks that are lacking. Planoly allows you to visually preview what a post will look like within your current feed ahead of actually posting it. Hallelujah!In addition to the handy feed preview feature, this social media marketing tool also allows users to schedule posts and stories, engage with their audience, and review how their content is performing via its analytics tool. So, whether you are managing just one brand account or multiple, Planoly is an excellent tool to have in your social media marketing arsenal. Learn more about how Slate can help transform your social media content and schedule a demo today.