Just like any other profession, a social media specialist works best with the right web tools. When it comes to social media, I have a few personal favorites that always come in handy.

TweetDeck

TweetDeck, the classic scheduling platform for Twitter, has survived the increased use of other scheduling platforms over the years by maintaining its simplicity. This web tool isn’t necessarily pretty, but being able to have all the columns of any Twitter data you could imagine just a scroll away has kept this platform one of my favorites. TweetDeck also allows users to schedule gifs or emojis and monitor Twitter lists, which some scheduling platforms haven’t figured out yet.

Pros: Schedule tweets with gifs and emojis, free to use, manage multiple accounts at once, organized

Cons: Only usable for Twitter and the design could use some love

Google Trends

Knowledge is power and while Google Trends only tracks what people are searching on Google, it’s a great platform to learn about what people are interested in and what’s popular. Google Trends can tell me what is trending on the internet right now and how it has trended over time. It can even tell me where the most searches are coming from, breaking data down all the way to the city the searches were coming from.

When it comes to creating great social media content, it’s important to stay relevant and a part of the conversation. The data provided by Google Trends gives me extra insight on what people are interested in at a point in time, and most likely to engage with on social media. For example, Google Trends tells me that “NCAA bracket” and “march madness bracket” are the top search queries in Indianapolis for the past month. Knowing this, it would be in my best interest to make March Madness-themed content.

Pros: Provides a wealth of information, free to use

Cons: Doesn’t specifically track trending topics on social media

Canva

Now that I work with an amazing graphic designer, I don’t use Canva very much anymore. However, Canva was always a good quality, easy to use online graphic design tool to use when I was in a pinch. It’s proven by now that users engage more with social media that comes with photos, graphics, and other media. Canva allowed a novice graphic designer like me to make some great looking graphics for social media. They have templates and images you can use for free and offer endless customization options.

Pros: Easy to use, free to use (but there is a premium version with more options), offers templates, and illustrations

Cons: Quality is questionable for graphics larger than those for social media