43% of consumers increasingly leverage social media to discover new brands. DesignRush reached out to experts to discover the tools social media experts use to plan and create engaging content.

MIAMI - JULY 04, 2022

43% of consumers increased their social media use to learn about new brands, products and services amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It suggests why a booming 91% of decision-makers plan to expand social marketing budgets in the following three years, Sprout Social reports. This leaves businesses with a challenge to deliver engaging content consistently to capture and retain attention. And relying on the right tools can make a difference and help improve social content efforts.

DesignRush, a B2B marketplace connecting businesses with agencies, leveraged its 13,000-agencies-strong network for quick insights – or “QuickSights” – on the tools social media experts use to plan and create engaging content.

1) SKED SOCIAL

According to Ellie Rotvold, account manager at Sunday Brunch Agency, Sked Social simplified their social media management process and allowed them to serve their clients efficiently.

“As social media experts, we know how important it is to eliminate the number of tools we use on a daily basis,” said Rotvold. “An all-encompassing social media solution our team uses for a seamless approach to scheduling posts across platforms, collaborating internally, gathering feedback from clients and deep-diving into analytics is Sked Social. It has simplified our process so we can spend less time managing our content and service our clients efficiently.”

2) ANSWER THE PUBLIC

Outsmart Lab Founder and CEO David Azar claims that AnswerThePublic is a great tool to leverage to explore unique and engaging blog topic ideas.

"AnswerThePublic is my secret weapon when it comes to finding unique and engaging blog topic ideas around a specific subject,” said Azar. “The tool provides thousands of phrases and questions around a specific topic that people use online, therefore, allowing me to pick the most engaging word formulation to outrank my competition and increase my click-through rates [...]."

3) SPROUT SOCIAL & CANVA

Christine Pietryla Wetzler, founder and president at Pietryla PR & Marketing, suggests that Sprout Social and Canva allow for easy content development and approval process.

“Sprout Social and Canva integrate natively and [make it easy] to create and get content approved,” said Wetzler. “Sprout has the best approvals process [which allows to] create and upload months' worth of content and it only takes the client a few minutes to go through and approve it. [...]. More than one person can get involved [... and] since we work with all kinds of different teams, this flexibility is essential. Plus, it gives executives and people who might not otherwise get visibility to have it without slowing us down. So, no back-and-forth in a content management system or sharing multiple spreadsheets. It's so very easy to give everyone the part of the project they're good at and shuffle posts around without compromising quality or approvals.”

4) CANVA

In the opinion of Giovanni Fausti, social media editor-in-chief and cofounder of Web Crew, Canva is the best tool to use for social media content production that has a rich library of graphic templates.

"Intuitive, functional, fast. Canva.com allows you to coordinate the graphics of social profiles even for low-budget customers,” said Fausti. “The many graphic templates available facilitate the editing work, guaranteeing good results even in the case of tight timings.”

Marissa Pick, founder and digital marketing strategist at Marissa Pick Consulting, adds that Canva is a great tool to use to develop eye-catching images and animated videos quickly.

“The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, and 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual,” said Pick. “[Therefore] the trick I’ve found is placing a major focus on developing eye-catching visual and video social media content to drive engagement first. Canva makes it easy to design quick and eye-catching images and animated videos to help your brand cut through the digital world and captivate and inspire your customers.”

5) MONDAY

Pace Media Solutions CEO Ben Precious states that using Monday allows for a fully custom content process and calendar while ensuring a more streamlined approach.

“[...]. I use [Monday.com] within my day-to-day for all different useful purposes,” said Precious. “This platform's main feature is task keeping and planning in a customizable setup. With my agency we have set up a fully custom content process and calendar, all visual with colors and complete with deadlines, dates, status updates, team member responsibilities and more! [It allows] for a streamlined approach [while] ensuring our social channels and clients are active and kept up to date!”

DesignRush released the July list of the best social media marketing agencies that can help businesses plan, create and distribute engaging social content consistently.

1. Digih - digih.pt
Expertise: Social Media Management, Online Advertising, Copywriting and more

2. Marissa Pick Consulting - marissapick.com
Expertise: Brand Marketing, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing and more

3. Sunday Brunch - sundaybrunchagency.com
Expertise: Social Media Strategy, Video Production, Branding and more

4. Outsmart Labs - outsmartlabs.com
Expertise: Social Media Management, Paid Advertising, Integrated Marketing Strategies and more

5. K2 Creative - k2creativellc.com
Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Event Marketing, Brand Consulting and more

6. HelloConvo - helloconvo.com
Expertise: Influencer Marketing, Influencer Gifting Campaigns, Ambassador Program Management and more

7. Marko & Brando - markobrando.com
Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Digital Advertising, Branding and more

8. Pietryla PR & Marketing - pietrylapr.com
Expertise: Influencer Marketing, Content Creation, Media Relations and more

9. Web Crew - webcrew.it
Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Copywriting, Content Marketing and more

10. Blink Digital Consulting - blinkdigital.org
Expertise: Social Media Management, Copywriting, Marketing Analytics and more

11. Cyrusson - Cyrusson.com
Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Reputation Management, Brand Development and more

12. GKV - gkv.com
Expertise: Social Media Strategy & Planning, Content Creation, Influencer Engagement and more

13. EloQ Communications - eloqasia.com
Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Event Planning and more

14. Pace Media Solutions - pacemediasolutions.com
Expertise: Social Media Management, Paid Advertising, Content Creation and more

15. Funnel Simplified - funnelsimplified.com
Expertise: Online Reputation Management, Social Media Marketing, Content Writing and more

16. Sociallybuzz - sociallybuzz.com
Expertise: Social Media Management, Lead Generation, Reputation Management and more

17. Dos Mundos Creative - dosmundoscreative.com
Expertise: Social Media Strategy, Social Media Content Production, Customer Engagement and more

18. 10 Plus Brand - 10plusbrand.com
Expertise: Social Media Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Marketing Analytics and more

Brands can explore the top social media marketing agencies by location, size, average hourly rate and portfolio on DesignRush.

About DesignRush:

DesignRush.com is a B2B marketplace connecting businesses with agencies through expert reviews and agency ranking lists, awards, knowledge resources and personalized agency recommendations for vetted projects.