Facebook is remarkably a big platform with nearly 3 billion active monthly users. Its consumer base is a massive pie that every marketer wants a piece of.
However, with tens of free and paid tools available on the market and so many confusing details explained by marketing gurus, it becomes overwhelming for small businesses and startups.
If that applies to you, we’re here to help. This guide will explain Facebook marketing tools, how different they can be, and how you can leverage them to improve your social strategy—all without the sophisticated jargon.
Disclosure: This content may contain a few affiliate links, which means if you click on them, I will get a commission (without any extra cost to you).
Why Use Facebook Marketing Tools?
Marketing tools can make it much easier for you to reach your target audience. Statistics show over 200,000 million businesses use Facebook’s apps and free tools.
Of course, that includes all niches available, so you won’t technically be competing against 200,000 million other businesses.
However, 93% of businesses are available on Facebook, so you can say that similar businesses to yours are available on Facebook.
As such, you should utilize some of the best Facebook marketing tools to get a competitive edge and make your business stand out.
But what do these tools do? And why should you invest time, effort, and, sometimes, money into them?
Here’s the answer from a bird’s eye view:
1. Streamlining Workflow
The streamlining of workflow is essentially making your tasks faster to do and less tedious. Here’s how:
Automation
Automation is becoming the future of the marketing industry. In 2022 alone, the worldwide market for industry automation was $58 billion, with an expected rise to $96 billion by 2030.
According to the same source, 31% of businesses have completely automated at least one function.
Scheduling
Some Facebook marketing tools allow you to schedule your tasks and posts. Generally, social media algorithms (not just Facebook) favor the accounts that post consistently, preferably in similar intervals.
In other words, if you routinely need to drop in your account daily around the same time to send a post, with automated tools, you can schedule a month’s worth of such work in one go, freeing yourself to do other tasks.
One tool that can help you achieve such a feat is Post Planner.
Unified Management
Besides Facebook, the company also owns Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. Accordingly, you may need to manage multiple pages across multiple platforms.
Some Facebook marketing tools, like Creator Studio, allow you to manage posts and respond to comments across multiple platforms from a single dashboard, which saves time and effort by minimizing the amount of work tabs.
2. Enhancing Your Strategy
You’ll be surprised how much your Facebook marketing strategy will change and adapt over time based on the data you keep gathering.
Marketing tools can help you make your campaign a lot more targeted. The tools allow you to reach people based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and purchase history.
The good news is that you don’t need a sophisticated paid tool to do the task. Facebook’s free Meta Business Suite is enough to provide you with data to help you adapt your strategy based on your audience.
3. Improving ROI
Return on Investment or ROI, in simple terms, means how efficient your financial investment is. It’s a percentage achieved by dividing an investment’s profit by the cost.
Naturally, you want to increase ROI as much as possible, but because of tough competition, the ROI game becomes frustratingly challenging if you don’t have the proper Facebook marketing strategy.
Facebook marketing tools allow you to make data-driven decisions based on the information you gather. The tools also allow you to streamline your workflow, which can help you focus on more rewarding tasks, further boosting your ROI.
Mastering Facebook marketing tools, even the basic ones, will help you boost your audience reach, gaining you more followers for your Facebook page.
Types of Facebook Marketing Tools
Okay, so far, we were constantly saying some Facebook marketing tools without being specific on which tool does what.This section will tell you that. Here is the best Facebook marketing tools list:
Content Creation Tools
While constantly scrolling on Facebook, you tend to stop by posts with unique designs or ideas. That is how your posts, as a business on Facebook, should be. That is also one of the reasons why content creation tools exist.
Note: We’ll exclude the Facebook Creator Studio found in the business suite, as it’s the first tool you’ll likely find when you start advertising on Facebook, so no need to include it here.
That said, other examples of such tools include:
Canva
You’ll see Canva on every page discussing content creation software. That’s how good it is.
Its free version provides plenty of tools you can experiment with, but if you want to up your game, the pro version will be the optimum choice.
Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark is another content creation tool that, despite allowing you to create fantastic and captivating designs, is a bit harder to use than Canva.
The free version is also a bit more limited, but you can get a 30-day free trial to sample the full features.
Visme
Visme is more suited to businesses that need to showcase numbers and statistics, as its primary focus is on presentations and data visualizations like charts and graphs.
Its Ace in the Hole is its built-in AI designer that you must try.
Lightricks
If you work on social content through your phone, consider Lightricks products. While they have multiple software, you should focus on Facetune, Videoleap, and Photoleap.
Facetune is suitable if your brand has beauty products or services requiring multiple shots of people’s faces. It offers AI-powered makeup and retouching tools for the best editing experience.
Videoleap and Photoleap are also robust AI-powered video and photo editing apps that provide you with Photoshop-level editing without the complications that come with it.
Analytics Tools
Analytics tools are the backbone of your Facebook marketing strategy. They’re essentially the guide that tells you whether your efforts are on the right track.
Examples of such tools include:
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is one of the most inclusive social media management platforms. Besides analytics, it allows you to manage your business accounts on over 25 social media platforms, including Shopify, LinkedIn, YouTube, Trip Advisor, TikTok, and Instagram.
Remember that Sprout Special is more suited to bigger businesses that seek a one-stop solution with a budget to spare. It does have a 30-day trial, but it costs $399 per seat if paid monthly and $299 per seat if paid annually.
Keyhole
If analytics is all you need and your business doesn’t have a few hundred dollars to spend monthly, Keyhole is the right tool.
Keyhole focuses only on analytics, dropping other features that may amp up the cost without serving your business as much.
After a 14-day trial, you can start by paying $157.5 per month (billed yearly).
Rival IQ
Rival IQ is another tool focused primarily on analytics. From a single dashboard, you can gather analytics from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok.
Much like Keyhole, it does have a 14-day trial, after which you need a minimum of $239 a month. However, RIval IQ offers some free tools for brands on a budget.
Facebook Ads Manager
If you are operating primarily on Facebook, the native Facebook Ad Manager can still be a great tool.
It provides all the necessary data you’ll need to optimize your marketing strategy, like your target audience preferences, demographics, views, engagements, etc.
The best aspect, however, is that it’s free to use (putting aside money spent on ads themselves).
Automation Tools
Automation tools help you minimize manual effort by automating tedious tasks like scheduling posts.
Top of the list is the native Facebook Creator Studio which also helps you schedule posts for free.
For multifunctional features, here are the other tools to help you with automation:
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a popular social media management platform that allows users to schedule posts, manage engagement, and monitor social media activities across multiple platforms, including Facebook.
It also has a built-in AI writer that can handle some engagement, provide captions, and suggest hashtags.
You can try the professional plan for 30 days and start paying around $99 per month. If you skip the free trial, you get a 50% off.
Vistasocial
Vistasocial regards itself as the most complete social media management platform. As such, whether your business is small or well-established, Vistasocial will be a good fit.
For starters, it has a unified inbox to help you manage engagement across multiple platforms besides Facebook.
It also has a planning and publishing tool to help you schedule posts in advance to save time. You also get a social media listening tool, which tracks brand-related keywords across social platforms to help you see how people perceive your brand.
You can try the software for 14 days for free, and the pricing plans start from as low as $39 per month to $379 per month.
Buffer
Buffer is one of the best tools for small businesses on a budget, offering the best bang for the buck.
This user-friendly scheduling tool lets you plan and publish content consistently across various social media platforms.
It also offers a variety of other valuable features like building landing pages and providing analytics, making it a versatile option for the lowest possible payment, starting from $0 per month.
After a 14-day trial, you can select plans ranging from $5–$100 monthly.
Advertising Tools
Advertising tools are the ones you use to spread your content throughout Facebook to reach an audience who currently aren’t following your business page.
Many of the tools we already mentioned can also serve as advertising tools, including the native Facebook Ad Manager, Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Buffer. In other words, there’s not much else to add here.
How to Choose the Right Tools for Your Business
Utilizing the best tools on the market doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the best results. After all, your target is to profit. Here are the factors to consider if you want to increase that profit:
Decide Your Business Goals
Where do you want your business to be? Do you want to grow now and profit later? Do you want to generate the maximum amount of income in the shortest amount of time? Or are you starting a non-profit organization?
Considering these factors will help you decide which option to go for. After all, most tools will make you pay.
Focus on What You Need
There’s the best option, but you should prioritize the “suitable option.”
For example, if analytics is all you need, purchasing a multi-purpose software like Social Sprout is wasteful. The native Meta Suite should be more than enough.
How Big Is Your Business
The bigger your business, the more platforms it will be on, and the more sophisticated the tools you’ll need. The reverse is also true, so choose your software accordingly.
Best Practices for Using Facebook Marketing Tools
You decided on a specific tool. Here’s how you can make the most out of it:
Use the Free Trial
Many tools can advertise themselves as “the only tool you’ll need.”
But every business owner has different needs, so don’t be afraid to try out those free trials and test the tool yourself. You may end up liking or not liking the tool after doing so.
Stay Data-driven
Analytics are your guiding light. Regularly review data from Facebook Insights and other analytics tools.
Use these insights to refine your strategy, optimize content performance, and improve your return on investment (ROI).
Plan, Plan, and Plan
Plan your content using a content calendar. Scheduling tools can then automate the posting process, ensuring a consistent presence and freeing you up for more strategic tasks.
Don’t Be Afraid to Use Multi-platform
Many tools allow you to manage content across various social media platforms. Utilize this functionality to create a cohesive brand experience across all your channels.
A Few Extra Words
Facebook marketing tools allow you to advertise your products across social platforms. They also provide analytics, help you refine your strategy, and automate tedious tasks.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different tools to find the most suitable one for your business size, goals, and plans.
With so many tools offering free trials out there, you have nothing to lose.
