Gone are the days of easy update-it-when-I-want-to social media. In today’s marketplace, you have to be quick, flexible and responsive on all of your social channels. Save yourself the worry, resources and headaches by using some handy social media automation tools. There are a host of social tools popping up on a daily basis – some are outstanding, some not so much.

I’ve rounded up my favorite social media automation tools that I’ve tested thus far!

1. Post Planner

Curate great, engaging content for Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Cost: $3/month + more expensive plans

Post Planner is a content discovery engine that gathers trending content and turns it into usable information. The app shows you what content you should be posting along with the optimal times of day and right networks to use for the post. You add industry-related websites and blogs, Facebook and Twitter accounts, and relevant hashtags and keywords to the dashboard. Post Planner then pulls noteworthy, trending content and photos from each resource and ranks the information based on engagement. You can also use Post Planner’s publishing and scheduling tools to schedule your content throughout your calendar.

2. Later

Grow your following on Instagram and ensure that you are posting at the best times.

Cost: Free

Later is an amazing planning tool for Instagram. The wonders of Later allow you to schedule your posts via your computer, which is wonderful if you’re not mobile savvy or just like to work on a bigger screen. Plus, you’re not limited to using only images from your camera as Later lets you pull photos from your computer, Google Drive and Dropbox accounts.

3. BoardBooster

Increase and engage your fan base using one of the best scheduling apps for Pinterest.

Cost: Free

We know that Pinterest is a powerful marketing tool. Make the most of your pinning efforts by using BoardBooster, a scheduling and reporting automation tool for Pinterest. BoardBooster helps you pin content more efficiently while also making sure your pins are visible to your target audience. It takes away the necessity of pinning manually pin every day! Plus Boardbooster goes through your old pins in a process called looping, which essentially wakes up “sleeping” pins. The app also alerts you if you’ve already posted a link before so you’re not cross-posting and spamming your followers.

4. Social Oomph

A Twitter app with a simple design and powerful features.

Cost: Free

Social Oomph works with your Twitter profile and makes the process of establishing meaningful relationships via the social channel a bit more manageable. Through Social Oomph, you can set up a direct message that automatically goes out to new followers. The app also has a handy “unfollow” feature. Essentially, it tracks your users and unfollows anyone who unfollows you. Because, as we know, that happens all of the time!

5. MailChimp

Enhance your email marketing, send emails and collect analytics.

Cost: Free for up to 2,000 emails/month

Email marketing is an essential component of a digital marketing strategy. MailChimp is one of the best email service providers (ESPs) to use to enhance, revitalize and improve your marketing campaigns. You can collect leads, manage your email lists and create signup forms and calls to action for your website. You can also work within MailChimp to create emails and send them out.

6. Buffer

Use a powerful content publishing app to manage your social channels.

Cost: Free

Like HootSuite, Buffer allows you to schedule your posts in a queue so you can sit back and forget it. Use the dashboard to write your post content and build your posting schedule. The app automatically distributes your pre-scheduled posts to the best social channels at the best time slots of the day.  You can also track your analytics using Buffer’s interface.

While these social automation tools take time and effort to learn and set up, they will absolutely maximize the efficiency of your social strategy. Happy posting!