How to Breeze Through Your Social Media Activity, Effectively and Efficiently

Breezing through your social media activity is all about strategic time management.

What does this mean for you?

It means staying focused and setting a time limit for each profile. Now is not the time to fall down the rabbit hole of addictive Youtube videos. These profiles can be fun, but we’re on a mission.

Remember, the point is to keep these profiles consistently active for branding purposes and, eventually, for ranking in search results.

Today I’m going to give tips on how to efficiently engage on Crunchbase, Google+, Youtube, About.me, and Instagram. If you're interested, I also have tips for Twitter as well as for LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Crunchbase

Crunchbase is one of the easiest profiles to keep active once you understand what’s going on. All you do is update sections on your profile with relevant content about yourself -- images, news, previous jobs, organizations, etc.

In my experience, people find one aspect of Crunchbase confusing -- the distinction between a user and a profile.

Here’s the deal.

Crunchbase is a database of startups, people, and organizations. When you sign up with crunchbase, you sign up as a user. Users don’t exist in Crunchbase’s database -- they merely exist to create and edit the pages that do exist there. When you first sign up, you have a user but no profile.

So the first thing you need to do as a user is build yourself a profile page. You’ll effectively be putting yourself in Crunchbase’s database. (There's a chance you might already exist in the database because anyone can contribute to anyone's profile. If that's the case, then just contribute to your already-existing page).

Let’s get started.

If you haven’t done so already, hit the + symbol at the top. Select Person and fill in the appropriate sections with your name and info.

Once you’re done, click the Update section in the first box and connect your LinkedIn and Twitter.

Now update your Personal Details with your bio and any relevant aliases.

If you still have time, go fill out some of the other sections -- Education, Jobs, Images, etc.

For the Jobs section, you may need to first add your company if it doesn’t already exist in Crunchbase’s database. For the News section, even if you don’t have any legit news about you, you can still add your most recent blog post there.

Get as much done as you can but remember to leave some tasks for you to do over the next few weeks. Consistent activity is key to good rankings!

Youtube

By now, you should have already filled out your Youtube profile. You can check this by going to My Channel in the dropdown menu. Fill out the description and add a link if you haven’t done so already.

If you have video content, you should spend this time uploading 1 or 2 of the videos and filling them out with descriptions and titles that include your main keyword.

Otherwise, playlists are the way to go. In the dropdown, click Playlists and create a new one.

In my experience, these playlists can actually rank well for your name, so include your main keyword in the title. For example I might name one Ryan Erskine | Personal Branding. Then add an engaging description.

Finally, search for some videos that fall in line with your brand and your new playlist. Hit the thumbs up to like them, Subscribe if you want, comment when appropriate, and hit the “+ Add To” to add them to your playlist.

Google+

You have three tasks today for Google+.

First, search for folks to add to your “Circles” as you would for LinkedIn connections.

Second, find the About tab and fill out as much as you can. The more the better, but it’s especially important to tackle your image, name, bio, location, and add your website as a link.

Third, go to Posts and share your most recent article as well as a couple of other interesting articles in your industry.

About.me

By now, you should have already filled out your About.me profile. If not, take the time to do so now. Fill out as much as you can, including Name, Image, Subtitle, Bio, Current Role, Education, Location, and Links to My Work.

Make sure you click Publish Backstory or else all that info won’t show up.

Now go to Edit → Info and fill in those sections.

Want a quick trick to make your profile even more SEO-friendly? Simply highlight over your name and click the link symbol to type in your website. A nice “dofollow” link for Google.

I would recommend clicking Unpublish Collections at the bottom of your page. It’s just a popularity contest that shows who complimented you and who you complimented.

Finally, let’s get some views on your profile! When you compliment other folks’ pages, they’ll receive a notification and will be more likely to check you out.

There are two efficient ways to go about doing this.

1. You can type an industry in the search field and see loads of people related to your field. Skim through their pages briefly and compliment the best ones.

2. Alternatively, you can click the Discover button up top and quickly scroll through loads of Staff Picks, Featured, and Popular profiles, complimenting them in the process.

Try out a mix of the two and let me know if you find any other best practices.

Instagram

Hopefully you’ve already filled in your profile with an image, SEO-friendly username, quick description and your website. If not, do that now.

Today we’re going to start posting and really focus on building your following.

First, figure out the first image you’d like to post. Perhaps you took one recently or have some saved in your digital library.

Do a little hashtag research. I like to take note of what others in the industry are using to index their posts and supplement that with what I find on Hashtagify.me.

Post your image. Use a filter if you want. Add an engaging description. Then, add a comment to include your hashtags. Doing this in the comments section means you won’t be clogging up your description with them.

Now let’s tackle your followers.

First I’d advise connecting to Facebook if you have one. This will allow you to quickly follow all your friends and will encourage them to follow you back.

Then search for one of the hashtags you used. Find a beautiful photo, click the user and quickly double-tap a bunch of your favorites before following him or her. This will get you more prominently on their radar. Do this as much as you can within your time limit.

Finally, download Followers+. It’s a great tool to track who’s not following you back. This allows you to follow folks in the industry freely and check back later to see who you can trim.

NOTE ABOUT POSTING: It’s much more important to keep your image quality high than it is to post frequently. Aim to post once every few days or, if you get really into it, try to limit yourself to 2-3 times a day. Anything more tends to be seen as spammy.

An Expert Starter Guide to LinkedIn and Pinterest

Do you have a LinkedIn profile?

Chances are it could use some help.

Today, I'm going to show you how to really take advantage of that social network -- how to set up a custom URL, make your profile completely public, and much more.

I'll also show you some neat Pinterest tricks while we're at it.

Want to set up analytics? How about a tool to grow your audience and schedule out pins at the best times?

Let's get right to it...

 

7 LinkedIn Steps

You probably already optimized your LinkedIn profile back on Day 6 but here are some important things to double-check an go through now:

1. Create a custom LinkedIn URL using only your name (see below)

2. Try to get your main keyword (your name) as close to the beginning of your summary section as possible. 

3. Use your name naturally throughout your summary section a few times.

4. Fill out your job experience section and write a few sentences about your experience at each position. Remember to write in the third person.

5. Fill out as many sections as makes sense for you. Consider honors and awards, education, certifications, projects, and publications.

6. Connect with as many people as you can -- peers, classmates, people from a previous job, etc.

7. Make sure your profile is set to public to increase chances of ranking (see below)

Creating Your Custom LinkedIn URL

1. Look toward the bottom of the first box -- the one with your name and photo in it.

2. Find your LinkedIn URL to the left of “Contact Info”

3. Hover over it, and click the gear to the right of the URL

Then…

1. Look toward the top right, where it says “Your Public Profile URL”

2. Click the pencil to the right of your URL

3. Type in your main keyword and hit Save

Making Your Profile Public

1. Look toward the bottom of the first box -- the one with your name and photo in it.

2. Find your LinkedIn URL to the left of “Contact Info”

3. Hover over it, and click the gear to the right of the URL

Then...

1. Find the section under “Your Public Profile URL” that says "Customize Your Public Profile."

2. Check "make my profile visible to everyone" and check off as many items as you are comfortable with. The more you have public, the more items Google can crawl, and the better your profile will be for ranking purposes.

5 Pinterest Steps

By now, you should already have filled out your Pinterest settings -- custom URL, Bio, Location, and Website. If you haven’t, do that first. Then follow these steps:

1. Set up Pinterest Analytics (see below).
2. Verify your URL on the backend (see below).
3. Create at least 3 boards (see below).
4. Set up Viralwoot to grow your Pinterest following and reach (see below).
5. Set up Tailwind and schedule out pins for the week (see below).

1. Setting up Pinterest Analytics

For some reason, Pinterest only allows you to track analytics if you are set up as a business account. Why? Who knows.

1. Visit the Pinterest for Business page and click Convert now to convert your account

2. Use your main keyword (i.e. your name) for the Business Name

3. Pick a business type (Professional, perhaps?) and fill in your website

 

2. Verifying your URL on the backend

1. Use this guide to verify your URL if you have a Squarespace website.

2. Use this guide if you have a Wordpress website.

 

3. Creating Some Boards

Like Instagram, Pinterest is a fun, visual network. It’s all about getting creative and finding a more whimsical side to your professional brand.

Look at the top categories and brainstorm how your brand can fit in with those categories. Then create at least 3 boards with engaging names, descriptions, and relevant categories.

4. Setting up Viralwoot

Viralwoot is a tool that allows you to quickly grow your Pinterest following and reach. This is especially helpful when starting a new account. Just follow these steps:

1. Go to viralwoot.com and sign up for free

2. Log in and connect your Pinterest account

3. Go to Your Interests (under your name at the top) and fill it out

4. Go to Account Settings (same place) and change Seeds/New Follower to 10

5. Click Earn Seeds on the left and click Follow Pinners

6. Change the Category to something that interests you and follow 10 new users. That’s the limit, so try to follow users that give you the most “seeds.” Seeds are a form of currency, and you’ll want to rack up as much as you can here so you can pay others for following you! See how that works?

5. Setting Up Tailwind & Scheduling Out Pins

Tailwind is an amazing scheduling tool. It lets you pin at different times throughout the day and night -- especially optimal times -- to give your pins the best chance for engagement. This is key for great search results. You only get 100 free scheduled pins in the trial, but that’s good enough for us during this 28 day challenge.

1. Go to tailwindapp.com and log in with Pinterest

2. Google “Tailwind Publisher” and download the Chrome extension

3. Then open up your Tailwind account, click Publish → Schedule Pins to see how many slots you have in your schedule for the upcoming week. That’s how many pins you’re going to pin right now for your 3 boards.

There is only one rule. Instead of pinning a pin by hitting the Pin it button, you need to schedule it by hitting the Tailwind sail. That’s it -- have fun! You can always check back in Tailwind’s Schedule Pins section to see how many more you need, change time slots, or shuffle your queue.

How to Set Up Your Twitter From Scratch (The Right Way)

A whole day dedicated to Twitter?

Yes — if we set things up the right way now, we’ll move a lot faster when we want to quickly schedule tweets, find relevant influencers, and grow our following.

If you haven’t registered and optimized your Twitter profile yet, follow the steps from Day 6 first.

Okay let’s begin:

1. Set up Twitter Analytics

Go to analytics.twitter.com. You have to actually visit this page to tell Twitter to start tracking your analytics. Why don’t they do this automatically? Who knows.

2. Set up Buffer & Get the Extension

Buffer is an application we’ll use to schedule out tweets and find the best times to tweet.

Go to buffer.com → Sign in with Twitter to create your account.

(If you’re truly starting from scratch and have 0 followers, you’ll need to sign up via email.)

Connect your LinkedIn or Facebook accounts when prompted. This will allow you to post to those profiles from Buffer as well.

Put in your time zone and let Buffer figure out your optimal times to post. Choose how many times you want to post -- 2 per day is a safe choice for now.

Tracking links is good. Enter your email to finish up.

You should get prompted to add the Buffer extension. Go ahead and do that now.

3. Set up Hootsuite & Get the Hootlet Extension

You can only schedule 10 tweets with the free Buffer account. I’ve never had an issue with this, but if you’re feeling frustrated, you can use Hootsuite’s scheduling system. It’s not as user friendly but it gets the job done.

Go to Hootsuite, and sign in with Twitter.

Also install the Hootlet extension, which will allow you to schedule out retweets.

4. Set up RightRelevance & Add Content Feeds

RightRelevance is one of my favorite resources for aggregating quality content all in one place.

Go to Rightrelevance.com and connect to Twitter using the button up at the top.

After you’ve signed in, you’ll be prompted to enter your email address. Do that and then add a few topics for yourself using the search bar at the top.

I’ll choose personal branding. After clicking “Add Topic,” it shows up in my sidebar. The point here is I can always go back to this sidebar and see what content is trending in each of these topics. It makes it really easy to find share-worthy content and get ideas for your own articles.

Go through and add a few more topics in your niche.

5. Set up Crowdfire

Next go to crowdfire.com and login in with Twitter.

Crowdfire allows you to easily grow your following, clean out followers who are inactive, set up an automatic direct message to new followers, and a whole lot more.

Sign in with your email. Again, uncheck the follow button unless you’re dying to follow them on Twitter.

NOTE: The next screen asks you if you want to routinely brag to your audience about all the new followers and unfollowers you’ve gotten. You don’t, so hit NO.

(If you were going too fast and accidentally hit YES, go to Automate on the sidebar, click the Automatic Tracking along the top, and uncheck the “Tweet my follower and unfollower stats.”)

We’re going to wait until next week to start actually growing your following.

6. Add Tweets to Your Queue

Now let’s add some tweets to the queue.

Go to buffer.com and click on your queue. This is your tweet pipeline. It’s where your tweets will reside until they get sent out at the scheduled time.

Add your latest blog post

Copy the URL to the post, and don’t be alarmed when Buffer shortens it. Then give it a title, add a photo and a hashtag or two. Leave enough characters (20ish) so that people can retweet you without editing your post. Adding an image takes up a lot of characters but the extra engagement from images makes that move totally worth it.

Then add your article a second time. Don’t worry -- you’re not tweeting it out twice in a row. We’re going to fill in that space with other posts.

Try to give it a different title, maybe a quote or alternative title the second time around.

• e.g. The 28 Day Online #Reputation Management Challenge {URL} #ORM #personalbranding

• e.g. Want to get your #PersonalBrand in shape? Try the 28 Day Online Reputation Management Challenge {URL} #branding #ORM

7. Finding the right hashtags

Go to RiteTag.com (and sign in with Twitter.)

Type in the hashtag you’re curious about in the search bar. When I try #personalbranding, I see that there are 21 tweets per hour that use that phrase (my competition) and 30,000+ people who see those tweets per hour (my audience). Not bad.

#Branding is much more popular at 400,000+ people per hour. But there are also 217 other people using that hashtag every hour. More competition.

For reference, the blue tags have a longer shelf life because they’re not as popular as green. The green ones are trending -- you can take advantage of that by getting in front of more people but your tweet is likely to get buried in the noise faster as well. Grey hashtags are no good and red tags are overused.

If I have the space, I’d always prefer to use one blue and one green hashtag.

8. Fill in the rest of the queue

Go to RightRelevance and find some articles that fit your brand and add them into your queue using the same strategy. The goal will be to tweet your content and curate other high quality content to turn your Twitter into a content authority in your niche. 

9. Schedule Retweets

Finally, let’s schedule a few retweets.

In Twitter, search a person or a phrase that fits your brand. I like Neil Patel’s work so I found him on Twitter and scrolled down his feed to find one of his latest posts.

When you find the right post, click the little owl to activate the Hootlet extension.

Sign into Twitter. Then choose your Twitter account from the little dropdown menu. Click Post Later and schedule the post whenever you’d like. Perhaps on a day that you’re not tweeting.

Closing Note

And that’s it! Your Twitter is all set up and ready to kick ass.

Now you’ll be able to schedule tweets with ease, retweet your favorite authorities, and grow your following quickly and effectively. Tweet me if you have any questions :)

How to Start Real Conversations Using Social Media Communities

Social media conversations are just like real conversations.

The key to a great conversation is to start by listening. What are other people talking about in your industry? Does it differ from social network to social network? Spend a few minutes searching around to get a scope of the landscape.

You probably wouldn’t have the same conversation in the library as you would in a bar, right? Even if you end up talking about the same topic, you’re likely to abide by different social norms (whispering versus yelling) and have something different in your hand (a book versus a beer).

Consider social networks in the same light.

The nature and style of your conversations are going to depend on 1) the specifics of your online brand and 2) the social norms of the social network.

→ See if you can start a few relevant conversation on each of your social networks. I’ll explain some of my favorite ways to do this to help you spark some of your own ideas.

TWITTER

Conversations are happening on Twitter all the time. Find some active businesses or people in your industry and see what they’re saying. Search for relevant hashtags and see what questions people are asking. Is there an obvious knowledge gap where you can be most helpful?

Here are a few specific ways to take advantage of Twitter conversations.

1. Alert someone to your article.

This is particularly useful if you actually wrote about them, but it can also be great if they fit into your target audience. When I wrote 12 Twitter Tools to Improve Your Online Reputation, I spent time personally tweeting each of the businesses I wrote about, letting them know I had shouted them out.

It took maybe 10-15 minutes, but I couldn’t believe the engagement I received. Nearly all of the businesses retweeted me, and some of my tweets really blew up. Just for letting them know!

When I tweeted @Canva, I got favorited 7 times, and probably earned some new Canva-lover readers in the process.

2. Ask a question.

Twitter is a great place to ask questions. If you trust a particular thought leader in your industry, consider targeting them. Otherwise, just ask the general public what they think about a particular topic or article. It won’t always blow up like Buffer’s tweets do, but you may spark some fun conversations along the way.

3. Start a conversation.

Did you read an interesting article recently? Chances are you’re not the only one. Try searching the title of the article on Twitter and seeing who else shared it recently. Tweet at them and tell them what you think. You never know what kind of conversation your tweet may spark.

You can also tell your audience a fun fact, a useful tip or an industry-specific anecdote.

When I tweeted @Crowdfire back in August, I received the most engagement I’ve ever received on a tweet in my life. 128 favorites! I hadn’t even written my 12 Twitter Tools article yet, but it made me realize the potential for articles like that.

4. Engage your active audience.

Sometimes you might tweet something and find that someone else tweeted back at you. That’s terrific! Take advantage of that low-hanging fruit and keep the conversation going! Look at this exchange between me and Chris.

Or, if someone has shared your content, take a second to thank them for the support. You’d be surprised how much a heartfelt thank-you can mean for long-term engagement.

NOTE: You can also get involved in Twitter Chats, where a group of Twitter users meet at a pre-determined time to discuss a certain topic. I don’t have too much experience there yet, but Buffer has an incredibly in-depth article about Twitter Chats if you want to learn more.

LINKEDIN

Here are four ways to spark conversations on the professional networking giant:

1. Comments

This is pretty self-explanatory. If someone shares an article related to your industry, make a relevant comment and try to start a conversation. Ask what they thought about a particular point or provide them with another article that gives a different view.

2. LinkedIn Communities

LinkedIn Communities are a fun way to have discussions with groups of like-minded peers. Find some communities that make sense for you and start by weighing in on popular discussions. Respond to existing comments, provide an insight or opinion, or even ask a thought-provoking question.

See what topics and discussions are resonating with members the most, and start asking similar questions to encourage engagement. Be wary about including links to your sites, especially at the start. You want to be seen as a valuable part of the community, not a self-promotional salesperson. If you’re diligent, you’ll eventually be recognized as a top influencer, which allows your posts to be seen by more people in the group.

3. Status Updates

You can obviously use status updates as a self-promotional tool. But a great way to get engagement is to share OTHER people’s articles, especially when you can tag them in your post. Use the @ sign just like you would to tag someone on Twitter.

4. Private Messages

Private messages on LinkedIn have a connotation of being spammy, but your efforts may be worthwhile if you can personalize your message for a few specific people. Consider asking for some folks’ opinions on an article, their thoughts on an industry topic, or feedback on your latest post.

QUORA

There are three primary ways to engage in meaningful conversations on Quora:

1. Ask a question related to your industry.

Quora is a terrific place to get answers or start conversations among industry experts. Remember to first check whether or not someone has already asked your question!

2. Answer someone else's question

Quora is a great place to share some of your industry-specific knowledge and link back to an article if it’s appropriate. If you have a terrific answer on a popular question, you’re likely to get hundreds or thousands of views on your content. That’s a huge opportunity!

3. Ask someone else to answer a question

Quora’s ‘Ask to Answer’ feature is pretty neat. It lets you target specific people in your industry to get the quality answers you seek. You can ask 15 people per question, so make your choices mindfully.

Closing Note:

There are countless ways to engage people on social media. You can find Google+ communities that match your niche, comment on Slideshare accounts that fit your brand, and ask questions about a particular Instagram post. These are just a few of my favorite ways on some classic social networks, but I encourage you to explore your own.

This process can be fun and time-consuming so remember to keep your end goal in mind. You ultimately want to create conversations around the topics that are important to you. You’ll be taking a significant step toward building yourself a real audience and positioning yourself solidly within your industry.

This article is a sample day from my upcoming 28 Day Online Reputation Management Challenge. Stay tuned here.

A Powerful, Organic Strategy to Grow Twitter Followers In Your Industry

Growing your Twitter following can be invaluable. A larger following increases the authority of your Twitter profile and broadens the reach of your own content marketing efforts. It opens up lines of communication in your industry, helps build upon your positive online presence, and offers you a pool of potential leads for your business. You’d be hard-pressed to find a downside to growing your followers.

In this post, I share a simple but effective strategy to organically grow your Twitter following with users in your industry. It’s a scalable process, so use it as much or as little as you’d like.

Let’s take a look:

The Tools You’ll Need

We’ll be using 2 tools for this process: Tweepi and RightRelevance.

1. First, connect your Twitter account to Tweepi. You’ll be using this tool to trim the fat -- that is, get rid of folks who don’t follow you back. Tweepi is an easy way to keep track of that and much more.

2. Then, connect your Twitter account to RightRelevance. We’ll use RightRelevance to easily find the users you want to follow.

The Strategy

Once you’re logged into RightRelevance, type in a category that’s related to your industry or niche. For me, I’ll try 'personal branding.'

Add it as a saved channel so you can refer back to it later.

Then click the influencers tab and decide whether you want to filter by people or organizations. I want to target individuals, so I’ve clicked the “Person” option.

Finally, decide if you want to tailor it even further by location. I want to filter my followers based on New York City, so I’ll click that option.

Now all that’s left to do is scroll down and follow the people that interest you. I’m not going to be too picky because I’ve already let the filters do that tailoring for me. I know that the accounts I follow are going to be people who fit squarely in my industry and live in my city. Perfect!

You can use this method to follow 20, 200, or 2000 people, depending on your goals and time limit. Don’t forget to switch to a new category and do the same thing all over again. I’ve already used “personal branding,” but I could also try “reputation management” and “content marketing."

The Clean-Up

Once you’ve followed a batch of users, give them a few days or a week to follow you back.

Then log into Tweepi and click on the category of users called “Not following back.”

The “not following you back” section is pretty self-explanatory. It shows you all the users who, well, haven’t followed you back. You can also see some interesting stats about when they last tweeted, where they’re located, their follower count and follower ratio.

Go down the list and “unfollow” anyone who you’re ready to cast aside. There are bound to be some people or organizations you want to still follow despite their unreturned thanks, so just keep your eyes peeled for that as you fly down the list.

That’s it!

Now that you’ve got the hang of it, try it out using other categories and other filter settings to see if you get different results. And let me know how it goes in the comments section below! 

12 Twitter Tools to Take Control of Your Online Reputation

Online reputation management is all about developing your personal brand, publishing quality content, and taking control of your search results. Twitter is an obvious choice if you’re looking to get control of your search results — it ranks well on its own and can be a powerful resource for increasing the engagement of your original content.

But there is a big difference between using Twitter like an average user and using Twitter like a pro to impact search results. First, you'll need to optimize your Twitter profile. Then use these 12 twitter tools to give you the jumpstart you need to take control of your online reputation:

1. RightRelevance

RightRelevance is one of my favorite resources for aggregating quality content all in one place. RR mines the web to consistently find and rank the most influential people and articles for any given topic. Once you’ve signed in via your Twitter account, simply add all your favorite topics to your feed (that column on the left) and then check them whenever you’re low on content.

Once you've clicked on a particular topic, you can view the ‘Influencers’ tab (across the top) to see that topic’s most influential users and find loads of people to follow in the industry. You can do it all easily right from the RightRelevance interface.

2. BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is a data miner’s best friend. It shows you the most shared pieces of content for a given topic and a given timeframe. It teaches you which social networks and platforms you’ll want to target based on your industry and interests. And it is also a critical brainstorming tool because it shows you what your competitors and peers are doing. Use it to discover content, improve your content, and come up with brand new content altogether.

3. RiteTag

If you’re tweeting about ‘entrepreneurship,’ how do you know whether to use #entrepreneur #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship or some other variant? 

RiteTag, that’s how. Simply enter a keyword and RiteTag will determine how many unique tweets per hour, retweets, potential hashtag views, etc. You can even view a historical timeline of that hashtag’s popularity over the last month. 

From my RiteTag search above, I can see that #entrepreneurs and #entrepreneurship are good but #entrepreneur is better by a long shot. Case closed. The RiteTag extension makes this even easier by integrating directly with Twitter, Buffer and Hootsuite but it only lasts for a 30-day free trial unless you’re willing to dish out a monthly fee.

4. Buffer and 5. Swayy

I go back and forth between Buffer and Swayy a lot. Buffer has quickly become one of my all-time favorite Twitter tools because of its amazingly easy queuing system. You set up as many posting times as you want throughout the week and your tweets will automatically fall into line when you add them to the queue. With Buffer’s new Content Suggestions (which will probably get better and better), you can throw ready-made tweets right into your queue with one click. Just season with hashtags to taste.

But as good as Buffer’s content is, it isn’t curated based on your interests, which is why I’m drawn to Swayy. Swayy’s content suggestion engine gets better and better the more you use it because it learns what types of content you like to share over time. Swayy also suggests users to mention and hashtags to use. (The hashtags sometimes leave something to be desired, however, so I would still stick to RiteTag.) 

Buffer lets you easily throw images into your queued tweets to increase engagement but you have to pay to schedule more than 10 tweets at one time. Swayy doesn’t make it easy to use images but it does let you schedule an infinite amount of tweets. Sigh…the debate rages on.

6. Pablo

Even if you don’t use Buffer, you should still use its younger brother Pablo. Pablo lets you create engaging social media images in under a minute. Upload a picture of your choice, pick a quick background option, enter a title, and you’ve got a custom image ready to go.

7. Canva

If you have a little more time to make an engaging social media image, then Canva is the way to go. Canva - which deserves a whole article to itself - lets you easily create stunning designs, images, infographics, and more. Their awesome templates and cookie-cutter social media sizes makes this process as easy as it can be.

8. Hootsuite

Hootsuite has become one of the standard tools for social media managers because it was early on the scene (2008) and its dashboard integrates with a whole range of social networks from Twitter and Facebook to LinkedIn and Google+. Heck, it even supports MySpace if you’re into that.

I actually prefer Swayy and Buffer as pure scheduling tools but one thing I will say about Hootsuite is that it makes scheduling retweets a cinch. Simply install the Hootlet extension on your browser and you’re ready to start spacing out your retweets.  All you have to do is click the little owl instead of the retweet button to throw retweets into your queue.

9. Tweriod

Tweriod helps you make the most of your tweets by analyzing your Twitter followers and letting you know the best times to tweet. It will tell you when you get the most exposure, when most of your followers are online, and when you received the most @replies. Use this simple tool before setting up your customized schedule to get the most out of your tweets.

10. WhoUnfollowedMe

One of the easiest ways to NOT get followers and quality engagement is to just follow people willy nilly and let your following/followers ratio get all out of whack. Think about it — if you follow 2000 people (the maximum Twitter will allow unless your ratio is healthy) but only have 100 people following you back, that’s a pretty sure sign that you’re a spammy user. Most users will steer clear.

That’s where WhoUnfollowedMe comes in. It helps you catch the people who once followed you but have since unfollowed you. You can quickly see who those users are and then seamlessly unfollow them back to keep your ratio clean and healthy. You can also use the tool as a great way to view the people who have followed you recently and decide who you’d like to follow back. 

11. Twitter Analytics

Twitter analytics is a really easy and useful. Simply go to analytics.twitter.com to start tracking your account with Twitter analytics. Then you can check back at any time and see a 28 day summary of your Tweets, Impressions, Profile Visits, Mentions, and Follower Growth. You can compare this month’s numbers to last month’s and can see some great highlights like your Top Media Tweet, your Top Follower, and how many impressions your Top Tweet received.

12. Followerwonk

Moz’s Followerwonk tool does a lot of things, but my favorite is the analysis feature. Simply put, it helps you figure out when your followers are online and engaged. This is critical because it gives you a great sense of how you can be more efficient with the time you spend on Twitter. Tweet when your followers are active and lay off when they’re not.