12 Top Social Media Marketing Resources to Keep Up with the Industry

These days, a solid social media presence is more than just helpful when it comes to brand building. 

Modern consumers use social media to research purchasing decisions and establish ongoing connections with brands. 

If your brand isn’t part of the mix, your bottom line probably isn’t where it should be, either.

A strong social media marketing campaign is an absolute must, but staying ahead of the game also takes a lot of time, energy, and work. 

However, the right social media marketing resources can help with many aspects of building and managing a social media presence, including data analysis, scheduling, keeping up with industry news, and more. 

Here are some of the best ones to try.

1. Social Champ

A successful social media presence is about more than what you post. When you post is just as important, so a consistent publishing schedule is crucial. 

Social Champ is a handy tool that simplifies the process of scheduling and managing all of your social media content in one easy place.

It’s easy to understand and master, so it’s appropriate for social media marketers of all experience levels. 

It also allows you to schedule weeks (or months) of content in advance, so you’re always taking advantage of the best posting times. 

Create on your own time and let Social Champ take care of the rest. Additional features include link shortening, link tracking, robust analytics, and more. 

Pricing starts at $26 for a pro account that supports up to twelve different social media accounts.

2. Social Media Explorer

The right free social media marketing resources can be absolute godsends when it comes to getting the most out of your campaigns, and Social Media Explorer is definitely one to bookmark. 

It does offer agency-based services that can help you streamline your strategies, but their blog is an even more valuable resource not to be missed.

Read instructional content, industry news, and more from multiple experienced authority writers. 

Many SME writers have even published their own books and resources on topics like digital marketing, social media, and more.

3. TL;DR Marketing Social Media Newsletter

If you’re like many social media marketers, you don’t exactly have a lot of free time on your hands to scour the internet in search of the latest industry news. 

Signing up for a trustworthy newsletter is a terrific way to make keeping up much more convenient, and the TL;DR Marketing Social Media Newsletter is a perfect fit.

TL;DR arrives in your inbox daily with a comprehensive round-up of industry updates, general social media marketing news, and other timely stories that may be of interest to marketers of all types.

All you need to do is sign up, sit back, and let TL;DR deliver all the details right to you each day.

4. SocialPilot

SocialPilot is another great pick for those searching for social media marketing resources that help take the guesswork and hassle out of making actual posts. 

It doesn’t just help you schedule your posts in advance, either. It can make your job easier by automating many aspects of the process.

Compose, personalize, and edit posts for each of your social media profiles as you schedule them. 

Easily edit links and images on the fly, as well as collaborate with multiple team members. You can use SocialPilot to pre-schedule hundreds of posts with ease, too.

SocialPilot is available to new users free for 14 days. After that, it’s $120 for a total of ten different social media channels.

5. Loomly

When it first appeared on the scene in 2016, Loomly was a very basic social media calendar designed to help busy social media marketers keep track of content production and plan future posts. 

However, it’s come a very long way since then.

Modern marketers can now also count on Loomly to help them schedule and publish posts across all of their most important social media channels. 

It even helps you brainstorm topics via content suggestions inspired by approaching holidays, current social trends, and more.

Try Loomly free for 15 days. Then enjoy access for up to six users or team members for $73.

6. Social Media Examiner

Looking for more fantastic free social media marketing resources to add to your ongoing reading list? 

Social Media Examiner is one of the most popular, widely trusted industry blogs in the entire world, so it absolutely deserves a spot on your running list.

Pop in periodically or subscribe to updates to receive valuable insider tips, up-to-the-minute data to help you maximize your campaigns, and more. 

There’s always something new to discover, learn, or inspire you.

7. Buffer

If you’ve been in social media marketing for long, then there’s a good chance you’re already somewhat familiar with Buffer.

Like many of today’s top social media marketing tools, one of its primary functions is to help you organize, schedule, and publish your posts, but it’s also so much more than that.

Now not only does Buffer help you publish your posts, but it takes some of the hassle and confusion out of staying on top of replies, as well. 

It also makes frequent, thorough data analysis a snap, so you can zero in quickly on what’s working and what isn’t.

How much Buffer will set you back depends on how many different social media channels you need to support. Pricing starts at just $6 per channel. If you need to support more channels, you can add them indefinitely at that price for each one.

8. Hootsuite

When it comes to reliable social media marketing resources with plenty of social proof behind them, it doesn’t get much more iconic than Hootsuite. 

Businesses of all sizes and across numerous industries have been using it to streamline their social media efforts ever since it first launched in 2008.

Hootsuite lets you manage, schedule, and monitor all of your social media posts in one simple, user-friendly place. 

Set up multiple customizable streams to stay on top of emerging social trends, stay informed about your competitors, keep up with what people are saying about your brands, and more.

Check Hootsuite out and see if it’s for you via a free trial period. After that, plans start at $19 per month for a single user, up to ten social media profiles, and unlimited scheduling capabilities.

9. AgoraPulse

Looking for a truly powerful social media marketing tool that really helps you take control of your brand’s social media presence on multiple levels?

You owe it to yourself and your business to give AgoraPulse a good, long look.

It helps you do everything you’d expect it to do, like scheduling multiple posts well in advance and assessing your progress via helpful analytics. 

However, it also helps you build your brand and generate additional interest in your products by creating special promotions, contests, fun interactive quizzes, and more.

AgoraPulse plans start at $89 monthly for the “medium” account and go all the way up to $459 for its “enterprise” options. A free trial is also available to help you assess your needs before pulling the trigger on a purchase.

10. BuzzSumo

Keeping up with a consistent posting schedule that covers all of your brand’s social media channels isn’t the only challenge the right social media marketing resources can help you solve. 

BuzzSumo can also take some of the confusion and hassle out of coming up with topics to post about.

Use BuzzSumo to get an excellent read on trending content your audience cares about, identify important or emerging thought leaders in your niche, brainstorm new takes on classic topics, and more.

Try BuzzSumo for free. Then browse pricing plans ranging from $99 monthly for a pro account to $499 monthly for an enterprise option.

11. FollowerWonk

Before you can really dig deep into developing a winning social media marketing campaign, you need to get to know your audience as well as possible. 

FollowerWonk is a handy tool from the geniuses at Moz that helps brands on Twitter understand their audience a whole lot better.

It lets you compare and contrast any Twitter account to any other to identify useful overlaps and pinpoint important influencers to include in your campaign. 

You can also use it to get a solid breakdown of any account’s audience, whether that’s your own or your competition’s. Learn who they are, where they live, their tweeting patterns, etc.

12. ShareIt

A digital marketer can never have too many free social media marketing resources, especially any that make coming up with a steady stream of fantastic content ideas easier and more intuitive. 

If you agree, then ShareIt is one option you’ll love having around when you find yourself facing a creative block.

Browse the latest and greatest articles on the web about any topic or niche. Curate and share great content directly to all your favorite social pages, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. 

You get access to terrific automatic topic suggestions related to topics you search, as well.

Now that you know about some of the most useful, versatile social media marketing resources out there today, it’s time to think about how you can take the rest of your strategy to the next level. 

Great social media marketing is all about engagement — getting your audience’s attention and holding it long enough to get your message across.

These days, video is where it’s at when it comes to making a splash with your audience. Not sure where to start? 

Take a closer look at our user-friendly video content template. 

It comes complete with everything you need to start translating your ideas into dynamic, engaging video content for social media that gets results. Download it for free and give it a try!