The Social Media Manager’s Toolkit

Everyone is online. Whether it’s a personal or professional profile, it can be incredibly difficult to stand out (let’s be honest- even to keep up).

1.Planoly

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Anyone who runs a professional social media account understands the frustration when you need a post right now.

Planoly is a platform that allows you to plan Instagram posts, monitor analytics, and build hashtag collections. It has made collaboration and scheduling easier than any other app I’ve used.

2.Canva

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Canva is a program that allows you to design graphics for any use. Whether you’re working on an Instagram post, Media Kits, or a Pinterest graphic, they have specific dimensions for any platform. It’s great for people who are unfamiliar with graphic design!

3.Captionr

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Try as one might, you can’t be witty all the time. Captionr is user-friendly, you just type in whatever keyword you’re looking for and it will bring up various captions based on your search. It’s great for when you’re in a pinch and need some inspiration.

The issue with Captionr, however, is that it only works when it wants to.

4. Lightroom

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Studies have shown that quality images are far more likely to draw traffic to your social media posts than not. Like most poor college students, I just have the free app, but Adobe Lightroom is an easy editing platform for your images. Here, you can develop and save presets to create a cohesive layout for your profiles.

5. Word Swag

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Word Swag is a useful way to add variety to posts, but specifically Instagram stories. I don’t use it very often because you have to pay for several of them, but every now and then it’s worth the investment!

6. Pexels

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Pexels is awesome for people like me who have ZERO photographic skills. It’s a site that has free stock photos like the one used in this post’s banner (Thanks, Pexels!).

7. Grammarly

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Grammarly is arguably the most important, especially if you write copy. It never hurts to have someone take a second look at your writing. Just copy & paste your caption/blog for a quick check on your grammar and spelling to avoid simple mistakes on your posts.

Update: I recently upgraded to Grammarly Premium and I highly recommend it! Not only does it scan and review my writing, but it also provides more in-depth feedback. Additionally, I suggest getting the Grammarly extension to your browser for faster checks.