Working in an agency means you need to have a good grip on everything going on at any given moment. Here at VSSL, we all have our own ways of keeping our workload organized. From lists, to sticky notes, to super complex excel spreadsheets, we’ve got things nailed down pretty tight. As Social Media Manager at VSSL Agency, I have found a few different tools that I use that get me through my workday. They make managing several different clients on multiple platforms so much easier and, if you like organization, are really enjoyable. I pulled together a list of five tools that I use on a daily basis as a social media manager and why I can’t live without them:

1- Post Scheduler

If I were to upload every post I make each day on the native platform for each client, I’d be losing a good chunk of my morning tied to my phone and computer. Not to mention how tedious it would be to switch from program to program, grabbing the text then pulling the photo with the correct pixel size, uploading it to each platform… it sounds like a nightmare. Thankfully, we use a post scheduler here to keep things in order. My favorite is Sprout Social because of how in-depth the program is. It gives us the opportunity to have an open dialogue with clients directly in the program and does something that not a lot of scheduler programs can do: post directly onto Instagram for you.

2- Strategy Planner

I may be a little more Type-A than others, but I really love a good spreadsheet. I’ve found that keeping everything organized and updated in a Google Sheet on my bookmarks bar allows for me to easily reference strategies, monthly goal progress, as well as track content themes throughout the month. It also serves as a great at-a-glance calendar for the current month to help keep us on track with posting success and ensuring that we aren’t over-saturating a client’s feed with the same topic.

3- Hashtag Manager

I came across a great app-based social management tool a few years ago that has some incredibly useful features that I still use today! The app Plann is primarily an Instagram scheduler, but features a robust hashtag manager component that lets me compile hashtags that our posts have a good chance of trending in and allows me to save them into easy access clipboards within the app. This way, all I need to do is click “copy” and I can easily take those 25-30 hashtags over our latest Instagram post. Having a way to manage your hashtags not only keeps your hashtags fresh and up-to-date, but it allows you to easily edit them and test them against each other to measure performance and more.

4- Copy Workspace

Having a dedicated place to work on copy has been huge for me. I am not a big fan of writing captions directly into the scheduler because I like to have things planned out ahead of time. Enter: NoteJoy. Aside from the pleasantly simple aesthetics of the program, I love that I am able to divide each of our clients into their own Notebook to keep everything separate. The functions within it give me full control over my copy brainstorming sessions so I can insert photos, links and other reminders to keep in mind while I plan. Having a workspace dedicated specifically to writing copy allows me to really branch out all the potential ideas I may have for a post or campaign text and see all of it in one place instead of writing and deleting with each revision.

5- Photo Editor

Every social media manager needs a quick, on-the-go photo editor that they can use for those last minute uploads. Our team recently fell in love with Adobe Lightroom. It’s so easy to use and has saved us hours in our editing process by utilizing their preset feature. Having a photo editor that carries the same functionality on both desktop and mobile gives you that ability to fine tune any post. This accessibility has really changed the game for my approach to Social Media Management as well because it allows for an element of consistency to be implemented across a client’s social feed and ensures that the photos or graphics being uploaded actually are the best versions produced because revisions can be made at every step of the process. 

My process for SM management has evolved over the last few years in relation to my needs in social media. I have noticed that while the program I use may change, the concept behind these five tools are things I always rely on. I see them as key components in my day to day life as a social media manager and definitely could not do my job to the best of my ability without them in my arsenal.

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