Having the right Facebook tools to execute your marketing strategy not only makes your job easier, it makes your work more effective and efficient.

You wouldn’t use a screwdriver to hammer a nail into a board, right? The same goes for managing your brand’s Facebook presence. The wrong tools can make life a whole lot harder.

A successful Facebook marketing strategy touches everything from testing ads to analyzing engagement. To help you narrow things down, we’ve listed 12 important Facebook tools, broken down by function, that will help make your Facebook marketing strategy a well-oiled machine.

Facebook publishing tools

Hootsuite Compose

Every good marketing plan starts with a proactive strategy. On social, this means planning your posts out ahead of time and scheduling them to be published when your customers are most active.

That’s where Hootsuite Compose comes in. It’s a Facebook marketing tool that gives you the ability to write, edit, and schedule your posts—all from one central location.

Use Hootsuite Compose as a Facebook tool to create and post content to multiple Facebook Pages—all at the same time. Plus, with Hootsuite’s Media Library, you can easily add professional photos and videos—or your own branded content—to your posts before you publish.

Don’t forget to include alt text to images posted on Facebook, as this will make your content more accessible to users who are visually impaired.

To get started, simply connect your Facebook Pages to Hootsuite, and then start crafting your post in the Composer. Once you’re happy with your post, click the Schedule button to choose when you want it published. And that’s it!

Learn more about Hootsuite Compose in this quick explainer video below.

Facebook native planner

If you want to stick to the basics, plan your social content ahead of time by writing, editing, and scheduling posts directly through your Facebook Business Suite.

This native Facebook tool is built right into the platform and makes it easy to plan content ahead of time, so you can stay organized and top of mind with your audience.

To get started, navigate to your Facebook Page and click on Publishing Tools in the top left.

From there, click Scheduled to create a new post or review previously scheduled posts.

If you want to create a new scheduled post, click Create post in the top right or Schedule post in the middle of the screen.

Facebook analytics tools

Hootsuite Analytics

If you’re looking for a Facebook tool that can help you better understand your target audience and what they’re looking for on social, this one’s for you.

Hootsuite Analytics gives you real-time results, insights into trends, and team metrics. This makes it easier to measure the impact of your Facebook campaigns and see what content resonates best with your audience.

Hootsuite Analytics provides metrics on:

• Comments
• Clicks
• Post reach
• Video views
• Video reach
• Shares
• Follower growth

Learn how to track the right metrics for your brand with our guide to social analytics.

Facebook tools for engagement

Hootsuite Inbox

Keeping your audience engaged and excited about your brand is one of the most important aspects of any social media strategy. After all, what’s the point of posting great content if no one is there to see it?

That’s where Hootsuite Inbox comes in. Hootsuite Inbox is a tool that helps you manage your social conversations in one place. This allows you to quickly and easily see all of your social conversations in one place, so you never miss an opportunity to engage with your audience.

There are three main areas in Hootsuite Inbox:

1. List of conversations
2. Conversation details
3. Inbox filters

Listed conversations show both public and private messages to and from your brand.

The conversation details view gives you more information about a specific message, including the option to reply or take action on the message.

You can also use inbox filters to see only certain types of messages, like unread messages or messages that need a response. Or, you can filter by social network to see conversations from a specific account.

Use this Facebook tool to grow your business by building relationships with potential and current customers.

Adview

Did you know users can leave comments on your Facebook ads? Do you have a plan in place for responding to those messages? With more than 66% of people aged 18-54 feeling more connected to brands that answer their messages on social media, failing to respond could mean missing out on valuable leads and customers.

Adview is a tool that can help you keep track of the comments being made on your Facebook ads, so you can stay connected to your customers across your channels.

With Adview you can:

• Monitor ads on up to 3 Facebook accounts
• Reply to comments on Facebook and Instagram ads
• Use analytics to see which ads get the most comments
• Create and save templated text and image responses

For more information about this tool and others like it, check out our partner apps.

Adobe Stock

An analysis of over 100 million Facebook updates over 3 months, showed that posts with images got over two times more engagement than those without. That means double the likes, comments, and shares. So, including images in your updates is an easy way to boost engagement.

Don’t have photos? No problem. Adobe Stock offers tons of beautiful stock photos for your Facebook posts.

The next step? Check out the Facebook tools for design section below for tips on how to edit your photos.

Facebook tools for video

Facebook Live

Daily watch time for Facebook Live broadcasts has gone up more than four times in the last year! According to Facebook, 1 in 5 videos are now broadcast through the Facebook Live feature. That means that Live video is a powerful Facebook tool to engage your audience and increase your following.

With Facebook Live, you can ask questions, host concerts, and even run a trivia night to excite and delight your online audience.

Get started on Facebook Live and boost your engagement.

Facebook Sound Collection

Even though most people on Facebook watch videos with no sound, it’s still a good idea to find a catchy soundtrack in case they turn on their volume.

The Facebook Sound Collection offers royalty-free audio tracks to use on your video content when you publish on the platform. You can search for free sounds by genre, keywords, vocals, and more to capture the perfect mood for your next Facebook video. All sounds are owned by Facebook, so you don’t have to worry about pesky copywriting laws.

Use the Facebook Sound Collection to:

• Find audio tracks for your video
• Get sound effects for your video
• Enhance your live video content

With the Facebook Sound Collection, you can create videos that are more professional and engaging. Take advantage of this tool to improve your Facebook marketing strategy.

Facebook ads tools

Hootsuite Social Advertising

Ongoing management and optimization of your Facebook ad campaigns can be time-consuming. You need to create mockups, track performance, and optimize ads across channels and accounts.

With Hootsuite Social Advertising, you can manage all your Facebook ad campaigns in one place.

• With this Facebook tool, you can:
• Track campaign results in real-time
• Get in-depth reports on performance
• Optimize campaigns for better results
• Take the guesswork out of managing your Facebook ads

This Facebook tool is perfect for those who want to save time and get the most out of their Facebook ad campaigns. And those who run Facebook ads alongside Instagram and LinkedIn ad campaigns.

Learn more about Hootsuite Social Advertising tools.

Facebook Ads Manager

The Facebook Ads Manager is your all-in-one tool for creating, managing, and analyzing your Facebook ads.

You can use this Facebook tool to build custom ad campaigns and target unique audiences. As well, set budgets and view ad set data to continue optimizing your ads over time.

More features of the Facebook Ads Manager:

• Accurate reporting: View performance data for all your active ads in one place.
• Simplified campaign management: Easily create and edit ad campaigns, ad sets, and ads.
• Dynamic ads: Create dynamic product ads that automatically promote your latest inventory.
• Targeting options: Reach people based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and more.
• Catalog ads: Let customers buy products directly from your Facebook page.

Want to learn how to create show-stopping Facebook ads? Check out this guide to get started.

If you want to access the Ads Manager, bookmark this link. You can also get there by going to your Facebook business page and clicking Ad Center on the left sidebar.

From there, choose All Ads from the dropdown, followed by Ads Manager.

Facebook tools for learning

Facebook Blueprint

Facebook Blueprint offers courses, guides, and training modules, so you’re always up to date on the latest in social advertising. Whether you want to experiment with new ad formats, learn how to optimize your ads, or update your KPIs—Facebook Blueprint has a course for every marketer.

Use this Facebook tool to encourage learning in internal teams, or support external client training.

Courses are free and self-paced, so you can learn at your own speed and on your own time. And once you’ve completed a course, you can download a certificate of completion to share with your team or clients.

Facebook has more than 3 billion monthly active users. Not to mention, 66% of Facebook users visit a brand page every day. So it’s a no-brainer to include Facebook in your marketing strategy. With these Facebook tools you’ll be well on your way to a successful marketing campaign.

Manage your Facebook presence alongside your other social media channels using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can schedule posts, share video, engage your audience, and measure the impact of your efforts. Try it free today.

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