![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/youtube-__13RTJ_r3E-800.jpg\")
Have you ever found yourself wanting to delete quite a few of your LinkedIn notifications in one go?
\nIn this article I am going to show you how with an easy-to-use bookmarklet, even though LinkedIn itself doesn't offer the feature.
\nThis is perhaps a feature for LinkedIn power users or nerds. But it's incredibly useful for anyone who's ever felt swamped by LinkedIn notifications. Have you ever wished there was a way to clear all those notifications in one go? Well, you're not alone!
\nHave you over logged into LinkedIn and felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of notifications? You're thinking, \"Do I really need to click through each one?\" LinkedIn, for all its strengths, hasn't given us a straightforward way to manage this deluge. This post is about changing that.
\nMy friend, John Espirian, a self-described \"Relentlessly helpful LinkedIn nerd,\" often shares valuable nuggets on navigating LinkedIn’s complexities. In a recent post, he mentioned that managing notifications can really improve your LinkedIn experience. It means you can \"mark as done\" once you've responded to a comment or reaction.
\nIt never occurred to me to use notifications like that. But then it dawned on me. This is exactly why I love tools such as Agorapulse, which has a social inbox. You can mark each task as done and get down to that beautiful inbox-zero feeling!
\nIf you're like me, returning to a crowded LinkedIn inbox after a short break can be daunting. We need a way to quickly sort through what's important and what's not. This is where the concept of bulk deletion comes into play - a way to efficiently tidy up our digital space.
\nThis is a LinkedIn post. Loading it lets LinkedIn set cookies.
Faced with this challenge, I decided to put my tech hat on. With a little help from (hello, ChatGPT!), I embarked on a journey to create a handy tool. This tool is all about bringing that much-needed bulk delete option to LinkedIn.
\nSome people quite rightly were concerned about using automation on LinkedIn. The first Bookmarklet does use some light automation. It simulates the click of the delete notification button by the checked notifications. It has a delay of around 1 second per click.
\nBut if you're not comfortable using this, then I have another option. Option 2 just makes the trash can link for each notification visible so you can easily click for each notification.
\nFor the Automated version...
\nFor the Manual version...
\nMake sure your browser's bookmark bar is viewable. Then click and drag the big blue button below on to your bookmark bar. Then it's available to use on your LinkedIn notification page.
\n🗑 Delete LinkedIn Notifications
\nDrag the above button to your bookmarks bar to use the bookmarklet. If you can't drag it, right-click and add it to your bookmarks manually.
\n🗑 Delete LinkedIn Notifications
\nDrag the above button to your bookmarks bar to use the bookmarklet. If you can't drag it, right-click and add it to your bookmarks manually.
\nThis blog post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase through a link. The editorial line is NEVER impacted by these links. I will only ever recommend a product or service if I think it is worth recommending!
\nThe Internet is a sea of helpful tools, and with so many options, it can feel like you’re drowning. Maybe you ended up in a Desert Island as a result?
\nI’ve already compiled my digital toolbox, which gives you all of my recommendations on every kind of tool out there and alternatives. So, if you were stranded on a desert island, somewhere in that vast sea, these seven tools will help you. And don't worry, this might be a desert island, but it's got a good internet connection - and power! 🙂
\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-wide-c01d9d-1600.jpg\")
Adobe Express isn't just a tool; it's a package of dozens of powerful tools. It's a lifeline for content creators like myself. Imagine being stranded on a desert island with an urgent need to send out a visual SOS? Adobe Express would be my go-to. It starts with a question \"What do you want to make?\". And it quickly becomes your creative companion, your intelligent friend. Streamlining the process from idea to execution.
\nOn a desert island, resources are limited so having an all-in-one creative platform is a godsend. But even if you're not living on a desert island, things can be overwhelming. From graphics and videos to documents, this tool covers pretty much everything. Available as a web app as well as a mobile app, it's the Swiss Army knife of digital creation.
\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-screenshot-1-d94042-1532.jpg\")
The new version of Adobe Express has Generative baked into it. Powered by Adobe Firefly, you can use it for image creation and text effects. It's really impressive. Sometimes, you need to tweak and try again. But it really helps you generate ideas and get beyond the blank page. With a simple text prompt, you can produce unique graphics or stylised text to make even a desert island look Insta-worthy.
\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-gen-ai-75a28c-1258.jpg\")
You get access to Adobe's stock library (all of it if you subscribe to the inexpensive Premium plan). And you get Adobe's font library too!
\nI love Adobe Express' quick actions. These are a bundle of little (but powerful) tools to help with various tasks. You have a code generator, video/image resizers, croppers and PDF tools. They help me complete tasks that would otherwise require multiple tools in one neat package.
\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-quick-actions-ff7c1d-1177.jpg\")
I might be stranded on a desert island, but that doesn't mean I'm alone.
\nAdobe Express has a powerful real-time collaboration feature that will allow me to work with my team or clients. Team members can join in on the creative process right within the tool, and we can see each other work in real-time.
\nYou can even add Photoshop and Illustrator files to your Adobe Express project with a feature called Linked Assets. The cool thing is that if you update your Adobe Photoshop file in Photoshop, it will be updated within your Adobe Express project. It's almost like having the entire Adobe Creative Cloud suite in your pocket.
\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-linked-assets-156488-1203.jpg\")
A picture paints a thousand words, and a video creates the entire narrative. With the video editor feature, you can animate images, layer audio tracks, and bring your content to life. This could be the difference between a boring SOS message and a blockbuster rescue plea for a deserted island inhabitant. In the new version of Adobe Express, you don't just have the ability to remove the background from images, but from videos too!
\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-editor-bbf693-1600.jpg\")
If you're anything like me, juggling multiple social media platforms is a daily ordeal. Adobe Express eases that burden with its built-in scheduler tool. Perfect for planning your content calendar while sipping coconut water on your desert island.
\nYou can visually lay out Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn posts. And you can preview how your content will look on each platform and say goodbye to nasty surprises. It's not as powerful as a full social media management tool such as Agorapulse (see below), but for simple social media scheduling from the same tool that you create your visuals from, it's perfect.
\n![\"Creating](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-new-post-c5f104-996.jpg\")
![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-plans-1-6fc556-965.jpg\")
The free version is packed with robust features that can get you through most tasks. However, a premium plan is available if you want to unlock the full potential. It is particularly useful for those with an existing Creative Cloud subscription, as it's already included, and the integration is as smooth as a good cuppa.
\n\n![\"ecammlive](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecammlive-screenshot-e10988-1600.jpg\")
If I’m deserted on a remote island, I would definitely need to be broadcasting my SOS messages via live video to the world. For that, I couldn’t live without Ecamm Live, a powerful and incredibly easy-to-use live video tool.
\nWith all of my live shows, I often start off with a pre-show slot and a countdown timer. This allows a bit of an informal chit-chat while my live viewers join. When it's time for the main segment, I switch to my opening show video - which is pre-recorded with Ecamm Live and embedded into my live show. When I’m ready for the main segment, I can easily switch over to my next scene: me. And then I can bring in a guest through Ecamm Live’s Call Recorder for Skype. At the click of a button, I can quickly toggle between showing both of us or just one of us, all with different camera angles. Plus, everything is recorded in high definition, so I can easily repurpose it to YouTube and other channels.
\nEcamm integrates with pretty much all the live video platforms out there. That includes Facebook, YouTube, Periscope and Twitch. And because it supports RMTP and integrates with Restream or Switchboard Live, you can stream to any platform and even more than one at once!
\n![\"ecamm](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecamm-demo-59fc0f-1600.jpg\")
The only real downside to Ecamm Live is that it’s available only for Mac users at this time. Believe me, PC users, I feel your pain.
\nA great option for you is OBS Studio; it’s free but is more difficult to use and doesn’t have all of the same features as Ecamm Live. So a more direct PC equivalent would be vMix, which definitely has a learning curve but you can do pretty much anything on it.
\nThere are also a couple of browser-based tools which work on both Macs and PCs. BeLive works with Facebook and Twitch, and StreamYard integrates with Facebook and YouTube, and pretty much any live video platform with and Restream integration.
\nWhen I use Ecamm Live, it’s like I have an entire production team at my disposal, but really, it’s just me producing my show all by myself.
\nPricing:
\nEcamm Live starts at $12 per month (if paying yearly) and $20 per month for the pro plan (which includes more advanced things like the virtual webcam and automatic cross-posting).
For alternatives, vMix has a free Basic version; paid versions start at $60. BeLive has a free Basic version; paid versions from $15 per month. StreamYard has a free Basic version; paid versions from $25 per month.
\n\n![\"Beaver](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/beaverbuilder-screenshot-f7348a-1600.jpg\")
I’m really hoping that someone will rescue me from this deserted island, so I’m going to add those SOS videos to my WordPress website. The quickest and easiest way to add a page is through Beaver Builder, the original drag-and-drop page builder plugin for WordPress. It's what I use for my website and almost all of my clients' websites.
\nFor any page, you can create columns, add videos, calls to actions, countdown timers, change the background colour — really amazing things. And don’t worry, these customizations will not slow down the page load speed or mess with . In addition to being a plugin, Beaver Builder also has a WordPress theme, which is a great way to build a website. I use the Beaver Builder theme for this website too!
\n![\"Beaver](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/beaver-builder-demo-569a23-1600.jpg\")
But probably the way that Beaver Builder has helped me the most is because I don’t need to have (and pay for) a separate LeadPages, ClickFunnels, or other landing page tool for my marketing or advertising initiatives. I can do everything within Beaver Builder—and it’s actually hosted on my website, which means that the pages don’t disappear after my campaign ends. Plus, I actually think it’s quicker to build pages using Beaver Builder than those other services.
\nPricing:
\nAn annual fee of $99 gets you the plugin for unlimited sites; for $199, you’ll get the plugin and the theme; and for $399, you also get white labelling, which really only matters to agencies.
![\"Agorapulse\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-wide-f863e9-1600.jpg\")
A webpage with my SOS videos won’t lead to my rescue if I’m not driving traffic to it through social media. To ensure that I’m getting my word out effectively, I wouldn’t use any tool other than Agorapulse, a social media management tool … and so much more.
\nI believe there’s no perfect tool for everyone, but Agorapulse is getting pretty close. I’ve been amazed at how many different tools it has replaced for me. At one point, I was using five or six different tools to manage my social media channels. Now I just use Agorapulse.
\n![\"Agorapulse](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-in-action-879758-1600.jpg\")
Other than being able to schedule all of my posts to almost all social platforms, my favourite, cannot-live-without feature of Agorapulse is Social Inbox. In one mailbox, I can see all social mentions, messages, notifications, comments, etc. Then I can choose to respond, archive or delegate the message to one of my team. Once I've done that, the message is archived and disappears from view - since it has been dealt with! It allows me to get down to inbox zero bliss! It’s helped me no end and saved me so much time!
\nEven more beneficial is the ability to automate my replies so that I can respond in a very efficient manner. This is using Agorapulse's Inbox Assistant feature.
\n![\"Agorapulse](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-inbox-assistant-ac7b20-1600.jpg\")
Here’s an example: A while ago, I was getting loads of these horrible, kinds of spammy mentions on Twitter—particularly direct messages saying, “Thank you for following me,” and that sort of stuff. I see these as less than useful mentions and messages. So I’ve set up an automation rule to effectively filter out those kinds of messages that just don’t warrant a reply from me. It means less clutter and allows me to focus on responding to important messages.
\nThere are so many other cool features which I love and save me time:
\n![\"Agorapulse](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-saved-replies-a0d0d4-1066.jpg\")
![\"Agorapulse](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-hashtag-groups-5e4614-1116.jpg\")
![\"Agorapulse](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-ig-stories-e85907-1600.jpg\")
Pricing:
\nA few free tools are available and there is a generous free plan. Paid plans start at $49 per month, all with a 28-day free trial.
![\"LastPass\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lastpass-1-e77b57-585.png\")
Let’s face it: I’m stranded on an island; I have more important things to think about than remembering my passwords. And so I rely fully on LastPass.
\nI always say that if you can remember any of your passwords, then you’re not secure.
\nPasswords need to be really, really complicated—at least 12, 13, or 14 characters of absolute gibberish - and ideally much longer.
\nBut as human beings, we can’t remember those, so we need a password manager. LastPass is one of the most secure and easy-to-use password managers out there.
\n![\"The](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lastpass-vault-330966-1600.jpg\")
It works on your computer or your phone, for any of your password-protected tools or websites. And it syncs across the cloud. It can generate your passwords and will auto-fill the username and password on your computer and phone.
\nHere's an example of a LastPass generated password: CuOgejf@yGRres9#XTNI8*^6*
\nPretty complicated, wouldn't you agree?!
\nNaturally, it would be (close to) the end of the world if anyone were to guess your LastPass password. So the inner geek in me highly recommends the extra security measure of two-step authentication, which is set up via your phone. That way, if any hacker steals your LastPass password, they won’t be able to log in because they would need to have your phone as well. LastPass has their own authenticator app to make this easy, or you could use the Google Authenticator app like me.
\nNeed a little help in generating a password that you can remember? Here’s a fun system:
\nStart with your favourite food, say, tofu. “iliketofu” is not going to be very secure, so let’s start with the first letter of each word: I L T. Then add your favourite number, say 33. And then a few of your favourite symbols and maybe the first or last four letters of LastPass. In the end, the password would be ILT33#%&*last. Is it the most secure? Probably not, but it’s a system that you can remember for it.
\nNaturally, you should not email yourself the password. And above all, make sure your email password is different than everything else. If a hacker gets access to your email, they get access to everything, because they can just reset any of your passwords, which are sent to your email, and that’s the end.
\nPricing:
\nThere is a powerful free version for personal individual users and the premium version is $36 per year. The family account is $48 and business accounts are from $48 per user per year.
![\"ChatGPT\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/chatgpt-wide-249f55-1600.jpg\")
Unless you've been living under a rock on your desert island, you'll already have heard of ChatGPT. It's become my \"intelligent friend\" or digital companion and is powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 architecture.
\nThis is your go-to if you're stranded on a desert island and want to brainstorm ideas, write content, or even have a quasi-philosophical discussion. Imagine having a tool that can help you draft blog posts, write songs, or generate content for an SOS message—all while considering your own writing style and tone.
\nFrom natural language understanding to text generation, ChatGPT is a jack-of-all-trades. The latest version, GPT-4, brings increased accuracy, better contextual understanding, and a host of features like summarisation and Q&A capabilities. You can even upload files for it work with, such as , code scripts, images and more. I love the new custom instructions feature which allows you to tell ChatGPT more about you and how you would like it to respond. It's particularly useful for narrowing down responses based on specific requirements.
\nI use ChatGPT for so many things. I use it to help me come up with ideas, or teach me a new concept. It can help me with content creation, although I don't use it to create my content completely. It's perfect in gaining insights into complex subjects. I've even used it to create a text adventure game based on the Hobbit. Its versatility is a godsend, especially when resources are scarce, like on a desert island.
\nFrom natural language understanding to text generation, ChatGPT is a jack-of-all-trades. The latest version, GPT-4, brings increased accuracy, better contextual understanding, and a host of features like summarisation and Q&A capabilities. The custom instructions feature is particularly useful for narrowing down responses based on specific requirements.
\nThe free version of ChatGPT is fine. But I wouldn't be without ChatGPT Plus which gives me access to GPT 4 which is much more powerful and up to date. Also, it offers priority response times and general access even during peak usage times.
\nWhile the free plan is quite generous, the paid plans start at a reasonable rate, offering additional perks that can be invaluable, especially for heavy users or professionals.
\n\n![\"Wave](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wave-31809a-1600.jpg\")
By 2020, according to CISCO, Online Videos will account for more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic.
\nPeople love to consume video content, and this is growing every year. According to Buzzsumo, on Facebook, Video posts get at least 59% more engagement than other post types. And compared to photos, video outperformed photos by 73%.
\n![\"Buzzsumo](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/facebook-engagement-stats-2018-1-67714b-1600.jpg\")
While the bandwidth on my desert island really isn't that great, creating engaging SOS video content is going to be vital if I want to be rescued. Live videos are perfect if you want to level up your impact and authority. But pre-recorded video on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube are vital too.
\nOn my desert island, I'll be using the online video tool, Wave Video a lot! I've just fallen in love with it. There are so many things I adore about Wave.Video - the way it's so easy to use and integrates with a huge library of stock videos and audio files. There are loads of high-quality free videos to choose from as well as premium ones too.
\n![\"The](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wave-video-library-dcb41b-1600.jpg\")
As well as adding videos from the library, you can upload your own video clips too. Then you can trim the clips, and add more to your masterpiece. Then it's a case of adding text with your brand's colours and fonts, calls to actions, graphics, stickers, watermarks and more. And you can add music and sound effects too.
\n![\"The](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wave-video-editor-d3a4b1-1600.jpg\")
Wave Video is nowhere near as powerful as a professional video editor like Adobe Premiere Pro. But for many situations, Adobe Premiere Pro is just overkill. Wave Video makes creating video quick and easy and has saved me so much time. I love the way you can add videos from the library as well as music, audio, graphics and more.
\nAnd once you're done, you can export to a plethora of different formats including YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram (square), Instagram Story (portrait format) and more. Wave Video crops the video and resizes the text perfectly for each format.
\n![\"Wave](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wave-formats-0d6f37-1600.jpg\")
I'm launching a new live show and podcast soon - that's if I manage to get off this desert island! It's called the Confident Live Marketing Show. And I used Wave Video to create the opening video to the show. It was a lot of fun to create. My friends at Music Radio Creative produced the audio and the video and title were all created using Wave Video. And it took me less than 20 minutes!
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/youtube-kLa5xyn5zjQ-480.jpg\")
Pricing:
\nThere is a great free version which allows you to create 15-second videos to export to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. If you need to download your videos and extend to 1 minute, you'll need a creator plan which costs $99 per year. Pro plans cost $198 per year and allow you to create videos in full HD and give you branding features.
Wow, it really is The End!
\nI do hope I get rescued soon. But for now, I'm just so grateful for these 7 amazing tools.
\nNow what I want to know is, what are your DITs? These are your Desert Island Tools, the seven items you find so helpful that you cannot live without them. Let me know in the comments!
", "date_published": "2023-09-29T16:21:41+00:00", "date_modified": "2025-02-04T17:20:21+00:00", "tags": [ "Tools" ], "image": "https://new2.iag.me/media/7-tools-i-want-on-my-desert-island-1-3bd28f-1024.jpg", "authors": [ { "name": "Ian Anderson Gray", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/about/" } ] }, { "id": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/stop-saying-thanks-on-social-media/", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/stop-saying-thanks-on-social-media/", "title": "Stop Saying Thank You on Social Media & Say Something Meaningful!", "summary": "Stop Saying Thank You on Social Media & Say Something Meaningful! Why thank you messages lack meaning and what to do about it.", "content_html": "It's time to stop thanking people.
\nHave I gone mad? I'll tell you why...
\nIt's encouraging to see many people sharing my articles. Some people share straight from my blog using one of the social networking share buttons or share from one of my social media posts. I am incredibly grateful to these people, and I do try to respond to as many of the people who share my articles to say thank you.
\nBut why?
\nWhy do we say thank you on social media? A strange question, you ask?
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/youtube-YkL81ZfBSJc-800.jpg\")
![\"Thank](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/x-twitter-thanks-82c071-1100.jpg\")
Well, kind of...
\nSometimes, a \"thank you\" can lose its value in the noise and sheer volume of posts.
\nDo you find yourself replying, sending a direct message or commenting with the following?
\nAll of the above examples are very polite and encouraging, but what do they actually mean? Have you thought about the meaning of your \"thank you\" messages, or are you just doing what everyone else is doing?
\nDon't get me wrong, I am doing exactly the same- but I was made to think about whether all this thanking was doing any good. I have marketing consultant Mark Schaefer to thank for that. Thanks, Mark... Oops...! 😉
\nOver 10 years ago, Mark wrote an article on Why I Stopped Thanking People on Social that made me stop and think. Do read it- it will give you an idea of what I am referring to. It's still very relevant.
\nIn the article, Mark says that the tipping point came when someone tweeted him:
\n\nYou are too damn polite... Stop thanking people, will you!
Ouch.
\nMark then went on to say...
\n\nI knew he had a point. I had reached the thank you tipping point. So I stopped.
\nThis saddened me. I hate it that the more popular you become on the social web, the less engaging you can be. Isn’t that ironic? The very characteristic people appreciate is doomed over time. Authentic social media engagement is not scalable.
I think Mark makes an interesting point. Social media is about creating meaningful content or building meaningful relationships, including replies.
\nIt's also about knowing who is in your core community and knowing why people are sharing your content in the first place.
\n![\"Translating](\"https://iag.me/assets/dictionaries.jpg\")
OK, please note that I had my tongue firmly in my cheek with the above, but I hope you got my point!
\n![\"Social](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/opportunity-80d9e6-400.jpg\")
How about doing something a little different?
\nInstead of just thanking them, why not introduce them to someone they might find interesting? How about reading one of their articles and giving some feedback? You won't necessarily be able to do that with all your replies, but you could create an opportunity and build upon the relationship.
\n![\"Encouragement](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/holding-hands-encouragement-01d713-1080.jpg\")
We've missed something, though, and it is a biggy... Encouragement.
\nMost of us like to be encouraged.
\nIt can be a bit depressing if we don't get any feedback. And most of us don't get much in the way of encouragement.
\nIf you've read the book The 5 Love Languages, we each accept and give love and attention in different ways. There are Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Quality Time, Acts of Service and Physical Touch. I think these work really well on social media.
\n1. Words of Affirmation
\nWe all need encouragement. I love it when someone leaves a comment on my articles, but the truth is that most readers of blogs don't. Talk to most bloggers, and they'll tell you the same- they wish they had more comments. The same goes for X, LinkedIn and Facebook. It's great when someone replies, mentions us or leaves a comment.
However, which would you prefer- 20 \"thank you for your article\" one-line comments or five longer comments where they share their thoughts?
\nWe need to be encouraging but also add value to the conversation. That's how it is in real life, so why should it be any different online?
\n2. Quality Time
\nEveryone is concerned that attention spans are plummeting, and we need to embrace short-form TikTok-style content. However, there's a gap in the market. More and more people want long-form, deep content. And content where they can engage in real-time. Consider using live streaming. You can host live sessions to spend quality time with your audience. It allows for real-time interaction and engagement. Read up more on how to create the perfect Live Stream.
Or you could do Q&A Sessions. This is where you allocate specific time for answering questions and conversing with your followers. And don't forget polls and surveys. Polls involve your audience in decision-making, showing that you value their opinions.
\n3. Gifts
\nUsing the physical world can mean so much to people in this digital world. Offer contests and giveaways. Or send out a gift as a random act of kindness. You can use these as a way to give back to your followers. Send out a mug, a book, a plant, a pizza or a handwritten card. Or it could be some exclusive digital content, such as e-books, templates, or discounts. Always try to make it personalised. Personalized recommendations or resources to individual followers based on their interests or needs can make a massive difference and be unexpected and welcome.
4. Acts of Service
\nWe are living in a lonely world. Offering assistance and solutions when followers have questions or encounter issues related to your expertise or niche can be a massive deal. Sharing valuable tips regularly, tutorials, or guides that help your audience solve problems or improve their skills. But if you can do this in a more personal, non-scalable way, it will make more of an impact. And how about collaborating with your followers or peers by promoting their content or businesses and demonstrating your support?
5. Physical Touch
\nThis is the most challenging love language to replicate over social media. But virtual Hugs, high-fives, emojis and expressions that convey warmth and friendliness can be powerful. Just don't forget the real physical world. Go out of your way to meet your best real-life connections and give them actual hugs (or, if you prefer, a firm handshake!) Create personal Connections and share personal stories. Those experiences can create a sense of emotional closeness with your audience. Be empathetic and understanding when responding to followers' challenges or struggles, offering virtual support.
![\"The](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/thank-you-replacement-list-1597ee-1080.jpg\")
Creative ideas to replace \"Thanks\" on Social Media.
\nSo what should we do instead? How can we be more meaningful than just saying \"thank you\" on social media?
\nThis is where my Thank You Replacement List comes in. Instead of just saying thanks, do one of the following:
\n\"That's all very well\", you say, \"but I don't have enough time!\".
\nI understand- I have the same issue. However, spending time thanking everyone without a strategy doesn't help you!
\nFirstly, make your own \"thank you\" replacement list and save it somewhere you can easily access it. This could be in a Google Doc or a notes app like Notion or Evernote.
\nSecondly, a social inbox tool can REALLY help you reply and engage more efficiently.
\n![\"Agorapulse](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-website-screenshot-2023-2dcfb1-1600.jpg\")
I'm a massive fan of the social media management tool Agorapulse. It has an incredibly easy-to-use and powerful social media inbox. And if you're worried that this will be expensive, don't be.
\nAgorapulse has a generous free plan. You can manage up to 3 social channels and get a basic social inbox. You can use the Agorapulse mobile app on the move, too.
\nHootsuite and Sprout Social are alternatives, but they don't offer free plans and are significantly more expensive than Agorapulse.
\nWith the Agorapulse social inbox, you can quickly respond to people who have shared your content.
\nWith your \"thank you replacement\" list, you can quickly review your pending replies and mentions and engage more meaningfully with your community's core people. You may discover people you haven't engaged with before- people you didn't realise were in your community.
\nClick here to find out more and to sign up for Agorapulse.
\n![\"Lately](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lately-2023-28ce84-1158.jpg\")
Another tool to check out is Lately, which describes itself as an AI-powered social selling platform that delivers actionable content in your voice. It's a social media management tool but has a handy generator that can help you create your social media thank-you replacement list. The AI can also create images, generate hashtags, intro/outro videos and more.
\nClick here to check out Lately.
\nIt's also essential to understand the rules and limits of each social network. Understanding best practices, rules, and limits prevents you from making big mistakes. I've written an article on the social media limits in X (formally known as Twitter).
\nWith more and more accounts being hacked daily, ensure you take steps to increase security. I've written an article on how to make your Facebook Account Private and Secure if you'd like to do that.
\nSo, have I got you thinking? Do you agree or disagree? Do you have a plan or strategy for engaging with people using social media? I'd love to know. As always, please leave your comment below (even if it is a \"thank you for your article!\" comment!)
", "date_published": "2023-09-13T08:56:35+00:00", "date_modified": "2023-09-13T08:58:17+00:00", "tags": [ "Social Media" ], "image": "https://new2.iag.me/media/thanks-twitter-image-1-719290-1024.jpg", "authors": [ { "name": "Ian Anderson Gray", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/about/" } ] }, { "id": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/make-facebook-account-private/", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/make-facebook-account-private/", "title": "How to Make your Facebook Account Private", "summary": "Lock away your Facebook account from prying eyes. Make your Facebook account private and secure with this guide and stay safe on Facebook.", "content_html": "Do you want to lock down your Facebook account away from prying eyes and make it more secure?
\nIn this article, I show you how.
\nPeople have asked me many times how to lock down their Facebook account.
\nWhy?
\nNot everyone wants to be on Facebook. But sometimes you don't have a choice. Perhaps you want to be involved in certain Facebook groups or keep tabs on what family members or friends are up to.
\nSince the early days, Facebook has come a long way regarding privacy and security. They do give us so much control over our data and privacy. Some might say they give too much power - because it is far too complicated for most people to figure out.
\nSo, that’s how I came to write this article. It is written for people who don’t want to be on Facebook, but...
\nIt’s also for people who are just paranoid about Facebook but still want to use it.
\nNot all groups are private, so you'll always need to be careful what you post on Facebook. Broadcasting to Facebook Live and public posts should be avoided.
\nAs for me, I enjoy Facebook, but I understand the concerns. I’ve not locked down my Facebook account anywhere near as much as what I am suggesting in this article. However, I want to make it easy for you if you do.
\nIf you want to secure your Facebook account and make it as secure as possible... if you want to use Facebook but stop being found, this article is for you.
\n(If you already have a Facebook account, skip on to step 2)
\nIf you don't have a Facebook account, you'll need to create one. Here is how you create a Facebook account and make it private.
\n![\"How](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/1-sign-up-for-fb-here-0e9302-1600.jpg\")
![\"Enter](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/2-enter-confirmation-code-here-2-989e2f-1020.jpg\")
![\"Confirm](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/facebook-confirmed-841351-492.jpg\")
![\"Avoid](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/add-friends-ef13b4-761.jpg\")
Make sure you've logged into your Facebook account. Now, it's time to make your Facebook account private and secure.
\nNot adding your photo as your profile picture will help you be less recognisable. You could either leave it blank or upload a generic image.
\nClick on your profile picture in the top right corner of your Facebook page. Then click 'Settings & privacy' and then 'Privacy Checkup'. This will open the Privacy Checkup options.
\nYou will now go through the simple steps to make your Facebook account private.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/who-can-see-what-you-share-eecc5c-1111.jpg\")
First, start by clicking 'Who can see what you share' box.
\nYou will start first with setting the privacy for your profile information. If you do not want certain profile information available to anyone, make sure to select \"Only me\" for those options.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/facebook-profile-info-update-a1b6a4-787.jpg\")
Once your profile privacy is set the way you want it, click NEXT
\nNow you will set privacy for your posts and stories.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/posts-and-stories-1ea407-951.jpg\")
Future Posts – You can make all future posts available to the public, to friends, Friends except, Specific friends only, only to you or customize who can see your future posts.
\nStories – Because posting to stories is optional, the options are more limited. The possibilities for stories are public, Friends, custom and hide stories from, which will hide certain people from seeing your stories. You can also choose to turn commenting off on your stories.
\nLimit Past Posts – You can change who can see past posts you created. This will limit all past posts to \"only friends\".
\nOnce you have updated your post and story settings the way you like them, click NEXT.
\nHere, you can block people, if needed.
\nClick Add to blocked list
\nType the name of the person you want to block. Find the person and click \"Block\" to the right of their name and profile picture.
\nClick NEXT then click Review Another Topic.
\nNow click on How people can find you on Facebook
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/how-people-can-find-you-on-facebook-ee9729-1111.jpg\")
Click Continue
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/image-12-how-people-can-find-you-on-facebook-1-cbcea6-699.jpg\")
First you will decide who can send you friend requests. The options are everyone or friends of friends. To limit your privacy, you will want to select friends of friends.
\nClick NEXT
\n![\"Take](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/who-can-send-you-friend-requests-1-7ef90f-867.jpg\")
Now you will decide who can look you up, or search for you, by your phone number and email address. For the maximum privacy on FB, select Only me for both phone number and email address.
\n![\"Make](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/phone-and-email-search-option-23a089-898.jpg\")
Click NEXT
\nOn this screen you will have an option to allow search engines, such as Google, to link to your profile to help people find you.
\nThe default for this option is OFF. For maximum privacy, keep this selection.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/search-engines-can-link-to-your-profile-3ca76c-865.jpg\")
Click NEXT.
\nYou have now completed the 'How people can find you on Facebook section'.
\nLet's move on to the next section, 'How to keep your account secure'.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/how-to-keep-ypur-account-secure-881c26-1111.jpg\")
IMPORTANT!!!
\nPassword privacy is extremely important. Your password should be secure and not be used for any other websites. If this is not the case, you will want to change your password to a secure password.
\nIn order to manage original, secure passwords for every website you log in to, I recommend using a password manager program such as LastPass. LastPass will not only store all your passwords but it can also be used to generate secure passwords and can automatically log you into websites that you visit. One of the most incredible things, aside from having a security system in place for all of your passwords, is that you no longer need to memorise your passwords. You just remember your pass phrase for logging into LastPass, and then you have secure access to all of your secure passwords inside your vault. LastPass has a lot of other features as well that you can check out here on their website.
\nIf you need to change your Facebook Password, keep reading here. If not, you can jump to the next section.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/is-your-password-private-bf93cc-865.jpg\")
First click Change password.
\n![\"Keep](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/change-password-1-b6d4a5-1151.jpg\")
In the first field, enter your current password.
\nIn the second and third fields, enter your new secure password.
\nClick SAVE CHANGES.
\nIf you did NOT need to change your password, click NEXT
\nYou will now have the option to turn on two-factor authentication (2FA). For maximum protection of your Facebook account, I highly recommend you use 2FA. If a hacker manages to steal your password, they won't be able to log into your account unless they also have your two-factor authentication code, which changes every 30 seconds.
\nTo turn on 2FA, click Get Started. Otherwise, click NEXT if you do NOT want to turn on 2FA.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/add-extra-layer-security-to-your-account-56f04f-1073.jpg\")
I highly recommend that you use an Authenticator App for 2FA. I like the Google Authenticator App as it is easy to add 2FA and easy to use.
\nGet the Google Authenticator app for Apple iOS here
\nGet the Google Authenticator app for Android here
If you have never used an authenticator app before and have questions, this article can help get you started.
\nTo turn on 2FA using an app, click on the Use Authentication App button. Then open your authenticator app and scan the code. Alternatively, you can copy and paste the code provided into your app.
\nClick continue and then enter the code from your app for your FB account.
\nOnce you enter the code, you will receive a message that 2FA has been activated. You will then be prompted to login again.
\nWhen you login again you will be offered the ability to add a back-up method for 2FA.
\nI recommend that you do this, and using either Text Message SMS or Recovery Codes would be solid options for securing access to your Facebook account.
Using Text Message (SMS)
\nAnother option that FB offers is to have a code sent via text message to your mobile phone every time you log into Facebook.
\nClick the 'Use Text Message (SMS)' button and enter your phone number and click continue.
\nYou will receive a code via text message.
\nEnter that code to in the space provided.
Using a Security Key
\nIf you have a physical security key, you can use this for 2FA for your Facebook account.
\nYou can click here to learn more about physical USB security keys.
Alerts
\nFinally, you can turn on Alerts so that you are notified if someone logs into your Facebook account from an unrecognized location.
\nI recommend that you turn on both available options, receiving a Facebook notification and receiving an email.
![\"Turn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/turn-on-alerts-ab6232-1246.jpg\")
Click NEXT then click Review Another Topic.
\nNow click on Your data settings on Facebook and click CONTINUE.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/your-data-settings-on-fb-1-795e91-1111.jpg\")
You will now review the apps and websites that you have previously used to log into Facebook. Remove any that you no longer want to use.
\n![\"Remove](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/apps-and-websites-youve-used-toi-log-into-fb-48beee-1109.jpg\")
Click NEXT then click Review Another Topic.
\nNow click on Your ad preferences on Facebook and click CONTINUE.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/your-ad-preferences-387429-1053.jpg\")
I encourage you to read this page, as it explains how Facebook personalizes ads based on what they think interests you.
\nOnce you have read through this page, click NEXT.
\nHere, you can change how advertisers target you based on your profile. Turn off any settings you do not want to be used to target you for advertising.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/profile-info-1-1-215202-1073.jpg\")
When you have your settings the way you want them, click NEXT.
\nOn this page, you decide if your friends can see social interactions you have had with pages. If you want to keep this private, then scroll down and change the setting for 'Who can see your social interactions alongside ads?' to ONLY ME.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/social-interractions-21b5b2-998.jpg\")
Click NEXT.
\nThat’s it! Your Facebook account is now PRIVATE and SECURE.
\nYou’re pretty much done at this point. However, it is worth saying that you’ll never be able to be utterly private on Facebook. That’s not what a social network or the internet was built for.
\nHowever, if you follow the points in this article, are careful what you post, and don’t give Facebook too much information, you’ll have locked things down as much as you can!
\nI also recommend unplugging and having a social media blackout a few times a year. You'll feel better for it.
\nI hope this article has helped make your Facebook account private and more secure. Let me know in the comments below.
", "date_published": "2023-09-06T18:36:42+00:00", "date_modified": "2023-09-07T08:30:25+00:00", "tags": [ "Social Media" ], "image": "https://new2.iag.me/media/make-your-facebook-account-private-08ccd6-1024.jpg", "authors": [ { "name": "Ian Anderson Gray", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/about/" } ] }, { "id": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/guides/do-you-know-the-twitter-limits/", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/guides/do-you-know-the-twitter-limits/", "title": "Do You Know the X (Twitter) Limits?", "summary": "Do You Know the Twitter Limits? Max Characters, Updates, Spam, followers & following", "content_html": "This article was first published over 10 years ago, but I'm still keeping it current.
\nSee here for a list of updates over the years.
\nTwitter was rebranded as X by founder Elon Musk back in June 2023. A lot has been changing, and I'm in the process of updating this article with all the new features from X.
\n| Type | \nLimit | \nDetail | \n
|---|---|---|
| Max Characters per tweet | \n4,000 (Twitter Blue Subscribers) \n280 (Free accounts) \n | \nAs of March 2023, Twitter users who are enrolled in the Twitter Blue paid subscription can send Tweets with up to 4,000 characters. Free account users have a maximum of 280 characters per Tweet.\n Twitter expanded from the original 140 to 280 back in November 2017. And in September 2016, media attachments, links and screen names in replies stopped contributing to the character limit. | \n
| Max Characters per direct message | \n10,000 | \n\n |
| Tweets | \n2,400 per day | \nSpread across a 24 period. There are also separate limits per half-hour periods, so you won't be able to tweet all 2,400 in one go. The half-hour limit is unknown for now. Retweets count towards the limit. | \n
| Direct Messages | \n1,000 per day | \n\n |
| Changes to email address | \n4 per hour | \n\n |
| Following | \n1,819 | \nAbove 1,819 you can follow this number +10%. | \n
| Number of Lists | \n1,000 | \nYou can only have 1,000 lists (this includes ones you have created and ones you follow) Before May 30th 2013 the max number of lists was 20 | \n
| Number of people in a list | \n5,000 | \nBefore May 30th 2013 the max accounts per list was 500 | \n
| Number of people you can follow | \n400 per day (or 1,000 for verified accounts) | \nStandard Twitter accounts can follow up to 400 accounts per day. If your account is verified, you can follow up to 1,000 accounts per day. Thanks to Solomon (in the comments) for the update here. See more here. | \n
| How many people you can unfollow | \nUnknown | \nTwitter doesn't state this, but you are likely to get banned if you unfollow people aggressively. I'd recommend sticking well under 400 unfollows per day. | \n
| Max Characters for biography | \n160 | \n\n |
| Max length of video uploads | \n2'20\" \n(140 seconds) | \nMP4 video format with H264 format with audio. Max upload of 512MB | \n
| Twitter In-Stream Photo Size | \n1024x512px | \nMax upload size of 5Mb (or 3Mb for animated GIFs). Supports PNG, GIF or JPEG | \n
| Twitter Profile Picture Size | \n400x400px | \nMax upload size of 2Mb. Supports PNG, GIF or JPEG | \n
| Twitter Header Image Size | \n1500x500px | \nMax upload size of 5Mb. Supports PNG or JPEG | \n
| Number of Twitter accounts one phone number can be added to | \n10 | \nSee phone FAQs | \n
You may be new to Twitter, or you may have been using it for a long time and hit the famous \"2000\" limit. Later Twitter increased this to 5,000.
\nMost social networks have limits in place for the number of people you can \"friend\" or \"follow\". For example, Google+ currently has a limit of 5,000 people you can have in your circles, and you have a limit of 5,000 \"friends\" on Facebook. This is to stop people, businesses or automated programs from abusing the system.
\nOn Twitter, it used to be possible to bulk follow thousands and thousands of people in the hope that they would follow you back. This caused many Twitter accounts to abuse this and follow tens of thousands of people whilst not creating engaging content and not having many people follow them back.
\nNot good.
\nTwitter launched back in March 2006. But it wasn't until July/August 2008 that Twitter started imposing limits on the number of people you could follow.
\nTwitter was having massive problems with spam (as Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone blogged at the time). There was a lot of backlash at the time, and a lot of confusion (see this ZDNet post on Twitter Spam efforts goes overboard).
\nIt's commonly assumed that Twitter introduced a 2,000 following limit, meaning that you could only follow up to 2,000 people. However, this isn't strictly true.
\nAccording to the author, Rob Brown, the magic number is actually 1,819! This means if you have 1,819 followers you can break through the 2,000 limit. Below 1,819 you are capped at following 2,000 people. Above 1,819 you can follow this number +10% (or 182). At 1,819+10% this means you can follow 2,001 people and you have just broken the 2,000 limit- hurray! This (as Rob Brown mentions on
\nThis means if you have 1,819 followers, you can break through the 2,000 limit. Below 1,819 you are capped at following 2,000 people. Above 1,819 you can follow this number +10% (or 182). At 1,819+10% this means you can follow 2,001 people and you have just broken the 2,000 limit- hurray! This means for every 10 people that follow you, you can follow 11.
\nUpdate - from October 27, 2015, Twitter announced they were increasing this follow limit from 2,000 to 5,000:
\nI haven't tested this, but I am fairly sure that the same system will be used for this new limit. To break through the limit you will need to have more than 4545 people following you before you can break through the 5,000 limit. Let me know what you think!
\n
Personally, I think this is a good thing. I'm a bit concerned when I see someone with a large number of people they follow- especially if they don't have engaging content. Twitter is about engagement and networking- it is a social network after all. Having said that, following a large number of people isn't always a bad thing. I love to follow new people, particularly those who Tweet about social media. I manage a large number of followers using Twitter lists- putting the people I find particularly interesting into my \"awesome\" list. Less regularly, I'll check my main Twitter stream, and perhaps add some cool people to this list.
\nThere is also a limit on how quickly you can follow people. Twitter has imposed a technical limit of following 1000 per day. Thank goodness for that! However, as this is a technical limit, following that amount per day is likely to get you banned due to breaking Twitters Following Rules and best practices (you should read this if you haven't already). And since March 2019, Twitter says normal accounts can't follow more than 400 or 1,000 if your account is verified.
\nSo, how many people can you unfollow? This is more of a tricky question since Twitter doesn't actually say.
\nTwitter tools such as Social Oomph and Manage Flitter have been asked by Twitter to remove their unfollow tools because this could go against Twitter terms.
\nThe issue is what Twitter calls \"aggressive follower churn\" i.e. following and unfollowing people in quick succession with the aim of rapidly increasing your followers.
\nSo, is there a number of how many people you can unfollow at one time? Just use your common sense. I've unfollowed over 500 people in one day, but that was a one-off- I wanted to unclutter my feed, but if I unfollowed 500 people each day, I'd likely get banned.
\nThere are other limits, as the Twitter support pages states. You can post up to 2,400 tweets per day (this is spread throughout the day- there are limits per half hour, so you can't just post 2,400 all at once!) You can post up to 250 direct messages per day (thank goodness!) You can change your email up to 4 times per hour (why would you want to do that anyway?)
\nYou can post up to 2,400 tweets per day (this is spread throughout the day- there are limits per half hour, so you can't just post 2,400 all at once!) You can post up to 250 direct messages per day (thank goodness!) You can change your email up to 4 times per hour (why would you want to do that anyway?)
\nYou can post up to 1,000 direct messages per day (thank goodness!) You can change your email up to 4 times per hour (why would you want to do that anyway?)
\nAs of May 30, 2013 you can now follow up to 1,000 lists (up from 20) and each list can include up to 5,000 accounts (up from 500). There are also limits when you use the Twitter , but that's another topic.
\nThere are also limits when you use the Twitter API, but that's another topic.
\nTwitter recently added the option of adding a header image. These have a maximum resolution of 1500x500 pixels (with a max upload size of 10Mb. You don't have to upload your image at 1500x500, but it's best to make it close to that to give a crisp and clear image. Certainly, try to make it above 640 pixels in width otherwise it will look pixelated. Finally, your biography can have up to 160 characters.
\nSo, there you go. Remember, Twitter is a social network- these limits are for your and my protection. Do you think these limits are appropriate, or do you think they should be modified? Let me know in the comments below.
\nHistory of updates to this article:
\nUnless you've lived under a rock for the last ten years, you'll have heard of Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Buffer. But there are plenty of others. There are thousands of them. I know that because I did try and document all of them. I gave up when I got over 1,000 and saw there were lots and lots more!
\nI've written about the main ones before but thought it was time to talk about the lesser-known ones. And to talk specifically about social media management tools.
\nIn this article, I share seven social media management tools that could be your must-have for 2023.
\nThis is a 14k-word mega-article that's taken over nine months to put together. Put your seatbelt on and get ready!
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sad-ian-43b295-1600.jpg\")
But firstly, let's talk about what a Social Media Management Tool actually is.
\nThis is important because there are plenty of articles out there that are supposedly about social media management tools when they're not.
\nA social media management tool aims to do it all.
\nIn Lord of the Rings speak, it's the \"One Tool to Rule Them All\".
\nBuffer and Social Champ are great social media scheduling tools, but they only really do one thing - schedule your social media posts. They're not true social media management tools.
\nAnd Brand24 and Talkwalker are both great listening tools, but they're not complete social media management tools either.
\nA complete social media management tool helps with all aspects of managing your social media empire.
\n![\"top](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lots-of-tools-0391f1-1600.jpg\")
This includes:
\nIn this article, all the tools are either social media management tools or come close to being (partly because they're working on Social Media Management Tool features).
\nThis article is NOT about Hootsuite or Sprout Social.
\nThese two are the big social media management tools. The ones that almost everyone has heard of. I've written about them frequently in the past, and there are a plethora of blog posts out there on these tools.
\n\nThe most well-known Social Media Management Tool out there is undoubtedly Hootsuite. It was founded back in 2008 by Ryan Holmes, although it was first named Hootsuite in 2009.
\nIt's now a monster with over 16 million users and 1,000 employees from over 175 countries. Hootsuite used to have a very generous free plan and a really valuable pro plan (which used to cost $5.99 monthly). All of these factors have contributed to the massive growth of Hootsuite.
\nUnfortunately, it's become very clunky and out of date, and there hasn't been much innovation until recently. Thankfully Hootsuite has updated the tool, and parts which were really dated (such as the analytics have been greatly improved).
\nBut, the price has skyrocketed too - particularly for teams who will need to spend at least $2,998 per year for the Team plan (or $4,788 per year if you pay monthly. The Business plan is $8,868 per year, which is the cheapest tool that has a proper team workflow.
\nYou can read my 7 Reasons NOT to use Hootsuite here.
\n![\"Hootsuite\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/hootsuite-narrow-9f01eb-1600.jpg\")
SproutSocial is probably the second most well-known social media management tool. It originated in 2009 when CEO Justyn Howard started building a social media tool with his team. It was as a result of frustration at the lack of tools that allowed him to connect with his customers that pushed him forward to build Sprout Social.
\nToday, they are a privately held company based in Chicago with over $11 million in investment.
\nLike Hootsuite, their pricing model has increased over time. It's a little easier to follow and more transparent than Hootsuite. They charge a flat monthly fee per user. When I first wrote this article, the cheapest plan was $99 per user per month. It's now much more expensive, with the cheapest plan (standard) costing $249 per user per month.
\nI've got a lot of love for Sprout Social. Although their could do with a bit of an update, it's a powerful and intuitive tool to use, and it has many very happy customers.
\n![\"Sprout](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sproutsocial-narrow-8f92c1-1600.jpg\")
So what about all the other social media management tools out there? There are plenty of others outside of Hootsuite and Sprout Social. But many of these aren't so well known. I aim to change that with this article!
\nI've spoken about some of these in the past, such as Agorapulse, Sendible and Adobe Express. But I've not covered Kontentino, SmarterQueue, SEMrush or Lately. These are all really great tools, and they greatly deserve a place in this article.
\nOf course, I've not been able to mention all other social media management tools. This article is long enough as it is, but I could have mentioned eClincher and ZohoSocial, which are excellent social media management tools. But seven seemed like a great number, which goes nicely with my 7 Reasons posts.
\nI'm also not mentioning any more enterprise-level tools like emplifi (which used to be called Social Bakers) or Sprinklr. That's for another time.
\nSo, here are my 7 Must-Have Social Media Management Tools. Which one would you choose?
\n\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-2023-3533cb-1427.jpg\")
I’m an ambassador for Adobe Express. But this blog post is an honest review, and all the thoughts are my own.
\nAdobe Express is a streamlined, user-friendly service that transforms your ideas into eye-catching visual content effortlessly. It's offered as a web app or a mobile app for iOS or Android. Whether you're starting from a blank canvas or choosing from thousands of pre-built templates, stock photos, animations, and more, Adobe Express offers you the creative flexibility to bring your vision to life.
\nWhen I first published this article, one of the 7 tools was ContentCal. In 2021, Adobe acquired ContentCal and much of the tool has been incorporated into Adobe Express.
\nThink of Adobe Express as a visual content creation tool. But it also has a social media management tool built in. It's an easy and quick-to-use service that helps you create stunning visual content. You can make the content from scratch. Or from the thousands of included templates, stock photos, animations and more.
\nYou can create:
\nYou get access to thousands of royalty-free Adobe stock photos, fonts, icons, backgrounds and visual elements.
\nAnd you get access to some really powerful tools that do cool things. For example, remove backgrounds, convert to GIFs and resize images etc.
\nIt's a web-based tool with versions for iOS and Android. Its aim is to make creating content EASY.
\nAdobe Express is an excellent tool for content creators, solopreneurs and small businesses. But it's also perfect for charities, public sector organisations, agencies and corporates.
\nYou've probably heard of Adobe Creative Cloud. It's a fantastic subscription service to all of Adobe’s professional tools. This includes Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Audition etc.
\nI use many of these regularly, especially Photoshop and Audition. But unless you are a professional, the Creative Cloud tools can be overkill, too complicated and powerful.
\nAdobe Express makes visual content creation and publishing easy. It's a collection of content creation tools for non-designers. However, they're great for designers too.
\nAdobe Express' generous free plan helps you create all your visual content. However, if you want access to the social media planner and scheduler, you must upgrade to Adobe Express Premium.
\nAdobe Express Premium is only $9.99 per month. As well as the social media planner and scheduler, you also get access to Adobe Express' premium templates, design assets, fonts, photos and more.
\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-prices-2023-db03ed-937.jpg\")
ContentCal had powerful team features. We don't have those features yet for Adobe Express. However, you can invite team members or clients to collaborate on your designs and assets. Hopefully team features will be coming to Adobe Express' social planning and scheduling tool soon.
\nI've written a comprehensive article on 7 Reasons why you SHOULD use Adobe Express. It's perfect for content creators with all the quick tools, digital assets, visual creator, and the central calendar at the heart of the social planner and scheduler.
\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-screenshot-62b22b-1600.jpg\")
Adobe Express fully integrates with Twitter, Facebook Pages, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest. That means you can post and schedule your planned social media content to these once they've been improved.
\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-connections-714f94-987.jpg\")
You can post to more than one channel at one time, and Adobe Express gives you a convenient preview window to view all your posts across all your networks in one go.
\nUnfortunately, you can't edit the text for each network separately. So if you want to publish slightly different content for each channel (for example, a shorter post for Twitter), you'll need to create separate posts.
\nAdobe Express lets you add emojis. And you can automatically add your hashtags to the first comment on Instagram.
\nAdding images and videos to your posts is easy and powerful. You can upload images or videos from your computer. And since Adobe Express has a digital assets content library, you can add it from there too.
\nThere isn't much not to like about Adobe Express. There's a free plan and a very affordable premium plan. You get access to Adobe Fonts, and stock photos and so much more. However, if you're looking for a full social media management tool, Adobe Express does currently have missing features. For example, there is no social inbox, analytics, or listening and monitoring tools. You may need to supplement with additional tools such as the listening tool (such as Brand24) or choose a social media management tool that includes all the features you need.
\n\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/mad-ian-circle-500-80370e-500.png\")
\nI love so much about Adobe Express. The Adobe Express team are so friendly and I believe in what they are building. There are some missing features such as a social inbox, analytics, and listening and monitoring.
Facebook Pages Twitter LinkedIn profiles LinkedIn pages Pinterest Instagram Direct Publishing Instagram Push Notification Publishing
\nNone
\nNone
\nNone
\nNone
\n![\"Alex](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/alex-packham-799a12-314.jpg\")
\n\nI started my first business at University, a social media marketing and website design/build company. I also started a viral site called 'Cardiff Banter'.
\nI went on to run ODEON Cinemas social media for 2 years and then went on to work for NOW TV running the social media team there.
\nFrom here I founded a social media agency in 2014 called ASTP. We grew very quickly and I learnt a huge amount about growing a business, building a team and working with clients ranging from tiny SMEs to large corporates.
\nIn 2016 I participated in a London Accelerator with the tech platform that we built called ContentCal.
\nI'm currently working on:
\n
\n- Growing ContentCal as CEO
\n- Board member of Prop Store
\n- Advise some early stage startupsWon Young Entrepreneur Of The Year (YDLA) in 2015
\nContentCal won Best Newcomer at the B2B Awards in 2017 + Best Content Tool at Social Day 2018
Agorapulse is a full social media management tool that's grown hugely in popularity over the past few years. It has an \"inbox zero\" workflow-based social inbox, advanced listening, monitoring, reporting and analytics and of course publishing and scheduling. It's what I've been personally using at the heart of my social media workflow for many years and I wouldn't be without it.
\nTheir head office is in Paris, but their team are all over the world. I've got to know many of them over the years, and honestly, you couldn't hope to meet more lovely people. The team behind Agorapulse and their support are reason enough to choose Agorapulse.
\nI asked them what was with the name, and here was the answer... In Ancient Greece, Agora was a central public space and literally means a “gathering place” or assembly. The “Pulse” refers to vibrations of energy. Put them together and you get a place where your social vibrations of energy meet in one place.
\nAnd apparently “agora” means “now” in Portuguese, so you could say that Agorapulse is the “pulse of now” in Portuguese!
\nThey were founded back in 2011 by Benoit Hédiard and Emeric Ernoult and initially integrated with just Facebook. Now they integrate with all the major networks - more on that in a bit. You can read more about their story here.
\n![\"The](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-team-b6675f-1600.jpg\")
Agorapulse is great for businesses, organisations and agencies who have established a social media presence. Very small businesses can use the free plan. And the standard plan costs the equivalent of $49 per month (if paid annually) or $69 per month (if paid monthly). You do get a lot for your money.
\nThe basic standard plan helps you manage 10 social profiles. When compared to Hootsuite and Sprout Social, that's significantly cheaper for the features you get.
\nFor the full price list, check out the Agorapulse pricing page here.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-prices-2023-a31241-1600.jpg\")
If you want a tool to manage almost all aspects of your social media empire, then Agorapulse may check that box. It's not perfect, nor is it particularly cheap. But it's one of the most feature-packed and robust social media management tools out there. The base plan is Agorapulse's Medium plan at $99 per month (or the equivalent of $89 per month if you pay annually). You get 2 users with the Medium plan and it integrates with up to 10 social profiles.
\n![\"Social](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-social-profiles-982ca6-1032.jpg\")
Agorapulse integrates with all the main social media channels out there. You can publish to Facebook (pages and groups), Twitter, LinkedIn (profiles and pages) and Instagram (direct publishing and push notifications). For the social inbox and listening, it also integrates with YouTube and tracks comments to Facebook and Instagram ads and dark posts within the same social inbox.
\nAgorapulse allows you to publish to your Facebook pages and groups, LinkedIn profiles and pages and Twitter.
\nWith Instagram, Agorapulse has direct publishing and push notification publishing. This is a big deal because there are actually very few tools out there that have Instagram direct publishing. This allows you to schedule a post to Instagram and Agorapulse will actually publish it in the background for you automatically. Most other tools only allow push notification publishing. This is when the tool sends you an email or a push notification on their mobile app at the time you want to publish the post. You publish the post manually through the official mobile Instagram app.
\n![\"Publishing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-pub-d38556-622.jpg\")
Agorapulse also offers you Instagram Push Notification publishing which is useful, because it will also work with personal profiles, allow you to publish Instagram stories and add certain features that aren't allowed via the such as multiple images (carousel).
\n![\"Agorapulse](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-publish-step1-e07b49-1600.jpg\")
![\"Agorapulse](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-publish-step2-fd49b7-1600.jpg\")
With publishing, you can publish to one or more networks at the same time. I love the way you can see a preview for each network too. You can tag pages on Facebook and Twitter accounts on Twitter, and Agorapulse allows you to select the correct one as you start typing. You can add images (including multiple ones) and videos. There's no asset library at the moment, but it's easy to upload from your computer.
\nYou have the ability to create and re-use groups of hashtags for your posts too which is a handy feature.
\n![\"Hashtag](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-hashtags-530025-1044.jpg\")
There are a variety of ways to publish in Agorapulse:
\nThe publishing queues in Agorapulse are similar to the popular social media scheduling tool, Buffer. You create a schedule of posting slots for each of your social networks. Then you can add a post to the top or bottom of the queue, and Agorapulse will post the first post in the queue at the next time slot.
\nBut Agorapulse gives you more power than that and has some similarities with social media queuing tools like Edgar and SmarterQueue. As well as creating different posting schedules for each network, you can create different categories of content. For example, you might want to publish posts to do with your podcast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and posts from your blog on Mondays and Wednesdays. With Agorapulse you can do that.
\n![\"Publishing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-publishing-queues-2dcdf2-1600.jpg\")
Unlike ContentCal, you don't get a fully customizable team approval system. But it's still very comprehensive and easy to use, and best of all good value. You get the full team approval system on all Agorapulse plans. The cheapest is the medium plan at $89 per month which includes 2 users.
\nYou can send posts to your team members for approval. And you can also send social mentions, comments and messages in the social inbox to team members. Agorapulse also has an inbox assistant which allows you to automatically moderate your comments which includes automatically assigning certain messages to specific team members.
\n![\"Agorapulse](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-inbox-assistant-1-8572c0-1600.jpg\")
One of the most powerful features is Agorapulse's social inbox. It has a zero-inbox workflow which helps you go through all your social media mentions, comments and messages quickly and easily - getting you down to inbox zero really quickly and efficiently.
\n![\"The](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-social-inbox-e8c1fc-1600.jpg\")
I love the way you can step through each message (you also have the option of shortcut keys), and are able to like, reply and review (archive). For Twitter, you can retweet or reply as a direct message too. And you've got emojis and saved replies too. If you work within a team, you can assign a social message to one of your team members and leave an optional note.
\n![\"Assign](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-assign-18edc6-912.jpg\")
For Twitter, Instagram and YouTube you have a listening tab in Agorapulse. This allows you to view keywords searches and mentions - so you can follow your brand or your competitors. You can set up as many keyword and mention searches as you like and you can even exclude words.
\n![\"Listening](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-listening-13fd41-1600.jpg\")
Once you've set up the listening searches, you just need to head on down to the listening tab for that network. You can filter by bookmarks, the person it has been assigned to, the reviewer, labels and search name.
\n![\"Listening](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-search-128aca-1600.jpg\")
The reports in Agorapulse are incredibly comprehensive and in 2020 they had a big update. Firstly you're able to look at your fans and followers and see how are your real ambassadors and the most engaged in your community.
\nThen you have full reports for your social networks. At the moment the reports are available on Twitter, Facebook pages and Instagram. Data includes:
\nAs well as viewing reports on Agorapulse, you can also download each report as a pdf.
\n![\"Reports](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/agorapulse-reports-e4867a-1600.jpg\")
Agorapulse does so much, but no tool is perfect. Even still, I feel like I'm nitpicking because it's such an amazing tool. I would like to see some extra functionality in Twitter such as integration with GIPHY, Twitter lists and being able to track quote Retweets.
\nAlthough it has a great calendar view, it doesn't have the same powerful content planning feature that ContentCal or Kontentino has, so if that's important to you then this may be an issue.
\nAnother drawback currently is a lack of unified reports. At the moment you can only get reports for each network - not a group of them together. But the good news is that Agorapulse is working on unified reports, so we'll get that soon! For more reasons, I've written a comprehensive article on the 7 Reasons NOT to use Agorapulse.
\n\n\nAgorapulse is the social media management tool that I use every day in my business. It's one of the most comprehensive, robust and intuitive full social media management tools out there. There are a few omissions, and it's not perfect, but for the money, it's pretty impressive. I also just love the team and their ethos - some of the loveliest people in the industry and their customer support is second to none.
Facebook Pages Facebook Groups Twitter Twitter DMs LinkedIn profiles LinkedIn pages YouTube Instagram Direct Publishing Instagram Push Notification Publishing Tik Tok
\nFacebook Pages Facebook Ad & Dark Post Comments Facebook Messenger for Pages Twitter Mentions Twitter Search Twitter DMs LinkedIn profiles LinkedIn pages YouTube Instagram Tik Tok
\nFacebook Pages Facebook Messenger for Pages Twitter Mentions Twitter Search Twitter DMs LinkedIn profiles LinkedIn pages YouTube Instagram
\nFacebook Pages Twitter YouTube Instagram
\nFacebook Pages Twitter LinkedIn pages Instagram Tik Tok
\n![\"Emeric](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/emeric-ernoult-ff87f8-420.jpg\")
In 1993, Ben’s twin brother was working the same internship as Emeric, slinging copies at a print shop in New York. Emeric and Benoit met by chance and hit it off immediately.
\nHowever, the internship ended. And Benoit, armed with his mechanical engineering degree eventually joined PixelPark, one of the biggest European web agencies at the time.
\nEmeric quickly established his reputation in law: first, in the United States, as an in-house lawyer in the French embassy and then an associate at Winston & Strawn in Washington, D.C, then back to Paris.
\nThen, Benoit and Emeric came up with a revolutionary idea: to create a place on this new thing called the Internet where businesses could get social with their customers online. Launched in 2001, Affinitiz (think Agorapulse 1.0) was a community-oriented B2C focusing on family, friends, associations, alumni, and passions.
\nAnd it was an overnight success! Actually, no. It wasn’t. (That’s not how success works.)
\nThe journey to eventual success was an arduous routine of learning, making mistakes, encouraging one another, driving through doubts, forging ahead, celebrating success, learning, making mistakes, encouraging one another, and so on.
\nEmeric and Benoit trudged along for nearly a decade, taking side jobs to live, tightening their belts, making hard sacrifices, and even wrestling with the nagging family members and friends who questioned their dream.
\nBenoit and Emeric decided to shift their idea of forming communities on Affinitiz to creating a tool by creating Facebook marketing apps. When McDonald’s, Playstation, and Microsoft needed to run Facebook contest and promotions, these golden companies turned to marketing tools, such as Affinitiz. Over time, Benoit and Emeric pivoted from apps to concentrate all their enthusiasm on social media management and its capabilities. Affinitiz evolved into Agorapulse.
\nBy 2011, Agorapulse was launched, with a focus on full social media management, including Facebook and Twitter.
\nNow Agorapulse has over 60 highly skilled team members from all over the world with a rapidly growing user base of over 20,000 people across 6,000 accounts. Agorapulse has remained bootstrapped to date since its inception managing to achieve $10 million in annual revenue, with year on year growth at 80%.
\nAgorapulse recently completed a funding round of $18.5m (USD) from three investors—Cipio Partners, Entrepreneur Venture and Hi Inov—to fuel the next stage of its growth targeting annual revenues of $100m.
\n\n![\"Sendible](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sendible-2023-6fa43b-1263.jpg\")
Sendible is a feature-packed full social media management tool. It integrates with one of the largest selection of social networks and services out there. That also includes Tumblr, Sendible and Google My Business. It was founded in 2008 in London by a developer, Gavin Hammar. His story is really inspiring and you can read it further down. I've known Gavin for a while and met him and his wife, Martine (who also works at the company). They're a lovely and friendly team, and I love the way they're so open and sharing their story.
\nSendible has some very competitively priced plans starting from $29 per month. The cheapest plan (Starter) comes with one user and 6 social profiles, and the Traction plan costs $89 per month and comes with 4 users and 24 social channels.
\n![\"Sendible](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sendible-prices-2023-dfc569-845.jpg\")
Sendible used to offer a different way of pricing. It used \"services\" which is a method of transaction with the social network. For example, if you wanted to publish to Twitter, view your Twitter mentions, and direct messages, view a Twitter list and do a Twitter search, this would be 5 services. Thankfully, they've ditched this and moved over to using social channels instead.
\nSendible allows you to manage lots of different networks which aren't offered by other tools. For example, Sendible is one of the only tools that integrate with Google My Business, Medium and Tumblr. They also have Slack, Canva, Dropbox and many other integrations too. And for agencies, Sendible offers a white-label solution which is really cool.
\nSendible has been in the market longer than most. It was founded in 2009, a year after Hootsuite and a year before Sprout Social. It integrates with more social networks and services than any other in this list. It's a true social media management tool with a decent social inbox, analytics and monitoring/listening tools as well as publishing and scheduling features.
\nSendible's publishing is very comprehensive and powerful. It allows you to schedule and publish content to one or more networks at the same time. Importantly, Sendible allows you to preview how each post will look on each network.
\nSendible is an official Instagram and Facebook partner and has direct publishing feature with Instagram. This allows you to schedule images and videos to Instagram automatically without having to use the mobile app. You can also use push notification publishing which lets you post Instagram stories and carousel images. Bear in mind that you'll use up 2 services if you want to have the ability to post to Instagram via direct publishing and post notifications.
\n![\"Publishing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sendible-publisher-84cc27-1372.jpg\")
As well as the standard way of scheduling your social media posts, you can also add them to a Buffer-style queue. You can have a number of queues depending on which plan you're on. The base Starter plan gives you 10 queues.
\nUnlike Buffer, Sendible gives you the ability to recycle your messages. Although, unlike Agorapulse and SmarterQueue you aren't able to limit these to a certain number of posts. I like the ability to be able to copy a queue - which makes creating a new queue easier. But creating the time slots isn't as easy as Buffer, as you have to add or edit the times on each day. You can't create one set of times for weekdays and another for the weekend without having to add the times for each separately.
\n![\"The](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sendible-queue-411220-560.gif\")
With multiple queues, it's similar to the category queuing feature that tools like Edgar, Agorapulse and SmarterQueue have. But you have to edit each queue separately and they don't have different colours that you can view in a calendar. But it has the same kind of effect.
\nIn the Large ($299/mth) plan upwards you can have the ability to add UTM parameters to each post or to posts within a campaign. You can shorten links with bit.ly integration too (on all plans)
\nFor bulk-adding links, you can import via RSS feeds or CSV files. And they have a browser extension which allows you to add links as you browse the web.
\n![\"Bulk](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sendible-bulk-add-posts-8e5d09-1600.jpg\")
![\"The](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sendible-priority-inbox-2a76eb-1600.jpg\")
Different social media management tools have different ways of displaying their social inboxes. Hootsuite and Tweetdeck display in lots of streams on one dashboard. Sprout Social has a unified inbox with the ability to filter out certain profiles. Agorapulse has a different social inbox for each social network.
\nSendible gives you the choice of a unified inbox and per-network inboxes.
\nThe unified inbox is called the Priority inbox, and Sendible displays comments, messages and mentions in order of priority. Basically Sendible uses an algorithm to work out what are the most important messages and it will order them by what it deams as important.
\nI like the idea of a priority inbox, but I would like the ability to change to reverse chronological order too. I like the unified inbox, but the messages in the inbox can be delayed by between 1 - 2 hours so the algorithm can analyse them. As well as viewing messages from each network in one inbox (unified) you can use the filter to display messages by one or some of your networks.
\nSendible has a zero-inbox workflow similar to Sprout Social and Agorapulse. You're able to archive messages, engage (like, retweet etc) and assign to a team member.
\nEach network has its own inbox too. Messages here show up quicker than the priority inbox, but you don't have access to the zero-inbox workflow. So you can't archive or assign to team members.
\n![\"Monitoring](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sendible-monitor-82dbba-1600.jpg\")
You can add keyword searches in Sendible to monitor brand mentions or your competitors. Sendible also displays a word cloud of the most used keywords in your searches. Each search uses up a service, so you are limited in how many you can use depending on the plan you are on.
\n![\"Sendible](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sendible-reports-146e7f-1600.jpg\")
You get reports on all plans, although some features are only available on the more expensive ones. Sendible allows you to view reports on your Facebook pages, Twitter, LinkedIn (pages only), YouTube, Instagram, and Google Analytics. The solo plan gives you basic reporting, but the Traction plan allows you to create up to 15 custom reports from over 200 modules. This includes per-network and unified reports which are very powerful. On the $99/month plans you can also download in CSV and pdf format. And on the $199/month plan you can schedule reports to be emailed to you.
\n![\"Sentiment](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sendible-sentiment-chart-7849ae-1600.jpg\")
Sendible tries to do everything. But like all tools, it doesn't do everything perfectly. I love the flexibility of all the streams and the unified inbox. But it's not as robust or as slick as the social inbox from Sprout Social or Agorapulse. The reports and integrations in Sendible are very comprehensive too. When it comes to user interfaces, it's very much a personal opinion. Sendible's UI has been a bit clunky in the past, but it has improved. You'll either love it or hate it. Personally, I like it. The best thing is to give it a whirl - they offer a 30-day trial.
\n\n\nSendible is such a comprehensive platform. It integrates with so many networks and tools and is a social media management tool that will help you manage just about everything. I love the Sendible team too - such a friendly bunch. The interface in the past was a little clunky and buggy, but it has improved. It's not always intuitive, but they are constantly innovating. I like the fact that there is a unified inbox. However, this is a \"priority inbox\" which means that it uses an algorithm to determine which messages are the most important. In the support docs, Sendible states that there can be a 1 - 2 hour delay for messages to be brought from your social channels into the Priority Inbox as messages will need to be analyzed for sentiment. So the priority inbox isn't to be relied upon responding quickly. There is an inbox-zero workflow feature that allows you to archive each message or assign to a team member. It's not quite as intuitive or as powerful as Sprout Social or Agorapulse's inbox-zero workflow, however, and it's only available on the priority inbox.
\nDespite the few issues I have, I really like Sendible. They are constantly improving the platform, and if you are looking for one tool to do it all, then Sendible is definitely worth considering.
Facebook Pages Facebook Groups Twitter LinkedIn profiles LinkedIn pages Pinterest YouTube Instagram Direct Publishing Tumblr Google My Business Medium
\nFacebook Pages Facebook Ad & Dark Post Comments Facebook Messenger for Pages Twitter Lists Twitter Mentions Twitter Search Twitter DMs LinkedIn pages Instagram
\nFacebook Pages Facebook Messenger for Pages Twitter Lists Twitter Mentions Twitter Search Twitter DMs LinkedIn pages Instagram
\nFacebook Pages Twitter LinkedIn pages YouTube Instagram
\n![\"Gavin](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/gavin-hammar-15de96-303.jpg\")
\nAfter moving to the UK in 2005, my first job was as a software developer with a tech startup called m35. After leaving the company in 2006, I took what I had learnt at m35 and started developing my own integration platform in my spare time. I initially named the application IntelliMail and the integration system I was building made it possible to connect just about any third party service together in just minutes. Since social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn were gaining popularity and people were looking for ways to save time by scheduling updates in advance and posting to multiple sites at once, I decided to develop these integrations first. After adding the 5 or 6 most popular social networks to IntelliMail, I decided to launch a website, allowing users to sign up for free and schedule updates to multiple social networks at once.
\nThe service I was creating was called Sendible, which made the sending of any type of message possible.
\nI continued to develop both IntelliMail and the website on nights and weekends, adding the features that customers were asking for. I knew that in order to start charging for the tool, I needed to improve the features that businesses would find most useful. I was making a few hundred pounds from the site but really needed some help taking it to the next stage.
\nAt the time, I was working for a software consultancy called Linksfield Technologies as a development team leader. As part of my contract, it stipulated that I needed to get permission from the two directors before registering a company of my own. Although they initially seemed impressed, they immediately started questioning the idea and business model saying things like “Google could build this in day.” or “Why would anyone want to schedule social network updates?”.
\nAfter giving it some thought, we met a few weeks later and they allowed me to register Sendible as a company but I would need to give them 50% of the business. In exchange, they would give me a desk, a dedicated phone line, a server and allow me to work on Sendible half a day per week for six months. They would not be providing any cash.
\nWhen they made the offer, I was about to board a plane to South Africa, so luckily, I had time to consider it. If not, I would most likely have made a rash decision and accepted their ridiculous terms. After returning from South Africa, I informed them that 50% was too much but that I would be happy to settle on 10%. After much back and forth, we eventually agreed the terms over email and they allowed me to work on Sendible one day per week. We never had a term sheet or any formal agreement in place because they refused to cover the legal costs. They also did not do any due diligence beforehand and had no idea that the Sendible website had been developed on top of the IntelliMail application, which was essentially, where the intellectual property lay.
\nFor several months I worked from home one day per week to develop Sendible. They had promised to introduce me to their contacts and help with the strategy of the company but nothing ever materialised.
For more information, see Gavin's founding story on Forbes.
\n\n![\"SmarterQueue](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/smarterqueue-2023-ced804-1350.jpg\")
SmarterQueue is a social media scheduling tool with category queuing and powerful analytics. It's not yet a complete social media management tool in that it doesn't have monitoring or listening capabilities.
\nSmarterQueue is one of the most cost-effective tools in this list, starting from $29.99 per month (or the equivalent of $24.99 per month if paying annually). This is the Solo plan and integrates with four social profiles, and allows you to post up to 10 posts per profile per day.
\nThe pricing page is confusing since the most expensive plan is on the left!
\n![\"SmarterQueue](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/smarterqueue-prices-106d99-1308.jpg\")
The entry-level solo plan only has basic reports and a basic importer, which allows you to import from social media and RSS feeds (for example, your blog). The $49.99 per month Business Plan has the intermediate importer, which gives you access to the bulk importer and the ability to import from a spreadsheet (CSV file). The $99.99 per month Agency plan allows you to import from Feedly.
\nSmarterQueue isn't a complete social media management tool because it lacks social listening and monitoring. Because the pricing is very reasonable, it's excellent for solopreneurs and businesses with limited budgets who only want to schedule their content.
\nSmarterQueue is packed full of features. It's quite a geeky tool, so it's perfect for power users who want all the features for a lower cost. There are some great reports, which although a little clunky, have some interesting metrics. If you're mainly interested in scheduling content, want to be able to bulk import content and be able to recycle content with different categories to your social channels, then check out SmarterQueue. The team are really friendly and I had the pleasure of hanging out with some of them as well as the CEO, Claude Schneider this year at Social Media Marketing World.
\nSmarterQueue allows you to publish with all the main channels including Twitter, Facebook (pages and groups), LinkedIn (profiles and pages), Instagram (push notification publishing only) and Pinterest. You can publish straight away, schedule at a certain time or add to a content queue. You can create categories for different categories and each category has a different posting schedule for each social network. For example, your \"blog posts\" category could post every day at 2pm on Twitter, and twice per week on Facebook. You can then add your posts individually or bulk import from Feedly, CSV files or RSS feeds.
\nThe posting Plan is SmarterQueue's calendar and is the place where you can view your posting schedules across all your networks. If you want to view the actual posts, you can view this on the queue page - either in a list view or on a weekly or monthly calendar.
\n![\"SmarterQueue](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/smarterqueue-publishing-plan-0c0ef5-1600.jpg\")
When adding a post, you can select multiple profiles, and be able to edit the content for each profile separately. You can add images and videos either by uploading or from previously uploaded assets. You can also add GIFs from GIPHY or images from Unsplash or Pixabay which is really useful. SmarterQueue gives you live previews for all the profiles you are publishing to. For links, you can shorten with your bit.ly account and add custom UTM tracking parameters if you want to track a campaign within Google Analytics.
\nOnce you've created your post, you then have the choice of publishing straight away, scheduling at a specific time and date in the future or add to a queue. When you add to a queue you can add to the beginning or end and have the choice of republishing multiple times. SmarterQueue allows you to set either a date of expiry or expire after a certain number of postings.
\nOf course, Twitter doesn't allow you to post duplicate Tweets. But SmarterQueue has a workaround here. You can add variations so that SmarterQueue will post different content to Twitter (or other networks).
\n![\"Publishing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/smarterqueue-publishing-eb4cdf-640.gif\")
You can import content into SmarterQueue very easily from Feedly, RSS feeds, CSV spreadsheets or the browser bookmarklet. It can be a little overwhelming at first, but once you get your head round it, it's incredibly powerful.
\n![\"Importing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/smarterqueue-import-436251-1600.jpg\")
![\"SmarterQueue](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/smarterqueue-social-inbox-beta-d1e716-1520.gif\")
SmarterQueue does now have a social inbox. Being able to view your social mentions, messages and comments is vital so you can engage with your audience.
\nSmarterQueue does not have listening and monitoring. At the moment you can't set up searches and be able to monitor what people are saying about your brand or your competitors.
\nSmarterQueue's reports and analytics are very comprehensive and powerful. However, the way they're set out isn't very intuitive and they're a little clunky. They're not as easy to use or sexy as tools like Sprout Social or Agorapulse. But I love some of the metrics they give and if you're a bit of a data nerd, you'll love some of SmarterQueue's reports.
\nThe reports are divided into Past posts, reports, weekly & monthly reports, analyse social profiles, Instagram Top Nine and Review Duplicate Tweets. You can also export your reports as a CSV file.
\n![\"SmarterQueue](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/smarterqueue-reports-3b5c8b-1458.jpg\")
With the past posts report, SmarterQueue will list all your previous posts and give you the amount of engagement and clicks per post. Unfortunately, SmarterQueue will only display this for posts published through SmarterQueue itself. So if you publish natively or via another third-party tool, then you won't see these.
\nThe reports section gives you data on each individual profile (no unified reports). It displays the engagement per queue category, posts to fans chart and engagement per hour.
\nThe Analyse social profiles section is really powerful. You can either analyse your own social profiles or your competitors. I love the way it displays the engagement by the tool used to publish. This is something I haven't seen elsewhere.
\n![\"SmarterQueue](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/smarterqueue-report-twitter-99ce1a-1600.jpg\")
It also displays Engagement per specific hashtag, top hashtags for likes and retweets and so much more.
\nSmarterQueue doesn't yet offer social listening capabilities. So, if you need complete social media management, you'll need to supplement SmarterQueue with other tools. It's also a little clunky in places. But it's a very powerful social media management tool - particularly regarding publishing and scheduling. The pricing is also very reasonable and so it's particularly useful for solopreneurs and smaller businesses.
\n\n\nSmarterQueue is one of the most comprehensive social media scheduling tools out there. I love the way it offers so many different ways of importing and publishing posts. Although the analytics and reports are quite clunky, they're really comprehensive. So if you are a data nerd, you'll like those. SmarterQueue isn't yet a full social media management tool. There's no listening tool or audience & community management. If you're main focus is social media publishing, then definitely check out SmarterQueue.
Facebook Pages Facebook Groups Twitter LinkedIn profiles LinkedIn pages Pinterest Instagram Push Notification Publishing
\nFacebook Pages Twitter
\nNone
\nNone
\n![\"Claude](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/claude-schneider-534d66-512.jpg\")
\n\nAs a photographer in search of models, I'd spent several years wishing the existing modelling networks were better, so I built PORTFORA in 2012/2013 - a portfolio and networking site for models, photographers, MUAs and stylists.
\nI did everything myself, and managing the social media was time-consuming, with 15 different content types to balance, and none of the existing social media tools was any help.
\n
\nI'd already built a social media scheduler into the platform, for users to share their photos to their social feeds, so I built a category-based scheduler to help manage our own feeds.
\nWhile networking in London's startup scene, I kept hearing people complain about their social media tools and workflow, and that they loved my category-based scheduling and recycling features.PORTFORA had some initial traction since its launch in 2014, but there seemed to be much more demand (and revenue potential) for a social media management tool, so in 2015, I pivoted and converted PORTFORA's code into SmarterQueue, got lots of pre-signups, and started beta testing in the second half of the year.
\nIn April 2016 we started charging for paid plans, and by November opened up signups to the public.
\nThe team grew from 1 person in 2015, to 15 people in 2019. We're fully remote, spread across North America and Europe, and we're approaching 3,000 paid customers.
![\"Kontentino](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-2023-d329d5-1232.jpg\")
Kontentino is another social media planning tool, in a similar way to ContentCal. It's packed with some amazing features and has team planning and collaboration at heart. The main part of the user interface is the calendar, and your team can plan content across many platforms.
\nYou can preview how your content looks across all platforms including all the major Facebook content formats. Kontentino sends over all the scheduled posts to Facebook and allows Facebook to schedule them. This allows you to tag posts and do things that can only be done directly on Facebook.
\nIt was founded by Ivan Hanák and Bohumil Pokštefl and was a spin-off of Triad, a central European digital-advertising agency. They struggled to find a social media tool could cover their needs - to improve their collaboration and approval process with their clients. And so they built Kontentino back in 2015. They're based in Bratislava, Slovakia.
\nIt's perfect for businesses or organisations with teams or agencies who want to work with their clients and get approval. Clients and admin members can approve work directly through the Kontentino website or through the smartphone app. Currently, they have over 4,000 customers worldwide - from small to multi-national companies and agencies.
\nKontenino is one of the smartest content-planning apps I've come across. I love the way it helps you plan Facebook ads visually - being able to see the different ad format types on the screen. And the team and content workflow features are compelling - grow with your business or agency.
\nThe Starter plan used to cost €10 per month (priced in Euros). It allows you to manage up to 3 social media profiles with one user and gives you access to analytics. That was very inexpensive. The Starter plan now costs $59 per month (or the equivalent of $53 per month if paid annually). You no longer get access to analytics, but you do get to manage up to 10 social channels.
\n![\"Kontentino](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-prices-2023-1-3a893e-1099.jpg\")
Kontentino isn't a full social media management tool in that it doesn't have a social inbox or listening tool, but it's almost there. And with the content planning and team workflow features, it really does pack its punch. If you are a business or agency that works within a team and spends a lot of time with Facebook ads, then it's worth taking a look at Kontentino.
\nIt's a social media publishing tool that integrates with Facebook (pages), Twitter, Pinterest as well as LinkedIn (profiles and pages). It also integrates with Instagram using the Kontentino smartphone app (for Android or iOS). Kontentino doesn't have direct publishing for Instagram yet (it's coming, hopefully), but the push notification system allows you to publish Instagram stories and tags that aren't available via the API.
\nKontentino is like a cross between a publishing tool and a project management tool like Basecamp or Asana. And that was exactly their intention.
\n![\"The](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-dashboard-8b816a-1600.jpg\")
When you log in to Kontentino, you're greeted with a list of your social media profiles, today's posts and your tasks. This is really useful so you know where you and your team is at.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-calendar-fe34fc-1600.jpg\")
The heart of Kontentino is the calendar. You can view the calendar for each of your social profiles and content plans, or view everything on one calendar. You can easily move posts to different dates by clicking and dragging and copy by holding down your control or command key and clicking and dragging.
\nOne feature I really love is that you also have an inspiration calendar. This is where you and your team (and your clients) can brainstorm ideas.
\nI love Kontentino's publishing tool, especially when it comes to Facebook. You can add your own emojis, and mention other Facebook pages directly within the tool. You can select a text, picture, video, link or carousel post and be able to preview it just like the way it will look in Facebook.
\nSelecting video will allow you to upload a video natively to Facebook. With the link post option, Kontentino will bring in the image preview directly for you to see. If you have verified link ownership (i.e. you've verified that you own the website of the link) you can also upload your own custom image. One thing I love is the way you can add your own call to action buttons directly within Kontentino and preview it.
\nAnd you've also got the option to add a carousel post with multiple images which is awesome.
\nFor internal use, you have the option to add a label and notes as well as set the Boost budget in the currency of your choice.
\n![\"Publishing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-publishing-eadee8-1600.jpg\")
I love the way they've added a 20% text rule checker, so you can see if more than 20% of the image contains text. Facebook used to not allow images that had text in over 20% of the image. Since 2019, Facebook has relaxed 20% rule, but it's still true that images with more than 20% text don't do as well. So, it's still a good guide. The image I've used below is a very bad example!
\nYou also get to view how the post will look like on mobile.
\n![\"Kontentino](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-20percent-fb8881-1022.jpg\")
![\"Mobile](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-mobile-preview-fe4324-928.jpg\")
When it comes to Facebook, Kontentino actually sends the scheduled posts to Facebook. It's a subtle difference, but instead of Kontentino publishing the post at the scheduled time, Kontentino sends the post to Facebook's scheduled posts, and Facebook itself publishes it. This has a number of big advantages - you are able to preview and edit the post directly on Facebook. There are still some features that Facebook doesn't allow 3rd party tools to do. By editing directly on Facebook, you can change your mood (for public figure pages), add location information and much more.
\nKontentino really shines when it comes to teams and planning workflows between team members and clients.
\nWhen you add a new user in Kontentino, you have a choice of the following roles:
\n![\"Adding](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-users-314984-1222.jpg\")
Content approval workflows can be complicated to manage. But I really like the way it works in Kontentino.
\nIf you work purely internally, then you can choose for posts to be internally approved. But if you work with clients or another company, you can choose for posts to be externally approved. The choice is yours.
\nIf you use the client role in your workflow, they only see the posts and comments you want them to see. They won't be able to edit any of the posts, but they can provide suggestions in the inspiration calendar.
\n![\"Kontentino](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-social-media-approval-workflow-0099f7-347.png\")
For each post, the status is clearly labelled. You'll be able to see who it has been assigned to or whether it is waiting for internal or client approval. If it has been approved internally or by a client will show that as well as showing if it has been completed and posted.
\nKontentino gives you post and page performance reports for Instagram and Facebook pages. And very soon they'll be launching competitor analysis.
\nFor Facebook page analysis, Kontentino gives you the reach, page likes & unlikes and engagement rate.
\nFor Instagram, you also get to see the impressions and demographic information such as language, age, gender and location.
\n![\"Kontentino](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-report-d6b7b6-1600.jpg\")
For post-analysis, it's really useful that Kontentino displays the data no matter which tool you use to schedule your posts - or if you post natively.
\nIt gives you each post's reach, reactions and ad spend (if you add that within Kontentino). You can also see the engagement rate and post clicks. And you are able to sort all posts chronologically or by the number of comments or engagement rate.
\n![\"Posts](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-insights-posts-2a622a-1600.jpg\")
With the new Competitor analysis, you can compare the performance of your pages with your competitors. You can compare page performance, post performance, interactions, shares, comments and reactions with your competitors. This is really helpful if you are an agency and work with clients.
\n![\"Competitor](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kontentino-competitor-analysis-7ad17b-1309.jpg\")
Kontentino isn't a full social media management tool yet. It doesn't have a listening tool or a social inbox. If those features are important, you'll need to supplement Kontentino with another tool or selection of tools. But Kontentino does what it does incredibly well and has a serious range of features at a very reasonable price. I love the power of the calendar and the publishing tool features.
\n\n\nI've been impressed by Kontentino for a long while, and it keeps on getting better. They've managed to add so many powerful and helpful features, yet still, make it easy to use. It's just so thoughtfully put together. It's not a full social media management tool, so most businesses will need to supplement Kontentino with a social inbox tool as well as a listening and monitoring tool. But as a content planning and scheduling tool, Kontentino is great and very good value for money.
Facebook Pages Twitter LinkedIn profiles LinkedIn pages Pinterest Instagram Push Notification Publishing
\nNone
\nNone
\nNone
\nFacebook Pages Instagram
\n![\"Bohumil](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/bohmil-pokstefl-61a5b4-1516.jpg\")
\n\nWe first developed Kontentino as an internal tool for TRIAD advertising agency. Our social media managers were tired of chaotic communication when it came to creating and approving social media content. The whole process always involved a lot of spreadsheets, (lost) email attachments, phone calls. To avoid confusion and unnecessary mistakes, we decided to create a tool which allowed for easy communication between copywriter, graphic designer, art director, social media manager and client.
\nKontentino could be described as Hootsuite and Asana having a baby. In the beginning, it was a simple tool that made the approval process easy. Now it's tailored for top marketing professionals from agencies and international brands, having more advanced features that help to make the workflow even smoother.
\nMore than 3000 advertising agencies and brands use Kontentino, with more than 10 000 active users. In 2018, Kontentino made it to the top 20 startups at Web Summit.
![\"Semrush](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/semrush-2023-21fe43-1240.jpg\")
SEMrush is not a full social media management tool, and in some ways, it has the least number of features of any tool in this list. But I include it because its publishing tool is really powerful and overall SEMrush is an amazingly feature-rich tool. SEMrush is a series of , content and social media tools. It's main focus has always been Search Engine Optimisation and Search Engine Marketing. It's one of my favourite SEO tools and the reporting and analysing tools are top-notch.
\nSEMrush isn't primarily a social media tool. The SEMrush social media posting tool I'm covering in this article is a tiny part of a powerful Search Engine Optimization and Content Planning suite of tools. So if you're just looking for a social media management tool, SEMrush isn't for you. But, if you want a powerful SEO and content planning tool that has a simple yet powerful social media publishing tool, SEMrush is worth considering.
\n![\"Semrush](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/semrush-prices-2023-1-ca1b37-1135.jpg\")
The entry-level Pro plan is $119.95 per month. The next level up (Guru plan - $229.95 per month) adds the content marketing platform and reports. The $449.95 per month business plan adds white-labelled reports and a few more features.
\nSEMrush is one of my favourite SEO tools. The reports and audit tools are so comprehensive. So, if you need an SEO tool and you want a social media publishing tool - then look no further than SEMrush.
\nTo be honest, when SEMrush announced they were releasing a social media scheduling tool I wasn't expecting much and I was preparing to be underwhelmed. But SEMrush's social media poster is very well thought through and powerful. It integrates with Facebook pages (not groups), Twitter, LinkedIn (profiles and pages), Pinterest and Instagram (push notification publishing only).
\nThere's a social media calendar which is very easy to use which displays posts posted from SEMrush and third-party tools.
\n![\"SEMrush](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/sem-rush-social-media-poster-calendar-3353b1-1600.jpg\")
It integrates with Bitly so you can shorten your links. But it doesn't allow you to connect your Bitly account and so you're not able to shorten with your custom short link. SEMrush integrates with GIPHY so you can add animated GIFs very easily. And you can add custom UTM parameters to your links.
\nYou can publish to one network or more than one network at the same time. SEMrush also allows you to edit the text for each network separately. For example, having short content for Twitter and longer for Facebook or LinkedIn. You can post straight away, schedule at a specific date and time in the future or add to a queue.
\n![\"SEMrush](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/semrush-publishing-436396-1600.jpg\")
The queuing system in SEMrush is a simple Buffer-style system. You can set a different schedule for each social network. You have the choice of the same times every day or different times on weekdays and weekends. This isn't as powerful as Buffer (which allows a different schedule for each day) or SmarterQueue or Agorapulse which has different schedules for each category.
\n![\"Social](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/semrush-social-media-queue-e77cf9-1600.jpg\")
SEMrush doesn't yet have Instagram direct publishing, so you do need to use their push notification service. With this, SEMrush will send you an email at the time you scheduled your Instagram post and you can then publish via the main Instagram app on your smartphone.
\nSEMrush has fairly basic social media reports, but they're very slick. Unfortunately, at least for the time being, SEMrush only gives you reports for Facebook pages, LinkedIn pages (not profiles) and Instagram. It seems odd that there are no reports for Twitter, but hopefully, they'll add them later. Also, SEMrush only displays reports per profile and doesn't currently have unified reports.
\n![\"Social](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/semrush-social-media-analytics-bf37f1-1600.jpg\")
SEMrush is an amazing SEO tool. But it's not a full social media management tool. I love their publishing tool, but it's not as comprehensive as some others in this list. And so, if you're just looking for a social media management tool on its own, SEMrush isn't going to be cost-effective for you. It doesn't have a social inbox or listening features, so if you'll need to supplement with extra tools should you need these. It doesn't have team access or a team publishing workflow, so that's not great for agencies or businesses with a social media team.
\n\n\nI really love SEMrush as an SEO tool. The reports and audits are so useful and I highly recommend checking them out. The social media posting tool in SEMrush is also really comprehensive. So, if you're already paying for SEMrush as your SEO tool, you'll probably want to use it. But, I'd never be able to use it on its own because it doesn't have a social inbox, listening & monitoring, audience & community management and anything other than basic reports.
Facebook Pages Twitter LinkedIn profiles LinkedIn pages Pinterest Instagram Push Notification Publishing
\nNone
\nNone
\nNone
\nFacebook Pages LinkedIn pages Instagram
\nNone
\nNone
\n![\"Oleg](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/oleg-shchegolev-e09cea-512.jpg\")
\n\nDmitriy Melnikov (my childhood friend and SEMrush’s co-founder) and I were experimenting and trying out different things, and that’s how the SEOquake tool was released in 2006. SEOquake was a success and inspired by it, we decided to turn it into something bigger — that is how SEMrush was created. We started at the height of the financial crisis of 2007–2008, so you can imagine how uneasy it was for us to be a startup in such challenging times.
\nFrom an SEO-focused tool, SEMrush soon turned into online visibility management and content marketing SaaS platform trusted by more than 3,000,000 marketing professionals.
Lately describe themselves as a Marketing Dashboard for Teams. They are a slightly different type of social media management tool. Although they don't have some core parts of what I would expect in a social media management tool such as a social inbox and listening/monitoring, they have some really cool features. For example the ability to create a brand and style guide automatically from all your social networks. And they use artificial intelligence to scan blog posts, text, podcasts and videos and turn them into social media posts.
\nSince I first wrote this post back in 2020, Lately's prices have become a little more affordable. The base plan used to cost $1,548 per year and was for a team of one and up to 5 social media accounts. Now Lately have the \"Starter\" plan which costs $119 per month ($1,428 per year) or $1,188 per year if paying annually (equivalent to $99 per month). Like before this is for a team of one, but it only helps you manage 1 social channel.
\nThe pro plan is $199 per month if paid monthly ($2,388 per year) or the equivalent of $179 per month if paid annually ($2,148 per year). Again, this is for a single user but helps you manage up to 20 channels.
\n![\"Lately](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lately-prices-2023-9e61c6-1019.jpg\")
Firstly, the team are so lovely and helpful. The CEO, Kate Bradley Chernis, is incredibly friendly and goes out of her way to answer questions. You really feel like you've joined a happy family when you use Lately. It's not a cheap tool and it lacks some core features such as a social inbox. But I love the way you can easily create a style guide for all your social profiles. When you create your Lately dashboard, it asks you for all your social profiles. Lately then goes off and fetches all your header and profile images and even gives you a color palette.
\n![\"Lately](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lately-style-guide-929474-1390.jpg\")
You've also got the ability to view influencers in your audience, add details of other tools you use as a team, a consistency scanner, file storage, content autogeneration and so much more.
\nI like Lately's calendar because it doesn't just show content published through Lately, but all content across all your channels. You'll see posts on your calendar that have been posted natively or from another tool as well. It also has a Gantt chart view which I've not seen elsewhere.
\n![\"Lately](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lately-calendar-a7bb83-1600.jpg\")
Lately allows you to publish to Facebook pages (not groups), Twitter, LinkedIn (profiles and pages), YouTube and Instagram (push notification publishing only). You can post to more than one network at the same time, but you can't edit the text for each network separately from this view. Also, unfortunately, you can't tag other pages in Facebook posts, although Lately is working on this.
\nI do love the way you can ask Lately to check your post content to see if it contains the keywords associated with your brand. You can post straight away, schedule at a future date and time or add to a queue. Lately has a Team publishing workflow (except for their entry-level plan) so you can also submit the post for approval or approve a previously submitted post. You can add it to a queue or bulk schedule. This allows you to post at varying schedules from multiple times per day down to once per month. It can even try and post at optimum times when most of your audience is more likely to read your posts.
\n![\"Publishing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lately-publish-d3eb46-1600.jpg\")
One of the most powerful features of Lately is their AI-driven social post autogenerator. This can create dozens of social media posts from your blog posts, podcasts or videos. For example, you could enter the of your new blog post as well as hashtags you want to use and Lately will scan the content and create Tweets, Facebook posts and other social media posts. Or you could upload a podcast episode or a video and Lately will transcribe the audio and create posts from that.
\nThe automatically generated posts won't be perfect, and you'll need to spend some time editing them. But it's a whole lot easier starting with 40 imperfect automatically generated Tweets than creating 40 Tweets from scratch!
\n![\"Autogenerate](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lately-autogenerate-fd7661-1600.jpg\")
Lately's reports are really nice to look at, and they offer unified reports. This means that as well as seeing reports for each individual social network, you can see how you're doing across all your networks. Lately shows reports for Facebook pages, Twitter, LinkedIn (profiles and pages), YouTube and Instagram. That's pretty comprehensive! They also include Google Analytics reports too.
\n![\"Engagement](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lately-engagement-report-52150d-1600.jpg\")
Once you've selected which social networks you want to include, Lately will then fetch the data and display the report. The first one is the engagement report but you can toggle between this and impressions/page views and followers/reach.
\n![\"Characteristics](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lately-reports-5846f0-1600.jpg\")
You can also see pie charts on posts, impressions and engagement shares as well as posts, impressions and engagements characteristics. Then more complicated charts on the day of week and time of day performance.
\nThere are word clouds displaying hashtags and mentions by impressions and engagement.
\nDespite this, the analytics aren't quite as comprehensive as those from Agorapulse, Sprout Social or SmarterQueue. And it's a shame that you can only export the reports as an Excel file (no PDFs). But the fact that they offer unified reports and they look nice is a big bonus.
\nThere's so much to love about Lately, but for many, the price will put people off. Also the lack of a social inbox and social listening is going to be a problem. The unified reports are great, but there are better reports out there.
\n\n\nLately is a very different type of social media management tool. It's unfortunate that it doesn't have a social inbox or listening & monitoring features. You'll need to supplement Lately with other tools for those features. But I love the AI-powered post generator. You can create dozens of posts from your blog articles, podcasts and videos. I also love the social channel style guide and consistency scanner. The analytics are great too - especially since they offer unified reports.
\nIt's not a cheap tool for what you get, though, with prices starting at $1,188 per year for one user and only one social channel. But I know people who swear by Lately and use it all the time. The team is also so friendly and helpful, and there is a real community feel. That's something that is very rare these days.
Facebook Pages Twitter LinkedIn profiles LinkedIn pages YouTube Instagram Push Notification Publishing
\nNone
\nNone
\nFacebook Pages Twitter LinkedIn profiles LinkedIn pages YouTube Instagram
\nNone
\n![\"Kate](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/kate-bradley-chernis-02e0e5-960.jpg\")
\n\nAbout nine years ago, as a marketing agency owner, I was managing a multimillion dollar Walmart campaign. Walmart was collaborating with United Way Worldwide, National Disability Institute and tens of thousands of small and medium businesses and nonprofits… A whole lot of different markers with different budgets and different skill sets. So in order to organize what I saw as a complete mess, I created one heck of a spreadsheet organizational system. My spreadsheet organizational system got us a 130% , year-over-year for three years 🙂
\nFast forward to 2014, Steve Blood, my cofounder, was a friend of mine and kept asking me about my spreadsheet organizational system – because I used it for all my clients – I saw they had the same problems as the Walmart project and my spreadsheet organizational system got them similarly awesome results. Steve is a serial entrepreneur, an angel investor and a former CTO. One day, Steve said: you know you can automate your spreadsheet system, all we need is $25,000 to build wireframes. I told him he was crazy… Why would you mess with my spreadsheets? LOL. I'd also been working my whole life to save $25,000 to buy my first house. And told him to stop bugging me. Several months later, he took the $25,000 out of his own pocket and visited my house with Jason, who is now my Chief Product Officer. They showed me the wireframes of what was the basis for Lately – Steve says I was a lot nicer to him after that :-).
So, I've given you 7 social media management tools to look at. I've given you the pros and cons of each one.
\nNow it's time to pick 2 or 3 and give them a whirl!
\nAll tools in this list have free trials, so test them out and see which ones work for you.
\nBut don't just leave it there. I'd love to know how you get on and what your experience has been. As always, let me know in the comments below.
", "date_published": "2023-06-05T09:15:10+00:00", "date_modified": "2023-09-04T16:57:51+00:00", "tags": [ "Social Media" ], "image": "https://new2.iag.me/media/7-must-have-social-media-management-tools-2023-c-272cd0-1024.jpg", "authors": [ { "name": "Ian Anderson Gray", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/about/" } ] }, { "id": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/7-reasons-use-adobe-express/", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/7-reasons-use-adobe-express/", "title": "7 Reasons why you SHOULD use Adobe Express", "summary": "A full review of Adobe Express (was ContentCal); a visual content creation tool, with access to a huge image, video and font library.", "content_html": "Please note: I’m an ambassador for Adobe Express. But this blog post is an honest review, and all the thoughts are my own.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/youtube-DDpFZEg9M7Y-800.jpg\")
Back in October 2016, I received an email from a guy called Andy Lambert. He said some nice things about my website and asked if he could buy me a coffee. He also mentioned the tool he and his team were working on. It's name was Content Calendr.
\nIntrigued by the tool (as well as not being able to turn down the offer of a free cup of coffee), we met up.
\nContentCalendr became ContentCal and became a very popular social media management tool. I was impressed by the ease of use, powerful features and the calendar at the heart of the tool.
\nI wrote a review article called \"7 Reasons why you SHOULD use ContentCal\".
\nThen in December 2021, ContentCal was acquired by Adobe.
\nSince then, a lot of ContentCal's functionality has been baked into Adobe Express. More on Adobe Express shortly, but it's a new and heavily updated version of Adobe Spark. It was time for me to update my article!
\nOver the years, I’ve written a lot about social media management tools. Back in 2011, I wrote the hugely popular 7 Reasons NOT to use Hootsuite, which has been updated many times. I've also written about other social media management tools such as Agorapulse and Sprout Social. Adobe Express is more of a visual content creation tool rather than a social media management tool.
\n![\"Andy](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/andy-lambert-435d7d-800.jpg\")
![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-home-112019-1155.jpg\")
Adobe Express is an easy and quick-to-use service that helps you create stunning visual content. You can create the content from scratch. Or from the thousands of included templates, stock photos, animations and more.
\nYou've probably heard of Adobe Creative Cloud. It's an amazing subscription service to all of Adobe’s professional tools. This includes Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Audition etc.
\nI use many of these on a regular basis, especially Photoshop and Audition. But unless you are a professional, the Creative Cloud tools can be overkill, too complicated and too powerful.
\nAdobe Express is a collection of content creation tools for non-designers. Although they're great for designers too.
\nYou can create:
\nYou get access to thousands of royalty-free Adobe stock photos, fonts, icons, backgrounds and visual elements.
\nAnd you get access to some really powerful tools that do cool things. For example, remove backgrounds, convert to GIFs and resize images etc.
\nIt's a web-based tool with versions for iOS and Android. Its aim is to make creating content EASY.
\nA social media management tool aims to be the “One Tool to Rule Them All” when it comes to managing your social media. It does more than just post and schedule content.
\nA full social media management tool should do all the following:
\nOf course, you may not need a full social media management tool. You could get this by using a combination of tools.
\nAdobe Express helps with designing, posting and planning content - especially visual content. But it doesn't give you analytics, engagement, listening or audience management features. So it's not a social media management tool.
\nBUT Adobe Express is a Visual Content Marketing Management Tool. As well as posting social content, it..
\nAdobe Express is for everyone.
\nIt's especially useful for non-designers or businesses who don't have a dedicated design team.
\nThe fully caffeinated Creator Cloud suite is perfect for professional content creators. But there will still be times when Adobe Express is a much better option. Photoshop and Illustrator are amazing tools, but, for simple tasks, Adobe Express is going to get the job done quicker. And you have access to all those royalty free images.
\nNo tool is perfect or comprehensive for all our needs. Although Adobe Express combines the features of so many tools together under one roof, it doesn’t pretend to do everything.
\nIt’s not a full social media management tool. And so it doesn’t offer analytics or reporting. There is no social inbox. There isn’t a video assets library. Think of it as a visual content marketing tool, and you'll understand what Adobe Express is about.
\nThat being said, the team are working hard behind the scenes to expand its current functionality and add more. I’ve had the chance to see some of what they are working on, and I am excited about its future.
\nThere's nothing much not to like about Adobe Express. But there are a few things to bear in mind.
\nIt's either a web app or a mobile/tablet app. That makes it super flexible. But if you prefer working on dedicated desktop apps (such as the ones that come with Creator Cloud) you're out of luck.
\nAdobe Express is a visual content planning and creation tool. But it’s not a full social media management tool (yet). You'll need another set of tools for a social inbox, analytics and listening. Some tools such as Agorapulse and Sprout Social have all these features, but they lack the design features of Adobe Express. Also, currently Adobe Express doesn't integrate with TikTok.
\nRunning your own business can be expensive. You may not have the resources to hire your own design team. Design, content creation and social media management tools can help you be really productive. But they can also be expensive - costing you hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year.
\nAs I write this article, there are some free tools and some inexpensive tools out there. In the social media management tool world Hootsuite offers a free plan, but it's very very basic. Agorapulse offers a much better free plan, but at some point you're going to have to upgrade.
\nIn the visual content design tool world, there's Canva and Easil. Both are great tools and offer free plans. But you need to be aware of the restructions, and you will need to pay for many of the templates and images.
\nAdobe Express has a generous free plan with thousands of templates and design elements. You also get access to Adobe Fonts which is a biggie. You get a limited selection of royalty-free Adobe Stock photos. And you get some cool tools including being able to remove backgrounds and animation.
\nThe Premium plan costs either $9.99 per month or $99 per year. This opens up a huge library from Adobe. This includes all the premium templates and design elements. The entire collection of over 160 million royalty-free Adobe Stock collection photos. Over 20,000 licenced Adobe fonts. The ability to convert and export to and from PDFs and other file types.
\nAnd it also includes a social media planner and scheduler. These are features that have been added from ContentCal.
\n![\"Adobe](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-plans-8a012f-937.jpg\")
I love Photoshop. I have Illustrator (but never learnt how to use it). Adobe Creative Cloud tools are amazingly powerful.
\nBut for some tasks, using these tools can sometimes be a little like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut!
\nWhat I love about Adobe Express is that it makes creating social media images, videos and stories so easy. And you don't need to be a designer or good with design. You get access to templates, fonts, images and more - all within the tool.
\nIt's incredibly intuitive and quick to get things done. Having access to the huge stock library of images saves so much time. And the ability to add my own branding with a click of a button is amazing.
\n![\"Design\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/design-4b3298-1311.jpg\")
While Adobe Express isn't a full Social Media Management Tool. It combines so many tools in one. This makes it easier to find what you're looking for. And it's cheaper, since you don't have to pay for lots of different tools.
\nFor example, you don't necessarily need to pay for...
\n...Because Adobe Express has all of those things built in.
\nMost visual content design tools give access to the free Google font library. These are great. But since Google Fonts are free, they tend to be over-used. Adobe Fonts are part of their premium library, and will help you stand out. You can still upload your own fonts, and use Google Fonts if you want to.
\nYou can create social media images using other tools. But one of the most powerful features of Adobe Express is that you get access to Adobe's stock image library. This makes it so easy to find the image you want - whether it is for a background image or something that just pops!
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/photos-e14ac6-377.jpg\")
Where do your audience hang out? The liklihood is that they are scattered across many different platforms. That could be Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and more.
\nAdobe Express supports a plethora of different social media formats and sizes.
\nThis includes:
\nThere's a huge range.
\n![\"social](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/social-media-templates-897e1c-1312.jpg\")
Adobe Express allows you to post and schedule content to your
\nIf you want to schedule your visual content to all of your social networks easily, Adobe Express has you covered.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/connections-c0e372-983.jpg\")
Just like ContentCal did, Adobe Express' scheduler, puts the calendar front and centre. You can toggle between monthly and weekly views. And a powerful feature allows you to filter draft, scheduled, published and failed posts. And you can filter posts from your different social channels.
\nCurrently, Adobe Express doesn't support more than one profile of the same network. So you can't have more than two or more Twitter accounts for example. But you can schedule to multiple channels of different accounts, and it's easy to do.
\nIf your Instagram account is a business profile, you can publish single images and videos as well as carousel posts automatically.
\nYou can also post Instagram stories or longer videos via the Adobe Express mobile app. This is a manual process since the Instagram doesn't yet support these formats.
\nWhen it's time for your post to be published, you'll get a push notification on your phone or tablet. With a couple of clicks, your you can post it to Instagram.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/schedule-1-6db63b-1442.jpg\")
Do you find yourself needing to convert, resize, crop, trim images, or remove backgrounds?
\nHow about creating pdfs, QR codes?
\nYou can do all of this from Adobe Express. I think it's worth getting Adobe Express just for these quick action features.
\n![\"quick](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/quick-actions-c46e28-539.jpg\")
For images and photos, you can...
\nFor videos, you can...
\nFor PDFs, you can...
\nAnd you can create QR codes with the Adobe Express QR code generator.
\nThe image tools are powered by Photoshop. The video tools are powered by Adobe Premiere. And the PDF tools are powered by Acrobat.
\nSo there you go, 7 Reasons why you SHOULD use Adobe Express.
\nIs it perfect? Does it do everything?
\nNo. But there's no perfect tool that does everything.
\nAdobe Express is a powerful set of tools for all kinds of businesses. In fact, I would call it the Swiss Army Knife of the visual content marketing tool world.
\nBut what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know below in the comments.
", "date_published": "2022-10-26T18:00:22+00:00", "date_modified": "2023-08-31T09:51:16+00:00", "tags": [ "Social Media" ], "image": "https://new2.iag.me/media/adobe-express-twitter-image-1-564047-1024.jpg", "authors": [ { "name": "Ian Anderson Gray", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/about/" } ] }, { "id": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/hootsuite-vs-sprout-social-vs-agorapulse/", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/hootsuite-vs-sprout-social-vs-agorapulse/", "title": "Hootsuite vs Sprout Social vs Agorapulse: Which One Will Be Best for Your Social Media Needs?", "summary": "Are you trying to decide between social media management tools? Struggling to find out whether you should use Hootsuite , Sprout Social , or Agorapulse ?", "content_html": "Are you trying to decide between social media management tools? Struggling to find out whether you should use Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Agorapulse?
\nThere can be a LOT to unpack!
\nWhen you compare the top social media management tools, you often hear the same top names. So to make comparing some of the most popular solutions easier for you, I’m highlighting the differences between Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Agorapulse.
\nI’m an ambassador for Agorapulse, but that doesn’t mean I’ll base my ratings on sentiment or opinion.
\nIn fact, I’ll base the article on the cold, hard facts of the three tools’ rankings on G2, one of the most trusted review sites in the world.
\nWe will let the real-life experiences and reviews from honest-to-goodness users shape this article.
\nIn comparing the three, Hootsuite lags behind considerably overall. More than 5,000 reviews by real users rank it lower than Sprout Social.
\nAgorapulse wins overall.
\nHootsuite consistently rates last among the three for publishing, monitoring, and reporting.
\nBy 0.2 points on average, Sprout Social is ahead. (And again, Agorapulse outranks them both.)
\nInformation about the pricing plans for these top three social media management solutions can be confusing, muddled, and just very expensive for Hootsuite and Sprout Social.
\nFor example, Hootsuite only shows annual pricing on its pricing page. Also, Hootsuite provided muddled and misleading information about its Business plan pricing. Growing businesses are forced to jump from its Team plan to its far more heavily priced Business plan (which costs a whopping $7,200 just to start!) or the most expensive Enterprise plan (which starts at an astronomical price of $18,000 per year).
\nHootsuite and Sprout Social’s users pricing plans are based on “costs per users/profiles” and depend on what advanced features are needed. So, the costs can add up quickly for a growing agency with specific needs.
\nSo, that’s my research in a nutshell.
\nIf you’ve got time to dig more deeply into the details to help your decision-making, read on!
\nAre the following your biggest concerns in choosing your social media management tool?
\nThen, here’s what you absolutely need to know.
\nThe scores for these are (in alphabetical order):
\nLet’s break them down more specifically.
\nAgorapulse outranks both for ease of use by far. Sprout Social, however, ranks just 0.6 above Hootsuite’s 8.3.
\nLooking for ease of setup? Sprout Social rates 8.8, outranking Hootsuite’s 8.3. Agorapulse outpaces both at a significantly higher 9.2.
\nIn regards to admin, Agorapulse is far ahead again by ranking 9.1 from G2 reviewers. Once again, Sprout Social follows at 8.9, just a little ahead of Hootsuite’s 8.4.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/image6-2-8cb1fb-768.jpg\")
Hootsuite’s support ranks a shockingly low 7.8 from its 1,971 reviews. And it’s far lower than Sprout Social’s decent 8.8.
\nAgorapulse, with its 9.3 ranking, has one of the best customer support rankings in the business. It scores high in customer support for G2 and for Capterra and TrustRadius.
\nDo you need a social media management tool that grows with you?
\nIf you’re constantly evolving your business, you’re going to want a solution that can adapt to it. (Because who wants to keep looking for a brand-new every time that you have something successful happen)
\nSo, how did Agorapulse, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social do?
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/image7-1-352548-768.jpg\")
Once again, Hootsuite has the lowest score of the three tools we’re comparing.
\nAt 7.3, Hootsuite’s far below Sprout Social’s respectable 8.8 for product direction.
\nHootsuite has one of the worst scores in the entire industry for product direction.
\nIn comparison, Agorapulse’s 9.3 ranking is far ahead of its closest competitors’ rank.
\nI verified this on Capterra, the highly trusted review site (because Hootsuite’s dismal ranking really shocked me). And, yes, the same order is there, too:
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/image2-1-312a54-768.jpg\")
Features among the top social media management solutions are very similar. But their ease of use, and the scope of their functionality differ.
\nWhich one of the three is right for you? It depends on what you're looking for.
\nLet's take a look at the main features of publishing, monitoring/listening, and reporting, and how users rated them for Agorapulse, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social.
\nAll three social media management solutions do well in helping users publish content on various social media channels.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/image5-1-2995b3-768.jpg\")
Sprout Social and Hootsuite tie in their 9.1 ranking for scheduling content. Agorapulse edges out ahead with its 9.3 ranking.
\nFor publishing automation, Sprout Social squeaks ahead with its 8.7 over Hootsuite’s 8.6.
\nBut Agorapulse, at 9.17, leaps ahead both.
\nHow do the three compare in monitoring?
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/image1-1-6e1b9d-768.jpg\")
After all, this is a critical component of any social media team. You need to know what your competitors are saying, what conversations your customers are having, and discovering new business opportunities.
\nSprout Social squeaks by Hootsuite with an average rating of 7.9. Agorapulse’s average rating is 8.5, ahead of both tools.
\nAnother crucial task in any successful social media manager’s worklife is to report on key performance indicators (KPIs) and other metrics.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/image4-1-456f86-768.jpg\")
In regards to this feature, Sprout once again edges out over Hootsuite’s 7.75 with its own 7.97 points.
\nAnd Agorapulse leaps ahead at an average of 8.4.
\n(I’m starting to see a pattern here.)
\nSay you need paid campaign tracking, however, Agorapulse will not be your best choice. It offers its AdsReport free tool. However, it is limited and not as thorough as Hootsuite and Sprout Social’s paid reporting tools.
\nKeep in mind, though, the price of those paid reporting features. Itś a Hootsuite add-on and also 50% more per user on Sprout Social.
\nThat means you will have to pay $18K/year (annual option only) for Hootsuite’s Enterprise plan with the Impact add-on. If that sounds steep and you go with Sprout Social, youĺl have to pay $149/month per user.
\nPricing is one of the biggest (if not the biggest factor) for a lot of companies looking for a social media management tool.
\nUnfortunately, though, finding the pricing of certain tools can be hard to obtain. Either the wording is unclear and evasive or the nickel-and-dime plan seems to hide the final cost.
\nWhen you look at Hootsuite's pricing page, you’ll only see the annual cost. (The asterisk on all plans states that “prices based on annual billing.”)
\nWant to see the monthly price of a specific plan? You have to create a Hootsuite account first. Only then can you see that your monthly price plan is 30% higher than what you see shared publicly on Hootsuite's pricing pages.
\nAre you an agency trying to figure out whether to choose the Team plan or the Business plan? Then you need to know that the Team plan (which is touted as the one for agencies) will not allow for more than 20 social profiles or more than three users.
\nFor a growing and active agency, the Team plan is a bust. Hootsuite users will have to go to the Business plan. That means they end up committing to an annual plan for $7,200 upfront. (No, you don't have the option to pay month by month if you upgrade from the Team plan.)
\nNeed more information? Check out this detailed look at how much Hootsuite really costs.
\nIf you want to find the real pricing of Sprout Social’s plan, you will have to do a lot of math. Break out your calculators, and brace yourself. The numbers add up fast.
\nUnlike Hootsuite, Sprout Social lets you choose the monthly payment option. But read carefully: The price is per user.
\nHave an active agency or busy social media team? Your monthly bill is going to get very expensive as you start including must-haves, such as more fans/followers, more extensive reporting, etc.
\nFor example, say you want more advanced listening and reporting. Sprout Socialś Advanced Listening add-on begins at a whopping $999 per month. So, add that into your monthly bill. And then you’ll have to pay $249 per month for Sprout’s Advanced reporting add-on.
\nThat’s $ 1,248 per month just for advanced listening and reporting. (Your total bill for a year will be $14,976 just for these add-ons.)
\nIf you want a deeper dive into Sprout Social’s pricing, here’s a detailed look at Sprout Social’s pricing plans.
\nWhen you look at Agorapulse’s pricing page, you’ll find direct, clear pricing information for both monthly and annual plans. (You also have the monthly option with Sprout Social.) You can choose from its free, Pro, Premium, and Enterprise plans.
\nYou’ll also see that, if you pay annually, you save up to 20%. Unlike Hootsuite, you get a benefit for paying upfront.
\n(Also unlike Hootsuite, Agorapulse won surprise you with prices higher than what you expect. Hootsuite’s monthly plan prices are more than 30% higher than the advertised prices.)
\nAs is common practice, you will not find the Enterprise plan cost. That’s because it depends on your specific needs and wants.
\nYou can also easily add additional social profiles on the Premium plan for just $12/each, up to 40 or additional users for $30/each (up to 8). Those are reasonably fair prices.
\nYou’re not forced into a more expensive plan just because you’re growing. Agorapulse’s pricing is especially designed for growing teams.
\nAlso, you won’t have to pay an exorbitant fee for quality customer support from Agorapulse. On Hootsuite, you have to pay $7,200 to receive 4/7 priority support provided by ”real live human support for any issue at any time of day.” (And we know from the above section that this support is substandard.)
\nAt Agorapulse, you don't have to pay extra for quality support. And you also get such features as:
\nAll without requiring an annual commitment. And starting at just $199 per month.
\n\n\n\nIf you want to look more into the different features of these tools and how much specifics will cost you, do use my free pricing tool.
\nI update it twice a year to keep it reliable.
\nPlease note: I've temporarily taken the comparison tool down. It will be back very soon. But Hootsuite has demanded that I remove their logo from my site. So until I can update the tool to remove the logo, I've disabled it.
", "date_published": "2021-06-10T12:30:49+00:00", "date_modified": "2024-06-05T14:54:14+00:00", "tags": [ "Social Media" ], "image": "https://new2.iag.me/media/blog-post-june-b6fed1-1024.jpg", "authors": [ { "name": "Ian Anderson Gray", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/about/" } ] }, { "id": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/top-live-video-streaming-tools/", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/top-live-video-streaming-tools/", "title": "Top Live Video Streaming Tools of 2023", "summary": "So, you want to broadcast to Facebook Live, YouTube Live, LinkedIn Live, Twitter, or others?", "content_html": "So, you want to broadcast to Facebook Live, YouTube Live, LinkedIn Live, Twitter, or others?
\nDo you broadcast from your smartphone or your computer?
\nDo you use a live video streaming tool or do you go native?
\nWhat does all that even mean?!
\n![\"Confusion\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/img-6818-scaled-eb23aa-1600.jpg\")
If you feel confused, you’re not alone. It is confusing!
\nThere are so many tools out there!
\nBut I am here to help.
\nIn this mega-article, I’ll explain the main differences between broadcasting from your phone and your computer.
I'll also cover the differences between the live video platforms and what kinds of features the tools offer.
\nFinally, I’ll go through all the major tools out there with their features and their pros and cons.
\nIf you’d rather skip to the comparison of the top live video streaming tools, click here.
\nOtherwise, are you ready for the fun ride?!
\nLet’s begin!
![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/depositphotos-364293154-xl-scaled-8028fc-1600.jpg\")
Image from depositphotos.com
\nLive streaming tools have two main features - switching and streaming.
\nYou could just live stream one camera all the way through your live stream. But that's not very interesting. Most live video tools allow you to switch between different layouts or scenes. This means you could switch between different hosts and guests, pre-recorded videos and more.
\nTo broadcast live to a platform like Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube, you’ll need an app. This will take your video and audio and broadcast it to the platform which in turn will broadcast it out to your audience.
\nMany of the main live video platforms such as Facebook and YouTube have this facility built in to their web or mobile apps. This means you don’t have to use a 3rd party tool - and it’s very easy.
\nBut some platforms (such as LinkedIn Live) require you to use a 3rd party tool. And there are some big advantages and extra features you’ll get if you use another tool.
\nThese tools are called a variety of fancy names such as “live streaming video encoders” and “live video tools”.
\nOn a basic level, they take your video (for example your camera or a pre-recorded video) and stream it to your destination. It’s quite an intensive process and you’ll need a reasonably powerful computer or phone to do this.
\n![\"API](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/api-robot-8d728c-1000.jpg\")
Were you tempted to skip past this bit?
\nIf so, I am not surprised! It sounds very geeky!
It is, but I’ll try and make this as quick and painless as possible. It's important to understand what these jargon acronyms mean.
\nAs I just mentioned, some services (such as Facebook and YouTube) allow you to broadcast directly through their mobile app or web app. When you do that, you don’t really need to know how the magic happens. It just does.
\nBut if you use a third-party tool, such as the ones I am talking about in this article, they will broadcast either via RTMP or using the platform’s official .
\n![\"RTMP\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/rtmp-2d76e3-1600.jpg\")
Streaming video requires a special type of connection or “protocol”. Websites use a protocol called “http” or “https”. Streaming video uses “rtmp” or “rtmps”. This stands for Real-Time Messaging Protocol. It was initially developed by Macromedia, but Adobe has now released a public version of this which anyone can use.
\nYou may have also seen - that’s just a secure version of it - where your video stream is encrypted. Most live video platforms prefer RTMPS.
\nWith , you’ll need a special link (or Stream URL) and a key (the stream key). This allows your tool to connect with the platform’s server and send the information.
\nWhen you use RTMP, you’re just sending your stream to the platform. They don’t know who you are and the tool isn’t able to get information such as comments from the platform. The tool can’t create the live video post - so you’ll need to create that manually on the platform. Also, bear in mind that not all live video platforms allow you to connect via RTMP (such as LinkedIn Live).
\n![\"Ecamm](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/api-connection-ecamm-live-433957-1600.jpg\")
Most live video platforms such as Facebook & YouTube Live have an API (Application Programming Interface). This allows a tool to connect to the live video platform. Basically, they can talk to each other. This means the live video tool can schedule, edit and delete the live video post and potentially retrieve live comments. This makes it much easier for you to control your live videos from a tool.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/fb-app-4c6610-1600.jpg\")
Some live video platforms allow you to go live directly from their app. That means you don’t have to use a separate live video tool and you can broadcast from their mobile app or web app.
\nFacebook, for example, lets you broadcast live from their web app or mobile app. The web app allows you to use your webcam and microphone or you can share your screen. You can’t do both or switch partway through - you need to make that choice at the start.
\nFacebook’s mobile app is pretty powerful, but it will depend on whether you are using iOS or Android, and what features Facebook has given you. Some features include adding special filters and effects, flipping your image, flipping which camera you use and more.
\nYouTube has a similar facility. Everyone can stream from their computer using their webcam, but only people with over 1,000 subscribers will be able to broadcast live from the YouTube mobile app.
\nA dedicated live video tool will allow you to make your live videos look more professional, schedule your live videos, highlight comments, bring in remote guests and more.
\nNot all live video tools are the same. We’ve covered the native web and mobile apps. But there are other types of different live streaming tools are there.
\nFacebook, YouTube, Periscope, Instagram, and Twitch all have smartphone apps with in-built live streaming. LinkedIn doesn’t have in-built live streaming yet.
\n![\"Broadcasting](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/fb-live-app-c45407-1600.jpg\")
Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch all allow you to stream live via the web through their websites. Instagram is mobile-only, so you can’t stream from your computer. LinkedIn doesn’t have built-in live streaming via their website yet - you’ll need to use a 3rd party tool.
\n![\"Stream](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/youtube-live-webcam-scaled-54fd64-1600.jpg\")
If you want to broadcast from your smartphone or create a mobile live video studio, you’re not stuck with the native tools. Some services such as Switcher Studio are specifically designed to work on your mobile or tablet.
\nOf course, some other types of tools allow you to broadcast from your computer and use your smartphone’s camera or allow you to share your phone’s screen. But if you want a truly mobile solution then you’ll probably want to opt for a mobile-only live video tool.
\n![\"Broadcasting](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/switcher-studio-mobile-app-6af4fe-1600.jpg\")
I mentioned that you can stream to Facebook and YouTube through their web apps. But there are 3rd party live video services that are web apps too.
\nWeb apps run through your browser - whether that’s Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, or Brave. This means you don’t need to download any software, and they tend to be easy to use as a result.
\nMany of them are pretty feature-rich - allowing you to highlight your audience's comments on the screen, bring in guests remotely and even saving your video for later. But they’re never going to be as feature-rich or comprehensive as a dedicated live video tool.
\nOne big advantage of these tools is the easy way you can bring in guests remotely - usually just by giving them a web link. They’ll be able to come in using their web browser, with no extra software to download. And because they run in the browser, they’re cross-platform meaning they’ll work on PCs, Mac, Chromebooks, and Linux-based systems.
\nExamples include Restream Studio, StreamYard, BeLive and Lightstream.
\n![\"Broadcasting](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-studio-scaled-223290-1600.jpg\")
There are lots of video conferencing and webinar tools out there such as Crowdcast and Zoom that also have live-streaming built-in. Video conferencing tools are designed for virtual meetings. Webinar tools are designed for, well, webinars! If you want to live stream your virtual meeting (or webinar) to Facebook, YouTube or other destination, it’s fairly easy to set this up through many of these tools.
\nBecause these tools don’t primarily focus on live streaming, the live video element can be fairly basic. Most of the tools will add their brand as a watermark, and you won’t be able to change the layout, add your own branding, highlight comments and that kind of thing. But for simple broadcasts, they’re fine.
\n![\"Live](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/zoom-live-streaming-9f756c-966.jpg\")
If you want to level things up and create a more professional broadcast, then you’ll want a dedicated app. Dedicated live streaming tools need to be downloaded and installed onto your computer. Some are cross-platform (usually Mac and PC) and some are PC or Mac-only.
\nCross-platform apps are great in that they will work on both your Mac and PC. But dedicated apps (such as Ecamm Live for Mac and vMix for PCs) are focused on getting the best out of the platform they run on.
\nDedicated apps often give you much more control over your live streams such as changing your layouts, switching between multiple cameras and microphones, bringing in pre-recorded video and more. Because of the powerful features, you’ll need a more powerful computer.
\nSome dedicated apps give you the option to save a high-quality version of your live stream, and offer advanced features like green screen. Some allow you to highlight comments on the screen, although some require you to use extra software. Bringing in guests remotely often will require to use extra software and can be a bit more fiddly. But dedicated live video apps allow you to do so much more than other kinds of tools.
\n![\"Using](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecamm-live-view-scaled-25a73c-1600.jpg\")
![\"Using](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/vmix-screenshot-1-scaled-f50242-1600.jpg\")
Most live video streaming tools will only allow you to stream to one platform. So, you'll need to choose whether you are going to broadcast to either Facebook Live or YouTube Live. But, some allow you to stream to more than one platform simultaneously. Examples include Restream Studio, Wirecast, vMix or StreamYard. Some tools will allow you to broadcast to two or more platforms from your computer (such as vMix and Wirecast). You'll need a powerful computer and a beefy internet connection for this. Some tools (such as Restream and StreamYard) do the multistreaming from the cloud - meaning you just need to send one stream, and they'll take care of the rest.
\nA restreaming or multicasting service will take your stream and broadcast it to many platforms at the same time. The big advantage of this is that you don't need a mega-powerful computer. Also, you can stream to it from another tool such as Studio or Ecamm Live - and that tool doesn't need to have multicasting built-in. Examples of restreaming services include Restream and Switchboard Live.
\nMy friend, Jeff Sieh uses a multicasting service to stream from vMix for all his shows.
\n![\"Multicasting](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/restream-screenshot-scaled-9ff838-1600.jpg\")
Finally, there are hardware-based tools out there that allow you to create your live video broadcasts. Some of these are mobile such as the LiveU Solo. Some are portable and give you multi-camera switching from one 4K camera such as the Mevo and Mevo Plus. There’s the Epiphan Webcaster X2 which is a streaming box with HDMI and inputs. And then we get onto the high end dedicated live streaming boxes. I’m not covering hardware-based tools in this article.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/liveusolo-bb5c4a-679.jpg\")
![\"mevoPlus\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/mevoplus-cd560c-679.jpg\")
![\"Epiphan](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/31xedlcj4dl-56d829-500.jpg\")
Let's now talk about tools.
\nHow do you choose?
\nThere are so many!
\nIn this article, I am highlighting the most popular ones out there.
\nAll have their pros and cons.
\nAnd I hate to break it to you. None of them are perfect. But they all have fantastic features.
\nWhen you are choosing the tool for you, it’s important to work out your top priorities. Then you can produce your own live video tool shortlist (keep it to 2-3 tools max).
\nThen have a play with those 2-3 tools (most have free trials) and see which one you’re most happy with.
\nI’ve come up with a list to get you started:
\n![\"giphy.gif\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/giphy-43eafe-480.gif\")
There are pros and cons with Macs and PCs. You can build a more powerful PC for much less money - and they tend to be more powerful for live streaming. But Mac live streaming software tends to be easier to use. The easiest tools are web apps that work in the browser and so work on both Macs and PCs. Or maybe you want a fully mobile solution?
Some tools are really easy to use and some have a steep learning curve. Of course, there is a compromise - the easiest to use software often won’t have the same powerful features that the more advanced software has.
Facebook Live? YouTube Live? LinkedIn Live? Periscope? Others? Not all the tools integrate with all the live video platforms. Most will stream to Facebook and YouTube. But only a limited number integrate with LinkedIn Live, for example.
Facebook and YouTube allow you to save the video for later - that’s great for repurposing. But (at least in the case of Facebook) the quality of the downloaded video is very poor. If repurposing is important to you, choose a tool that saves the video in a high quality format at the same time as streaming.
Multicasting isn’t for beginners. Being able to broadcast to more than one network at the same time sounds exciting, but it’s much more difficult to engage with more than one audience at the same time. Also, bear in mind that not all tools will allow you to see and highlight the comments from the different networks you are simultaneously streaming to.
Some tools allow you to bring in guests on to your show really easily. Some use video conferencing tools like Skype. Some work through the browser. Some don’t have this feature built-in and you’ll need to jump through a few hoops. And then you’ll need to think about how many guests you want to bring in since each tool has their maximum.
How important is being able to view comments and highlight them on the screen? One of the most powerful features of live video is being able to interact with your audience, which means that viewing and highlighting comments is going to be important for most people. Not all tools out there allow you to see the comments and highlight them on the live video.
Do you want full control over the look and feel of the video, or do you want it quick and easy? Some tools give you basic layouts and some allow you to customize just about everything on your video.
Some tools are free. Some have one-off fees. And some charge a monthly fee. It can vary a lot - from free to thousands of dollars every year. What is your budget for live video marketing?
If you want to dig deeper into finding your perfect live video tool, have a listen to this podcast episode on How to Choose the Perfect Live Video Tool.
\n\nIt’s time to share the top tools with all their features!
\n![\"StreamYard\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-602a53-1600.jpg\")
Platform: Web app (runs in the browser). Mac & PC. Also iPhones, iPad, Android via web browsers.
\nStreamYard was launched in 2018 and is a live streaming tool that works through the browser. It’s really easy to use since it’s a web app and works through your browser. It integrates with all the main platforms including Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, and one of the only tools in this list to integrate with LinkedIn Live. And it allows you to multicast - broadcast to more than one platform at the same time without requiring a supercomputer! It allows you to have up to 9 guests on your show and you can highlight comments on the screen.
\n\nListen to episode 24 of the Confident Live Marketing Podcast, where I interviewed one of the co-founders of StreamYard, Geige Vandentop.
\nStreamYard has 3 plans - Free, Basic, and Professional.
\nThe Free plan is very generous. You do have to put up with a StreamYard watermark on the top right of your live streams though and has a limit of 20 hours of streaming per month. But you do get up to 9 remote guests (up to 10 people can be on-screen at one time), screen sharing, green screen functionality, video sharing, on-screen comments, and banners.
\nThe Basic plan removes the StreamYard watermark, gives you unlimited streaming, the ability to add your own branding, recording of up to 4 hours, and multicasting to up to 3 destinations. It costs $25 per month (or the equivalent of $20 per month if you pay yearly).
\nThe Professional plan gives you 8 hours of recording each month and multicasting to up to 8 destinations. It also adds full HD streaming (1080p) although the max resolution you'll get from your webcam is 720p. This costs $49 per month (or the equivalent of $39 per month if you pay yearly).
\nStreamYard is really easy to use and works through your web browser. Because of that, it works on both PCs and Macs.
\nThe paid versions have multicasting built-in, meaning you can broadcast to more than one live platform at the same time. Multicasting is so easy to use, and because it’s all done in the cloud, you don’t need a mega-powerful computer to do it. The most amazing feature is that it allows you to view and highlight comments from all the destinations it streams to (except LinkedIn Live). And yes, it does integrate with LinkedIn Live.
\nThe free version has some powerful features like the ability to bring in up to 5 guests, screen sharing (for hosts and guests) and green screen. Another killer feature is the ability to record high-quality versions of your live streams (available in the paid versions).
\nStreamYard is focused on making live streaming easy. So it doesn’t have the same level of customization as some other tools in this list. There are limitations in the different layouts on offer and the kinds of layers. One issue used to be that you couldn't stream in 1080p. But it's now available on the professional plan. Like other web apps, you can’t create different scenes ahead of time.
\nI am excited about StreamYard as it has so many great features. The ability to stream to more than one platform, bringing in comments from those different platforms, and recording your stream is a killer combination. StreamYard is also about simplicity, so it’s never going to have the same level of customization as Ecamm Live, Wirecast, or vMix. I would love the ability to create scenes with multiple layers. But since it’s a web app, you can produce the show in another app, and bring that into StreamYard, which will handle the live streaming and the comments. I love it!
\n![\"Ecamm](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecamm-live-47ee89-1600.jpg\")
Platform: Dedicated app. Mac only (guests use Skype via Macs, PCs, Android, iOS)
\nEcamm Live is a dedicated live streaming video app for Macs only. It’s incredibly cost-effective, especially when you consider all the features it has. Ecamm Live is easy to use and integrates with Facebook Live, YouTube Live, LinkedIn Live, Periscope, Twitch, Restream, Switchboard Live, and RTMP.
\n\nListen to episode 18 of the Confident Live Marketing Podcast, where I interviewed Glen and Ken Aspeslagh - the co-founders of Ecamm Live.
\nThere are two subscription levels - Standard and Pro.
\nStandard is $20 per month (the equivalent of $16 per month if paying yearly) and Pro is $40 per month (the equivalent of $32 per month if paying yearly).
\nThe Standard plan has everything you need to get started and will be fine for most people, but the Pro plan does give you some really cool features including 4K streaming, virtual webcam, widget overlays, live video monitoring to any display, audio monitor output, Facebook page crossposting, and more.
\nEcamm Live has a free 14-day trial that allows you to try all of the features (including Pro-level features) with very few limitations. There is an Ecamm Live watermark during the trial.
\nBecause Ecamm Live was developed solely for Mac and the founders and developers know the Mac ecosystem inside out, it’s the most streamlined and powerful live-streaming app for Mac I’ve tried. I’ve used other apps where my Mac’s fans have made it sound like my computer is about to lift off into space! But with Ecamm Live, it’s a breeze.
\nIt allows you to bring in guests via the web using Interview mode really easily. You can highlight comments on your screen from Facebook Live, YouTube Live, LinkedIn Live, Periscope, and Twitch. And it even integrates with the Restream Chat API - meaning you can highlight comments from all the networks you are multicasting. You can record the video in a high-quality format, too - and the quality is top-notch. You can add countdown timers and have full control over the look and feel of the text. You can bring in pre-recorded video and the scene and layer management are really powerful. It’s so easy to create shows ahead of time, and you can even export and import your shows as templates. The Stream Deck plugin is pretty awesome, too.
\nEcamm has some very advanced features. For example, the green screen feature is the best I’ve seen. It was built from the ground up and is of amazing quality. There’s a cool feature called “mask edges” for green screen that I’ve not seen elsewhere. If your green screen isn’t wide enough, Ecamm Live just extends your virtual background as if the green screen was there. It also supports video backgrounds too.
\nEcamm Live has the ability to stream in different aspect ratios (widescreen, super-widescreen, square, and portrait), Facebook crossposting, 360 videos, continuous Facebook Live streams, virtual webcams, NDI, and more. But it’s the attention to detail and the intuitive user interface I love.
\nIf you have a Canon DSLR or a supported camera like the Canon M50, you can plug it directly into your Mac via USB and Ecamm Live will use it without any extra hardware or software. This is a massive feature!
\nFinally, I’ve been really impressed with Ecamm Live’s customer service. Whenever I’ve had issues, I’ve had replies back really quickly. They also have a really helpful and active Facebook community that you can join for free.
\nIf you’re a PC user, you’re out of luck. Ecamm is Mac-only.
\nStandard plan users have to rely upon Skype to bring in guests, but pro users can use Interview mode.
\nYou can't change the transparency or rotate any layers in Ecamm Live, but this is unlikely to be an issue unless you're a very advanced user.
\nWithout doubt, Ecamm Live is my favorite and top recommended live video streaming tool for Mac. It offers that sweet spot between power and ease of use. It’s been lovingly designed to get the most power out of Mac computers (which aren’t always the most powerful for live video streaming).
\nI’d love Ecamm Live to make it easier to bring in guests through the web, and to offer multicasting. But I am nitpicking!
\nUse the code IAGFREE to get 1 month free
\n![\"Restream](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/restream-studio-f488b2-1600.jpg\")
Platform: Web app (runs in the browser). Mac & PC.
\nRestream officially launched in 2015 as a multistreaming tool. Today it allows live broadcasts to multicast to 30 destinations and has an integrated chat tool (for comments), scheduler and analytics tool. In 2020, Restream launched a browser-based live streaming studio called Restream Studio. As well as allowing you to multicast to 30 destinations with integrated comments for many of those, you can have up to 10 people on screen, add overlays, graphics and more.
\nPlease note, in this section, I am referring to Restream Studio, which is the browser live video tool part of Restream. You can also use third-party tools (such as Ecamm Live, OBS Studio, Wirecast and vMix) to stream to Restream which in turn will multistream to all your channels.
\n\nListen to episode 50 of the Confident Live Marketing Podcast, where I interviewed the Head of Marketing at Restream, Victor Bous.
\nRestream has 5 plans - Free, Standard and Professional (for individuals) and Premium and Business (for companies)
\nAll plans give you the ability to stream to over 30 destinations, Restream Studio, comments, screen sharing, guests and analytics. The free plan has a limit of 6 people on screen for Restream Studio.
\nAlso, note that Restream adds their own watermark to Studio, and appends \"multistreaming with Restream.io.\" to live video descriptions for the free and standard plans. But you can remove this from the Professional ($49 per month) plan upwards. The professional plan and above, also give you full HD (1080p) in Studio, custom graphical overlays and more.
\nRestream Studio is quite a new web-based streaming tool, but it's still feature-packed. You can have up to 9 guests (10 including yourself) on your show at one time. And the ability to multicast to up to 30 destinations is amazing. Even more amazing is the ability to monitor and highlight the comments from the destinations that support them (for example LinkedIn Live, Facebook Live, YouTube, Periscope, Twitch, Mixer, DLive, VK and more).
\nYou can create scheduled live videos with its events feature. This supports LinkedIn Live, YouTube Live and Facebook Live scheduling. It's the only web-based live video tool that supports stereo sound and playing a local video as source. There are more and more features coming, and I've been impressed with how quickly new features are being rolled out.
\nRestream Studio is still new, so there are still a few things lacking. But they've added so many new features recently. At the moment the number of layouts is fairly limited and there's no option for green screens.
\nRestream adds a watermark and branding to your broadcasts on the free and basic paid plans too. If you want to remove that, you'll need to upgrade to the Professional plan, which is more expensive.
\nI really love what Restream are doing with Restream Studio and it's quickly becoming the most powerful browser-based live video tool. And the way you can use other live video software with Restream is incredible. The multistreaming and chat features are invaluable, and the ability to bring in so many guests is powerful. If you want to remove the Restream branding, it's more expensive than other tools, but you get a lot for your money.
\nGet 1 month free with this link
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/belive-tv-scaled-2a76ee-1600.jpg\")
Platform: Web app (runs in the browser). Mac & PC.
\nBeLive really disrupted the Facebook Live space back in 2016 when it launched. It’s a web app and so it is really easy to use through your browser. It was also the first app to allow you to highlight Facebook Live comments on the screen and have multiple guests on the screen. Although it went through a period of slow innovation and a sudden venture with Twitch integration, BeLive has recently launched a new studio interface with loads of cool features. At the moment BeLive only integrates with Facebook Live and YouTube Live, but other networks are coming including the ability to multicast.
\nBeLive is the only tool with an inbuilt agenda. This is an area in the dashboard where you can add your own show notes. It allows you to use multiple cameras and has fabulous customer service and community.
\n![\"Using](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/belive-agenda-fc037e-600.gif\")
Listen to episode 38 of the Confident Live Marketing Podcast, where I interviewed one of the co-founders of BeLive, Daniel Mayer.
\nBeLive offers 3 monthly plans - Free, Standard+, and Pro.
\nThe Free plan limits you to 3 shows per month and offers up to 1 guest and a simple split screen layout.
\nThe Standard+ plan allows you to stream unlimited shows per month, ability to add your own logo, have up to 3 guests, customize your background, custom overlays, multiple cameras, video sharing, 12 different screen layouts, and high quality recordings of your broadcasts. This costs $29.99 per month (the equivalent of $24.99 per month if paying yearly).
\nThe Pro plan hasn’t been released as I write this article. But it will add an RTMP input, RTMP streaming, and multicasting. It will cost $44.99 per month (or the equivalent of $37.99 per month if paying yearly).
\nBeLive was one of the first tools on the scene after Facebook Live was launched. They’ve got a passionate and helpful community and their customer service is amazing. In my experience, tickets are responded to within minutes. It is easy to use and has some really cool features like the ability to create an agenda within the dashboard. It also supports multiple cameras, so you can switch between different camera angles.
\nLike StreamYard, BeLive focuses on making live streaming easy. Although there are lots of different types of layouts included, they don’t have the same level of customization of other tools. There’s no multicasting yet, and BeLive only integrates with Facebook Live and YouTube Live.
\nI loved BeLive when it came out with never seen before features. The community and customer service is amazing, too. I felt they kind of lost their way for a while when they created a separate tool for Twitch. But their new second generation studio is a definite step in the right direction. They are adding multicasting and more platforms soon and it’s still a really easy app to use. For an easy to use live video tool that focuses on engagement, BeLive is definitely worth checking out.
\n![\"OBS](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/open-broadcaster-software-04756d-1600.jpg\")
Platform: Dedicated app. PC, Mac, Linux
\nOBS Studio is an open-source and cross-platform live streaming tool for PCs (Windows or Linux) and Macs. It’s how I started my live streaming journey. It was the only free tool at the time that offered streaming to Facebook Live and other platforms. It’s a little clunky and difficult to use, but it’s also really powerful and customizable.
\nOBS is how I started my live streaming journey. And I wrote my article, How to Broadcast from your Computer to Facebook Live (which has had over 5 million page views) on how to broadcast using OBS Studio.
\nOBS Studio doesn’t integrate with Facebook or YouTube Live directly, so you need to fiddle around with stream keys and use RTMP. But once you get your head around that, OBS Studio is incredibly powerful. You can create multiple scenes - each with as many layers as you like. You can add your camera and microphone sources, videos, images and lots more. And you can easily crop, resize, rotate and adjust each layer as you like. It integrates fully with the Elgato Stream Deck family. It also allows you to record as well as streaming. You have full control over all the video encoding presets - which may or may not fill you with joy. The good news is you don’t need to fiddle too much to get it working, but you can fiddle to your heart’s content if you like.
\nOBS Studio is free.
\nOBS Studio is free and works on Macs and PCs. It also has some very advanced features and a large user base. You don’t get paid support, but there’s a plethora of videos on YouTube and I’ve created a course to get you started on OBS Studio. And there are loads of plugins that allow you to customize OBS Studio even further. If you want a free tool with some advanced features and don’t mind fiddling, then check out OBS Studio.
\nThere are some big missing features in OBS Studio that you might struggle without.
\nFirst of all, there’s no integrated remote guest feature. To bring in guests, you’ll have to jump through a few hoops and bring them in via Skype or Zoom, and capture their video in OBS Studio.
\nIt doesn’t integrate with any platform APIs - so you can’t schedule live streams through OBS and will need to set up on the platforms and fiddle with stream keys. A big missing feature is the inability to view or highlight comments.
\nYou can’t multicast in OBS Studio, although you can stream to a streaming platform such as Restream or Switchboard Live.
\nOBS Studio is very resource-intensive. You’ll need a fairly powerful computer to do anything more than simple streaming.
\nOBS Studio definitely isn’t for beginners who aren’t into playing around with tech. But if you want a lot of flexibility and the ability to customize and want something free, OBS Studio is worth considering. But the difficulty of bringing in guests and the inability of viewing and highlighting comments on your streams is a big disadvantage.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/vmix-2020-scaled-8ebca2-1600.jpg\")
Platform: Dedicated app. PC only.
\nvMix is a professional live streaming and production tool for Windows-based PCs.
\nThere are 6 versions of vMix ranging from free to $1200.
\nThe free version allows you to stream in 720p (actually a max resolution of 768 x 576).
\nBasic HD costs $60 and allows you to stream in 1080p
\nThe SD version costs $120 and has a max resolution of 768 x 576. It also gives you 4 overlays channels and a video list (a playlist of videos)
\nThe HD version costs $350 adds full HD streaming and vMix call to bring in one remote guest.
\nThe 4K version costs $700 gives you 4K streaming and allows you to record in two different formats at the same time, allows you to bring in 2 guests in vMix Call and has the instant replay feature.
\nThe Pro version costs $1200 and allows you to bring in up to 8 guests in vMix Call and Instant Replay from up to 4 cameras.
\nFor high-level professional streaming, many people prefer to use PCs. That’s because of the array of supported powerful graphics cards at a much more affordable price. vMix was built from the ground up for Windows-based PCs, and supports multiple graphics cards. So it allows you to do very powerful things like multicasting, recording and ISO recording effortlessly. It also allows you to customize just about everything.
\nvMix has a feature called vMix Call that gives an easy way of bringing in remote guests to your show. For comments, I love their vMix Social feature. It allows you to bring in comments from multiple platforms. You don’t even need to be streaming directly to those platforms. You just tell vMix where the live streams are, and it will grab the comments. You can even have a moderator log in to the web interface and control them from there.
\nvMix allows you to multicast and has ISO recording so that you can save clean feeds from all your inputs.
\nBecause vMix is Windows only, Mac users will be disappointed. It’s also very difficult to use at first as it has a pretty steep learning curve. It’s a little clunky in places, but the has improved over the years.
\nI was surprised that not all destinations have proper API connections. For example, although you can create a scheduled broadcast on Facebook Live on vMix, this is not the case for YouTube Live. You need to create the broadcast on YouTube and enter the stream key into vMix. There’s still no sign of LinkedIn Live integration yet.
\nFor some features such as multicasting and ISO recording, vMix requires a powerful computer.
\nI’ve not had the chance to play with vMix as much as I would like, since my main computer is a Mac, and my PC isn’t overly powerful. But for those people who want to create really professional live streams with lots of customization, multicast, highlight comments from all your platforms and ISO recording, vMix is a big contender. Yes, there is a very steep learning curve and it can be clunky in places, but for professional live streamers who have a PC and want full control, vMix is a great solution.
\n![\"Wirecast](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-screenshot-71f2bd-1600.jpg\")
Platform: Dedicated app. PC and Mac.
\nWirecast is a professional live video streaming and production tool from Telestream. It runs on Macs and Windows-based PCs. It focuses on producing professional live videos and has some advanced features - so it does have a bit of a learning curve. For more information on How to Stream to Facebook Live from Wirecast, check out my article.
\nThere are 2 Wirecast products - Wirecast Studio ($599), and Wirecast Pro ($799). In March 2020, Telestream discontinued their budget version, Wirecast One, which used to cost $249. They also increased the Studio product by $150 and Pro by $100.
\nBut, unlike most other tools in this list - these are no subscriptions. You own the tool forever once you’ve paid. However, it’s worth paying to upgrade to later versions because things change quickly in the world of social live video.
\nWirecast One is no more but was a very basic product. You could stream in 4K, but you were limited to one camera (or source) and you couldn't bring in any remote guests.
\nWirecast Studio has most of the main features of Wirecast including unlimited sources, bringing in guests (up to 2), remote desktop presenter, and more.
\nWirecast Pro adds more advanced features including the ability to bring in more remote guests (up to 7), instant replay, NDI output, and being able to send multiple streams with different audio tracks or languages.
\nWirecast is incredibly powerful and pretty robust. It gives an almost overwhelming array of features. You don’t just get one set of scenes with their layers - you can even layer up to 5 scenes on top of each other. Like OBS Studio, all the layers are customizable, but Wirecast allows even more such as 3D rotation, animated text, 3D layouts, and virtual sets.
\nIt’s really flexible. If your computer can handle it, Wirecast can multicast to lots of different platforms. And it can record your stream to your computer - even in multiple formats simultaneously. Wirecast Pro has an ISO feature that allows you to record each source separately - which is great for repurposing. But this also allows you to replay a previous section of your live stream as an instant replay.
\nWirecast’s user interface is surprisingly outdated and clunky, and it’s not as intuitive as it should be. It’s aimed at professional live streamers, which makes it difficult to squeeze in so many advanced features in an easy-to-use way. I hope that Telestream gives Wirecast a radical overhaul of the user interface in the near future.
\nThere’s a steep learning curve when you start using Wirecast. It’s great that it works on both PCs and Macs - but I think it lacks some of the power that other apps designed for one platform have.
\nOne big gaping hole in its feature-set is its inability to view and highlight comments from Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and other platforms. It does integrate well with 3rd party software such as NewBlue Titler Live, but that software has a steep learning curve as well and is going to be very difficult to manage both apps at the same time if you are producing as well as hosting. Not to mention expensive.
\nWirecast has a feature called Rendezvous for bringing in guests. It’s okay, and it’s certainly improved over the years, but it’s still very basic, and has quite a few limitations.
\nIt’s also important to say that Wirecast is a powerful tool and requires a powerful computer to do most of the work.
\nFrom my experience, I’ve been disappointed by the level of support. It’s fairly slow, and in the past I’ve been asked to send over diagnostics and then have to reinstall Wirecast or build my shows in Wirecast again because the templates became corrupted. Hopefully, their support will improve, and you can pay for priority support that may be better.
\nI’ve been using Wirecast for years - especially when I want to produce live videos that require more customization. I love some of the more advanced features - the level of customization on the layers, ISO recording, multicasting and more.
\nFor professional live streams from both Macs and PCs, Wirecast is the tool you should consider. It’s very robust and it will do pretty much anything you thrust at it.
\nBut I do get frustrated by its clunkiness and big missing features like comments.
\nI know I’ve been a little harsh with the cons of Wirecast. That’s because I feel it has so much potential, but needs a lot tender love and care - and potentially an overhaul to make it into the live streaming tool it should be. It’s a tool I have a lot of love for - I just think it’s been a little neglected.
\nBut for a robust and professional live streaming tool for Macs and PCs, Wirecast is a great tool to check out.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/switcher-studio-scaled-4ef536-1600.jpg\")
Platform: iOS (for Switcher). iOS and Mac for cameras. iOS, Mac & PC (for screen sharing and guests), iOS, Android, Mac, PC (for guests)
\nSwitcher Studio is a very different live video streaming tool to the others in this list. It’s better to think of it as a mobile video studio production studio. The main “switcher” runs on an iOS device, which could be an iPhone or, better still, an iPad. This allows you to control all your sources and assets and switch between them. You can use that iPhone or iPad’s camera and connect up to 9 iOS devices to use their cameras too. If you have any old iPhones or iPads around your house - you can use any of these as extra cameras. They will need to run the latest version of iOS though - see here.
\n\nListen to episode 28 of the Confident Live Marketing Podcast, where I interviewed the VP of Sales and Business Development at Switcher Studio, Marc Gawith
\nSwitcher Studio offers a 2-week free trial.
\nThe Essentials plan is $39 per month (or $374 per year - the equivalent of $31 per month if paying annually). It integrates with YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn Live only, now has added RTMP. You can add up to 20 assets (images and videos for graphics and overlays) and you can add up to one guest. You can’t add comments on to the screen, schedule posts, or enable cross-posting.
\nThe Standard plan unlocks some of those cool features. It costs $75 per month (or $588 per year - the equivalent of $49 per month if paying annually). It adds RTMP and crossposting and allows you to add up to 100 assets. You can add up to 2 guests to your broadcasts.
\nThe Plus is really for serious professional live streamers and costs $350 per month (or $3,360 per year - the equivalent of $280 per month if paying annually). It adds up to 4 guests. It allows you to add up to 500 assets. It’s great for teams, because it allows up to 3 users to access the account. Extra users cost $30 per user per month. As well as priority support, the Plus plan allows you to say that your live videos contain branded content. Platforms such as YouTube and Facebook allow this, and any broadcasts where you’ve selected “branded content” will display that by the video.
\nThere are so many things to love about Switcher Studio. It’s been beautifully put together. Because it’s built for mobile, it’s perfect for on-location live streams, or if you are out and about. The ability to record each camera separately (ISO) is a feature that usually requires a very powerful computer and with the top versions of Wirecast and vMix. This feature is so useful for repurposing your videos for later - meaning you get a clean video of each of your camera sources.
\nOnce you get your head around the mobile-only switching, it’s very easy to use. You can switch between scenes and create beautiful layouts easily. And the animations are gorgeous. Lastly, Switcher Studio was one of the first tools to integrate with LinkedIn Live - so if LinkedIn Live is important to you, it’s worth checking out Switcher Studio.
\nFor some people, the mobile-first Switcher Studio setup will take much time to get used to. If you’re used to managing images, videos and cameras from your computer, the mobile setup will be frustrating - at least at first.
\nIf you are an Android user, you won’t be able to use Switcher Studio - although you can use an Android device as a guest on video chat. Also, the main switching device needs to be a modern iOS device with the latest version of iOS installed. My old iPad, 3rd generation, just won’t work.
\nAll your devices need to be on the same WiFi network. It is technically possible to use Switcher Studio with a wired connection, but it requires a complicated setup with lightning to USB and USB to ethernet adapters. And so, you rely on WiFi for your live streams, which can be unreliable unless you have a fantastic signal.
\nBecause the switcher and cameras are iOS devices, you’ll need to invest in microphones that work with those devices. Devices you use with your computer, including USB microphones and webcams, may not work with Switcher Studio, and you won’t be able to use a DSLR camera with an adapter. If you are used to a computer set-up, you’ll need accessories that work with either iPhones or iPads.
\nFor mobile live video studio setups, I always recommend Switcher Studio. It’s the most powerful tool that works on the move. And I love some of the features such as ISO recording, the beautiful layouts and animations, and LinkedIn Live integration.
\nI know some people run their whole business from their phone or tablet. But I prefer to work from my computer. iOS devices don’t have proper file systems, and getting files in and out of my iPhone is more difficult than it needs to be. That’s why I personally don’t use Switcher Studio as my main live video tool. But for mobile live streams, I love Switcher Studio and I love their attention to detail.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/zoom-screenshot-1-scaled-1d2056-1600.jpg\")
Platform: Video Conferencing Tool. Dedicated App. Mac, PC, Android, iOS
\nZoom is primarily a video conferencing and webinar tool. You can host virtual video meetings from 2 people up to 500 and webinars with up to 10,000 participants. Recently it added a live streaming feature that allows you to live stream your meetings to Facebook Live and YouTube Live.
\nThe live streaming feature in Zoom is only available on the Pro plan upwards. This costs $15 per month.
\nZoom is an incredibly powerful and robust video conferencing tool. It’s not built primarily for live streaming, but it allows you to live stream your meetings very easily. It has some cool features such as virtual backgrounds that will work whether you have a green screen or not. If you want to bring in a lot of guests cost-effectively, Zoom is probably one of your best options as it allows up to 100 participants with all plans, with up to 500 with the large meeting add-on.
\nZoom isn’t focused on being a live video streaming tool, so it doesn’t have the same level of features as many of the other tools in this list. You can’t add any of your own branding, graphics, or colors. And Zoom slaps its own logo on the livestreams, which I find annoying. Zoom’s live streaming features are very, very basic.
\nZoom isn’t really a live streaming tool, even though it has this feature. As far as live streaming is concerned, it’s very basic. But for live streaming a meeting to a Facebook Group or to your YouTube channel it works really well and is so easy to set up. That is if you don’t mind Zoom adding their own branding to your live videos.
\nI’ve mentioned 8 of the most popular live video streaming tools in this article. But there are many other tools which I would have loved to have mentioned.
\nHere’s a quick summary of some other tools…
\nMore info coming soon!
\nMore info coming soon!
\nMore info coming soon!
\nUsed to be called Streamlabs OBS (or SLOBS for short), Streamlabs Desktop is a souped-up version of OBS Studio. It used to be for PC only, but in May 2020, there is now a Mac version!
\n![\"Streamlabs](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamlabeobs-scaled-e042f3-1600.jpg\")
Is a web-based video conferencing, webinar and chat platform. It has a lot of similarities with Zoom but is purely web-based. You can stream to most platforms out there by using its RTMP feature.
\n![\"Crowdcast\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/crowdcast-scaled-6894db-1600.jpg\")
XSplit is a PC only and has two versions - XSplit Broadcaster and XSplit Gamecaster. It has free and paid options with customer support. You’ll need some knowledge of encoding presets.
\n![\"XSplit\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/xsplit-scaled-8e4d40-1600.jpg\")
![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/pixel-d8ec76-3.png\"){kind=tracking}
Lightstream is an advanced live streaming tool that works through the browser. Although a big missing feature is that you can’t highlight comments. You also can't schedule broadcasts within the tool unless you set up in Facebook or YouTube and set up the stream via RTMP. But it has lots of advanced features such as scene switching, remote guests and multiple cameras. Lightstream is free for most of the features, and $25 per month for the Creator Plan $59 for their Professional plan.
\n![\"Lightstream\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/lightstream-scaled-4fa8f7-1600.jpg\")
Socialive is an enterprise tool that is both a dedicated tool and a web app. It works on PCs and Macs. It has a lot of advanced features and was one of the first tools that integrated with LinkedIn Live.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/socialive-scaled-cfe3eb-1600.jpg\")
mimoLive is a live video production software for Mac only. It’s a dedicated app that is aimed at broadcasting professional live streams. It has advanced features like green screen, & NDI support and more.
\n![\"mimoLive\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/mimolive-scaled-65db94-1600.jpg\")
Stage Ten is an advanced live streaming tool that works through the browser. It has free and paid plans and supports screen share, lower thirds, overlays, multicasting and more.
\n![\"Stage](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/stage-ten-scaled-3e0abd-1600.jpg\")
HeyStream is a web-based live streaming platform aimed at business-to-business marketing teams, from the people behind the HeySummit virtual events platform.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/heystream-cb529c-1600.jpg\")
It is built around branded webinars and broadcasts rather than sending your show to lots of social platforms at once. You get registration pages, data on who attended and how they engaged, and calls to action during the show and in the replay. It also connects to tools such as Mailchimp, HubSpot, Salesforce and ActiveCampaign, so you can follow up with the people who watched. There is a free trial. I haven't used it myself yet, so I'd treat this as a heads-up rather than a review.
\n\nWhere do you want to broadcast live to?
\nThere are dozens of live video streaming services. In this article, I am focusing on the main social platforms Facebook Live, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn Live, and Instagram. Note that Twitter is sadly closing down Periscope, but the ability to live stream through Twitter will be available.
\nBut there are other platforms such as Twitch, Mixer, UStream and the Russian network - VK Live.
\nEach network has its own quirks and formats, so I’ll briefly go through each one.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/fb-live-be6a60-668.png\")
There are different live destinations within Facebook - profile, groups, pages, and events.
\nFacebook Live allows you to broadcast to all these destinations from their mobile app. They also have a very simple web version that allows you to broadcast with your webcam through your browser. There is a Facebook Live API that gives third-party tools the facility to broadcast to these destinations. And you can also broadcast directly to these destinations using RTMP with a stream key and .
\nWhen you broadcast to your profile, you can select different privacy options, including: public, friends, and “only me”. This is useful if you want to do a test broadcast or want to restrict the audience that you are broadcasting.
\nFacebook has a few other options. You can select “cross-posting” when broadcasting to your page. This automates the process of posting your broadcast to multiple pre-approved Facebook pages. You don't need to be the admin of these pages, but you will need to get permission prior to cross-posting. It's also important to know that you'll only see comments come through from the main page you've broadcasted to and not the others you're creating a copy on.
\nYou can also set up polls and quizzes ahead of time to create more engagement in the broadcast.
\nYou can schedule a live video to your profile, group, page, or event. This allows you to promote it ahead of time, and your audience can comment on the post before the live video goes live. However, you can’t schedule a Facebook Live video from your phone. The only way to schedule a Facebook Live is via a 3rd party tool. You can create a scheduled Facebook Live for your page in publishing tools or Creator Studio on the web - but you’ll need a third-party tool to broadcast to it.
\nAlthough it’s possible to stream to Facebook Live in full HD (1080p), still very few pages actually output in full HD yet. As far as I know, Facebook is rolling it out very slowly. And, although Facebook allows you to download the replay video afterwards, it’s very low resolution - something like 480p. That’s why it’s important to choose a tool that saves your videos in a good resolution if you want to repurpose it later.
\nIf you want to be really fancy and have the right hardware, you can also produce 360 live videos for a fully immersive experience.
\nOn Android devices, you can select an audio-only broadcast.
\nThe Facebook API allows third-party tools to access the comments from your live videos. However, for private groups, individual commenters will need to give their permission for their name and profile photo to be used. Most tools will give you a special link to give to your group members to make this easier.
\nFinally, you can broadcast a single live broadcast for up to 8 hours. After which it will switch into a regular pre-recorded video. It used to be possible to broadcast a “continuous” or \"ambient\" live video. With that feature, there was technically no limit to the length of a continuous broadcast. But Facebook quietly removed that feature.
\n![\"Twitter](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/twitter-bird-83088c-700.jpg\")
Twitter officially closed down their live streaming tool, Periscope, in March 2021. Read more about this announcement here. But Twitter Live has replaced Periscope, and it allows you to broadcast directly to Twitter. Periscope started off as iOS only, and then added Android, and eventually allowed you to broadcast to Periscope via third-party tools.
\nOn the mobile app, you can select an audio-only broadcast and select whether you want your broadcast to be public or choose the specific people who will see your broadcast.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/youtube-live-764eac-411.png\")
YouTube used to have two kinds of live broadcasts. Your live room is otherwise known as “Stream Now”, and YouTube events. But YouTube removed \"Stream Now\" - so it's just simple live events now.
\nWith YouTube events, you create live videos either straight away or scheduled.
\nThere are 3 privacy settings for YouTube Live (as there are for regular videos, too) - public, unlisted, and private.
\nYouTube allows you to broadcast in up to 4K resolution with 60 frames per second. It’s got the highest quality of all the platforms in this list. But you’ll need a beast of a computer and an internet connection to do that!
\nYouTube offers 360 Live Video, too. For more information see here.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/linkedin-live-1-8cde57-1425.png\")
LinkedIn Live used to be in a closed beta, but now it is open to all. You can read more in my article on How to Broadcast to LinkedIn Live.
\nCurrently, you have to use a third-party tool to broadcast to LinkedIn Live. The official mobile and web apps don’t allow you to stream to this platform. Only certain third-party live streaming tools can connect with the LinkedIn Live API. This includes Ecamm Live, Restream, Wirecast and StreamYard. There used to be no option to stream directly via RTMP, however, LinkedIn added the ability to stream to LinkedIn Live via RTMP in March 2021. More information on LinkedIn RTMP can be found here and if you have access to LinkedIn Live you can set it up via your live LinkedIn Live dashboard.
\nThe LinkedIn Live API used to not support comments, but it's now possible to via and highlight LinkedIn Live comments in certain tools. LinkedIn Live also supports live captions.
\nYou'll soon be able to schedule a LinkedIn Live broadcast - I've been testing it in a closed beta. You can't create a private or test broadcast either. So, when you hit that “Go Live” button in LinkedIn, you are live, baby!
\n![\"Instagram](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/instagram-logo-9152ae-1500.jpg\"){kind=logo}
Instagram is the odd one out here in that it’s mobile-only.
\nThe only way to broadcast to Instagram Live is via the official Instagram mobile app. Yes, there are services out there that allow you to broadcast to Instagram Live from desktop. Avoid! They have reverse-engineered the API and are going against Instagram’s terms and conditions. You could have your Instagram account suspended. You have been warned!
\nSo, no third-party tools in this list integrate with Instagram Live. The only way to go live to Instagram is via the official Instagram mobile app. You can’t schedule an Instagram Live broadcast either.
\nBut, I’m actually ok with all of this.
\nTreat Instagram Live as a different kind of broadcast - a more raw and rough and ready one.
\nOnce you’ve finished broadcasting your Instagram Live, it disappears forever. Unless you select the option to share it to your story, in which case, it’s viewable for the next 24 hours. You can also save it to your camera roll, which makes it possible to repurpose for later.
\nYour viewers can comment on the video while it is live, but they can’t comment on the replay. If viewers want to, they can send you a direct message.
\nInstagram Live broadcasts can have a maximum length of 60 minutes.
\nThis article is all about the tools you need to broadcast live. For most of the tools, that will require a computer. Or if you're using a native or 3rd-party smartphone app, then you'll need a modern smartphone.
\nI'm a great believer in bootstrapping your live video studio over time. Start with the important stuff first - a decent computer that will allow you to live stream with ease. Everything else is the \"icing on the cake\" - microphones, cameras, live switchers, green screens, lights and more.
\nHere are a few things to get you started:
\nIt’s now time to do a deep dive into all the main features that you might want to have in a live video tool. Then I’ll go through each tool and give my thoughts and share their features.
\nSome features are more advanced and are only going to be of interest to more advanced and professional users.
\nThese are marked ADVANCED and you can skip over them if you like.
\nAll live video tools will give you a live window. This displays the video that is being streamed to your network(s).
\nBut some tools also give you a preview (or staging) window, too. The advantage of this is to preview a scene (or view) before you push it live. It also allows you to adjust the way a scene looks before you push it live. Tools that have the preview window feature tend to offer a dual view as well - so you’ll see the preview window on the left and the live video on the right. Examples of this are OBS Studio and Wirecast.
\nSome tools such as BeLive have a more basic staging feature - where you can view your webcams and guests before you push them live - but don’t allow you to set up text and graphics layers on them. And some tools don’t have a preview window at all.
\nI’ve never really used preview windows, but that’s because I tend to produce my live shows as well as host them. Having a preview window usually means one extra step to change scenes. You select the scene and then push it live. However, if you are producing the show, a preview window can be really useful if you want to make a change without it being seen live.
\n![\"Preview](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/obs-dual-scaled-a38d63-1600.jpg\")
What resolution do you want to stream in? There are actually loads of different formats. I’m not going to go into all of them now. There’s a great article from Boxcast that goes into more detail on the different live streaming definitions.
\nThe number in the resolution numbers is how many horizontal lines in the picture. The “p” stands for “progressive” which means all horizontal lines appear at once.
\nHere are the usual resolutions:
\nAs well as the resolution, you might want to think about the frame rate you want to stream in. This is the number of times the picture (or frame) changes every second. The standard is 30 frames per second. But some platforms can stream in up to 60 frames per second.
\nPlease note that the higher the resolution and the frame rate, the more powerful your computer needs to be - and the higher your internet bandwidth needs to be.
\n![\"Setting](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamsize-ecamm-d91c00-1048.jpg\")
This is a posh way of talking about the shape of your video. There are loads of different aspect ratios, but the main ones for live streaming video are:
\nAll tools and live video platforms support streaming in Widescreen (16:9). Not all live video platforms allow the other aspect ratios - and the same with the tools. Ecamm Live is the only one to support Super widescreen. Although Wirecast, OBS Studio and vMix can basically give you whatever aspect ratio you like as long as the destination supports it.
\nSome live video tools allow you to record your video as well as live streaming it. This is useful if you want to repurpose it later - for example create shorter highlight videos for YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Some tools will save it on their end (such as StreamYard, Restream and BeLive). Dedicated tools will record it directly to your computer (such as Ecamm Live, OBS Studio, Wirecast, and vMix). These will require your computer to be a bit more powerful but tend to give a better quality recording.
\nCloud-based live video tools like StreamYard and Restream will give you a limited amount of space to store your recordings. Some tools will delete your recordings after a certain length of time, and some will allow you to store them indefinitely. Some tools allow you to purchase more space.
\nRepurposing your live video allows you to create lots of different types of content quickly and easily so that you can reach a wider audience. To find out more read this article on How to Repurpose Your Live Videos. And you can listen to this episode of the Confident Live Marketing Podcast where I interviewed the Content Repurposing Queen, Amy Woods on How to Repurpose your Live Videos to Explode Your Business.
\nThis is an advanced feature that allows you to have a virtual background. You could swap out your background for a brick wall or even make it look like you are flying through space. In most cases, you’ll need to have a green screen behind you (or a blue screen). The tool will swap out the green pixels for the virtual background. Some tools will only allow you to have a static background. Others, such as Ecamm Live and Wirecast, also allow you to have a video background.
\nI don’t recommend using a green screen if you’re just starting out. Good lighting is so important - otherwise, it can look really fake.
\nSome tools make it easier than others, but generally, they’ll offer a fading slider - so you can adjust the levels. Some also allow you to use a blue screen - important if you like wearing green clothes!
\nEcamm Live has a really neat feature called “mask edges”. This is great if your green screen isn’t very wide. With this setting switched on, it will stretch the virtual background right to the edges of your screen, even if your green screen doesn’t.
\n![\"Mask](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/camera-effects-and-top-live-video-streaming-tool-b2a365-596.jpg\")
If you do a lot of “how to” videos where you demonstrate how to do something on your computer, you’ll want to share your screen. All of the tools in this article have this feature. If you want your guest to be able to share their screen, check whether the tool allows this.
\nYou’ll be able to share the screen of your primary monitor or if the display of any other monitor you might be using. Most tools also allow you to share the display of the window of an individual app running on your computer.
\n![\"Sharing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/belive-screensharing-67a2b8-1600.jpg\")
Not all tools will capture the audio of your computer, so do check that. Macs often will need a special driver to capture audio, which may or may not be provided by the tool.
\nWhen you are doing a screen share or displaying a video, you may also want to display your webcam (and/or your guest’s webcam) as a small thumbnail in a corner of the screen. This is great because most people like to see you speak while you are demonstrating something.
\nMany tools will allow you to have your camera as this smaller “picture in picture” view. Some tools give you one or two options on how this looks (such as StreamYard and BeLive) and some give you full control over how it looks (such as Ecamm Live, OBS Studio, Wirecast, etc). Some tools allow you resize, crop, rotate and do other things to your picture in picture (such as making it appear in a circle).
\n![\"Picture](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecamm-live-picture-in-picture-154b79-940.jpg\")
![\"Picture](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/picture-in-picture-4d1f0c-1419.jpg\")
More advanced tools (such as the pro versions of Wirecast and vMix) allow you to record each source separately. For example, you could get the tool to record your cameras and your guest’s cameras separately. This is great for repurposing, as you’ll get raw recordings without any graphics or overlays.
\nISO recording is only going to work on a very powerful computer. A PC with an SSD hard disk, at least a quad-core i7 processor and a dedicated graphics card with at least 1Gb of memory is recommended. It’s an advanced feature and a very resource-heavy process.
\n![\"ISO](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-pro-iso-recording-scaled-e073e0-1600.jpg\")
More tools (such as the pro version of Ecamm Live) gives you the option of recording each audio source in separate files. For example, your audio (as host) will be in a separate file to your guest's audio (and music, sound effects and more). This is perfect if you want to repurpose your live show into a podcast.
\nSome tools will allow you to play a previous part of one of your cameras as a replay. You can even run it at a slower speed. This is great for sports events when you want to replay an important section. This works by replaying part of an ISO recording. This is an advanced feature that will require a powerful computer.
\nI’ve seen many statistics that show that a high percentage of people watch videos with the volume muted. For example, the Verizon Media 1st Party Video Content Data Analysis put the percentage of users at 83% in 2018. Adding captions to pre-recorded videos helps those with hearing issues consume your content. Many studies have shown that captions increase the number of views to your videos. That’s because some people will watch the video silently in their feed before deciding on whether it’s worth watching the video. And some people aren’t in the position to watch your videos with the sound up - they might be in a public situation such as travelling on public transport for example.
\nAdding captions to live video, however, is difficult. You’ll need very accurate transcription software, and it needs to be coded in a way that Facebook Live and YouTube Live can understand. This is the CEA-608 Standard. As this is an advanced feature, most live video streaming tools don’t offer this.
\n![\"Live](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-captions-db49e9-932.jpg\")
Does the tool support stereo or is it just mono?
\nYou’ll greatly reduce the likelihood of any echo if you and your guest wear headphones. But if the live video tool has in-built automatic echo cancellation, this makes things a lot easier.
\n![\"Echo](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-audio-settings-9000af-1262.jpg\")
Most live video tools in this article will allow you to create a scheduled video directly. Also, there are some cool platform-specific features you may want to investigate.
\nIf you are broadcasting to your Facebook page, you can also cross-post to other pages that have given their permission. This makes it appear that you are streaming to all those pages at the same time. Some tools allow you to select the pages you are cross-posting to when you create or edit the scheduled live video. To choose which pages you want to cross-post to, click on crossposting in your page's settings.
\n![\"Crossposting](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/fb-crossposting-ecamm-236edd-1232.jpg\")
For professional live broadcasts, where you are partnering with another brand, you’ll want to announce that the live stream has branded content and select the page you are partnering with. This allows you to comply with FTC guidelines. Only a few tools allow you to do this directly. If they don’t, you can always edit this using Publishing Tools or Creator Studio.
\n![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-sponsor-settings-b93ea9-1600.jpg\")
![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecamm-fb-sponsor-settings-e88f52-1166.jpg\")
When broadcasting to Facebook, you should be able to choose whether you are streaming to your personal profile timeline or one of your pages or groups.
\nIf you are streaming to your personal profile, you can select whether the live video will be public, viewable only to your friends, or “only me” - where no one will see it. Some tools allow you to select the privacy of personal streams, and some are public only.
\n![\"Wirecast](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/output-settings-wirecast-608e10-1248.jpg\")
![\"Facebook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecamm-live-fb-settings-d21001-608.jpg\")
Some tools will allow you to flag which location you are broadcasting from. If not, you can always edit this in Publishing Tools or Creator Studio
\n![\"Setting](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-fb-places-675e09-1286.jpg\")
PLEASE NOTE: Facebook quietly removed the option to produce a continuous live stream. This option is no longer available.
\nA special type of live stream on Facebook (which I mentioned earlier) is a Continuous Live Stream (or ambient live stream). This type of live stream has no maximum length, but there will be no replay. A few live video tools allow you to broadcast a continuous live stream.
Some tools allow you to broadcast a 360 video. Please note, you’ll need special hardware to do this.
\n![\"Using](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecamm-live-360-876ad4-720.jpg\")
As I mentioned earlier, there are two different types of YouTube Live broadcasts. Events and “Stream Now” ones. Most tools allow you to create events, and some will also allow you to create the “Stream Now” ones.
\nWhen broadcasting to YouTube Live, you’ll be able to set the privacy to Public (where everyone can view it), unlisted (only people with the special link can see it), or private (only people who have been invited can see it.)
\nWhen broadcasting to your LinkedIn company page, the API allows you to target specific audiences based on location and language. This is only available for company pages (not personal profiles), and you need at least 300 followers.
\nSome tools will allow you to create the scheduled live broadcast on Facebook or YouTube. You’ll be able to add the title and post description in the tool, add a thumbnail, and other options like the date and time of the broadcast. Some tools will also allow you to edit or delete them afterwards. Most tools allow you to create a scheduled live broadcast, but some only allow you to go live straight away.
\nAbility to View Scheduled Live Video Broadcasts that Have Been Created With Another Tool and Stream to Them
\nTools such as Ecamm Live and Wirecast will display forthcoming scheduled broadcasts for each network. That means you can stream to them from that tool no matter what tool they were scheduled with. For example, you might create the scheduled video in Facebook’s Creator Studio or on StreamYard, but you’ll be able to broadcast to it from Wirecast or Ecamm Live. This is particularly useful to have the tool as a backup if you’re not able to use your primary tool. Some tools will only allow you to broadcast to scheduled live videos that were created by that tool.
\nSome tools allow you to broadcast to more than one platform at the same time. Facebook used to disallow tools to broadcast to Facebook and another platform, but thankfully they’re okay with that now.
\nSome tools (such as Restream and StreamYard) do the multicasting on their servers. The advantage with that is that your computer and internet connection only needs to handle one stream - and the tool handles the rest on their server.
\nOther tools (such as Wirecast and vMix) also give you the option to stream to more than one platform directly from your computer. This requires a powerful computer and a lot of internet bandwidth!
\nIf the tool doesn’t have multicasting built-in, you can always stream to a multicasting service such as Restream or Switchboard Live.
\nBut it is important to remember comments. When you stream to more than one platform at the same time, some tools won’t allow you to view and highlight comments from all those different networks.
\n![\"Adding](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/restream-channels-scaled-37ed60-1600.jpg\")
Being able to view comments from your live video audiences is really important. Engaging with people who leave comments is one of the most powerful features of live video. Most, but not all live video tools will display the comments from the live video platform you are streaming to. Most will also allow you to select a comment and bring it up on the video - with the commentator's name and photo.
\nLinkedIn Live has recently released the ability for some tools to monitor the comments. Facebook, YouTube, Periscope, and the multicasting service Restream have this feature.
\nSome tools (such as Ecamm Live) integrate with the Restream.io comments API, which means you can view all the destinations you are multicasting from Restream to. And some tools also have the ability to post and reply to comments.
\nIt's useful to be able to manage and reply to your comments in a social media management tool. Agorapulse is one of the only tools to integrate with LinkedIn Live comments - see the pros and cons of Agorapulse in my article here. Other social media management tools will allow you to manage Facebook Live comments
\n![\"Highlighting](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecamm-comments-scaled-8fbe47-1600.jpg\")
When you are live streaming, you’ll most likely want to display your main camera. But you may want to add other layers - such as your guest’s webcam and your logo. You might want to add lower-third text to display your name, an overlay image to add some branding, and more.
\nSome tools make this really simple, but without the ability to customize the layers. This is useful if you’re producing your live video as well as hosting it. However, some tools give you a few more options to customize without making it too difficult. Some tools allow you to have lots of layers and give you full control over the look and feel.
\n![\"Shot](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-shot-layers-980fe6-1284.jpg\")
![\"Adding](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecamm-layers-12854b-542.jpg\")
Most tools allow you to add different types of overlays. These can include text, countdown timers, images, animated GIFs, pre-recorded videos, other video sources (such as other cameras and your guest’s camera), audio files, web widgets, and more.
\nMore advanced tools like OBS Studio, Wirecast and vMix allow you to customize the layouts of your sources and overlays completely. Some tools like StreamYard and BeLive only offer you simple pre-built templates, such as split screen and solo views. And some offer templates and full customization.
\n![\"Layout](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-templates-450013-955.jpg\")
![\"Layouts](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-layouts-8ec00c-978.jpg\")
In your show, you could just have one view (or scene) throughout. It could be just your camera - or you and your guest. But that can be very boring for your viewers. It’s best to change the view to create interest.
\nYou also may want to have a show intro video, and perhaps a video to end. In my Confident Live Marketing Show I have lots of different themes that I switch between. They include a show intro video, a couple of different split shots (showing me and my guest), solo shots of me and my guest on our own, pre-recorded videos of my sponsors with me as a picture in picture, and lots more.
\nSome tools have simple layouts that you can toggle between. For example BeLive and StreamYard have different types of split view layouts showing you and your guest(s) as well as solo shots and a screenshare.
\nOther tools allow you to create lots of scenes ahead of time which you can then select as you through your show.
\n![\"Managing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ecamm-live-scenes-9285cd-552.jpg\")
![\"Managing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/free-range-social-show-shots-9548cc-1600.jpg\")
A few tools allow you to add audio files to your scenes - allowing you to add sound effects and music.
\nSome tools allow you to play pre-recorded video on your broadcast. This is useful if you have a show intro video, or you want to display a video to discuss on your show. Cloud-based tools (such as StreamYard and Restream) restrict the file size of the video you can play (if you upload it to their server). It’s common for a maximum length of 10 minutes and under 200Mb. Desktop apps, usually don’t have any limit to the video you play.
\nWhile desktop apps (such as Ecamm Live, Wirecast and vMix) all play video files stored on your computer (locally), some cloud-based tools (such as StreamYard and Restream) also offer this feature. This gets around the restrictions of playing videos stored on their servers. This feature plays the video on the stream from your computer.
\nThere are lots of different types of text overlays. Some tools have limited types - usually a title which will appear on the screen when you want. Most tools will allow you to add other text on the screen for lower thirds and other things. Some allow you to change the font type, size, color, background and effects such as scrolling.
\nEcamm Live allows you to add a PDF as an overlay. This is perfect if you want to give a presentation using your PDFs. You can resize the overlay and make it full screen, and you can move through each page of your PDF very easily.
\nBeing able to assign keys for different actions in your live streaming tool can be really useful - particularly for switching scenes. Some tools allow you to assign different keys to switch scenes, starting/stopping your live broadcast, and more.
\nElgato Stream Decks are physical devices with fully customized full-color buttons. You can program them to do different things in your live streams or anything on your computer. Some tools have developed Stream Deck plugins that allow you to switch scenes, display your live viewer count and lots more.
\n![\"Elgato](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/elgato-stream-deck-bc9472-500.jpg\")
If you don’t want to produce and host your live shows yourself, you could delegate the production to a remote producer. In those situations, your producer can control the broadcast, switch scenes, and even moderate comments while you get on with hosting. Some tools allow a producer to produce the show by logging into a web interface. Where as some tools will require the producer to run the live video streaming tool on their computer and bring you onto your show as a remote guest.
\nIt would also be possible to allow your producer to remotely control your computer and control the tool on your computer.
\nWhen you switch between scenes, you might want to add some fancy transitions between them. Some tools only offer a simple cut transition and a simple swipe transition. And some offer lots of fancy ones including cross dissolve, zoom, light rays, ripple, copy machine, and more.
\nAt the end of your live video, do you want it to just end, or would you like a nice “fade to black” transition. Ecamm Live offers this option.
\nSome camera apps allow you to adjust the picture, and some don’t. It can be really helpful to adjust the picture of your cameras within the live streaming tool. For example, brightness, white balance, saturation, gamma, manual focus, color grading LUT, mirror, and deinterlacing.
\nBeing able to zoom and pan in your camera view is useful so that you can get the perfect composition. With some tools you have to crop and zoom, and it can be quite time consuming to sort this out. Some other tools (such as Ecamm Live) allow you to zoom and pan to get the composition you want.
\nYou’ll want to bring in your camera and microphone into your live video streaming tool. But perhaps you’ll want other cameras and microphones and more advanced stuff.
\nAll live video tools allow you to select which camera you want to use for your live stream. Usually this will be your webcam or it could be a camera connected via an HDMI to USB interface or similar. However, some tools allow you to switch between multiple cameras - giving you different camera angles.
\nAll tools will allow you to select which microphone you want to use for your audio. But some tools allow you to use more than one microphone - useful if you have guests in your studio.
\nSome tools allow you to add a web widget either as an overlay or on a scene on its own. Using a service like StreamLabs widgets you can add special effects, chat boxes, alerts donations and more.
\nSome tools have an advanced feature which allows you to output your stream or bring in an external source via NDI. This stands for Network Device Interface and is a royalty-free software standard developed by NewTek. It allows the broadcast of high-quality video over your network.
\nIf your tool has an NDI output, it will allow you to display your broadcast on a different device on your network, or use it in a different app. If your tool allows NDI inputs, you can bring in high-quality video from other NDI devices on your networks such as cameras.
\nSome tools allow you to output the video of your live show to a virtual webcam. This allows you to use your video in another live streaming or video conferencing tool.
\nSome tools allow you to output the audio of your live show as a virtual audio device. This allows you to use your audio in a live streaming or video conferencing tool. Or you could output the audio to an audio tool like Adobe Audition or Audacity to record your podcast.
\nWebcams such as the Logitech C920 are great to start off with. The Logitech Brio is a great upgrade with 4K resolution. But if you really want to make your live video shows look more professional, upgrading to a digital mirrorless or dSLR camera is the best way.
\nThe standard way is to connect it from the HDMI out of your camera to your computer via an HDMI to USB converter. Not all cameras have HDMI outputs, and not all of them are “clean”. If they don’t output a clean feed via HDMI, you’ll end up with all the camera display overlays such as battery power, crosshairs and more. However, if you have a compatible Canon camera, you can plug it directly into your computer via USB. Ecamm Live will show your Canon camera as a source without any extra software or hardware. You’ll need to install extra tools (such as Camera Live) to make this work with other live video streaming tools.
\nSome tools will allow you to share the screen of your phone or tablet on your live video. With some live video streaming tools, you’ll need to use another tool such as Quicktime (Mac) or Reflector (Windows & Mac) to capture your device’s screen on your desktop, and then capture that into your live video streaming tool. Some tools (such as Ecamm Live) allow you to capture your device’s screen straight in the tool.
\nBlackmagic make cameras, HDMI converters and more. Some live video streaming tools connect directly to the device so that they can use special features like deinterlacing.
\nIf you’re bringing in different guests, playing videos, sharing your screen and more, it’s important to check all your audio levels. Some tools allow you to monitor your video and audio sources in a mixer. This will let you adjust the volume of all your different sources.
\nIt’s such a powerful feature to bring in a guest or co-host into your show remotely. We’ve seen this done on TV news a lot, and this allows us to have our own live show with guests from anywhere in the world.
\nDifferent tools have different methods for bringing in guests.
\nFor more information on how to bring in remote guests to tools such as OBS Studio and Wirecast, check out my article the Essential Checklist for Facebook Live Guest Shows.
\nAlthough you might only want to interview one guest, it can be fun to have a group. Many tools allow you to have multiple guests on your show - varying from 2 to 50 or more.
\nI mentioned how many tools allow you to add layers. This can be the case when adding guests to your show. Some tools such as Ecamm Live, BeLive, and StreamYard make this really easy for you - giving you split screen and solo view views. Some tools allow you to fully customize the view - allowing you to crop, rotate and resize all your guest views.
\nWhen your guest is on, what do they see on the screen? Do they see what your live viewers will see? Or do they just see your camera? Do they see the comments? It’s really helpful if the guest can see the live stream - that way they can see what your viewers will see. Some live tools allow this, and some, well, don’t!
\nIf your guest joins part way through your live show, it’s useful for them to enter a green room (a waiting room). That way, they’re not surprised by suddenly being thrust onto your live show. But it also allows you to make sure everything is set up before and then you can bring them on at the appropriate time. Not all tools have a green room feature.
\nHaving a chat feature between you, your guests, and an optional producer is a useful feature. It can allow you to let your guests know something privately, for example “try to speak more slowly”, “we need to finish the show shortly”, or “please mention X & Y”.
\nSo, there you have it.
\nHave any of the tools tickled your fancy?
\nHave I missed one out?
\nIs there a missing feature you’d love me to cover?
\nGet involved in the comments below!
\nAnd check out my article on Top Tools for your Live Video Toolbox for other types of tools to help with your live streaming.
\nI'm constantly updating this article as the tools add new features and things change. Here is what I'll be adding next...
\nFollowing on from Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter, on February 22, 2019, LinkedIn launched its own live video service - LinkedIn Live.
\nLinkedIn has taken its time. Facebook rolled out Facebook Live to a limited number of celebrities in August 2015 before expanding it to US iPhone users in January 2016. Since I was an Android user at the time and live in the UK, I had to wait a while longer, and in May 2016 I was prompted to write an article on How to Broadcast from your Computer to Facebook Live. That article has had over 6 million page views since then.
\nTwitter's answer to Live Video, Periscope was launched in March 2015 and Instagram Live was launched on November 21. 2016. And YouTube has been offering Live Streaming since 2011.
\nBut while we've had to wait, LinkedIn has been silently watching and learning from the mistakes the other providers have made. If you've ever played with Facebook Live, for example, you know how buggy and clunky it is even to this day.
\nI'm not usually for trying to predict what's going to happen in the social media world. But last year, I did predict that LinkedIn would launch LinkedIn Live in 2019 - in both the ContentCal blog and on Ross Brand's Live Streaming Universe and it did happen!
\n![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/linkedin-live-contentcal-7f9697-1438.jpg\")
Initially, when LinkedIn live launched, it was rolled out to a small select group of influencers around the world. I was setting myself up for a long wait.
\nBut, amazingly I was given access to LinkedIn Live shortly after. Saying that I was excited is an understatement.
\nA few years later, LinkedIn Live is still in beta, but it has rolled out to many more people. This guide is frequently updated and is here to help you get started yourself.
\n![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/ian-anderson-gray-livestream-universe-2019-predi-7bda81-1200.jpg\")
If you're not interested in the more geeky stuff, please pass on this section. But I still think it's important to understand some of these things. LinkedIn Live does have some limits - you can't stream forever, and you can't stream in 4K yet. And the actual technical specifications will really depend on the tool you are using to stream to LinkedIn with. These are the specifications that LinkedIn state.
\nAt the moment, there are a few limitations to the LinkedIn Live beta.
\nLinkedIn is now open to all!
\nThe only way to broadcast to LinkedIn Live is via a 3rd party live streaming tool. You can't stream from the LinkedIn web or mobile app.
\nRestream has a free version, but the rest of the tools are not free. Some of the paid apps offer a free trial. LinkedIn now allows you to stream via any tool using RTMP.
\nIt used to not be possible to schedule your LinkedIn Lives. But now you can. A post will be created once you schedule your LinkedIn Live. The placeholder image will then become the video once you start broadcasting.
\nIt also used to not be possible to stream to LinkedIn Live via RTMP. But there's now a LinkedIn Live Dashboard if you have access.
\nSo far, I've been very impressed with the quality and how robust LinkedIn Live is. They've really thought it through, been inspired from other platforms (as well as learning from their mistakes) and I am really excited about it.
\nThere I go... using the \"authenticity\" word again. But it is true. LinkedIn is the professional social network, but that doesn't mean we have to be all corporate and boring on LinkedIn. Video and storytelling are already exploding on LinkedIn - but these are all one-way communication formats. Yes, our connections can comment, like and share on our posts - but they can't interact in the same way as they can with a live video. And more importantly - we can respond to those comments live! We can answer their questions and even bring them on to the live video as our guests. That's exciting stuff.
\nIt means we can stop trying to be perfect and interact with our connections in a human way - be vulnerable and authentic. It's actually what people crave.
\n![\"Philip](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/fb3-362d7b-1200.jpg\")
So far I've only tested streaming in 720p (that's not full HD), but the quality of the video was really crisp. Facebook Live's quality is nowhere near as good - much more pixelated with lots of compression going on. It's going to be perfect for more detailed presentations and sharing slides with text.
\n![\"My](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/linkedin-live-screenshot-45b3df-1600.jpg\")
At the moment, if you want to see the comments and reactions on your LinkedIn Livestreams, you'll need to view them on your phone or computer. Before you go live, go to your LinkedIn profile, then click on \"See all activity\" under Articles & activity and then finally click on \"posts\". Around 10 seconds after you go live reload this page and you'll see your LinkedIn Live broadcast at the top. LinkedIn displays how many live viewers you have and shows live comments and reactions.
\n![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/linkedin-activity-live-video-24cf39-1600.jpg\")
![\"Comments](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/linkedin-live-phone-video-8e214f-270.gif\")
![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/first-linkedin-live-833766-800.jpg\")
LinkedIn does provide threaded comments - so you can reply to individual comments. After you've finished broadcasting, you can edit your post text (and tag people in if you like).
\nYou can also see how many comments, views of your video and reactions number of reactions.
\nAnd that brings on to LinkedIn Live's reactions... They're a bit different to Facebook's.
\nAnd that brings on to LinkedIn Live's reactions... They're a bit different to Facebook's.
\n![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/linkedin-live-video-reactions-b4cb2d-868.jpg\")
There are currently 5 reactions:
\n![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/like-4946e3-24.png\")
![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/celebrate-bc9dfe-24.png\")
![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/love-4ce59d-24.png\")
![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/insightful-a4ec94-24.png\")
![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/curious-92d948-24.png\")
LinkedIn Live is still new, and the rules may change at any time.
\nAt the moment, LinkedIn does NOT want you to do any of the following:
\n![\"LinkedIn\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/linkedin-wide-688f07-1024.jpg\")
When Facebook Live was launched, Facebook initially rolled it out to a small group of celebrities during a beta period. Eventually, they expanded it further later in the same year.
\nLinkedIn is doing the same. In late February LinkedIn Live was rolled out to a select group of influencers - mainly in the US. The rest of us had to wait. Slowly, LinkedIn is expanding the rollout. For now, the only way to get on the waiting list is to apply.
\nThankfully, there is an application form that is publicly available. In LinkedIn's words...
\n\nTo request to become a live video broadcaster, please fill out the application. We’re currently piloting live video streaming with a few broadcasters, so the feature isn’t currently available to all members.
Before you do apply though, do remember that you can only live stream to LinkedIn via a 3rd party tool - and these are not free.
\nYou'll also need to choose whether you want to broadcast to your personal profile or one of your company pages.
\nYou can find the application form for LinkedIn Live here.
\nFinally, LinkedIn state that submission does not guarantee acceptance. If your application is accepted, they'll contact you with more information.
\nOnce you've been accepted into the LinkedIn Live beta, you're now ready to broadcast.
\nYou'll need to choose one of five tools to stream to LinkedIn Live. One is a web app, StreamYard, which runs through your browser. Three are desktop tools - Wirecast, Socialive and Wowza. SwitcherStudio is a mobile live video platform for iOS devices. And Restream is a multistreaming service that runs in your browser and allows you to stream to multiple services at the same time. Recently Restream has launched their Studio feature which allows you to broadcast directly from your browser with guests, comments and more.
\nI'll cover how to connect and broadcast to LinkedIn Live from some of these platforms.
\n\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/restream-ae776c-1600.jpg\")
I've used Restream off and on for years, but recently I've decided to add Restream to my Live Video Studio. Traditionally Restream is a multicasting (or multistreaming) service. It allows you to stream to over 30 destinations all at the same time. So, for example, by streaming to Restream, you can broadcast to Facebook Live AND YouTube Live at the same time. Or even Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, Periscope, VK and LinkedIn Live all at the same time!
\n\n![\"Restream](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/restream-destinations-579b4e-1600.jpg\")
With the Restream multicasting service, you can broadcast from a live video streaming tool to Restream, and Restream will take care of your multicasting for you.
\nBut Restream has now launched Restream Studio which allows you to live stream from your browser. You can multicast to over 30 destinations, view and highlight comments, bring in guests and add graphics on the screen.
\n![\"Restream](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/restream-studio-scaled-a804e3-1600.jpg\")
To start using LinkedIn, you'll need to add it as a destination within LinkedIn. Assuming you have access to LinkedIn Live, it's really easy. Just click on \"add destination\" and then select LinkedIn Live:
\n![\"Adding](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/restream-linkedin-f2f287-1560.jpg\")
Once you've done that, you then need to choose between streaming from another tool to Restream, or stream directly from Restream Studio.
\nThe advantage of using another tool such as Ecamm Live is that you have more control over the look and feel, and can create really professional broadcasts. To do this, enter the stream url and stream key into your tool. Or if there is direct integration (such as in Ecamm Live), you can just connect to Restream.
\nOnce Restream starts receiving the stream, you can then toggle on LinkedIn Live.
\n![\"Streaming](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/restream-stream-0ecc82-1600.jpg\")
If you are using the studio, just set up your webcam and microphone and any overlays you want. Then in set up, select LinkedIn Live and enter the title and description:
\n![\"Stream](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/restream-studio-start-4f4d1c-926.jpg\")
Restream is one of the only tools that allows you to view and highlight LinkedIn comments which is great. Do be aware, Restream adds their own branding on the free version and on the cheaper paid versions. You'll need to pay for the more expensive plans to remove the \"Powered by Restream\" words.
\nBut Restream is an amazing multicasting suite that integrates fully with LinkedIn Live.
\n\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-screenshot-252e87-1600.jpg\")
As of August 2019, Streamyard was given access to LinkedIn Live.
\nit's so easy to use and is great at bringing in guests. It runs via your web browser and so works on both PCs and Macs. StreamYard works for both PC and Macs.
\n\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-add-destination-dd7665-574.jpg\")
Once you've either signed up for a StreamYard account or signed in, you'll need to add a new destination in the side panel of the StreamYard dashboard.
\nStreamYard has a generous free plan which will help you get started. It does have the StreamYard logo on the top right of your live streams. You can pay $25/mth to remove this and get extra features too. LinkedIn Live is available on all plans.
\n![\"StreamYard](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-add-linkedin-73db84-1506.jpg\")
Then you'll need to connect to your LinkedIn profile or page. In the LinkedIn beta, you will have applied to either your profile or one of your pages. Make sure you connect the one that LinkedIn Live has been enabled for here.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-linkedin-is-here-608895-1032.jpg\")
Click through to authenticate with your LinkedIn account. You'll probably need to enter your LinkedIn username and password at this point.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-connect-profile-4f6238-1338.jpg\")
Click on the correct LinkedIn profile or page that you want to add from the list.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-create-li-broadcast-12a64d-1122.jpg\")
With LinkedIn Live selected as the destination in the dashboard, it's now time to create a broadcast! Click on the Create a Broadcast button.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-create-li-broadcast2-aa2204-996.jpg\")
Select the privacy setting you want for your live broadcast. You have three options- public, 1st-degree connections or testing.
\nThen enter the text for your LinkedIn Live post. Click on the Create Broadcast button. Don't worry, you're not live yet. But StreamYard has created the broadcast on LinkedIn and it's waiting for you to properly go live.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-enter-studio-c80cb3-1086.jpg\")
You now need to select the correct microphone and webcam and make sure they're all working properly.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/streamyard-golive-e13e70-1600.jpg\")
You are now in the StreamYard dashboard where you can create your own branding, overlays and titles. You can bring in your guests at this point and select the layout you want. Once you are happy, click the blue \"Go Live\" button at the top right. And you are live! 🙂
\n\n![\"Wirecast\"](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-screenshot-58e0de-1600.jpg\")
I've used Wirecast for years. It's a professional and powerful live streaming tool for Macs and PCs.
\nWhen I wrote this article It had three versions - Wirecast One ($249), Wirecast Studio ($449) and Wirecast Pro ($699).
\nBut now the Studio version has gone, and Wirecast Studio now costs $695.
\nBut, as they say, you get what you pay for. It's certainly the most feature-packed and robust cross-platform live streaming tool I've used.
\nIt's not as easy to use as other tools such as Ecamm Live (a firm favourite of mine). But once you get used to it, it's actually quite intuitive.
\nAs well as LinkedIn Live integration (from version 12.1), Wirecast integrates with pretty much any live streaming platform including Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, Twitch and via RTMP. You can also broadcast to more than one platform at one time if your computer is up to it. You can bring in guests with their Rendezvous system, share your screen, add media (images, videos and audio tracks) and it has great transitions between scenes.
\nTo get started, you'll be absolutely fine with Wirecast One. The only big missing feature is the ability to bring in guests with Rendezvous. And Most individuals and businesses will be absolutely fine with Wirecast Studio. But if you want more fancy stuff such as SDI and outputs, 3D virtual sets, instant replay, ISO recording and bringing in up to 7 guests with Rendezvous, you'll need Wirecast Pro.
\n\nAssuming you have access to LinkedIn Live, it's really easy to broadcast to LinkedIn Live from Wirecast.
\nThis animated GIF shows all the steps. But don't worry, I'll go through each step individually
\n![\"Setting](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-to-linkedin-live-60cb62-960.gif\")
After you load up Wirecast, create a new document. Then click on Output->Output settings in the top menu. Then select LinkedIn Live from the list of destinations. If you do not see LinkedIn Live, make sure you have at least Wirecast version 12.1.
\n![\"Output](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-output-settings-620473-1404.jpg\")
After you've clicked OK, you'll be presented with the Output settings menu for LinkedIn Live. I recommend typing in \"LinkedIn Live\" followed by the name of your profile or page in the name field. That's so you can distinguish between other channel types later.
\nAt the moment, Wirecast gives you one encoding preset to stream to Wirecast with - 720p. Just leave this for now, although you can create your own preset if you're feeling all advanced!
\nNow, you'll need to select whether you are broadcasting to your company page or your profile. Make sure you choose the one you've been accepted into. Then click login to authenticate with LinkedIn.
\n![\"LinkedIn](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-linkedinlive-output-settings-a97268-1600.jpg\")
You'll need to enter your username and password and click OK.
\nNow you'll have 2 extra fields. \"Ingest Region\" which is a posh way of asking you where you are located and Post.
\nSelect which part of the world you are in the Ingest Region field. That way you can stream to a LinkedIn Streaming server close to you - and have fewer issues with latency (delay).
\nThen you can enter the text for your LinkedIn Live video in the post box.
\n![\"Ingest](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-linkedin-live-ingest-region-5747c8-1422.jpg\")
At the moment, you can't tag any other users in Wirecast's LinkedIn Live post box. But you can text including hashtags. After the broadcast, you can edit the text on LinkedIn and tag people.
\nAfter you've entered the text for the post, click the \"create broadcast\" button and after Wirecast has connected with the LinkedIn and created the post, click the blue OK button.
\nAt this point, the post is queued up in LinkedIn - ready for you to start broadcasting to it. So, it won't appear until we start broadcasting to it!
\nBefore you start broadcasting, though, you'll need to create a scene (or a shot as Wirecast calls it). Here you can add your webcam (so people can see you) and a microphone (so people can hear you). I'll just go through the very basics here to get you started.
\nFirstly, click on the plus on the top layer. Select Video capture, and then select your webcam on the right. Then click add.
\n![\"Adding](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/adding-webcam-in-wirecast-b25111-1600.jpg\")
Once you've done that, it's time to add your microphone. Click on the layers icon on the top right, then click on + to add a new layer to that shot. Then select Audio Capture in the menu, select your microphone and then click on Add.
\n![\"How](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/add-microphone-in-wirecast-479ead-1600.jpg\")
Now you've got the basics to go live, but you now need to push the shot you've just created to the live view. In Wirecast, the left view area is the preview area, and the right area is the live view. The live view is what your live viewers will see.
\nTo push the shot to the live view, click on the right arrow underneath...
\n![\"Preview](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/preview-and-live-in-wirecast-9df61a-1600.jpg\")
If you create other shots in Wirecast, you'll need to remember to select the shot and then click the push to live button each time. If you're lazy like me, then you can always enable the AutoLive feature which automatically pushes the selected shot to the live view. It's under \"switch\" in the top menu:
\n![\"Wirecast](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-autolive-8787f5-1012.jpg\")
Once you're ready to go live, click on the start broadcast button at the top. Give it a second to engage and you're now live. There will be a delay of 6-10 seconds between your stream and what your audience hear and see. That's so that LinkedIn's server can work their magic their end.
\nOnce you want to end the broadcast, click the same button to end it.
\n![\"Start](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/wirecast-start-broadcast-6ad52c-1220.jpg\")
![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/switcher-studio-screenshot-4283a4-1600.jpg\")
SwitcherStudio is very different from the other live streaming tools in this article. It uses iPhones and/or iPads to create a live video studio. You have one controller (or \"switcher\") and then use your other devices as cameras. Although you can use an iPhone as a switcher, it's easier to use an iPad. That way you've got more room to switch camera angles and select scenes.
\nSwitcherStudio has a number of different plans. For individual or non-commercial use, the Personal plan is the cheapest at $39 per month (or the equivalent of $29 per month if paying annually).
\nThe professional plan is $75 per month (if paying monthly) and the equivalent of $49 per month (if paying annually). This gives you extra features such as Microsoft Stream integration, RTMP remote setup & auto-sync, Scoreboard for live sports and Facebook Crossposting.
\nSwitcherStudio integrates with the usual platforms including Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, Twitch and custom RTMP.
\nIf you have a selection of iPads and iPhones that you can use, it's a great way to create a live video studio with lots of different cameras. You can even use a Mac or a PC for screen sharing.
\nThe downside of SwitcherStudio is that it only works on Apple iOS devices with at least iOS 12. That means older devices such as 3rd or 4th generation iPads won't work. And of course, if you are an Android user, you are out of luck. Here is a list of compatible devices.
\nBut if you do have 2, 3 or more compatible iOS devices, SwitcherStudio is an amazing tool. It allows you to create a mobile video studio, and easily create professional looking broadcasts.
\n\nOnce you've created an account with SwitcherStudio, log in and head to the LinkedIn Accounts in the dashboard. Click on Link Account next to LinkedIn Live.
\n![\"Adding](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/switcherstudio-dashboard-linkedin-dfac56-1600.jpg\")
You'll now need to select whether you are going live to your personal profile or your company page. Make sure you select the channel that you have been given access to. Once you click the button, you will need to log in to LinkedIn for authentication.
\n![\"Select](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/switcherstudio-personal-company-linkedin-3c2a3a-1108.jpg\")
Now you can create the LinkedIn Live post. Enter the text for the post in the post title box and select the Stream Quality. The resolutions are as follows:
\nIf you've got enough bandwidth, try High or HD. But if you're struggling you can try Low or Medium.
\n![\"Create](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/switcherstudio-create-linkedin-live-post-9c284c-1540.jpg\")
Now it's time to choose the region closest to you so that you can connect with the nearest LinkedIn Live streaming server to you. This will reduce delay or latency in your streams which is always good!
\n![\"Select](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/switcherstudio-select-region-b6ed1c-1400.jpg\")
Once you've selected that you can click the \"Create Livestream\" button. SwitcherStudio will connect with the LinkedIn Live API and create the LinkedIn Live video in the background. You're not live and the post won't appear until you start broadcasting to it.
\nI've done all the above via the SwitcherStudio web interface, but of course you can do all of this via the iOS app:
\n![\"Create](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/switcherstudio-44dce6-540.gif\")
Then it's a case of creating the scenes for your show, and then broadcasting to LinkedIn Live. I'll share more on the basics in a later update to this article.
\n\nTo get the best experience with LinkedIn Live, you'll need to check a few things.
\nUnless you're going for the mobile SwitcherStudio option, you’ll need a fairly powerful computer for live video. A cheap PC laptop or a MacBook Air is going to struggle. The more impressive your computer’s specs, the better.
\nYou’ll need a modern PC or Mac. It’s cheaper to buy a desktop PC with higher specs than a Mac. Make sure it has a fast, quad-core processor. 16GB of RAM or more is best (but 8GB is okay). And if possible, if your computer has a graphics card, that will improve your performance.
\n![\"MacBook](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/macbook-pro-specs-601486-1166.jpg\")
A fast Internet upload speed is important for broadcasting any kind of live video. For best results, I recommend at least 10 Mbps to ensure that the highest-quality video and audio will come through. LinkedIn Live requires a minimum of 3Mbps. But your internet connection can go up and down a lot, and so it's best to have an upload speed quite a bit higher than this.
\nI highly recommend that you run a speed test before you go live every time. I like Speedtest.net which offers desktop apps for Mac and PC as well as mobile apps for Android and iOS.
\n![\"Testing](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/speedtest-upload-speed-60f80d-694.jpg\")
Don't rely on your computer's webcam and microphone. The quality is unlikely to be great. The Logitech range of webcams is great, and you can even use more professional mirrorless or dSLR cameras. Here are some recommendations
\nCameras:
\n\nMicrophones:
\n\nSo, you're ready to start live streaming to LinkedIn Live?
\nSo, it's just a case of hitting that start broadcast button?
\nNo!
\nThere are 5 things you should be doing as part of your live video. I call this the 5 Ps of Live Video.
\n![\"The](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/5ps-231556-1600.jpg\")
What is your live video strategy? What format will your live video be?
\nYou need to plan your content and work out what and when your content shall be.
\nThere are loads of ways to plan your content. Maybe using pen and paper or an Excel spreadsheet.
\nOr you could use a tool like Agorapulse.
\nBut first, we need to BLAST your content.
\nThe acronym \"BLAST\" is the brainchild of my friend, Sam Ashdown. You can read more about this in her article How to use Live Video to Attract and Convert High-Value Instructions.
\nBLAST is a great way to remember different types of live video content - whether that's on LinkedIn Live or another platform such as YouTube Live or Facebook Live.
\nBEHIND THE SCENES - e.g. How you run your business
\nLOCAL - e.g. What's happening in your area, local spotlights etc
\nA DAY IN THE LIFE - e.g. Your thoughts and a typical working day for you
\nSNEAK PEEK - e.g. Something new your working on. Exclusive content!
\nTIPS & ADVICE - e.g. pillar content, advice and how to content.
\nI'll share the other 4 Ps as I update this article. Come back soon!
\nI'm going to be updating this article over the next few days. I'll be covering other tools that will help you add extra professionalism to your live videos as well as planning them.
\nFor example:
\nBut for now, I'm going to leave it there.
\nI'd love to know what you think.
\nAre you looking forward to using LinkedIn Live?
\nWhat are you going to use it for?
\nAs always, let me know in the comments below
", "date_published": "2019-04-30T18:36:29+00:00", "date_modified": "2025-08-04T09:27:32+00:00", "tags": [ "Social Media" ], "image": "https://new2.iag.me/media/how-to-broadcast-to-linkedin-live-2933b7-1024.jpg", "authors": [ { "name": "Ian Anderson Gray", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/about/" } ] }, { "id": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/new-gmail-redesign-2018-the-top-features-you-should-know-about/", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/socialmedia/new-gmail-redesign-2018-the-top-features-you-should-know-about/", "title": "New Gmail Redesign 2018: The TOP Features You Should Know About", "summary": "A Seriously Social Community Article by Liz Azyan", "content_html": "A Seriously Social Community Article by Liz Azyan
\nThe last guest post on this blog was from Melonie Dodaro who I first met at the Big Social Media Conference in Manchester (we were both speaking). This guest post is from someone else that I first met at that conference, the wonderful Liz Azyan. She's one of the most talented people I know, and incredibly humble. She took the photos of me on the red background you'll see dotted around my site!
\nI'm glad to learn I am not the only Gmail geek out there, and Liz is excited as I am about the new Gmail design. Have you checked it out? It's already helped me become even more productive. Howe about you? In this article and video, Liz goes through how to get it and what are the main features. Enjoy!
\nIan
\nIn this video and article, I’ll be giving you a quick rundown of some of the most significant changes that the Gmail redesign is bringing to the ever-dependable, fan-favorite email platform.
\nThe thing about Gmail is that I’ve never actually felt that it was outdated. For quite some time, it had all the features I could ever ask for from an email platform — in fact, I even found some of them non-essential, such as one feature I’ll discuss later on in this article — and so I was never really one of the folks who was clamoring for an update.
\nNow that the new features are here, though, I’m really excited to try them out. (And I’m sure that you will be, too!)
\nA quick look at the new features tells me that this is great for people who find the need to work on a variety of tasks simultaneously. Admittedly, I wouldn’t say that I’m good at multitasking. That’s probably why many of the changes that this redesign brings are changes that I welcome with open arms. Across the internet, a few tech writers have mentioned that some of these changes aren’t new, and are even long overdue. (In my honest opinion, though, better late than never, right?)
\nBefore we start talking about the updates that the Gmail redesign brings, let’s figure out exactly how we can activate them from our end. There are 2 types of Gmail accounts:
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/try-the-new-gmail-65dae2-218.png\")
2) Organizational Gmail Accounts (GSuite): These accounts are issued by and used with your @my-domain.com organization.
\nTo turn on the new Gmail for the free standard Gmail accounts, you simply have to click on settings and then ‘Try the new Gmail’. As simple as that! Once activated, you’ll just need to wait a few seconds for your Gmail to relaunch and change to the new Gmail.
\nFor GSuite accounts, while these changes are already live, they still require manual activation, particularly when you’re using an account under an organization (such as a school or a corporation). Fortunately, opting in can easily be done in a matter of clicks.
\n![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/admin-settings-779430-1600.jpg\")
That’s it! You and all the accounts under your organization will need to wait for about an hour before you can use the updated features.
\nIn a nutshell, using Gmail, you can now….
\nLet’s go through a few of these updates real quick — I discussed these at length in my video (click here to watch it!), so I’ll just be touching upon them lightly here. So, let’s get started!
\nOkay, this may not sound like much, but it’s actually quite the time-saver. Now, instead of having to perform multiple clicks from your desktop to perform specific actions on your emails, you can simply hover your cursor over unopened messages and, with a click of an icon, mark them as read (or unread), archive them, delete them, or “snooze” them for later. This is really handy if you need to go through and sort multiple emails in an instant.
\n![\"Organze](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/organize-emails-in-inbox-ac0b5a-201.jpg\")
Ever had those days when you find yourself drowning in emails and don’t know how to answer them? Sure, you could leave them unread, but it’s a rather annoying solution that leaves your inbox looking cluttered. With the new Gmail redesign, though, you can “snooze” your emails — that is, get notified about them at some point in the future that’s less hectic for you.
\nYou can even check your list of snoozed emails, should you decide that there are one or two emails that you absolutely need to see. For folks using Microsoft Outlook, this is probably a familiar feature. ![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/snooze-gmail-b02c17-516.jpg\")
You can also allocate part of your inbox window as space for previewing your emails. You can do this by simply clicking Menu. There, you’ll find options for shrinking or expanding your inbox view, under Settings > Display density. The Default option lets you see a preview of the attachments in your inbox emails.![\"Display](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/display-density-7e088c-626.jpg\")
Here’s another big one: Now, you can use the popular (and essential!) apps from Google, such as Calendar, Keep, and Tasks, while you’re on Gmail. This integration of apps gives you more leeway in terms of multitasking while empowering you in using multiple tools to get your daily tasks done. You can now see your daily schedule, set events, make checklists, add to-do’s, and so much more. This is an absolute godsend for multitaskers, as well as multitaskers-only-by-necessity (such as me).![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/gmail-new-sidebar-09a380-128.jpg\")
Finally, the Gmail redesign includes a new “confidential” mode which lets you prevent your sent emails from being copied, downloaded, or forwarded directly from Gmail. If you’re familiar with Snapchat, you can also set an “expiration date” of sorts on your emails. There’s two-factor authentication (2FA) as well, which requests a passcode from the recipient (sent to him or her via SMS) before he or she can open your message. An feature also lets Gmail give you a “nudge” — a gentle reminder to reply to or follow up on certain messages.
\nThis particular update… isn’t exactly an update, per se. The option to send templated replies and follow-ups, called Smart Reply, has been available in the mobile version of Gmail for quite some time now. This is the first time it has made it to the desktop version of Gmail, though!
\nPersonally, I don’t really have much use for this, as I prefer drafting emails precisely the way I would say them. This is a really handy feature, though, for folks who absolutely have to reply to that urgent email or pending question, but have no time to compose a reply from scratch.![](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/smart-reply-376592-299.jpg\")
These are just a few of the new features that the Gmail redesign has brought us. If you’d like to know more about them (and if you’re interested to know which ones I think will be most useful for you), then feel free to check out my video, right here!
\nAre you pumped and ready to try the new Gmail features? I sure am, and I’d love to hear which ones you think you’ll be using the most among all of them! Sound off in the comments section and share your favorite new Gmail features there.
\n![\"Liz](\"https://new2.iag.me/media/liz-azyan-6f8fd3-900.jpg\")
Liz Azyan is CEO of the digital agency based in London, UK, Digital Matchbox and a Google Fellowship recipient whose work has been mentioned in Huffington Post, ComputerWeekly, The Guardian, Social Media Examiner and many more.
", "date_published": "2018-05-23T12:23:14+00:00", "date_modified": "2023-08-28T11:30:04+00:00", "tags": [ "Social Media" ], "image": "https://new2.iag.me/media/new-gmail-design-b7746a-939.jpg", "authors": [ { "name": "Ian Anderson Gray", "url": "https://new2.iag.me/about/" } ] } ] }