It’s no secret that social media is becoming increasingly important as a method of connecting with current consumers and clients, attracting others and highlighting a company’s culture while promoting search engine optimization. But while it’s blatantly obvious that social media is growing exponentially, making it an important part of any company’s digital marketing presence, managing social media is an entirely different monster that many businesses and marketers struggle with.

While social media requires time and attention, there are several applications and tools that can make it much easier for larger and smaller companies to better manage their presence, compare campaigns and track efforts more effectively and efficiently.

Why Are Tools, Tracking and Data Important?

By understanding what is working, which efforts are garnering attention and what might not be as effective, marketers, social media managers and business leaders can gain a greater understanding of how to move forward. Developing a future plan for social media efforts can often gain momentum with the information provided from previous efforts and attempts as well as past failures.

Types of Valuable Tools and Applications

While there are a multitude of applications and tools that offer free support and usage, there are also some very valuable paid tools that may be worth the extra expense in order to reveal more information and data.

Socialoomph is one example of a quality tool that offers business owners and marketers a free service that helps with monitoring as well as posting. In addition, it helps marketers and managers track their efforts with reporting.

While Socialoomph offers users a simple, free experience, Sendible capitalizes on the entire spectrum of digital interactions with tools that help manage email marketing and newsletter campaigns. Marketers looking to focus on tracking their current and previous efforts while comparing variations will find Sendible extremely valuable.

Although some tracking and social media management tools may encompass a variety of outlets that have emerged on the interaction scene, Gremlin focuses on the big three: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. By focusing on the major social media outlets that many businesses have already experienced success with, Gremlin helps marketers stay focused and improve their efforts before expanding to include the multitude of other outlets that can be tempting.

SproutSocial is another positive application that focuses on the three major social media avenues that have really erupted in the past couple years. What is most unique and valuable about this tool is the ability to encompass keyword tracking, which can be important for general SEO in addition to social media efforts.

Lastly, one of the most popular and easy-to-use social media management tools that has become popular among marketers is Socialmotus. Tracking and comparing is one of the most vital components of this management tool, allowing marketers to really dig into the data and information regarding their social media campaigns; allowing for adjustments and improvements.