Using a management tool for your social media can be really useful and save you a lot of time and effort. One of the main things people say to us when we tell them that they need to be using social media more is “we don’t have time”. By using a management tool, you can easily schedule and manage your Twitter account without having to go onto Twitter every minute of every day.
One of these tools is TweetDeck. The free Twitter management tool is easy to access on desktop, but the Windows, Android, and iPhone app were all gotten rid of a few years ago. Obviously if you really want to go mobile with it, you can open your web browser on your phone (we’ve tried this and it isn’t ideal), but using a computer is the best option.
Use
TweetDeck is a very simple Twitter management tool. If you’re expecting glitter canons, fireworks, and fancy analytics then you’ve come to the wrong place. TweetDeck is very honest about what it is, it doesn’t pretend to be a complex system, it is what it is. A tool that allows you to view everything at once.
It is split into columns, and you can easily add or remove the ones you do and don’t want. Options include mentions, notifications, home, followers, messages, and lists, plus more. It is so simple to see everything you want to at any one time, which is great once you’re used to it, but slightly overwhelming at first.
Features
TweetDeck has never claimed to have a hundred features, but we’re still going to point out what is and isn’t there. As mentioned earlier, the basic management side of things is great, plus you can sign in to multiple accounts which is perfect for those managing more than one Twitter account. However, there are a few things that are lacking.
Firstly, there’s no way to see scheduled tweets in the past. You can view tweets that are currently scheduled, but once they’re published that’s it, they are gone.
Secondly, you can’t use GIFs or even view GIFs. Since twitter introduced the animated images, users have been using them at every opportunity, so it seems a little odd that TweetDeck haven’t made this feature accessible at all.
Finally, there are no analytics. It’s all good and well managing your social media, but without any analytics how do you know that you’re managing effectively? Even if it’s just a bit of information about follower activity, and interaction it could make TweetDeck even more useful.
Cost
One of the best things about TweetDeck is that it is free. Yes, completely and utterly free. There are no plans that “unlock features” or one off fees for seeing something or the other, just a free, simple site. But the price to pay for a free Twitter management tool is in the features, with this one not giving you very much.
Overall
All in all, TweetDeck is a fantastic tool for those who are just getting started with social media management. The clear, easy to control, columns gives you the ability to see what you want to see. Ideally we’d like an app and some analytics, but the total cost of £0 makes up for the lack of these features.
