Blogging for social media management tools. 10 non-marketing related ways
Social Media Management Apps are mainly meant to ease an account manager’s work, by better handling messages on social media channels.
Whereas most are destined to marketers, some of them have managed to reach an audience a lot vaster by regularly posting intriguing, out-of-the-ordinary articles that appeal to the average internaut.
We’ve taken a closer look at how some of these tools blog in order to gain and retain their customers.
Tools such as Hootsuite, SproutSocial and Conversocial offer useful tips on how to avoid social media pitfalls, whereas other, less conventional ones, have made a pledge out of writing on anything but marketing.
Hootsuite
They predominantly offer tips on how to properly set up a social media strategy. Most of the articles tackle tools that have nothing in common with scheduling (tools for evaluating content, ranking etc). Sometimes, they simply enlist different apps and “elegantly” mention their own at some point. Articles are well-documented and entirely worth your while. Some examples: 3 tips on how to discover the best time to tweet, Social network features you need to stop ignoring or The DOs and DON’Ts of social media automation.
Postheads
On the Postheads blog, articles are published seldomly (once a month or even once every three months) and they ONLY speak about the product, the updates and improvements performed, the launch of a new platform and the events the team attended.
Spredfast
Their brand name seems to come up in every post (but that’s no problem at all), and they tend to focus on catchier topics than most other apps. The following is by far our favourite one:
3 ways that social is saving TV ads from extinction. That’s a topic hard to avoid.
Other posts are simply self-promotional or mention their company and their team: “Meet Tim Barker, Spredfast’s new CFO”. At times, however, they write about success stories (in sharing and online marketing), such as 333 million Twitter votes for MTV Hottest: How it worked. A potential traffic booster.
Fanpage Karma
As it’s mostly dedicated to growth via Facebook marketing, this blog features daily posts on marketing and sharing, as well as on their own approach and product. They also have a weekly category entitled “Facebook Top Posts Week 41 (or any other number)”.
Examples of posts: TOP 10 Facebook KPIs – Critical Review – one of the older ones (published in Oct 2012), still offering valuable insights.
Sprout Social
Most of their posts are related to social media marketing. However, they’ll do the classic fun post from time to time, with titles such as 36 tools for creating unique images or (weirdly enough) 5 steps to getting your employees involved in social media. Another title we liked is A beginner’s guide to Facebook ads.
A nifty thing about this blog is they’ve grouped their posts in 2 large categories, named Topics and Networks. Big plus. While the first one contains a series of different subjects, the second one relies on the networks their articles are about. For instance, by clicking on the Facebook button, you’ll instantly be directed to all the posts that somehow relate to Facebook.
Conversocial
Some of our favourite posts come from Conversocial. Trying to escape the mindset of social media-related articles, this app blog comes with interesting insights from their clients, as well as from what’s trending at the moment. Our top choices: Are words on social media set in stone?, Does your organization need a separate Twitter handle to deliver effective social customer service? and The Two Types of Social Media Engagement.
Interesting video involving Hertz, one of their clients: How Hertz Provides 24/7 Social Customer Service Globally.
Swat.io
Really good reads coming from this Western-European social media management tool. As they claim it on their website, their foremost focus is helping teams in agencies and companies better manage their or their customers’ social media accounts.
Some of the articles stress the importance of using such a tool, others focus on social media tips that can massively ease the work of an account manager. Our favourite category analyses social media behaviours of various brands.
Top choices were How mobile operators do customer support on social media and Fast Foods, Fast Replies: Managing Social Media for Effective Customer Support.
Quintly
Blog articles cover their product and social media marketing practices. Our top choice was How To Create Your Own Formula For Social Media Success, a creative post that manages to mathematicise an area usually tackled in a more…literary perspective. Something to keep in mind for when distributing your blog article:
where S stands for the success metrics and W for the weight of each component of a certain social media network.
Qwaya
This blog strictly focuses on Facebook marketing and features problem/solution articles we found incredibly useful. Posts on how to decipher the new type of Facebook ads or on insight tips from some reputable Facebook ad users can easily help a Facebook marketing rookie (and not only).
Falcon Social
Fresh from the Scandinavian startup scene, Falcon Social addresses marketers and businesses looking to improve their internal social media management practices.
Articles discuss concepts such as ROI via social media or global trends for 2015. Our personal favourite: Caroline Henley’s article on the role of influencers in social media marketing. One of the many articles to look into.
