Five of the best tools, tips & tricks to make your social media shine!

In the competitive social media space, beautifully curated content is King (or Queen!).

So often dismissed as ‘too expensive’ (to employ a designer), or too difficult and time consuming to do yourself - this article shares five tools, tips and tricks that will empower you with the ability and knowhow to be able to step up and put the sparkle back into your socials.

Well managed, professional and beautifully curated content will translate to;

- Your profile being recognised

- Higher engagement and, ultimately

- More leads (and sales).

The best part of all? Everything I am sharing is FREE! There are of course paid options for some of the tools, but if budget is limited, or non-existent, the free versions are more than enough to get you started.

If you are using a social media scheduling tool like Later (or many others), then this article is probably not for you. A scheduling tool usually has a number of these tools built into its functionality (and is included in the monthly subscription fee).

1. Space - Spaces For Instagram

If you have ever felt frustrated trying to get your Instagram (IG) bio and captions to have the correct paragraph breaks, or line breaks - then this is the app for you. In fact, there are a number of apps that do the same thing; Caption Writer, Instaspacer, and others.

The free versions of these apps allow you to quickly and easily create captions with the line breaks you need, and either copy directly over to your IG account or copy the text and then paste into your post.

The downside to the free versions is (of course) the adverts and continuous 'upsells' from the app providers. But if you can see past that, and simply want to get a neater and more polished caption, then any of the free versions will do the job.

The paid version of the apps include some (or all) of; font options, the ability to use multiple fonts in one caption, hashtag suggestions, saving your captions and hashtags etc. and cost around $2 to $5 (sometimes a bit more).

2. linktr.ee

If you want to be able to have more than one link active at any one time in your Instagram bio, then linktree provides the perfect solution.

For instance, you may want to link to a few individual listings, your blog, a testimonial and your website. Linktree allows you to add all of these links via one personalised linktree link. To see it in action, head to the @bayleysnz Instagram account and click on their linktree link in their bio - linktr.ee/bayleys.

The free version of linktree allows you to add multiple links and select from a limited number of themes and customisation options. Definitely enough to get started with.

The paid option (US$6 per month), adds screeds of additional features, including full customisation and reporting.

Find out more via this link: https://linktr.ee/

3. Instories & unfold - instagram story templates

Two great apps that will set your Stories alight and showcase your property listings like a pro designer! And it only takes a few minutes to create.

These apps are both intuitive and super easy to use. They provide multiple template options that allow for more than one image per story, with text overlays, and seamless transitions between image tiles.

Head to @letstalkpropertynz and click the ‘homes’ highlight for a few examples.

Or, better still, download the apps and try it out yourself. (Remember, the finished product is only going to be as good as the images you load in the first place!)

Both apps have enough free template features to start with.

Instories is only available for iPhone and Unfold is available for both iPhone and Android.

4. Canva

It wouldn’t be a fair list of great social media business tools if I didn’t include Canva.

Canva is a design tool available on web and mobile - that allows you to unleash your inner designer. No matter what you are wanting to create, Canva has a template set up for you i.e. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (even newsletters, business cards and flyers).

The functionality is easy, and the opportunities endless. You can use their templates or create your own design into a pre-sized template, and use their images or upload your own. The free version comes with a multitude of templates, fonts and free images. If you wanted to upgrade to their paid version (US$12.95 monthly) it includes animations, many more fonts and images, the ability to upload a brand font and brand colours, and more.

A word of caution! Canva is a great tool. But be cognisant of time and effort - the idea is not to become a designer. The intention is to use the tool to create free, simple designs that look professional (if you are on a lean budget).

It’s important that you work within your real estate agency brand guidelines when creating artwork.

www.canva.com

5. Unsplash

Creating engaging posts requires beautiful imagery. If you can’t find the image you are looking for - head to www.unsplash.com. They have a library of over 1 million curated photos that are free to use.

It is important to note that these are all tools that I use in my day to day, my ‘go to’ list, and there are many similar apps and business tools available.

Be curious - spend some time exploring your app store, ask industry colleagues what they are using and keep your mind open to try new things. Especially if they are free! What have you got to lose?

Odette Coates, Halo Digital

Odette Coates is a digital marketing & communications professional with over 12 years’ real estate marketing experience. She works with business owners and agents to create results driven online strategies to grow their business and brand.

To get in touch call on 027 4637977 or email odette@halodigital.co.nz