A Community Manager’s Survival Kit

Being a community manager can be frustrating, time consuming and very, very last minute. It can feel like sitting on a ticking Hydra time bomb. Once you get rid of one chore, two more pop out. So if you want to venture into that career, you will need nerves of steel and organisation of a Swiss bank.  Luckily, there are many tools at your disposal that will make things easier for you – your community manager’s survival kit.

Buffer

When it comes to social media, it is great to have your hands freed up as much as possible. Buffer will allow you to schedule your tweets, posts or other content, separately for each social network, or with one tailored one announcement across all social networks. It comes in free and paid version, and it also has its own analytics tool that you can connect with Google Analytics. Schedule and work in the future? Yes please!

Google Analytics

It is hard these days to make a list of something without involving something goggle-y in it, so we shouldn’t omit Google Analytics. Finding out who is coming to your site, why and where from is just a fraction of the power you wield with this tool. You can measure almost anything that crosses your mind and it is most helpful in gathering data. Then you can decide on you further improvements.

Feedly

When it comes to any kind of managing, you always need to stay on top of the news. That is where Feedly comes in handy. This content aggregator will let you to subscribe to different news sources and  share them on other networks with one simple click. It also highlights the latest and trending content, and it  also connects with the previously mentioned Buffer? It does, so use it wisely!

Swayy

What if you want to find something new? Swayy is your saviour. Simply enter a keyword, topic or source and it will generate the content for you. It will probably show you something that you would otherwise miss. Sharing is easy with one click, and the tool even suggests hashtags!

TheCow

Holy cow! Ok,  puns aside, TheCow is a service that minimizes your url. There are many out there and some sites have already implemented this, but this one will definitively put a smile on your face. Nobody can hate on a cow. Shortening your url is extremely helpful because it makes your messages concise and short, especially if you url is long enough to go around the block.

Hootsuite

Proceeding in animal fashion, when it comes to all-in-one solutions, there is no doubt that Hootsuite is the number one. If you want an analytics report or you want to schedule multiple feeds, it can handle it all. Although we assume that you are a very organised since you are a community manager, do not let things slip. If you are not careful your extensive lists and tabs can get jumbled and you can end up in a mess.

The Community Manager

Last but not least is The Community Manager. Even Community managers needs a community and this is your place. If you are in a need of advice, inspiration or guidance, or you simply want to check up on what’s new, you will find your kind here. Not an app or a tool, but a helpful place that every community manager needs to know of. So go and commute!