Social media marketing is becoming increasingly important for businesses because it is now a lot easier to reach more people and increase the flow of business through the power of the internet. The below guide is designed to provide you with an effective roadmap for how to use social media tools such as Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, SocialBee and Sendible, as well as a number of plugins that can be used on WordPress.

Introduction to Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is managing branding and marketing of products, services and brands on various social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Targeting prospective buyers and customers through social media plays a vital role in increasing brand awareness, more website traffic, and increased sales. But the core of it is audience understanding, content creation and the right tools to manage and analyze your social media marketing efforts.

• Hootsuite
• Buffer
• Sprout Social
• SocialBee
• Sendible
• CoSchedule
• WordPress Plugins

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a popular social media tool which allows you to schedule posts, track your social media activity and analyse performance across multiple social networks. Its features include:

• Post scheduling and auto-scheduling
• Analytics and reporting
• Team collaboration tools
• Integration with various social networks

Pricing for Hootsuite starts at $19 a month, with a free version available as well. Hootsuite also has a free WordPress plugin to handle your social media streamlines right from your website.

Buffer

Buffer, another popular social media management tool, offers features like scheduling posts, planning content and analysing performance:

• Simple and intuitive interface
• Detailed analytics and insights
• Team collaboration features
• Integration with major social networks

Buffer’s pricing starts at $15 a month, and it also offers a free version. Like Hootsuite, Buffer includes a WordPress plug-in.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is an expensive social media management software designed for companies that need advanced features and analytics:

• Advanced social listening tools
• Comprehensive analytics and reporting
• Robust scheduling and publishing tools
• CRM and customer engagement tools

Sprout Social costs $89 per month with no free version, which make it recommended for bigger businesses and enterprises. It features a variety of different social media solutions.

SocialBee

SocialBee is a social media tool for time-efficient social media management and content sharing. Some features include:

• Content categorization
• Automated scheduling
• Analytics and performance tracking
• Integration with various social media platforms

SocialBee is $19 a month and also has a free version. It lacks a WordPress plugin, but is still a strong social media content manager.

Sendible

Sendible is a comprehensive tool for managing social media campaigns, offering features like:

• Advanced post scheduling
• Social media monitoring
• Analytics and reporting
• Content curation and suggestions

Plans start at $29 per month, and both the Free and Pro accounts come with a handy WordPress plugin, making it an ideal social media tool for business websites.

CoSchedule

This all-in-one marketing calendar by CoSchedule helps you manage your social media and content promotion. Features include:

• Unified marketing calendar
• Content organization and planning
• Team collaboration tools
• Analytics and performance tracking

Slightly more expensive at $29 per month and without a free version, CoSchedule lets you schedule and manage content directly from your WordPress site through a plugin.

WordPress Plugins for Social Media Marketing

For those using WordPress, several plugins can enhance your social media marketing efforts:

Social Snap

Social Snap is the most powerful social sharing plugin for WordPress, that helps you grow your traffic and engagement. With its fantastic design and features, your readers can easily share your content.

Revive Old Posts

Revive Old Posts allows you to schedule your old posts to go out on social media, which pulls in traffic from your evergreens. It has a free version, and it’s my favourite tool for keeping our traffic humming in the long term.

Blog2Social

Blog2Social is a schedule and share social media tool that allows you to deploy a blog post to your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms. The tool offers an easy-to-use dashboard interface and also has a freemium pricing structure.

Jetpack

Jetpack is a very popular plugin – developed by WordPress.com and endorsed by Matt Mullenweg – that comes with features to include sharing functionality from social media, as well as security and performance improvements. It is available as a free plugin.

Monarch

Designed by Elegant Themes, Monarch is a plugin used to add stylish social sharing buttons to your website and – although you can’t download a free version – it’s certainly one of the most popular social sharing plugins available.

Simple Social Icons

Simple Social Icons is a super-lightweight plugin that turns your website into a social-media-enabled one. It’s free and highly customisable, which make it a great choice if you need basic social media integration.

WP Social Sharing

WP Social Sharing is a free plugin that adds responsive social sharing buttons to your posts and pages. It’s really easy to configure and works with many social networks.

NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster (SNAP)

SNAP automatically publishes your posts to major social networks. Unlike most of the other tools here, it doesn’t offer a free plan, but its automation makes it a worthwhile asset for managing your social media.

Creating a Social Media Marketing Strategy

Developing a successful social media marketing strategy involves several key steps:

1. Define Your Goals

First, define the goals of your social media activity by establishing quantitative metrics such as increasing brand awareness, driving traffic to your website, or generating leads or sales.

2. Understand Your Audience

Research your target audience – including details such as age, gender, location, interests and online habits – to help you score your content and get it in front of the right people, on the right platforms.

3. Choose the Right Platforms

So not all social media platforms are created equal. Choose the ones that suit your business and where your audience is active.

4. Create Engaging Content

The success of social media marketing is about content. You have to create different types of content, such as blog posts, stories, infographics, visuals and videos, to build up a fan base.

5. Schedule and Automate

(My favourite tools for this are Hootsuite, Buffer or SocialBee.) Make sure to schedule posts in advance and maintain a regular posting schedule. You can automate a lot of the work this way.

6. Monitor and Analyze

Use analytics tools – eg, via Sprout Social and Sendible – to track your performance through engagement, reach and conversion. Be persistent, flexible and creative. This is an iterative process. Stay focused on your goals, but also be prepared to revise them as you experiment with different ideas. Don’t be afraid to try something crazy once in a while.

7. Adjust Your Strategy

Of course, social media is never static. Be ready to tweak your strategy according to where it is going. Your data and the evolution of social media will guide you.

Integrating Social Media with WordPress

By integrating your WordPress-based business with social media marketing with social networks like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, you can expand your online presence and integrate your marketing. Several plugins, such as Social Snap, Blog2Social and Jetpack, can help you automate social media posts, add social buttons and track your performance.

To sum up, digital marketing through social media is a must for all the businesses due to the numerous benefits which it can provide. Depending on the tools that businesses are using, all they need is a plan that helps them reach the appropriate audience, build their brand’s visibility, and foster growth. This can be done whether you use tools like Hootsuite and Buffer on standalone basis or couples with them with social media plugins integrated in the WordPress. The secret here is to be consistent, interact with your users, and never leave it overnight, but always monitor your activities to identify ways to improve them.

Now you are armed with these insights and tools, you’re ready to take on the ever-changing world of social media marketing and get ahead of the competition when it comes to your business goals.