There are tons of apps for Social Media Management that do the same job but honey, they are not all built the same.

After having my fair share of meltdowns after working with sites/platforms like Tailwind and IG reels, I’ve since learned that not all apps are created equally.

For instance, I love Tailwind for Pinning, but I’ll never use it for Instagram again. When I try creating any single post for Instagram, it takes forever to load and often crashes. These are the little things you don’t usually learn about until you experience them, hence the increased value of an experienced professional.

So, let’s get into the apps & sites that can save you time, energy, and frustration.

1. NOTION

Gather Your Thoughts, Literally.

I used to be a sticky note, scrap paper, new daily list kind of gal, but when you run a business from top to bottom, that is no longer realistic. I found myself unable to keep up with the changes, and I couldn’t expand on my thoughts much further. I then started using Trello, which works pretty well, but the features within the cards are frustrating. I wish there were more editing and formatting capabilities, but I was making it work.

Once I took on Reels full-time for one of my clients, I needed something to let me sprawl out all of my ideas, plans, misc. information, tips, etc. I kept hearing about Notion and how much people liked it, but I also heard it was complicated and took a lot to build your templates (plus, I was overwhelmed by all of the features). After about a week, I was desperate for something better, so I caved and started a Notion page which quickly evolved into four pages hehe.

Now, there is a learning curve, and it took some time to evolve my pages to work for my needs, but I must say, I’ve never been more productive and organized. The more I use it, the better I get at utilizing all of the different things it can do. I have a page for my Reel ideas, one that looks like Trello for my daily/weekly tasks, a whole page for my Q1 stats, and a different page for my blog and Reel ideas. It’s intense, but I love it. The satisfaction is delicious. If you’re ADHD, a little OC, or just busy af, give Notion a try and once you love it, download the app for more accessibility.

2. CAPCUT

Something I Wish I Did Earlier...

Over the past month, I’ve been tasked with making 5-6 Reels per week for one of my amazing clients. I make all of my Reels in TikTok because they have the coolest audios & that’s where the trends start. With TikTok, even if the trend is considered “old,” it probably hasn’t even hit Instagram yet. It’s so easy to be a trendsetter on Instagram because there aren’t nearly as many audios made on that platform.

ANYWAY! The only other Reels I was making were on Canva because they’re super general and I wasn’t the one posting them. So, when this particular client asked me to do this, it took me a week or so to figure out that Canva wouldn’t cut it. I needed the fonts and formats on these social apps, so I started making Reels on Instagram but the glitches were driving me insane. It crashed on me several times, skipped certain images, and completely “lost” one of my drafts. I was on the verge of tears at times.

Luckily, that same client requested more original audio, so I figured this was the time to bring out the big guns from TikTok and start working outside of IG (plus, their watermark is so ugly). That’s when I downloaded CapCut and changed my VA life. It took a day or two to get the hang of it, but now that I’m super efficient, it’s beautiful. I can import audios from any saved video, adjust the format, add themed lettering, and save my creations in really high quality! I’m very pleased with it...I just need to get a stylus because the editing timeline is small. Otherwise, the results have been fantastic - the Reels I’ve made in it have done better than the others I’ve posted so far. 4 for you Glen Coco, you go Glen Coco!!!

Last thing, you can remove the end clip with their branding, so you don’t have to deal with a watermark - uploading across platforms has been a BREEZE!

3. METRICOOL

Step Aside, Metricool is Coming Through!

I first heard about this on TikTok and once I got ahold of it, I’ve been obsessed! I was using Tailwind, which wasn’t giving me up-to-date post times, and lagged most times I tried using it. When I opened Metricool, I knew I was in the right place. The color-coding of post times is probably my favorite part (visual learner), but the reports and preview feed feature are also nice.

*Make sure you select Instagram only when going to make a post; otherwise, it’s not quite the same.

I love that it saved and recommends all of my previously used hashtags, but it doesn’t connect to IG to suggest new ones. That was the main thing I liked about Tailwind, but I work around it.

I also love that I haven’t had any issues with my content posting successfully, unlike Planoly and Meta Planner.

My main qualm is that they don’t have a built-in editor to crop or adjust the aspect ratio, but otherwise I’m happy :)

4. TAILWIND

For Pinterest, Tailwind is a YES!

Many wedding businesses are pushing to have a stronger presence on Pinterest, so they're working towards 100-300 repins every month. The best way to accomplish this is by using Tailwind - truly. I mentioned this above, but Tailwind is the best tool for planning and scheduling pins and repins. It has a Smart Scheduler that plans when those pins will go out, allowing you to adjust the time, boards, and frequency all at once vs. individually pinning in multiple folders. They also have a plugin that you NEED; this is non-negotiable.

Typically I go to my client's home feed, scroll for a good while so I can load up lots of possible repins, then I select all of the posts I like, hit Next, select the boards I want them to be pinned to, set the frequency (if needed), and schedule them all at once. It's so simple and generally works very well. I'm grateful to my wonderful clients for introducing me to tricks like this.

Get your pins up while saving a TON of time. Thank me later.

5. SNAPTIK.APP

Remove Your Watermarks in Seconds!

Snaptik.app quickly removes the TikTok watermark from my videos. I use this for myself since most of my reels are very basic in terms of editing, and I don’t need to use something more sophisticated like Capcut (see #2). I prefer making my Reels in TikTok for the fonts, quality, and ease of editing, but since IG is suppressing TikTok videos & rewarding Reels, removing that watermark is even more necessary. I’m not sure if IG can tell that I uploaded them (even without a watermark), but it’s been working so far.

At this point, if you’re leaving your TikTok watermarks on your IG videos, we gotta talk. It’s hurting your reach and almost looks like cheating to the viewer - crazy, I know. So try this out or find another site that works for you - I really like this one because I can download the new version in Full HD (the higher quality, the better).

HONORABLE MENTIONS

We Can’t Forget About The Little Guys

Milled I send biweekly email campaigns for my spa client, and I often reference Milled to gather new ideas for copy, design, subject lines, etc. It’s a collection of the latest emails sent by the biggest brands with equally large advertising budgets. My client uses Flodesk for their email marketing, which is great, but their templates and design capabilities are pretty limited. Flodesk doesn’t update their templates very often, so I’ll usually only use 1 for the meat of the email and supplement the rest of the design with my own Photoshop creations - that’s where Milled comes in handy. SN - I also love that you can view them by category and search by keyword!

Kapwing is one of my “secret weapons”. It’s the only good site/program I’ve used that lets me grab GIFs from different sites and make a meme. Typically I grab the URL for the video I want, download it from Kapwing, then upload it into Canva so I can make the meme with the proper fonts, spacing, quality, etc. I’ve tried other sites and it’s just not the same. PLUS, I can work around their watermark.😉

Grammarly, as always. I use it anywhere between 2-10 times a day, and most times, I am so grateful that I did. It’s like spellcheck but better! I use it for everything, including social media captions, newsletter content, this very blog, and anything to be printed. I recently upgraded to premium and it’s a game-changer (+ a write-off)! I goofed and got Premium instead of Business... the main difference is with business, you can have multiple accounts and set tones, your style guide, etc.

SHHH.. MY BURN BOOK

These are the apps /sites that I just can’t get with. I may have listed one as good for a different use, but here’s why it’s bad elsewhere.

META PLANNER

Look. All of these planners have good and bad qualities, but this one is bad for the SOLE REASON that some of the posts fail to go through. I don’t get a notification; I just see it if I ever have to go to the drafts. Also, I wish the drafts would save on the day you placed them instead of on a completely different page.

I do like that I can easily post between Facebook and Instagram, but the crop tool is glitchy, and if you type the caption in the wrong field, it will erase when you click into the correct field - traumatizing. Otherwise, it was the first app/site I worked with that allowed you to schedule carousels to post automatically, which was a big deal before others got on board. All in all, I generally like it, but I do not use it for myself, and you’d think the Meta Planner would be able to push posts to their own site, but those are the only ones that don’t always go through. Lame.

TAILWIND

As I mentioned earlier, Tailwind is fantastic for scheduling pins, especially if you’re doing a lot of them. The Smart Scheduler lets you adjust how often you want them posted and uses optimized times, and the plugin lets you repin a ton of pins at once. HOWEVER! It is horrible for Instagram purposes.

I preferred it to Planoly because of Tailwind’s hashtag generator, but I always have trouble with buffering and the site not being available. It also freezes a lot, and I was always afraid I would lose my caption if the screen had to refresh. It has happened, and it’s horrible. Not to mention, it doesn’t work if you’re in a private window, so don’t bother.

PLANOLY

It’s fine, but it could be better. The developers have made some nice updates recently (automatic carousels and the editing feature), so they’re actually not that bad anymore, but I still don’t like that you have to pay to get the best use of it. Also, their version of Linkinbio isn’t that intuitive and doesn’t really help unless you’re selling products.

TRELLO

This one isn’t really “hate,” more so a grievance. I still use Trello, especially for those clients who use me for a wide variety of purposes, but it could be better.

I switched to Notion for my personal organization, and WOW - game changer. Notion is like if Trello had a baby with Google Docs and Sheets. So, no hate to Trello. It’s good for basic organization, but Notion is much more advanced - better if you have a lot of different things going on at once. Plus, the templates are great for inspo!

Remember, these are my personal opinions and I understand if you’ve had a different experience than me. I love to share my preferences in the hopes that you too can find the best tools for your job. For me, these are the best and worst at the moment. I didn’t include apps and sites that I barely, if ever, worked with.

Let me know if you found this helpful for your business!

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