Premium social media sharing tools have a ton of features that can really ramp up your social strategy. I use MeetEdgar (which costs around $49 a month) when I’m working for clients (and they’re footing the bill), but there are several free social media sharing tools I’ve used in my own business that can do a similar job. They’re great if you’re just starting out or if, like me, you like to keep profits high by keeping overheads down.
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Hootsuite
Hootsuite has both free and paid versions. and supports sharing to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube. The Hootsuite Hootlet browser extension makes it easy to share via Hootsuite from any site you happen to be on.
The free plan allows you to add up to 3 social media profiles and schedule up to 30 messages.
Buffer
Buffer also has a completely free version. You can add 2 accounts and share up to 10 posts from each account. I find Buffer useful because so many of my favourite blogs include a Buffer share button. It’s the one that looks like this:
You can probably see it over there to the left in my share buttons. When you’re reading blogs that have that button, you can simply hit the button and add that post to your Buffer queue. Buffer will send your posts out at regular intervals, spacing them out so you’re not flooding your followers with posts. Or, like Hootsuite, you can add a browser extension for easy sharing.
Buffer also allows you to quickly make and share images via Pablo. This handy free tool allows you to make pretty ‘quote’ graphics in seconds, and share them direct to your social channels or download for later.
RecurPost
My latest favourite when it comes to free tools, RecurPost is a great social sharing tool with a forever free plan. It has more of a feel of the premium tools like MeetEdgar, allowing you to create a content library and share posts over and over again. Even on the free plan.
It supports Facebook (allowing you to share to your profile, your page or your group) Twitter and LinkedIn. On the free plan you can connect three social accounts, add 100 recurring posts and post up to 10 times a day from each account. Sign up here.
Sumo
I include the Sumo plugin here because it’s what I personally use to put those useful floating share buttons along the side of my posts. Although people share in a ton of different ways (from their own browser buttons, or by using third party sites and apps like those above), I’ve found that my Sumo share buttons have brought in hundreds of shares on my most popular posts (like this one).
Sumo not only makes sharing a no-brainer for your readers, but also allows you to track how many shares you’ve had on each platform (at least the shares that happened directly from the share button). The basic version of the plugin (which is what I use) is free.
Just ReTweet
Just ReTweet isn’t a straightforward social post sharer, although I regularly spend 15 minutes on there in the morning and load up my Twitter stream to send out posts for the next few hours. It’s just that these posts are not mine. They’re content I’ve curated from other people, keeping my Twitter stream active, putting cool content in front of my audience, and supporting other bloggers and solopreneurs (who in turn often support me too).
I’ve written a whole post on how I just Just ReTweet to get more Tweets, FB likes and +1s (as well as curating, scheduling and sharing social media content) here.
Facebook scheduler
The Facebook scheduler is here for a reason. Many bloggers claim that something in the Facebook algorithm means they get better visibility and engagement on their posts when they schedule via the scheduler than when they use third party apps on Facebook. My (very) limited experiments seem to confirm this. The super smart folks over at Social Media Examiner agree with me on this one.
Click to Tweet
Click To Tweet is a handy tool to encourage others to share your links on Twitter. You can use the Click To Tweet website for free to create a Tweet. You’ll generate a link and when others click on it, it will take them straight to a pre-written (by you) Tweet that they can post direct to Twitter.
Blogging with WordPress? The free Click To Tweet Plugin allows you to embed links into your content easily. They’ll look like this:
FREE social media sharing tools bring in traffic while you sleep (or hang out at the beach). Click To TweetJust search for it in your Plugins area.
Know of other social sharing tools that are free and user-friendly. Share in the comments. Want a whole Kindle book chock full of free tools? I wrote one for you.
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As a relatively new blogger, these sort of posts are always valuable information for me. Thanks for sharing things like this for writers like me! Great post!
Kristi McAllister recently posted…Pruning & What Winter Brings
Glad you found it helpful, Kristi.
Karen recently posted…20+ Great Pinterest Group Boards For Bloggers
When everyone else seems to be promoting paid tools, finding this article was a breath of fresh air. Thank you so much for this.
There are some great paid tools too, Debbie. But I really want to help everyone get their social media marketing campaigns up and running, even if they’re currently on a zero-dollar budget! So happy you found this article useful. 🙂
Karen recently posted…8 Excellent Ways To Use PLR Content
I knew only of three: BUFFER, SUMO and FB SCHDULER, will check out the others. Thanks
Those are 3 really useful ones, John. Just nice to have more options, especially if your social media needs are diverse!
Karen recently posted…8 Excellent Ways To Use PLR Content
I know this web page gives quality based articles and other material, is there any other website which provides these kinds of information in quality?|