The Social Media Apps and Tools I Intend to Keep Using in 2022

One of the problems with social media that many of my clients come to me for, is how long it can take to get your posts online! Whether it’s sourcing images, posting them or trying to get your head around how well they’re performing, social media marketing can easily take hours out of your working day.

But it doesn’t have to!

There are so many apps and tools out there to help you manage your social media. In truth, there are probably so many now that it’s become difficult to see the wood for the trees and establish which ones you should be using to save time and get better results.

So, here are my tried and tested favourite social media apps that I fully intend to keep using well into 2022 and beyond!

Best overall scheduling app – Buffer

Buffer is by far my most preferred 3^rd party scheduling app, particularly for LinkedIn! Buffer allows you to schedule more than 5 posts (which Hootsuite has recently introduced as a new limit on their free version this year), which as the idea is to batch write and schedule in advance enables you to do just that.

Buffer is easy to use, a good planner and nicely laid out. It feels intuitive, easy to get to grips with and allows you to get up to speed quickly which is exactly what you’re looking for with a social media app intended to save you time and energy.

I personally just use the free version as it’s fine for my needs.

A popular alternative to Buffer has always been Hootsuite, but due to the recent limit on posts and other restrictions, it’s something I’m not using so much. If you schedule everything on a Monday morning and don’t run posts on a weekend then the 5 post limit is probably fine for you but if you want to schedule further in advance than that, Buffer is likely to be the better app for you.

Best app for Instagram – Later

Instragram hasn’t been a feature of scheduling apps for a long time as it was designed for sharing photos in real time. Thankfully, a lot of apps and tools do allow you to schedule Instagram posts in advance now, and my favourite has to be Later.

Later’s free version enables you to upload and schedule Instagram posts in advance, but it also allows you to set an alert to your phone to manually post instead. This can be a useful feature if you prefer spontaneous or “out and about” style Instagram posts.

Later can be used for Facebook posts and other channels too, although as I’ve said above, I do prefer Buffer for that.

Best scheduling app for Twitter – Tweetdeck

Twitter actually acquired Tweetdeck which means you know it has to be good, but it also ensures that the app will always work well with Twitter despite updates and algorithm changes.

I find Tweetdeck to be a wonderful tool for scheduling Twitter posts as it’s easy to use and there is absolutely no limit on how many posts you can schedule at one time. So, if your social media marketing is something you can only summon the energy for every couple of months, this is likely to be the app you’re looking for!

The only feature that’s missing from Tweetdeck right now is a GIF section (something Hootsuite and other social media apps have), so I hope to see this added soon!

Best for quirky social media posts – Boomerang

Boomerang is actually an app from Instagram that enables you to create a short video of photos stitched together that play forward and backward and forward and – think of a boomerang and you’ve got it!

It’s great for before and after style photos, for showcasing products, or just getting a little creative and quirky with your marketing!

Best app for Facebook – Facebook Business Suite

Sometimes native is best, and Facebook has done a pretty good job with their scheduling tools and the other features of their Business Suite. Although there is a slight issue with posting to Instagram at the moment (sometimes the photo will post but not the accompanying text!), it still posts to Facebook fine.

There is no limit to how many posts you can schedule, and you can see your published posts at a glance which can give you a quick snapshot of how well they’ve performed.

I’m not keen on the insights information from Facebook Business suite though as it gives you limited information. I find it better to go into your Facebook business page and view the insights from there instead.

Best social media creation tool – Canva

Canva is my absolute favourite tool for creating social media posts. It has so many design options and new templates are getting added all the time! I personally pay for Canva Pro which I believe is fantastic value for money as the extra features are so useful – like the resizing tool so you can get each graphic just right for each social media platform.

Canva is incredibly easy to use as well. You don’t need advanced graphic design skills here, just an idea of what you what your finished post to look like.

 Best royalty free image website – Unsplash

There are a lot of copyright free image websites online, but I personally find Unsplash to be the best. They have a good selection of photos for marketing purposes, and they seem to get added to a lot more frequently than other online image collections.

I hope this blog has helped you discover a new app, tool or website to help you withy our social media marketing in 2022. Do you have a particular favourite I haven’t mentioned? Drop a comment on my social media or get in touch to let me know, I’d love to hear about it!