Social media tools

Using a tool to manage your social channels can be very useful for:

  • Scheduling
  • Campaign tracking
  • Watching multiple channels at once
  • Managing content submitted by a team
  • Managing content going out on multiple channels

Social media management tools range from free to not-so-frugal, but you don’t have to spend a fortune to make it work for you. Line up your objectives, see what’s on offer and see what you can get for your money.

DOWNLOADS

We have plenty of resources which could be of use to you. They include advice and guidance on maintaining a social media channel, managing audiences and more.

Social media guidance for communications staff

This guidance document was created for communications personnel who are responsible for University social media accounts. It provides a comprehensive review of what to post on social media, how to create a social media strategy, when to create a new social channel, how to deal with trolls and more.

Download Social media guidance (PDF) – August 2021.

Social media guidance for academics

This document was created for Oxford academics who are on social media. It provides academics with insights on what to post on social media, how to maximise their use of their channel of choice and how best to respond to questions or concerns on social media.

Download Social media guidance for academics (PDF) – May 2021.

SCHEDULING AND MANAGEMENT TOOLS

Social media management tools are ideal if you need to post content in the evening or over the weekend. They can also be useful as they keep track of what’s being published across your channels over a period of time.

Third-party platforms

Native platforms

If you need advice on which social media management tool could be best for your objectives on social, you can contact social.media@admin.ox.ac.uk for advice.

REPORTING TOOLS

Allow you to pull together quick, overview reports, but please note – each platform provides their own datasets. This means that some platforms may provide data points that others do not, while they could also define some metrics differently.

Native platforms

  • Twitter Analytics
  • Facebook Insights (if your Instagram page is linked to a Facebook page, you can also receive Instagram insights here)
  • Instagram Insights (available only through the Instagram mobile app)
  • LinkedIn Insights (when on your LinkedIn page, click analytics at the top of the page)

Third-party platforms

BRAND LISTENING TOOLS

Brand listening tools allow you to see sentiment and how your news has hit the media. They can also alert you to a crisis through mention spikes, negative keyword use and show you how the conversation is playing out.

Platforms such as Pulsar, Sprout and Hootsuite have this functionality.

Please note: in-tool reporting through native platforms such as Twitter Analytics or Facebook Insights is comprehensive, free, easy to download and easy to understand – so you might not need a management tool.

CONTENT DESIGN TOOLS

Brilliant social doesn’t have to come with a budget. These free tools can help you to design your content and improve your engagement.  

IMAGE AND VIDEO LIBRARIES

There are a huge array of artists who are publishing their work on platforms that don’t ask for fees, although they do often require attribution.

There are also a number of paid libraries: