Facebook’s status as the go-to social platform for marketers isn’t changing anytime soon. Despite its most recent update, Facebook usage among the everyday public and brands alike stand at an all-time high.
With one-third of customers reaching out to brands via Facebook on a regular basis, there’s no denying the need for marketers to master the ever-evolving social giant.
And given Facebook’s newfound emphasis on organic engagement for brands, having the right resources on hand is arguably more important than ever.
Whether you’re looking to grow your following or fine-tune your Facebook marketing campaigns, there are tons of tools out there to make it happen. Below we’ve broken down 13 Facebook tools that marketers should look into regardless of their long-term goals.
Facebook Tools for Engagement
Wrangling your Facebook metrics is a must-do for marketers looking to optimize their presence. From timing your posts to perfection to ensuring your brand profile is complete, these tools can help you fill in the gaps.
Where are your followers coming from?
Which posts are getting the most love from your followers?
What’s the best time for your brand to push their content, anyway?
When you have a Facebook dashboard on deck, the answers to these questions don’t have to feel like a guessing game.
Sprout’s Facebook analytics platform provides a comprehensive overview of your Facebook presence that’s easy to digest. Rather than sift through endless spreadsheets and tabs, you can get a pulse on your Facebook followers at a glance via robust reporting.
Broken down and much more user-friendly versus the likes of Facebook’s own analytics platform, Sprout provides marketers with a keen understanding of how your content stacks up against the competition.
Of course, Facebook’s own analytics suite is nothing to scoff at.
Facebook Insights provides a laundry list of information relevant to marketers such as average engagement, reach and the types of content that receives the most engagement. While Insights requires a bit of digging, Facebook’s native analytics get the job done when it comes to understanding what’s working and what isn’t.
Perhaps one of the most notable features of Insights is the ability to see the specifics of how people treat your video content. Assessing average view duration and whether or not people are dropping off can directly influence your video marketing strategy, a crucial point of emphasis for Facebook in 2018.
Likealyzer presents itself as your “personal Facebook advisor,” providing a bird’s eye view of your page’s performance.
No downloads required, this Facebook tool simply requires you to plug in your URL and provides a free report outlining where you could improve.
The report provides a sort of grade to your page and offers suggestions such as switching up your content strategy or filling out your profile completely. While you shouldn’t put too much stock into such a report, Likealyzer can certainly point out pieces of your page that might be missing.
The tool also looks at the aesthetic components of your page such as your profile and cover photos to ensure you’re sending the right message to followers. Additionally, Likealyzer pushes the point that your “About” section needs to be 100% filled out.
These pieces of your Facebook are easy to overlook but matter from both an engagement and SEO perspective. The more complete your profile is, the easier it is for potential followers to find you and navigate your page.
Additionally, Likealyzer assesses the diversity of your content strategy including your most common posts and average post length.
Facebook Tools for Video
Facebook’s recent update and pushing of their Live platform should send a crystal clear message to marketers: produce video content. The good news? The traditionally complex nature of video content is being simplified thanks to these Facebook tools specifically tailored for video.
Animoto’s sort of “plug and play” solution to video marketing is a breath of fresh air for marketers who’ve seen video marketing as being out of their reach.
Marketers have the option to either upload their own clips and images or use Animoto’s repository of licensed images and music tracks. These sorts of simple, text-and-slideshow videos are all the rage right now and require absolutely no investment in editing equipment or in-depth software.
Simply put, Animoto’s accessible storyboarding tool allows marketers to create marketing videos in a matter of minutes.
The most notable feature of Lumen5 is the ability to plug in blog posts and convert them into videos. A brilliant strategy to repurpose content, marketers can get more mileage out of their written pieces to maximize engagement from Facebook.
Similar to Animoto, Lumen5 provides marketers with access to a massive library of high-res videos to couple with custom marketing messages.
Facebook notes that their native Live video scores six times the engagement of regular video content. As a result, Facebook has rolled out a creator kit for brands laser-focused on live video.
Including in-depth analytics and features such as custom frames, marketers can spice up their live broadcasts and better understand who’s tuning in and why.
Facebook Tools for Design
Beyond scoring brownie points for creativity, eye-popping imagery makes all the difference for brands on Facebook. Between image-based posts receiving double engagement and the fact that Facebook is looking to deemphasize links, stepping up your game design-wise should be a top priority.
If your Facebook is in need of a graphics overhaul, look no further than Canva. Proving that you don’t need to be a designer to create awesome imagery, Canva’s user-friendly platform allows you to customize any of the following in an instant, all pre-sized before you start editing:
- Facebook logos
- Facebook cover photos
- Facebook event covers
- Facebook images
Canva’s 50,000 templates provide a solid starting point whether you’re looking for an image to accompany your Facebook posts or want to create an image-based Facebook ad from scratch.
Another powerful tool for visual content, Adobe Spark adds some serious creative flair to your social media graphics.
Spark’s bold styles and typography offer something different for those looking to tack on imagery to their Facebook posts. Whether you’re creating inspirational posts, quote graphics or just want to make your posts pop, Spark can most definitely make it happen.
Facebook Tools for Ads
Facebook ads are noted for their high ROI and will become even more important for brands in the wake of the most recent algorithm update. Marketers should consider the following Facebook tools to test the waters of paid promotion and ensure they’re squeezing the most out of their ad budgets.
If you’ve spent five minutes working with Facebook’s ad platform, you know just how complicated it can be. With so many variables involved, there’s a lot that can go wrong when drafting an ad. Having a second set of eyes can make a huge difference in terms of performance and saving money, and that’s where WordStream comes in.
WordStream assigns a grade to your ads and outlines tips for optimization. Since the price tag of Facebook ads can quickly spiral out of control, this tool offers some checks and balances to help you stay within your budget. Offering suggestions for better timing and ad spend, WordStream can provide you with better peace of mind if nothing else next time you roll out a new ad.
As noted, marketers need to thoroughly test their Facebook ads before spending a time. Qwaya provides marketers an avenue to A/B test their audiences and ads to drill down to the best messages possible. As an added bonus, the platform helps users optimize the timing of their future campaigns as well.
Miscellaneous Facebook Tools for Marketers
Last but not least, the following tools are tailored for marketers looking to spruce up their pages and generate leads at the same time.
Facebook is a prime place to drive email opt-in’s, and MailChimp’s forever-free platform is a smart solution for marketers to do just. MailChimp integration essentially allows you to include a customizable email opt-in form on Facebook, perfect for lead magnets and drip campaigns alike.
For marketers running multiple social platforms, Woobox allows you to double-dip content beyond Facebook via custom tabs. For example, marketers with an extensive Pinterest presence can push that same content on Facebook as displayed by Starbucks.
There’s certainly a time and place for social media contests in 2018. Wishpond’s platform is perfect for marketers consistently rolling out sweepstakes or giveaways, providing a customizable tab for opt-ns and sign-ups. Removing the legwork from chasing contestants and collecting their information, Wishpond takes care of everything from aggregating contact info to picking a winner.
Which Facebook Tools Are You Using to Dominate 2018?
Although Facebook might seem like a hassle to keep up with these days, marketers shouldn’t treat the platform as the great unknown. With so many tools out there to engage new follower and break down the behaviors of your current ones, thriving on Facebook is possible for marketers of all shapes and sizes.
What tools do you consider essential to your Facebook arsenal? Is there a specific Facebook tool you’d love to see developed down the line? Let us know in the comments below!