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I have personally used at least a half a dozen different social media management tools over the years, including Hootsuite, Sprout Social, CoSchedule, Buffer, Sendible, Agorapulse and several others; however, I am currently using SmarterQueue, and that is the one I recommend above all others.
Just as with most tools, there are many that can get the job done; however, SmarterQueue is hands-down the best one for my needs … and it is pretty easy to use if you know a few best practice tips, which I am going to share with you below!
SmarterQueue … The Smarter Social Media Management Tool!
As soon as I tried SmarterQueue, I knew it was time to make the switch. Although I have tried many social media management tools over the years, my go-to was using Buffer with Hiplay so that I could automatically re-post “evergreen” content to the Buffer queue. I eventually switched to Agorapulse because it replaced both of these tools. Agorapulse also monitors mentions and allows you to reply without logging into each social media platform.
But, then, I found SmarterQueue, and I haven’t looked back since!
In a nutshell, SmarterQueue is smart … real smart. It is more powerful and provides more value for the money than any other social media management tool I have ever tried … and I have tried them all!
With SmarterQueue, you can connect your:
- Facebook Business Pages and Groups
- Twitter Profiles
- Instagram Profiles (That’s right, direct publishing to Instagram!)
- Pinterest Profiles
- LinkedIn Profiles and Companies
- Google My Business Profiles (Currently in BETA)
Plans are based on the number of social profiles you connect as well as the number of posts per profile per day and the total number of posts in your queue. Each page or profile that you connect is considered one “social profile” So, for example, if you manage 5 Facebook Business pages, 2 Twitter accounts, and 1 Google My Business profile, that would be 8 social profiles total.
Here are (some of) the reasons that I like SmarterQueue above all the other social media management tools that I have tried over the years:
SmarterQueue is truly an all-in-one solution.
With SmarterQueue, you get importing, publishing, listening, replying, reporting, and engaging capabilities (plus much more) in every plan they offer. SmarterQueue easily takes the place of two or even three tools that you would need using many other popular social media management tools on the market.
SmarterQueue has smarter scheduling options and evergreen post recycling.
Just as two social media strategies are alike, it is nice to have scheduling options that are super flexible! With SmarterQueue, you can create evergreen posts that can be recycled so that your queue never runs out! You can even create variations of your evergreen posts to really maximize this feature. In a nutshell, SmarterQueue takes the headache out of scheduling content.
And, whether you’re a scheduler or a queuer (or both), you’ll be able to upload a mountain of content at once with their bulk uploader!
SmarterQueue Best Practice Tips
Okay, now that I have convinced you to give SmarterQueue a try, here are a few best practice tips to get you started:
Keep your queue categories simple.
Rather than trying to sort in categories based on topics, sort based on the source or type of your content. Here are a few examples:
For one of my clients, I post about their social sharing tool Social Warfare. The queue categories I use include:
- Blog (this is where I queue all of their evergreen blog content)
- Curated (all of the evergreen content that I post from other people’s blogs goes here)
- Features (this is where I queue promotional posts talking about their features)
- Pro Tips (this is where I queue tips for and from our users)
- Reviews (this is where I queue testimonials from clients)
- Sales (this is where I queue content when we are having a sale)
I am also working on a Quotes queue. Honestly, I may have too many already … the simpler you can keep this, the better.
The real value of creating your queues this way becomes more obvious when you start creating time slots for your posts. Here is a screenshot of my morning “posting plan” looks like for this client:
As you can see, the various types/sources of content are spread out throughout the day/week so that there is a nice healthy mix being posted to their various social profiles.
Obviously, you would have far fewer time slots for Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. than you would for Twitter.
Another thing I like about SmarterQueue is that you can pause your entire queue with one click. Besides the obvious such as pausing your posts during holidays or times of national tragedies, there can be other reasons to pause, such as during a new product launch when you want to keep all communication channels free of anything except announcements and support. Most of the other social media management tools I have tried do not have the ability to pause with just one click!
Use the Bulk Import feature.
You can import your content (even images!) via a .csv file, Excel, or Google Sheet.
Before you schedule them, be sure to review each of your posts and edit them if necessary. This is a great time to add mentions, emojis, and hashtags if you haven’t already.
I find that the .csv file is great for uploading client testimonials, and other content that you have been gathering. It is also great if you want to do a campaign of posts that will be scheduled at specific times. Last, but certainly not least, it is great if you need to have posts pre-approved by a client. Give them the spreadsheet, let them make changes as necessary, and then upload. Just be sure to grab the template from SmarterQueue so you have everything in the right format.
You can also enter a website or RSS feed to pull in your blog posts, as well as to curate from popular blogs around the web. Set up a monthly task reminder for yourself to pull in some fresh content.
Download the Chrome browser extension.
SmarterQueue makes it easy to curate content as you are browsing the web by simply clicking the browser extension and then filling in the form that pops up to add it to the queue.
Take advantage of SmarterQueue’s smart reporting features.
From time to time, you may want to remove under-performing content from your queues. You can do this using the content reports data to guide you. Export the CSV of your report, filter out the poor performers, and upload this very same file via bulk upload. That way, you will have your best-performing posts bringing you even more engagement!
These are just a few tips to get you started! If you know of any other great ones that you would like to share, feel free to post them in the comments below.
SmarterQueue: The Smartest Social Media Management Tool on the market today!
SmarterQueue offers a free 14-day trial without a credit card. If you are a small business owner managing your own social media profiles, the solo or business plan ($16.99/mo and $33.99/mo paid annually) should be all you need. The solo plan will allow you to connect up to 4 social profiles and have up to 500 posts in your queue, which should be plenty for most bloggers or small businesses. You can also upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time without penalty.
Click here to get an extra two free weeks on a trial of SmarterQueue today!
