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March 6, 2017

The 10 Best Tools for Getting More Social Shares

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Published: 6 March 2017 Updated April 2026

Social media shares aren’t just vanity metrics. Because when someone shares your content, it means your message actually resonated with them. Then you’ll notice your reach start to grow as your followers now see what you have to say.

That kind of organic visibility is hard to buy, which is why picking the right tools is important. However, we understand if you feel overwhelmed by the number of social sharing tools out there (seriously, there are hundreds on the market).

Our team at Matter Solutions has tested many of these tools and knows which ones are worth using. In this article, we’ll walk you through the 10 best social sharing tools, what makes content shareable, and how to build a social strategy that actually gets results.

Ready? Let’s get started.

What Are The Best Social Sharing Tools For More Shares?

The best social sharing tools will help you create, schedule, and track content that people actually want to share. And here are ten tools worth looking at.

BuzzSumo: Content Research And Viral Trend Analysis

Ever wonder which blog posts are already performing well in your industry? BuzzSumo answers that question by showing you share counts across platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The service lets you filter results by topic, date, or content type (which makes it easy to spot what's trending in your space).

However, its main value comes from competitive research. For instance, if you're looking for new content ideas, check what your competitors have already published. Also, look at which articles are getting the most engagement and think about what they may have missed. 

Once you spot those high-performing pieces, start thinking about what they’re missing. That gap should give you room to develop your own content ideas.

Pro Tip: After you find a gap, cross-reference it with Google Trends or Google Search Console to make sure there's actual demand before you spend time creating something new. This research also supports your broader SEO strategy.

Hootsuite: Social Media Management And Scheduling

Hootsuite lets you manage multiple social media accounts from one dashboard. You can connect platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and schedule your posts in advance so everything goes out on a consistent schedule.

That consistency reaches more of your audience over time since regular posting increases visibility and engagement. And if you are running campaigns across several social networks at once, Hootsuite can also help you keep everything organized. So instead of switching between different apps, you manage all your posts in one place. 

Sprout Social: Social Media Analytics And Insights

If you want to see what's leading your engagement and results, Sprout Social will give you the numbers. It's built around social media analytics and tracks engagement, audience behavior, and how your individual posts perform, all in one place. By looking at these insights, you can spot patterns that would otherwise go unnoticed.

You might notice, for example, that certain formats get more shares than others, or that posts with questions tend to generate more comments. Plus, if you track follower trends over time, you’ll see whether your audience is truly growing or just staying the same.

Native Platform Analytics Tools: First-Party Performance Data

Now let’s talk about built-in analytics tools on each platform. Facebook Insights, LinkedIn Analytics, and Twitter Analytics all let you review reach, impressions, and shares directly from the source.

And since this first-party data comes straight from the platforms themselves, it's generally more accurate than third-party estimates. So if you want a detailed understanding of how your audience interacts with your content across platforms, it makes sense to start here before adding other analytics tools.

Canva: Social Media Content Creation And Design

With Canva, you can create and edit images, videos, and carousel posts for platforms like Instagram and Pinterest.

It also lets you design content from scratch using templates or edit existing visuals by adding text, changing layouts, cropping, or applying filters. The best part is that you don't need any design experience to use it (and did we mention that it's free?). 

Believe it or not, better visuals improve your content's shareability because they tend to get shared more often. In fact, you'll notice that infographics, branded templates, and educational posts usually stand out since they are engaging and easy to process at a glance. However, if you're skipping the design step, you might be missing out on a lot of potential shares.

Brandwatch: Social Listening And Trend Monitoring

What are people saying about your brand when you're not in the room? Brandwatch helps you find out by pulling conversations from social networks and web sources into one place. It also lets you track keywords, monitor brand mentions, and analyze how people feel about specific topics in real time.

You can use this kind of data to understand what your audience actually cares about. We actually know many companies that use these listening insights to guide their content planning. After all, a campaign that receives a lot of positive comments usually signals strong demand for more content in that same direction.

Later: Social Media Scheduling, Planning, And Performance Analytics

Later is built for visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. It organizes your content planning and scheduling through a drag-and-drop calendar, which lets you see your entire posting schedule at a glance.

We especially recommend it if you're running a product launch or a seasonal campaign, since it lets you map out the whole timeline in advance. The built-in analytics also show which posts drive the most engagement, which can help you fine-tune your approach as you go along.

Buffer: Social Media Scheduling And Post Optimization

Posting manually every day can take one to three hours out of your day, depending on how many platforms you manage and how much content you create. 

But with Buffer, you schedule posts across multiple platforms in advance and have your weekly content published automatically. This saves time and also helps you stay consistent with posting.

In addition, Buffer provides built-in analytics that can show which types of content perform best. Over time, this data will guide you to adjust your strategy and focus more on what gets results (we can't recommend this tool enough to those managing multiple channels).

Rival IQ: Competitive Social Media Analytics

Knowing your own numbers is helpful, but comparing them with your competitors gives you even more value. That's why we love Rival IQ. It displays performance metrics side by side, including engagement rates, posting frequency, and content formats. This comparison shows what works in your industry. 

For example, you might notice that a competitor’s video posts consistently get more engagement than their image posts. That insight then guides you to adjust your own content strategy.

Semrush Social: Social Media Management And Performance Tracking

Semrush Social brings scheduling, analytics, and content planning together in one platform. You can track engagement across your channels and connect it to your goals, like website traffic, lead generation, and campaign performance.

What sets it apart is that it integrates with platforms like Google Analytics, which shows how your social media activity affects your website traffic. If you're already using Semrush for SEO, we recommend adding the social module to keep everything organized in one place. It’ll also save you from switching between tools.

How Do Social Media Tools Increase Shares And Engagement?

Social media tools play a significant role in increasing shares and engagement by helping you post the right content at the right time. This is how that plays out in practice:

  • Improved Visibility Across Platforms: Social sharing tools spread your content across multiple social media platforms and networks at once. Because your posts appear in more places, you naturally have more chances to reach new followers through search engine discovery and social feeds. That wider exposure is what helps your visibility grow over time.
  • Data-Driven Content Decisions: Without analytics, you're basically guessing what your audience wants. But once you see share counts, clicks, and engagement on each post, you’ll notice which topics, formats, and post styles are getting the strongest response. From there, you can create more of what resonates much more easily.
  • Optimized Posting Timing: Most scheduling tools track when your audience is most active on each platform. That means if you post during those peak windows, more people will actually see your content, which usually leads to better engagement.
  • Consistent Publishing Across Accounts: Showing up regularly across your social media accounts will help your audience get familiar with your brand. That familiarity can build trust over time. And people who trust you are far more likely to engage with your content and share it with their own networks.
  • Performance Tracking And Insights: As we discussed earlier, tools like Google Analytics and native platform dashboards can show how social activity leads to actions like website visits, sign-ups, and conversions. Once you see what’s actually generating results, you can adjust your strategy much more easily.

This way, if your scheduling, analytics, and content optimization tools work together, your content will reach more people and earn more shares. And all of this can happen without you having to work twice as hard.

Which Social Sharing Tools Should You Choose?

The right social sharing tools will depend on where you are right now. In other words, things like your experience level, team size, and budget all play a role in choosing the tools that fit you best.

To make it easier, here's a quick breakdown of which tools fit different situations.

 

Category Best Tools Primary Use Key Benefit
Beginners Buffer, Canva Content creation and scheduling Simple setup with fast onboarding
Agencies And Teams Hootsuite, Sprout Social Multi-account management and collaboration Scalable workflows and detailed reporting
Free Tools Buffer, Canva, Native Platform Analytics Basic scheduling and performance tracking No-cost access to essential features

So if you're just getting started, tools like Buffer and Canva are a good fit since they're easy to learn and quick to set up. For agencies or larger teams, however, the needs are different. Your team manages multiple accounts, so you'll need collaboration features and detailed analytics. That's where platforms like Hootsuite and Sprout Social perform well.

And if your budget is tight right now, you still have options. Free tools like Buffer’s free plan, Canva, and Meta Business Suite can handle the basic analytics and build momentum without spending money upfront.

Bottom Line: Take into account your workflow, how many social media accounts you manage, and your long-term marketing goals. These factors will point you toward which tools will actually support your day-to-day needs and future growth.

What Types Of Content Get More Social Shares?

Content that gets shared usually has one thing in common: it either makes people feel something or gives them something useful. This means that if your audience connects with what you post, they’ll naturally want to pass it along. 

Below, we’ll share the formats that tend to do best across social media.

Videos And Short-Form Content

As you probably already know, short videos now get more engagement than most other formats. In particular, popular platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook promote video content (especially short videos) since it keeps users on the app longer. And their algorithms reward that extra watch time in return, boosting your content's reach to new audiences.

You just need to grab their attention within the first 3 to 5 seconds (we know, easier said than done). Once you have their attention, keep things moving so your viewers stick around until the end. That's why tutorials, product demos, and quick tips work especially well because they deliver value fast without asking for much time.

Data-Driven And Insight Posts

When your posts are backed by real data, people tend to take them more seriously. So if you want to build trust with your audience, use insights from analytics, industry studies, or your own performance reports to show you've done your research.

You grow that trust even more by including benchmarks, survey results, and trend summaries, because they give readers something solid to refer to. This way, your content will feel more credible and useful. 

On top of that, if people find this kind of value in your content, they're more likely to share it with their own networks since it makes them look informed, too.

Emotional And Story-Based Content

Facts are useful, but stories are what people remember after they scroll past. What we mean is that you need to create a personal connection with your audience through relatable stories or emotion-driven content.

Yes, that connection can be difficult to form right away, but once you do, it'll encourage them to engage and share with others who might feel the same way. Customer experiences, brand journeys, and behind-the-scenes moments all work well for this reason. They feel realistic and easy to relate to, which is why people are drawn to them. 

Visual Posts And Carousels

As you understand by now, visuals can break down complex information into smaller parts that people can understand quickly. Carousel posts, infographics, and step-by-step guides work especially well because they keep readers engaged without overwhelming them with too much information at once.

Plus, this format is easy to save and share, which makes it a natural fit for educational content that people want to come back to later. And there’s always a good chance the person who finds your carousel helpful will pass it along to a friend or colleague who could use it too.

User-Generated And Community Content

You'll notice that content created by your customers often feels more trustworthy than anything your brand puts out on its own. That's because people naturally trust other people more than they trust companies. 

And reviews (even influencer marketing), tagged images, and testimonials can show your target audience that real people actually use and enjoy what you offer. This kind of proof builds credibility in a way that polished marketing cannot always match. Reposting this content can then encourage more social sharing as it makes a community feel like they're part of the journey. 

Interactive And Engagement-Driven Content

Struggling to get people to actually interact with your posts? Polls, questions, and quizzes are usually a great way to get people to stop scrolling and take part in your content. This direct interaction also tells platforms that your content is worth showing to more users, which can increase your reach over time.

For example, surveys, Q&A posts, and discussion threads drive higher engagement because they turn passive viewers into active participants. Then, once someone answers a poll or leaves a comment, they often become more involved in the conversation. And that involvement leads to even more interaction later on.

What Features Make Social Media Analytics Tools Effective?

Social media analytics tools are effective when they show you what’s working and what’s not, and turn that data into usable insights. If you are evaluating different options, these are all the features you should look for:

  • Core Analytics Capabilities: At the very least, you need to track engagement and share counts across platforms. This data tells you which posts are hitting the mark, and over time, it reveals patterns so you can improve your strategy.
  • Scheduling and Automation Tools: As we mentioned, staying consistent builds visibility with your audience. So whenever you schedule content ahead of time across your social media accounts, you’re staying active on multiple platforms without putting in the manual effort every single day.
  • Content Discovery Functions: The best tools surface trending blog posts and topics in your space, and some even include an AI assistant to generate fresh ideas whenever you need them. That means you're not starting from scratch every time you sit down to create something new.
  • Social Listening Features: Keeping an eye on what people say about your brand can tell you a lot about how your audience really feels. These features track mentions, keywords, and new trends, which can help you respond faster and stay ahead of the curve.
  • Performance Measurement Systems: Tools like Google Analytics, Sprout Social, and Buffer Analyze tie your social activity to actual results. You can see how engagement leads to website traffic, and from there, figure out which efforts are really paying off.

If you combine these features, you’ll spot patterns in high-performing content and use them to guide what you post next. That can directly improve your chances of earning more shares.

How Do You Build A Social Strategy For More Shares?

A strong social strategy starts with knowing your audience and creating content they actually want to share. Honestly, posting more won't help if the content doesn't connect with anyone. 

Instead, here’s how you can make these ideas into a practical strategy that increases engagement and shares.

Target Audience Identification

Before you create anything, take time to understand who you're trying to reach. Once you know your target audience well, it’ll become much easier to make content that feels relevant to them. And if your content feels relevant, users are far more likely to engage with it and pass it along to others (which is the foundation of increasing social shares).

Engaging Content Development

Different formats perform better on different platforms, so it helps to mix them and test what works best. For example, your Instagram carousel posts work well for step-by-step guides, TikTok or Reels for short tips or demos, and LinkedIn text posts for industry insights or opinions.

In the same way, using infographics simplifies data-heavy topics, while X (previously known as Twitter) threads break down ideas into short points. Then, finally, use Facebook posts to spark discussion with questions or relatable updates.

Use Of Data And Insights

Your analytics tools tell you a lot about what's working when you pay attention to them. Over time, the data will show which posts get traction and which ones fall flat. Once you start spotting those patterns, use the insights to focus on what resonates (and finally stop guessing).

Employee Advocacy Initiatives

Your team can help you reach people your brand might not connect with on its own. They can do this simply by sharing your content with their own followers and opening access to new social networks you would not reach otherwise.

In fact, the Forrester Total Economic Impact study commissioned by Sprout Social shows that this kind of employee advocacy can increase organic reach by 85%. This means it's also one of the most cost-effective ways to grow your visibility.

Content Repurposing Approaches

One strong piece of content can go much further than a single post or format suggests. For instance, a single blog post becomes a video, an infographic, or a whole series of social media posts. This approach lets you share content more frequently without having to start from scratch every single time.

Testing And Optimization Methods

Now, here’s your reminder that not everything will work the first time around, and that's completely fine. Just keep testing different formats, topics, and posting times to see what gets the best response. From there, track your data, compare engagement across posts, and let the numbers guide your next move.

Audience Interaction Practices

Finally, reply to comments to show your audience that you are listening. Each interaction will build trust over time, and when followers feel heard, they're much more likely to stick around. This also pushes more people to share your content, which can expand your overall reach.

Start Getting More Social Media Shares Today

So, did any of these social sharing tools catch your attention? If you are just getting started or looking to improve your results, these tools can help you grow your reach and get more engagement from your content.

And more engagement and shares also mean more visibility and driving traffic without relying on paid ads. You can achieve this by using tools for content research, scheduling, analytics, design, and social listening (with each one supporting a different part of your workflow). However, remember that the best choice still depends on your team size, budget, and how complex your workflow is.

Now, of course, tools can only take you so far. At the end of the day, what actually gets shared is shareable content like videos, visuals, and data-driven posts that tell a story people connect with.

If you're ready to see what works, pick one or two tools from this list and start driving more shares by tracking your results over time. And if you want help putting together a social media marketing strategy that fits your goals, Matter Solutions is here whenever you need us.

Ben Maden

Read more posts by Ben

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