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Anyone who has worked in client services knows there’s often an expectation to be available for your clients at any hour of the day, no questions asked.

Having spent many years in PR and communications, I once internalized this norm. I thought that serving clients effectively required being hyper-responsive and available at all times, even if I was over capacity and not doing my best work.

So, when I set out to start my own PR firm that exclusively serves child- and family-focused organizations, I knew I didn’t want that life for my team, my clients, or myself. I wanted to be able to care for myself and my team so we could show up as our best selves for our clients and community. 

As I was getting Forthright Advising off the ground five years ago, I tried to reimagine a model of client services that worked both for our employees and our clients — a model where happy, healthy teammates have balance. 

It started quietly. I tested what would happen if we simply stopped responding to clients outside of our business hours without making a big deal out of it. As it turned out, everything was fine. Our clients were still happy, and our team was happier, too. 

Eventually, I decided to formalize this policy, adding the option for clients to pay a premium fee when they requested that we perform after-hours work. (Our team does this work if, and only if, we are available to do so). Sometimes, our clients have true emergencies, and we want to be there for them when that is the case. But we also want to avoid playing into a false sense of urgency.

Initially, I was nervous about launching this policy and thought it might deter our dream clients from working with us. Instead, it has become a valuable screener to ensure we’re working with the right people who share our values of putting people first. 

It has become a way to communicate our boundaries and ensure that everyone is working intentionally when we do work outside of business hours. It has allowed me to hire incredible talent and ensure they’re able to do their best work, and it has helped me (and, therefore, my company) thrive.

If you’re curious about implementing this for your own business, read on to learn more about how we’ve launched and communicated this policy, and stuck to it even through moments of uncertainty. 

We set a price that would be a ‘stop and think’ moment

We tested a few iterations of how much more we charge for after-hours work and landed on charging around a third more than our usual hourly rate. 

This amount is significant enough to make our clients pause and consider whether they really need us after hours, but it’s not so great a deterrent that they can’t swing it in case of emergencies and other unforeseen circumstances. 

It was also important to set a rate that would allow me to compensate my employees adequately. The majority of our teammates are women, who I recognize are often still stuck with more of the work at home. I want to pay them more when they’re taking time away from their personal lives or the invisible labor they’re expected to do outside of work. 

There’s no magic formula for determining this for your own business. Try to find a rate that’s high enough for clients to respect but not so high to be deeply prohibitive — and don’t be afraid to experiment a bit.  

We communicate this policy at multiple touchpoints

We want to ensure our clients are never surprised by this policy during a moment of crisis or confused when they get a higher invoice than they were anticipating, so we over-communicate about it, early and often. 

We initially wrote a blog post and LinkedIn announcement to help all of our existing clients understand the change. This lives on our website (rather than just in an email), which has also helped it become part of our brand, so new clients are less likely to be surprised when we bring it up.

In every proposal for a new client or project, we include a rate card that outlines the client’s standard rate and their outside-of-business-hours rate. We also use this as an opportunity to outline what our business hours are and what clients can generally expect in terms of responsiveness both during and after business hours. During the account kickoff with a new client, we reiterate these working norms again.

Finally, when a client does reach out requesting after-hours work, we have a double opt-in moment. First, we check that someone from our team is available to do the work. If so, we then get written approval from the client to charge the higher rate. (If not, we’ll simply reiterate our business hours to the client and let them know that we’ll jump in first thing the next day.) 

Sometimes, when we remind clients of the policy, they decide the work isn’t so urgent after all. For instance, we often have West Coast-based clients ask us to join calls that fall outside of our business hours and then realize they can just send us a recap instead, or together, we can simply shift the meeting time. 

Regardless, this double opt-in helps avoid surprises and helps everyone be more intentional. The client has to stop and think: Do I really need this right now? And my team has to stop and think: Is there something more important I should be doing with my off hours?

We use pushback as a clarifying moment rather than a combative one

At first, I was surprised by how little pushback we received on this policy. Today, this policy simply feels like an upfront representation of who we are and how we do our best work — and it leads us to clients with shared values. For every client who has questioned it, there are 20 who didn’t even blink. When we do receive that rare pushback, we use it as an opportunity for clarity. 

Some clients simply want to fully understand the rules of engagement and how this policy will affect our working relationship, and that’s great. Clarity is kindness and will help us all collaborate better. 

For some clients, it’s an opportunity to ask how often true crises show up. If this policy seems to be a sticking point for a potential client, we’ll question how much they expect to need us outside of business hours. Usually, they realize that it’s probably not very often, and we can reassure them that we’ll be by their side during a rare emergency.

Finally, sometimes, it’s an opportunity for us to reflect on whether this is the right client for us. Every so often, we get approached for a true crisis communications project, and we’re simply not set up for that kind of rapid response work. 

We’ve also had prospective clients who expect us to be available at all times, and we’ve decided that means we’re not the right fit. And that’s OK — I’d rather prioritize our values and pass on those clients. All of our potential clients work hard to advocate for a better world for kids and families, and when we’re not the best fit, we know it’s important to communicate that clearly so they can find the right partner.

When you shift into seeing a policy as a values alignment screener rather than operating from a scarcity standpoint, it becomes much easier to walk away from the clients who question you.

We always reground in why we’re doing this

That’s what this all comes down to — aligning my business with my values. Forthright’s number one core value is “People First,” and this policy is a way for us to live that value. That’s what I come back to during the rare times I have questioned the decision or considered taking on a non-aligned client against my better judgment.

Living this value and setting these boundaries has undoubtedly made my business stronger and kept our clients happy. I’ve been able to attract amazing talent because they see that our company truly respects work-life balance. Because our teammates have guarded time to rest and recharge, they can bring their best selves to work and do a better job for our clients. And as a founder, I’m able to care for my own health and happiness, which is central to the health and happiness of the business.

While this may not be the exact boundary that works for you, it’s important to identify where your energy gets zapped the most and what you can do to make the business more sustainable for yourself and your teammates. Owning a business is hard enough — why make it harder on yourself?

Sprout Social is a great social media tool for social media managers or creators lucky enough to have the budget. 

But it's on the pricier end, at $249 ($199 if you pay annually) per user per month. It’s no doubt money well spent for large social media marketing teams at enterprise companies, but marketers at smaller companies or creators will have to work hard to justify that spend. 

Thankfully, there are plenty of other great social media management tools out there that can do everything Sprout Social can do and more — at a more affordable price point or even for free. 

I’m a former social media manager and creator, and I’ve been around the block when it comes to social media management and analytics platforms. In this article, we’ll explore several the best Sprout Social alternatives, how much they cost, and some of their best features. 

1. Buffer

Price: Free, with paid plans starting at $6 per channel per month

Yes, I am a content writer at Buffer, so I’m definitely biased here. But I’ve worked in social media in some capacity for my entire career, and no matter how many tools I tried, I kept coming back to Buffer.

Like Sprout Social, it allows you to plan and schedule posts to major social media platforms, including Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google Business Profile, Pinterest, and YouTube (with Threads and Bluesky on the way too). It also connects with decentralized network, Mastodon, something you’re unable to do with Sprout Social. 

The best part about Buffer? It’s incredibly flexible, meaning you can set it up to work for you as a creator, a social media manager, a member of a marketing team at a company, or even an agency. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of the features that rival Sprout Social beyond simple automation and social media scheduling:

Simple collaboration

Buffer is a great option for teams, thanks to its straightforward team collaboration system. With it, you can:

• Add unlimited users on the Teams plan: Each user has their own login and permission levels (more on this below), making it easier to keep track of who is working where. 
• Set permission levels for different users: Choose exactly who can post on each of your social media channels. 
• Set up an approval system: With these different permissions, certain users will require or can ask for approvals on their posts before they’re published, so you can always ensure quality and consistency. 
• Collaborate on ideas: Work together on social media content in Create, a dedicated space for all your ideas. 
• Leave notes for team members: Make comments or suggestions for other users on your plan.

Engagement tools

Buffer's social media engagement tools for Facebook and Instagram are a lot like Sprout Social’s social media inbox: a single dashboard where you can manage and respond to all Facebook Page and Instagram comments in real-time. Buffer will even flag the comments for sentiments (for example, comments with questions, comments that are positive, and those with a negative tone you’ll want to address).

Analytics and reporting

Rather than just pulling all the metrics together (which is already pretty helpful!) Buffer's analytics will help you understand and take action based on your content performance across channels. 

You'll find answers to questions like: "When is the best time to post on Instagram for me?" and "How often should I be posting?"

You'll also be able to get in-depth demographic information on your audience, plus generate user-friendly reports you can download and share (essential in content marketing).

Buffer's paid plans

If you're looking to manage more than three social media accounts or need social media collaboration features, analytics, and engagement tools, here’s a quick look at Buffer’s pricing plans:

• Essentials: $6 per month per channel
• Team: $12 per month per channel
• Agency: $120 per month for 10 channels

If you’re not ready to take the plunge, Buffer offers a 14-day free trial on all of its plans so you can put every feature through its paces first. 

Buffer’s free plan features

If you’re not quite sure you need these advanced features just yet, Buffer also has some powerful functionality available on its free plan — a great option for creators and solo social media managers. 

Here's a look at some of my favorites:

• Schedule content for up to 3 channels: Buffer's free plan lets you publish and schedule up to 30 social media posts (10 per channel) with a drag-and-drop calendar and queue for each platform. 
• Create: A content library where you can save and plan out all your ideas — something I find incredibly helpful in my content creation workflow. It has powerful organizational features, like tags and a board view, to help you keep track of your content.
• Handy integrations to streamline your workflow: Buffer connects with Canva, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive and Photos, Zapier, and more. 
• Start Page: Set up your own landing page within minutes — a great option for your link-in-bio. You can even schedule updates to your Start Page as you would your social channels.
• Buffer's AI Assistant: Creating enough content for all your social media profiles all the time can be overwhelming — which is where our AI Assistant can help. The social media smart AI can create fresh posts for your Buffer schedule, repurpose existing content, and generate unlimited new ideas to help supercharge your engagement, grow your following, and amplify your social media presence.

2. Hootsuite

Hootsuite pricing: 30-day free trial, with plans starting at $99 per user per month for up to 10 social channels.

Hootsuite is another powerful social media management platform. It is very similar to Sprout Social in that it works well for marketing teams (but it does also come at a high price point). It’s a

What’s a struggle that marketers and creators have in common? Finding new and engaging social media content to post. And let's face it, creating every piece of content from scratch isn’t always doable, especially when you’re short on time and budget. Even if you had an all-seeing eye, easy access to a ton of great content exactly when you need it just isn’t the reality for most people.

That’s where content curation tools come in. They help you keep a steady stream of high-quality content flowing without the constant scramble. 

In this article, we’ll explore some of the best content curation tools available and why every creator and marketer should have them in their toolkit.

Whether you’re aiming to boost your social media engagement, improve your SEO, or just keep your audience in the loop with the latest trends, these tools can make a world of difference.

What are content curation tools?

A content curation tool is an application that helps you find and share relevant, authentic content.

Content curation is a smart solution to the constant demand for fresh content. But it’s more than just reposting great stuff. It's about finding, organizing, and sharing the best and most appropriate content in a way that adds value to your audience.

These tools help you sift through the noise to discover gems that resonate with your target audience. They save you time and effort while ensuring you consistently deliver high-quality, new content. In short, content curation tools are like your trusty sidekick in the quest to keep your audience hooked and your brand top-of-mind.

Why use content curation tools?

Content curation tools are game-changers for anyone looking to keep their content fresh and engaging. Here are a few reasons why you should consider using them:

1. Store new ideas: Ever come across an article or a post that sparks an idea for your next big project? Content curation tools help you store these gems in one place, so you can easily come back to them when you need a burst of inspiration. No more lost bookmarks or forgotten links!
2. Track interesting topics: Keeping up with your industry's latest trends and hot topics can be overwhelming. Content curation tools allow you to track and organize interesting topics effortlessly. Whether it's the latest in social media strategies or emerging trends in e-commerce, you’ll always be in the know.
3. Visual language: Images, infographics, and videos are essential for capturing your audience’s attention. Content curation tools help you find and save visual content that can complement your brand's voice. By integrating visuals, you make your curated content more engaging and appealing to your audience.
4. Enhance your content mix: Balancing original content with curated content can keep your feed interesting and diverse. Content curation tools help you easily mix in valuable third-party content with your own, ensuring your audience gets a well-rounded experience.
5. Save time and effort: Manually searching for content can be time-consuming. Content curation tools automate this process, saving you hours each week. They aggregate content from multiple sources, so you can quickly find what’s relevant without endless scrolling.
6. Improve engagement: Sharing high-quality, relevant content that resonates with your audience can significantly boost engagement. By using content curation tools, you ensure that you're consistently sharing content that sparks interest and conversation among your followers.
7. Strengthen your authority: You position your brand as a trusted authority by curating and sharing valuable content from industry leaders and reputable sources. This not only builds credibility but also fosters trust and loyalty among your audience.

In a nutshell, content curation tools streamline the process of finding and sharing top-notch content. They help you stay organized, keep your content pipeline full, and ensure that you're always ready to share something valuable with your audience.

Buffer

Surprised? Don’t be! Buffer isn’t just for scheduling posts – it’s also a great tool for content curation. I should know.

This functionality comes from Create, a content library where you can save and plan out all your ideas. It’s a solid addition to any content creation workflow. It has powerful organizational features, like tags and a board view, to help you keep track of your content.

Buffer allows you to use the Create space on the free plan, but if you want to scale to managing more than three social media accounts or need additional features like collaboration, analytics, and engagement tools, here’s a quick look at Buffer’s paid plans:

• Essentials: $6 per month per channel
• Team: $12 per month per channel
• Agency: $120 per month for 10 channels

If you’re not ready to commit, Buffer offers a 14-day free trial on all of its plans so you can try every feature first. 

Flipboard

Flipboard is a free content curation tool that turns your curated content into magazine-style layouts.

Flipboard allows you to create personalized magazines with articles, videos, and images based on your interests. It makes discovering and organizing the most relevant content easy, with seamless sharing to social media platforms.

Feedly

Feedly is a content curation platform that aggregates updates from your favorite websites, blogs, and publications into one convenient feed.

Feedly helps you stay organized by allowing you to save and categorize content into boards, add notes and highlights, and even prioritize content with its AI assistant. The browser extension makes it easy to save articles from anywhere on the web, and team collaboration features allow seamless sharing and discussion.

Feedly pricing: Free plan with basic features and paid plans starting at $8.25/month.

ContentGems

ContentGems is a content curation software that helps you find relevant web content across articles and blog posts.

ContentGems offers real-time content analysis and uses machine learning algorithms to recommend high-quality content based on your interests. It allows you to create custom workflows, integrate RSS feeds, and use advanced filters to curate content that resonates with your audience.

ContentGems pricing: Free plan with paid plans starting at $10 per month

BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is a content discovery and analysis tool that helps you find the most popular content and influencers in your niche.

BuzzSumo allows you to discover trending content, analyze social engagement, and identify key influencers. Its features include content discovery, trend analysis, influencer outreach, and social media monitoring. With BuzzSumo, you can track competitors, set up content alerts, and use advanced search filters to refine your content strategy.

BuzzSumo pricing: Free plan with limited features, with paid plans starting at $199 per month.

Scoop.it

Scoop.it is a content curation tool designed to help you discover, curate, and publish content across multiple platforms.

Scoop.it automates the discovery of quality content from across the web, allowing you to curate, organize, and share it through social media, newsletters, and blogs. It also offers features like content hubs, team collaboration, and SEO optimization, making it a versatile tool for marketers and businesses.

Scoop.it pricing: Free plan available Pro plan: $14.99 per month (billed annually)

Quuu

Quuu is a content curation tool that helps you discover, collect, and share high-quality content tailored to your audience.

Quuu simplifies your social media strategy by curating relevant content based on your niche and scheduling it for optimal engagement times. It integrates with major social networks and scheduling tools (like Buffer!), making it easy to maintain a consistent online presence.

Quuu pricing: Free plan available with paid plan starting at $19.79 a month per social media profile

Pinterest

Pinterest is a free visual content curation tool that allows users to discover, save, and share images, videos, and GIFs through customizable boards.

Pinterest helps businesses and creators organize content into themed boards, making it easy to curate visually appealing collections that attract and engage users. By optimizing images with relevant descriptions, tags, and high-quality visuals, Pinterest can also enhance SEO and drive traffic to your website.

Pocket

Pocket is a content curation tool that allows users to save articles, videos, and web pages for later viewing.

Pocket helps you curate content by letting you save interesting finds with a simple browser extension or mobile app. You can organize your saved items with tags and highlights, making it easy to retrieve and reference them later. Additionally, Pocket provides personalized content recommendations based on your saved items, ensuring you always have fresh, relevant content at your fingertips.

Pocket pricing: Free plan available with paid plans starting at $4.99 p

Content distribution is critical in getting your hard work in front of the right people, driving brand awareness and engagement.

Why isn’t it just about developing awe-inspiring content anymore?

Creators worldwide publish about 500 minutes of video to YouTube, 116 blog posts, 1,099 Instagram posts, and six new websites per second.

And don’t even get me started on TikTok (with an estimated 34 million videos posted every. single. day).

Without a solid distribution strategy, even the best creative can get lost in this vast universe of content, failing to make an impact and costing you dearly without generating the intended ROI (return on investment).

How do I know? 

Since 2016, I’ve been the strategy director and principal at Optimist, a growth-focused content marketing agency. In my time helping everyone from startups to corporate clients achieve growth through strategic content marketing and SEO, I’ve seen a lot of content. I’ve witnessed many successes, and some flops.

But, most importantly, I’ve learned plenty about what it takes to build an effective content distribution strategy. Want to know what I’ve learned? I’m going to show you — right now.

Key takeaways

• Shareable content is emotional content. Know your audience and create the kind of copy they can’t help but share.
• Use a variety of content distribution channels where your audience already is to maximize reach. Look beyond major social networks to communities, like Indie Hackers.
• Optimize your content for each platform and channel. This may require using a different tone of voice, resizing your images, or tweaking the copy.
• Repurpose existing content. This tactic can save you time, expand your reach, and help you convey the right message to different audiences. 
• Iteration is the name of the game. Track your performance on each platform. Analyze the results to see what works, what doesn’t, and where you should focus your efforts. 

What is content distribution?

Content distribution is the practice of publishing, sharing, and promoting your content to your target audience.

This marketing strategy relies on online channels like social media, newsletters, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. However, you can also leverage offline distribution channels, such as magazines, newspapers, workshops, or trade shows. An example would be the print edition of Forbes or Entrepreneur.

From photos and videos to case studies, you can distribute just about any type of content. What matters most is to "package" it in a way that resonates with your customers — and share it on those platforms where they spend their time.

The psychology of shareable content

Even the highest-quality content sometimes bombs. 

So, what gives? What motivates users to share content with others?

A possible answer comes from The Psychology of Sharing, a study conducted by The New York Times on 2,500 internet users. Most participants said they share content online to:

• Define themselves to others
• Build and foster connections
• Make a difference (e.g., change someone's opinion)
• Feel more involved in what's happening around them
• Raise awareness of the causes they care about
• Inform others about the products they love

For instance, 68 percent of respondents said they share content to express their true selves. About 73 percent saw it as a way to connect with others who shared their interests.

Content shared online brings people together. It also gives them a sense of self-fulfillment and makes them feel like they are part of something bigger.

A good example is Dove's Real Beauty Sketches campaign, which revolved around a video aimed at instilling self-confidence in women. At the time of this writing, the video has been viewed almost 180 million times.

Consumers worldwide shared the video. It was their way of saying something about themselves, as well as the difference they wanted to make in the world. Dove’s content gave them a voice and an opportunity to inspire others — making it irresistibly sharable. 

Looking at this example, it's easy to understand that shareable content has an emotional component to it. As a small business owner, you may not have the same budget as Dove or other big brands, but you can craft content that clicks with your audience.

Types of content distribution channels

Content distribution channels fall into three main categories: owned, earned, and paid. Here's what each entails and how it fits into your strategy.

Owned channels

Owned channels include the platforms you fully control, such as your website and blog. It also extends to the marketing lists you build to send email newsletters, physical mailers, etc. as well as the social media channels you’ve set up. 

Owned channels are where you can most closely track and iterate on the success of your content distribution plan. For example, it’s much easier to know if people are reading emails you’ve sent than it is to understand engagement when you’re featured as a guest on another brand’s email list, blog etc.

Additionally, owned channels allow for the most creative freedom.

Think about Tesla founder and X (formerly Twitter) owner, Elon Musk. Many of his posts are controversial, to say the least, but that’s something he can get away with on his own platform — and it certainly generates a lot of attention. 

Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022

A potential drawback of using owned media channels is that it takes time to build an audience. Plus, you have to create and share content regularly to drive engagement and stay relevant.

Earned channels

Earned media includes user-generated content (UGC), media coverage, social media shares, as well as PR and guest posts your brand pushes out. The most important thing to remember is that earned media channels will always belong to third parties, such as bloggers, news websites, and review platforms, so ultimately, you have little to no control over them.

For example, the reviews left by travelers on TripAdvisor are considered earned media for the businesses being reviewed. 

The great news is consumers tend to trust these content distribution channels.

In a 2024 survey, 36 percent of consumers said they check at least two review websites or apps before reaching out to a local business. Another 25 percent admitted to visiting at least three sites to form an opinion.

Earned channels can drive brand awareness and boost your reputation. In some cases, they may also increase traffic to your site or blog.

The downside is that any brand mentions on these platforms are controlled by other parties. Therefore, they may come in the form of negative, inaccurate, or offensive messages.

The best thing you can do to combat this is to diligently reply to any content you can on earned channels. After all, the same study found that 88 percent of consumers actually prefer businesses that reply to all of the reviews left for them.

Paid channels

Paid media includes PPC ads, sponsored posts, and influencer marketing, which is most often conducted on social media and search engine channels.

The gist of paid channels is that you have to, well, pay to share and promote your content.

For instance, luxury fashion house Coach paid actress Selena Gomez to promote a biker jacket and a bag on Instagram:

June 27, 2024 by simon weiner Internet