As I'm on building a tool for social media users on Bluesky, I thought it would be a good idea to survey what type of tools users are currently using and more importantly paying for, on other platforms.
Scheduling & Planning
Although these are different features, they tend to go hand in hand.
Planning what to post, manage the creation and publication of that content. Via assigned publication times, or a previously established weekly content publication schedule.
Analytics and reporting
Although social media platforms typically provide some analytics and reporting of organic content, and any paid promotion you do, those tools can be lack features and integrations.
This seems particularly important for agencies (or internal teams) that need to share campaign performance metrics with their clients.
Content Creation
This used to be a manual task, ghost writing, etc, but has increasingly has become the venue for AI to shine. You can instantly generate any number of pieces of content to publish. Text and video generation is now possible.
Everyone seems to be doing this, from solo creators to agencies, pumping out large amounts of new content to engage their audience.
Engagement tools/community management
Typically tools to “get more followers” have been popular, with everyone looking for a shortcut when getting started.
Tools that allow you to find the right users that follow you already to engage with, have also become more popular.
Bio Management
Although Bluesky is a little more lenient with what it allows in user bios, the "Link in Bio" tools are doing very well on other platforms.
There are also AB testing tools, that allow you experiment with how you describe yourself and see what resonates with other users, and increase follower numbers.
Influencer outreach
These tools facilitate connecting brands & influencers, typically involves research and communicating via direct messages or emails.
These tools build (often proprietary) categorized databases of influencers, along with analytics and metrics of their post activity/performance to make it easy for brands to find ways to promote their products & services.
Many of these tools can be used free to get started with, but typically cost anywhere from $20/mo for a single creator to or over to $300/mo for agency use.
There are also lot more free tools that SaaS companies use to attract potential users, for lead generation, which I may also build later.
Deciding on the right tool to build, is a balance of what I think the Bluesky ecosystem is ready for, which of users I can reach and how much revenue the product may generate.