The world of social media is continuously changing. Every year it brings new unspoken rules, trends, and ideas. In some cases, the modifications are relatively predictable. For instance, who was really surprised to know that Google+ got shut down? Social media has become one of the thrilling elements of the 21st Century transforming the way people used to communicate earlier. It has benefited many businesses, especially the smaller ones in expanding their reach to the potential customers. According to an estimate, 2.95 billion users are expected to grow by 2020 worldwide.
Every year, just like a new-year resolution, entrepreneurs probably set their business objectives. It may be a sales target, enhancing operational areas, or anything that can help in making a company grow. Whatever the case may be, they need to build up a detailed plan to transform goals into reality, including tools which they may require during the course. Yes, tools! To get ahead of the game, you need specific tools. These tools may assist you in drawing more investors, speed up workflow, increasing productivity and sales.
Since the marketplace is flooded with so many tools that it can be a little difficult to select the right one for a business. Here are 7 critical questions to ask when choosing a social media tool for business.
- What are your needs?
There are many tools available in the market. But there will be only a few that can fulfill your needs. So before you decide on selecting a particular tool, it is essential to know why you need a tool for your business. Do you want to reduce the time spent on social media? Do you want to gather insightful analytics? Do you want to scale your social media operation? Have clarity on all these will help you in choosing the right tool. Apart from this, give a thought on what kind of value you want to add to the communities you get involved with online. Think about what stories you want to convey, how you are going to convey. What kind of audience you want to meet and the conversation you want to have.
- How much will it cost?
Ahh, price? It is an important part. We all have a set budget. The tools you choose should work as per your budget. Not every device or payment plan works for everyone. Some tools range from free to $500 a month or more. Depending upon your needs, make a list of tools that fit in your budget. Some companies offer discounts; some let you cancel the plan and reimburse for unused time.
- Does it support multiple platforms?
Some tools work only for a single platform, for instance, Sked Social. This tool is used just for Instagram. Depending upon your goal, you need to decide if you want to have a tool for a single platform or multiple platforms. In today’s competitive world, companies are making their presence in all the possible platforms. If you want to make a mark in the industry, it would be better to have social media presence on multiple platforms. To manage various accounts, you need to have a tool that can be used for various platforms. Before choosing any tool, make sure the particular tool supports all the platforms you have a presence on.
- Does it provide robust analytics?
Social media analytics is the heart of successful campaigns. It is essential to know the result of social media actions including ROI, engagement, views, customer loyalty. Analytics are crucial to getting an insight into your target audience. They help you to refine your ads by showing you which headline, ad types, images, and other factors that working best for your company. Almost all social media tools offer some analytics. In fact, the platforms like Facebook themselves offers basic analytics. Some tools offer more comprehensive analytics like tracking paid campaigns across all the platforms. If you are doing extensive advertising on social media, then this type of data is beneficial to you. So, it’s important to know your analytics needs before choosing any social media tool for your business.
- What kind of options does it offer for Publishing and Scheduling?
One of the most significant benefits of social media tools is that they let you publish and schedule content. It means you can create posts in advance and schedule them as per your requirement. Is it providing you access to design changes also, like logo insertion or creation or uploading file created from online logo creator tool or caption addition? The content or posts will get published on the assigned date and time. It will not only save your time but also helps you in identifying when your target audience is more responsive. Scheduling posts will also assist you in maintaining consistency, which is essential for building brand identity.
- How is the customer support?
Sometimes, things may break or go wrong. Unfortunately, no marketing solution is perfect. Customer support is probably the last thing that people think before making a purchase decision. But actually, having supportive customer service can make a huge difference. When you or your team use the tool for the first time, chances are they need help. For instance, you are just a few hours away from launching a campaign. You want to schedule campaigns on all social media platforms, but unfortunately, you or your team is facing some issue or finding it difficult to schedule posts. This is when you require the help of a reliable customer support team. Ask around, read reviews, and choose the best one.
- Does it provide training?
In addition to customer support, it is advisable to discover the other choices offered by a company like education, training, etc. These can also be critical elements in a decision-making process. Some companies provide detailed formal learnings to assist you to make a successful start. And with other popular tools, there are lots of third-party learning resources that you can take advantage of. What kind of training would you require? And are such resources available?
Conclusion:
Choosing the right social media tool is a significant investment in social media marketing strategy. A proper tool can help you save time and achieve your goals. That is why it’s essential to have a clear understanding of the things mentioned above before choosing any tool for your business.
We hope that this blog has helped you in making things a little clear. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comment section below.
