social media marketing newmarket Archives | Page 4 of 15 | Rosewood Marketing

Tag Archive for: social media marketing newmarket

Let’s Talk About Social Media Scheduling Apps

It’s 2020. So, let’s face it, social media is HUGE in the world today. It is important to post meaningful content frequently; we recommend posting at least posting 2 times per week. With that being said, we understand that it can be difficult to remember to schedule these in with the busy lives that we all (especially entrepreneurs) live. This is where social media scheduling apps come in!

That’s why we are comparing 4 of the most popular social media scheduling apps.

Why Use a Social Media Scheduling App?

As we mentioned before, it can be difficult to keep up with a set schedule for social media as life is busy for all of us, and understandably so. With a social media scheduling app, you can keep your content flowing and generate a larger audience through the use of hashtags. If you dedicate just one hour each week to planning and scheduling your social media content, you can schedule an entire week’s worth of content and not have to worry about it again until the following week. Wondering what to post about? Check out our blog on Social Media Content Solutions for Small Business.

Scheduling App #1: Planable.io

Planable is a great tool for social media scheduling. If you are an agency with multiple clients that you manage, Planable is definitely the best option for you. Their premium plan offers 5 workspaces all under one login and allow for up to 7 users. This means you can allow your clients permission to make changes, or upload their own imagesinto the shared workspace. Planable allows you to plan a post for a specific date and time and will notify your mobile device when it’s time to post. Planable is definitely a favourite of ours here at Rosewood. However, if you work on your own and wish to do the scheduling on your own, Planable may not be the right option for you. Enter, Later.com.

Starter Plan	Premium Plan	Enterprise Plan
$32.50/month	$82.50/month	Customized by Planable for you
1 Workspace	5 Workspaces	Custom Number of Workspaces
3 Users	7 Users	Custom Number of Users

*Please note that these prices are in USD*

Scheduling App #2: Later.com

Later is also a Rosewood team favourite. Unlike Planable, Later allows a free option. Who doesn’t love free?! With Later, you are able to have a visual Instagram planner to properly plan out how your feed will look. Later also offers an automatic publishing tool, this feature alone is worth its weight in gold. You simply schedule your posts for a specific date and time, and your posts will automatically go out for the set date and time. Keep in mind that as Facebook and Instagram change their APIs, you may need to refresh the connections. If you work on your own, Later.com is the best option for you.

Free	Plus	Premium	Starter	Brand
For Individuals	For Solopreneurs	For Small Businesses	For Growing Companies	For Agencies and Large Teams
Free	$7.50/month	$16/month	$24/month	$41/month
1 Profile per Social Platform 30 posts per social platform Allows you to add Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter	1 Profile per Social Platform 100 posts per social platform Video Scheduling IG Story Scheduling Allows you to add Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter	2 Profiles per Social Platform 250 posts per social platform Video Scheduling IG Story Scheduling Allows you to add Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter Shows You the Best Time to Post	3 Profiles per Social Platform Unlimited posts per social platform Video Scheduling IG Story Scheduling Allows you to add Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter Shows You the Best Time to Post	5 Profiles per Social Platform Unlimited posts per social platform Video Scheduling IG Story Scheduling Allows you to add Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter Shows You the Best Time to Post

Scheduling App #3: Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media scheduling platform that has been around a long time. With Hootsuite, if you’re not using the professional plan, you’re paying a fairly large amount of money monthly to manage your social media in comparison to Planable and Later. Typically, we do not recommend Hootsuite as a social media scheduling platform to use. Hootsuite has a very confusing interface that isn’tmodernized; making it difficult for the average person to use. The platforms we’ve mentioned above are much more intuitive, seamless to use and less expensive.

Professional Plan	Team Plan	Business Plan
$29/month	$129/month	$599/month
10 social media profiles Unlimited Scheduling 1 User Profile Auto Scheduling	20 social media profiles Unlimited Scheduling 3 User Profiles Auto Scheduling	35 social media profiles Unlimited Scheduling Up to 10 User Profiles Auto Scheduling

Scheduling App #4: Buffer

The last social media scheduling platform we’ll compare is Buffer. Buffer, like Hootsuite, has been around for several years and has a fairly difficult interface. We found Buffer difficult to use and not as user friendly as Planable and Later.

Pro Plan

Premium Plan

Business Plan

$15/month

$65/month

$99/month

8 Social Accounts

100 Scheduled Posts

1 User

Connects to most social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc)

8 Social Accounts
2000 Scheduled Posts
2 Users
Connects to most social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc)
IG/FB Story Scheduling
Drafts management

25 Social Accounts
2000 Scheduled Posts
6 Users
Connects to most social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc)
IG/FB Story Scheduling
Drafts management

Which Social Media Scheduling App Do We Recommend?

After looking into all of the above-mentioned social media scheduling platforms, we can say with confidence that Planable.io and Later.com are the best choices. If you’re a larger business that needs multiple social profiles, Planable is a great option for you. If you’re looking for something that is free of cost and doesn’t require multiple social profiles, Later is your best bet!

Let’s Connect

Rosewood is a full-service digital marketing agency outside Toronto dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and small businesses grow their online presence. We work with clients across North America and Europe to identify, strategize and reach their marketing goals!

You can join the conversation online on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Or contact us to chat about your marketing goals for 2020 or to discuss how Rosewood can assist you in building your website!

Until next time,

Cassandra

April 13, 2020/0 Comments/by Deanna

Blogging, Educational

Top 3 Stock Photo Websites

A picture is worth a thousand words. This saying is very accurate! Using photos is extremely important as people are drawn more to photos rather than text. Using stock photos has become a very popular choice for people as it saves you the time and money of hiring a photographer. Stock photos can be found online and are already created and ready to be downloaded for your use. Before downloading a stock photo, you will need to pay for it in order to hold the license (although some websites do offer free stock photos).

Types of Uses for Stock Photos

There are two most common uses for stock photos: commercial use and editorial use.

Commercial Use:

Marketing
Social Media
Branding
Used on Your Website

Editorial Use:

Accompanying text content such as:

Blogs
Articles
Magazines
Newspapers

We have done extensive research on various stock photo websites and have come up with our top 3. Best of all, we have included paid and free options.

Pexels (Free)

Pexels is a royalty free, high-resolution photo marketplace. All photos on Pexels are free for commercial and personal use. Pexels offers thousands of photo options all at high resolution, and they even offer free stock videos as well. Unlike many stock photo websites, Pexels does not require you to register for an account – anyone can upload and download photos! Giving credit to the author is not necessary but is definitely appreciated by both Pexels and the author. Just remember, you CANNOT use these photos for resale.

Pixabay (Free)

Pixabay is another free stock photo website that offers photos, videos, vectors, illustrations and more. Currently, there are more than 1 million options to choose from on Pixabay. All contents are released under Creative Commons CC0. This makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the author/artist. Like Pexels, Pixabay does not require you to create an account in order to download the photos, although certain features do require registration. You may not use the photos and videos from Pixabay for resale, but you can most definitely use the graphics they offer for personal or commercial use.

123rf (Paid)

123rf is a paid stock photo website that offers millions of options to choose from, however this is our personal favourite here at Rosewood. This stock photo site offers thousands of photos, videos, audio, and vectors. You can choose to either do a monthly subscription plan or pay for credits and top them up as you need them.

Each photo/video is downloaded based on size. You can choose to download small (2 credits), medium (4 credits), large (6 credits), or extra-large (10 credits). Typically for most uses, small will work just fine. However, if you require a higher resolution photo, you may want to purchase medium, large, or extra-large. Like Pexels and Pixabay, the contents offered on 123rf are not allowed for resale, unless you purchase an extended license. One thing that is especially great about 123rf is the customer support they offer. When you create an account, you will be assigned an account manager who can help you with any questions or concerns you may have.

Let’s Recap

After looking into Pexels, Pixabay and 123rf, we can honestly say that all three of the stock photo platforms are great! If you aren’t looking to spend money at this time, Pexels or Pixabay is a great option for you. If you are looking for a little bit of an improved and efficient library to choose from and are willing to pay for it, 123rf is your best option.

Let’s Connect

Rosewood is a digital marketing agency outside Toronto dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and small businesses grow their online presence. We work with clients across North America and Europe to identify, strategize and reach their marketing goals!

You can join the conversation online on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Or contact us to chat about your marketing goals for 2020!

Until next time,

Cassandra

February 24, 2020/0 Comments/by Deanna

Entrepreneur, Networking, Rosewood VA

Entrepreneurs in Residence: Tips for Growing Your Team

On Thursday, November 14^th, Rosewood Founder & CEO, Deanna Simone spoke at the annual Entrepreneurs in Residence by the Aurora Public Library. The event invites 4 local entrepreneurs/small business owners to share their personal stories of entrepreneurship and then form a panel to answer attendees’ questions and share tips for growing your team.

Question #1: What Would You Tell Your Past Self About Your Business?

The questions were great! Deanna’s personal favourite was, “If you could go back in time and tell your entrepreneurial self something about your business, what would it be?” What a great question!

Deanna’s answer was, “I would go back and tell myself that you don’t have to do this alone. Asking for help and support is NOT a weakness. That being said, I would have encouraged myself to hire staff/subcontractors sooner. I waited 3 years into my business to hire someone, and I wish I had done it sooner!”.

She went on to say that “growing your business can be a daunting concept. Not only are you giving up control of your “baby”, but you have to spend time to find the right people. Practice your interviewing skills and know what values you are looking for in potential teammates”.

Question #2: How Did You Know It Was Time to Hire Someone?

One question was directed specifically at Deanna, “How did you know it was time to hire someone?”. My response was firstly, there were many signs and I wish I had done it sooner! I was overworked, overwhelmed and making way too many sacrifices. I remember pulling out my laptop after Thanksgiving dinner and working while eating pumpkin pie, or working until 1am Christmas morning so that I could have a few hours off the next day for Christmas dinner. There was a time I was wanting to quit because it was too much.

And then I read the book, Clockwork – How to Make Your Business Run Itself by Mike Michalowitz. It changed my life. It helped me realize that my time was better spent on certain areas. When I broke down the different tasks and responsibilities, it became clear where my time was best spent and what items could be delegated to someone else. It also taught me about delegation, which is such a skill (but I’ll keep this for another time).

Since then, I’ve never looked back and we continue on with managed growth!

Tips for Growing Your Team

Since then Rosewood now has a solid team of three internal members, and a looser structure built up of several subcontractors who specialize in their individual areas. While there have certainly been setbacks, we wouldn’t trade it for anything. The team members we have now are the “A” team, and set the bar for attracting future talent with shared values.

Setting Your Organizational Values

My favourite saying is, “You can’t teach personality”. It’s so true! So instead of focusing on a set skill-set, I look for candidates who have the following traits:

Eagerness to improve the skills they already possess
Willingness to learn
Exceptional communication skills (as this is the Queen Bee Role of Rosewood as an organization)
Aptitude for technology (while not a personality trait, they should have a solid foundation in technical aptitude in order to build their skills)

As you can see from the list above, only one item has to do with technical skills. While this may sound bizarre coming from a technical business, if they have a solid technical foundation and an aptitude for learning – I can teach them anything. This is partially because one of my strengths (and favourite things to do) is teach!

The Rosewood team now is exceptional. They bring in such an array of skills and foster a supportive environment. Although we’re subcontractor-based, we work as a team and foster a company culture together.

If you weren’t able to make it to the event, we’ve got you covered! Click here to watch Deanna’s presentation.

November 18, 2019/0 Comments/by Deanna