By Andrés Uribe, Expedition PR
Most people know that, and in case you didn’t know, there are many social media tools out there for you to explore. Some, like Hashtracking and Hootsuite, can be very helpful with managing multiple accounts or keeping tabs on a marketing campaign’s 
hashtag. Other social media tools, like Bad Luck Brian and Scumbag Steve, are good for a few laughs, but won’t help you with much else. After having carefully navigated the internet for social media tools and painstakingly filtered the Hootsuites from the Bad Luck Brians, here is a list of tools that might be of help on your next social media marketing campaign:
Hashtracking – First on this list for a reason, Hashtracking is one of my favorite social media tools. Simple in function, yet highly effective, Hashtracking allows you to monitor every time your campaign’s hashtag is used and delivers very useful analytics based on who uses it and how they use it. Hashtracking can tell you things like how many times it was tweeted, retweeted, used in @mentions, what other hashtags it was used with and how often, and how many people potentially saw it based on the number of followers of the people who used the hashtag..and more. Also a big plus is their 1 month free trial :).
Hootsuite – Whether you’re working at an agency managing several different company’s social media accounts, or you wish to have all of your social media account in one easy to use interface, Hootsuite is a must. Login once and post from your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin and whatever other accounts you decide to link up. You can send the same post out over multiple accounts at the same time, or craft individual posts for each account and send them out one at a time (or schedule them to go out at a later time). This tool also provides a built in URL shortening tool with analytics that monitor the reach of the URLs you’re sending out.
Klout – If you’re the type of person who lets their emotions become affected by whether or not your friends liked your post on Facebook, then you need to get on Klout (or avoid it, depending on how likeable your posts are). Klout is a service that gives you a score based on how popular you are on social media. Link up multiple accounts and get feedback on which accounts you have the most influence on and which posts your followers are really relating to. Become a top influencer and get Klout Perks, free things from brands who want nothing in return, except for you to possibly share to your loyal followers about how great their brand is, though this is not a condition for accepting the Perk.
As a social media manager, Klout is a great tool to see if that social media maven you’re about to contract for a campaign has a strong connection with their 1,000,000 Twitter followers, or if it’s all a big show. Since Klout judges influence not by how many followers a person has, but how these followers actually interact with the person, a Klout score can tell you a lot about the quality of a person’s social media posts, rather than just looking at the number of followers.
Mentionmap – Wondering what a person is up to on Twitter but don’t feel like going through the tedious task of scrolling through their timeline and checking tweet by tweet to see who they’re talking to and what hashtags they’re using? Mentionmap is a handy tool that allows you to input a their Twitter username and get a web of influence, including who they mention the most in their Tweets and what hashtags they use. It also adds little webs to those most mentioned users, so you get an idea of what they’re all about.
Tweeter Karma – I know I’ve said a few times that it’s not only about your follower count, but whether or not those people are engaging with you…but, at the same time, sometimes the numbers do matter too. If you’re just starting off your Twitter account, you’re probably searching for interesting people and following them, with the hopes that they will follow you back and you can begin a healthy Twitter relationship. But as with real life relationships, sometimes the love just isn’t returned, and no matter how many retweets or @mentions you give, that follow-back never happens. This is where Tweeter Karma comes into play, simply enter your username into Tweeter Karma, let the system work its magic, and then you are presented with a list of people that allows you to easily see if you are mutually following each other, or if it’s a one way street. Tweeter Karma also allows you to easily unfollow people from within the app.
Pro Tip: Try to keep your following/follower count at or below one to avoid looking like a spam account.
YOPmail – Although not a social media tool, this disposable email tool is perfect for signing up for free trials when you don’t want to put your actual email down. Simple, intuitive, and effective, my favorite type of service.
Hope these tools help you out in your quest for Klout score dominance. If there’s a favorite tool you have, please feel free to share in the comment section.