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I remember when there was one social media channel. One.

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Media Channel

Companies were still buying billboards and full-page newspaper ads. Yes, that’s me in the corner relaxing in my sarcophagus, passing time with my abacus, and sending emails from my Hotmail account.

But I digress.

Then the last decade happened and then the deluge. Then the big cultural shift. And then every kid on the block had a Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and insert 50 other social media channels.

Here’s the thing. Social media is work. You have to create content, post it, monitor it, optimize it, and then you hope and wait for the magic — a connection with your customer. But then…there’s, you know, the rest of your business to run. Emails to respond to. Problems to solve. A life to live with your friends and loved ones.

Imagine if your load was a little lighter. Imagine if some parts of your day were a little easier. Enjoy this resource list — my top ten must-use social media automation tools. What’s automation? Technology that takes care of some of the work — leaving you time for what matters most: your business.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=“no-margin“][vc_column][image_carousel_alternative images=“1320,1321″ onclick=“lightbox“ items=“1″ items_on_small_screens=“3″ navigation=“1″ slide_by=“by_page“ navigation_style=“2″ slide_number_status=“1″ style=“1″ fade=“1″ lazyload=“1″ img_size=“large“ css_class=“dark“][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=“no-margin“][vc_column][vc_column_text]I’ve used a lot of tools over the years and these are some of my favorites:

1. Crowdfire

Crowdfire started out as one of the many apps that tracked your unfollows on social media. It’s since evolved into your personal marketing sidekick. Not only does it allow you to view new unfollows and schedule your content on Instagram and Twitter, but it also analyzes millions of data points to serve up daily prescriptive advice on growing your following through its Clean-Engage-Grow philosophy.

2. Post Planner

Struggling to get engagement on social media? Can’t find the right content for your audience? Post Planner helps you find, post, and schedule smart, quality content. You can use Post Planner for Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. With plans that start at only $3/month and a 30-day free trial, you can:

• Create a personal content library for your audience based on industry and interests by keyword, hashtag, and Facebook/Twitter handle searches
• Get predictive about future content performance and audience engagement via Post Planner’s analytics tool. Content performance is no longer a mystery
• Schedule new posts and recycle popular evergreen posts. Post Planner’s algorithm creates ideal posting times based on content performance. Consider your content execution strategy, as Olivia Pope would say, handled

3. Buffer

For me, Buffer was my OG of content scheduling. I used the FREE service (you can view plus-ups here) to schedule posts on Twitter, source new articles I could share with my followers, and track the performance of my content. Over the past few years, Buffer added more social media channels to their arsenal. Now, you can use it for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, G+, and I hear Pinterest is on the horizon.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]