In today’s digital landscape, many customers will first turn to a company’s social media platforms even before researching customer reviews. However, navigating and managing multiple social media profiles can be tough to accomplish independently, which explains why so many businesses are turning toward reliable social media management tools.
Social media management solutions make it easier for businesses to stay connected with their audience while saving them valuable time. Not only do these software programs allow users to automate processes, but they also provide insight into how businesses can expand their reach to drive growth.
In this guide, we review some of the best social media management software of 2023 so you can decide which is best for your business. We also share which metrics to focus on when looking for a social media management platform that can help you increase your reach and craft more relevant brand messaging. Read on to find out more.
Our Top Picks for the Best Social Media Management Software
- Hootsuite – Best for Nonprofits
- Sprout Social – Best for Agencies
- Buffer – Most Affordable
- Sendible – Best for Customer Support
- Agorapulse – Best for Small Businesses
- SocialBee – Best for Solopreneurs
- Metricool– Best for Analytics
Why we chose it: We chose Hootsuite as the best social media management software for nonprofits for its wealth of educational resources and tools for small teams. It also provides discounts to non-profit organizations, allowing them access to helpful features like social insights and brand monitoring without breaking the bank.
For over a decade, Hootsuite has been the industry leader in social media management. As the world’s first platform of its kind, it has continued to stay ahead of trends by rolling out features such as ads analytics and reporting, a content and asset library, team productivity reporting workflows, research reporting and integration with over 150 tech platforms.
Some of Hootsuite’s standout features include mention alerts, an AI messenger and an easy-to-use dashboard for tracking customer conversations and interactions. Hootsuite Insights, powered by Brandwatch, provides users instant access to millions of online conversations in real time. Companies have the ability to search for any topic or keyword within those conversations and filter results by date, demographics, location and other geographical information.
Hootsuite’s data analytics features can help companies identify thought leaders within their industries and give them a better understanding of how they are perceived in the marketplace. Its mention alerts also allow businesses to react to comments on Twitter and Facebook without leaving Hootsuite, saving them valuable time.
Why we chose it: Sprout Social is our top pick for the best social media management platform for agencies due to its compatibility with multiple social networks, blog hosting sites and third-party applications. It offers a single unified solution for agencies managing numerous clients and brand partnerships, especially those that have an active presence on several different platforms and require one database to monitor KPIs.
Sprout Social is a powerful social media platform that provides brands and agencies with the tools they need to manage conversations and uncover useful insights through their Smart Inbox integration. This tool gathers messages across all social profiles into one community engagement workflow view. Agencies can also benefit from Sprout’s analytics capabilities, which provide insights on campaign performance, conversion rates, engagement and more.
Sprout integrates with all social media platforms and blog hosting sites as well as an assortment of third-party apps, making it an all-in-one centralized solution for social media management. It allows users to schedule posts in advance and track hashtags, mentions and content performance.
Sprout users can also measure engagement, identify publishing trends, monitor community participation and read customer feedback. With these features at users’ disposal, agencies can begin to make data-driven decisions to take their business operations to the next level.
Why we chose it: Out of the companies we reviewed, Buffer offers the most value for your money. Its introductory plan starts at just $6 per month and includes a 14-day free on any membership tier as well as a complimentary basic subscription — this makes them an ideal solution for independent creators with limited funds.
Buffer’s free plan allows users to connect up to three social media accounts and schedule a maximum of 10 posts. You can publish to all the major social media platforms, including LinkedIn and Pinterest, and access basic analytics capabilities to track the performance of your campaigns.
Those who need advanced analytics and insights or the ability to collaborate with team members will have to consider one of Buffer’s paid tiers. These also provide customers with additional features such as the ability to create, save, preview and schedule Twitter threads for their brand.
One of Buffer’s most advantageous features is its Composer tool, which enables users to draft and save ideas and create unique messages for each social network. Other Buffer features include a browser extension that allows you to quickly share content from any site and publish to multiple platforms simultaneously and integration with WordPress, Zapier and Canva, among others.
Why we chose it: Sendible is our top pick for live customer support thanks to its on-demand human advisors. Support is available to all membership levels and includes access to a help desk, live chat hours and even a one-on-one onboarding process customized to the users’ unique social media optimization needs. These features make Sendible a cost-effective and scalable social media management solution.
Sendible provides a range of support options so users can connect with a Sendible team member for assistance. Customer service is available between 8 am and 8 pm GMT, therefore, users in North America should remember to adjust their schedules accordingly. Users should also consider daylight savings time changes when using the platform’s scheduling feature for social media posts.
Sendible allows users to easily stay connected on a multitude of social media networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. They can also respond to comments on Facebook Ads directly from the Sendible dashboard and connect to blog platforms like WordPress and Medium.
Teams looking for a social media management platform will be glad to know that Sendible also features a team calendar view and task assignment feature. Users streamline workflows through integrations with Google Analytics, Google Drive and other tools.
Why we chose it: Agorapulse as our top choice for small businesses because it allows social media managers to gain valuable insights into their campaigns and accurately measure the ROI of their marketing efforts. With this tool, businesses can easily understand what works best for their brand and make more informed decisions when planning upcoming promotional campaigns.
Agorapulse also has a shared calendar that enables users to effortlessly share scheduled content across multiple calendars and grant editing access to collaborators via a “magic” link. Those with the link don’t need an account on Agorapulse to accept or reject scheduled content and provide feedback.
Agorapulse also offers users the option of either setting up an automated Instagram publishing workflow or getting push notifications that require them to manually publish content. These notifications can serve as a helpful reminder for users to edit their stories and review posts before they go live — they can even insert IG stickers as they would directly on Instagram.
Why we chose it: We selected SocialBee as the best social media marketing platform for solopreneurs because of its concierge services. These can be a great option for coaches, authors and freelancers who have limited resources for managing their social media campaigns. SocialBee’s concierge social media specialists are dedicated to specific tasks related to social media management, offering additional support to companies that don’t have a lot of social media expertise or manpower.
SocialBee’s concierge specialists can help users complete tasks from crafting posts for social media platforms to writing compelling copy and managing community outreach. Businesses can access these services without committing to a long-term subscription. Additionally, SocialBee offers month-to-month plans so businesses aren’t tied down by contracts and can sign up for services on an as-needed basis.
Besides offering concierge services that grant users access to content marketing specialists, SocialBee also integrates automation features that speed up content creation and publication. For example, you can automatically publish content based on specific triggers like the use of certain keywords or hashtags. SocialBee also uses AI to analyze your social media activity and provide customized content recommendations.
Why we chose it: We chose Metricool as the best social media management software for analytics because of its competitor analysis feature, which allows users to gain insight into what competitors are doing on different social networks. They can then use that data as inspiration for fresh content that has been tested and found to be successful. Moreover, analytics features and access to Instagram hashtags are available through Metricool’s “free forever” plan.
Metricool can help users simplify social media management through measurement and scheduling capabilities that work across various platforms. Besides adding new features every month, the company offers a comprehensive library of resources — including easy-to-follow guides with embedded videos and educational content on its YouTube channel — to help users get up and running with social media. Whether users are just getting started or want more advanced analytics training, Metricool has them covered.
Zoho Social
- Canva integration
- Create customer support tickets from social media comments
- No CRM features with the basic plan
- Premium Membership Required for video content
- Canva integration not compatible with videos of GIFs
Zoho Social features a dashboard from which users can see their brand health across different social media platforms. This gives them better insight into their target audience through snapshots that display their engagement rate and traffic sources.
Additionally, the software integrates with Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk tools, which allow users to monitor customer issues on their social media accounts and create instant support tickets. It also connects with Canva, so you can design posts without leaving Zoho Social.
Despite Zoho’s vast array of software integrations, it’s not a budget-friendly option for those looking to create video content. Users are limited to static or carousel posts unless they upgrade to a Premium Membership. Furthermore, they are unable to create posts that incorporate videos and GIFs through the Canva button on Zoho Social.
Why we chose it: We selected SocialBee as the best social media marketing platform for solopreneurs because of its concierge services. These can be a great option for coaches, authors and freelancers who have limited resources for managing their social media campaigns. SocialBee’s concierge social media specialists are dedicated to specific tasks related to social media management, offering additional support to companies that don’t have a lot of social media expertise or manpower.
SocialBee’s concierge specialists can help users complete tasks from crafting posts for social media platforms to writing compelling copy and managing community outreach. Businesses can access these services without committing to a long-term subscription. Additionally, SocialBee offers month-to-month plans so businesses aren’t tied down by contracts and can sign up for services on an as-needed basis.
Besides offering concierge services that grant users access to content marketing specialists, SocialBee also integrates automation features that speed up content creation and publication. For example, you can automatically publish content based on specific triggers like the use of certain keywords or hashtags. SocialBee also uses AI to analyze your social media activity and provide customized content recommendations.
Why we chose it: We chose Metricool as the best social media management software for analytics because of its competitor analysis feature, which allows users to gain insight into what competitors are doing on different social networks. They can then use that data as inspiration for fresh content that has been tested and found to be successful. Moreover, analytics features and access to Instagram hashtags are available through Metricool’s “free forever” plan.
Metricool can help users simplify social media management through measurement and scheduling capabilities that work across various platforms. Besides adding new features every month, the company offers a comprehensive library of resources — including easy-to-follow guides with embedded videos and educational content on its YouTube channel — to help users get up and running with social media. Whether users are just getting started or want more advanced analytics training, Metricool has them covered.
Zoho Social
Zoho Social features a dashboard from which users can see their brand health across different social media platforms. This gives them better insight into their target audience through snapshots that display their engagement rate and traffic sources.
Additionally, the software integrates with Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk tools, which allow users to monitor customer issues on their social media accounts and create instant support tickets. It also connects with Canva, so you can design posts without leaving Zoho Social.
Despite Zoho’s vast array of software integrations, it’s not a budget-friendly option for those looking to create video content. Users are limited to static or carousel posts unless they upgrade to a Premium Membership. Furthermore, they are unable to create posts that incorporate videos and GIFs through the Canva button on Zoho Social.
Source: https://money.com/best-social-media-management-software/?xid=flipboard&utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=rss_synd