Table of Contents
What We Did to Find the Best
Our first step was to identify features that set apart tools for social media. A good tool should work to deliver to if not beyond user expectations. It should also be user-friendly. Affordability is also important, as business people are looking for solutions that work and are cost effective.
We scouted the web to see what different users had to say about various tools. User reviews paint the best picture about a product and its performance. Given our experience and research skills, it was easy to separate genuine reviews from people who have tried and tested the different products from sponsored reviews.
Metrics We Estimated:
- Features Score (number of networks, services, benefits) – 0-10 score
- Ease of Use Score – 0-10
- Price Score (started price, free version/trial, payment types) – 0-10
- Support Score (live chat, email, phone) – 0-10
- Trust Score (the number of positive and negative reviews) – 0-10
We considered the good and the bad with the above metrics in mind. Then we combined the scores and used them to rank them as below. The social media management tools in this review ranked higher than others when the above factors were considered. The ones on this review are ranked from the best in terms of the scores. This means that the first tool ranked higher than the second one and so on.
In this review, you will find a brief about each tool and its notable features. You will also get to see the versions available and at what price. We have also answered the fundamental questions that marketers have regarding different marketing tools.
1. HootSuite: The Right Solution for Everyone
HootSuite offers both social media monitoring and intelligence. It allows social marketing on different channels. It makes it possible for markers to trace the brand reputation. This product uses employee advocacy features that introduce trending topics to everyone.It helps users serve their customers the way the customers want and like. It provides immediate solutions to the questions customers may have. This platform mostly targets enterprise clients. All agents using this service can share insights through group effort.
PROS:
- Measure social ROI in real-time analytics
- Brand protection
- Has RSS integration
- Cool feature for creating social sweepstakes
- Bulk scheduling
- Strong content features
- Universal client support
CONS:
- Fees are on the higher side
- Limited free account
- Additional charges for advanced usage
- Needs training
- Unable to find influencers
Hootsuite is a significant market force for small and medium-sized companies. It is ideal for employees and customers. It comes with features such as integration, listening, and publishing.
2. Sendible: Comprehensive Social Media Integration
Sendible offers a creative approach to social media management. It comes with process automation abilities. Marketers can use this to automate their marketing efforts. This tool acts as a link to agencies that need to see the progress of their profiles. This product comes with a built-in reports template and analytic features. Therefore, it offers a better decision-making profile.
PROS:
- Multi-functional dashboard
- Smart recommendation system
- Social listening features
- Lead generation
- Lead management
- Scheduling and simultaneous posting across social platforms
- Tailor made to adapt to a particular marketing strategy is possible
CONS:
- Connectivity issues
- The pricing favors agencies and companies
- Fewer report modules
- No influencer search feature
Sendible works via an algorithm. The algorithm gathers customer reviews and comments on different social media tools. Data presentation shows the number of people with positive or negative experiences.
3. Sprout Social: Engagement, Publishing, and Analytics
Sprout Social works to improve the customer experience on social networks. It is among the few social media resources that simplify communication. It can help users to create personal contacts with clients. Its most outstanding feature is its ability to quantify marketing efforts; it gives marketers overall control in marketing.
PROS:
- Synchronize with all other social networks
- Agency features; post-approval
- Customized features; personal statistics on every post
- A complete social management solution
- Collects customer-driven data
- Intuitive dashboard
CONS:
- A limited number of social networks
- Does not have the compose window
- Lacks influencer search feature
Sprout Social can help you solve corporate management problems. This product makes the best use of social channels. It also comes with an attractive user interface. It offers a realistic pricing structure and in-depth analytics.
4. eClincher: The Best SM Management Service for ROI
eClincher is a simple platform. It stands out af for it comes with features designed to improve branding. This platform utilizes successful approaches that drive traffic to a specific website. By using this platform, you will speed up posting and data collection. It comes with advanced publishing and editing features.On this platform, progress analysis for every post is possible. This analysis is achievable with the help of keywords and hashtag statistics.
PROS:
- Robust system
- Auto post with queues
- Ability to recycle content
- RSS integration
- Wonderful for scheduling
- Video publishing support
- Enables the discovery of significant and relevant content from different sites
- Unified social box
CONS:
- Difficult to see the date for queued posts
- Limitations when using the App
eClincher helps people control their social media profiles in one place. This control makes it easy for them to select, organize, and present content. This, in turn, helps people understand their products and put more likes as a bonus. Besides, it helps in boosting selling, publishing, and engagement.
5. SocialPilot: for Agencies and Social Media Professionals
This platform tops the list of best social media management tools. The service can support many clients and can handle bulk tasks. It can schedule posts in different queues. This tool is handy in enhancing teamwork. It can also help a great deal in managing clients.
PROS:
- Available scheduling and RSS feeds
- Social engagement
- Auto-publishing
CONS:
- Cannot edit replicated postings once on a schedule
- No statistics feature
- No smart queues
- Lack of influencer features
SocialPilot is useful in managing basic social media accounts. This enhanced management can help improve their quality. It is also perfect for enhancing brand awareness and increasing traffic. This platform is best for social media professionals and advertising agencies.
Social Media Management Tools [Infographic]
1. MeetEdgar: A Scheduling Service That Manages Itself
MeetEdgar has a simple interface with an independent administrative feature. It converts the processes of all social media actions. It maintains new and optimized posts. Other postings go to the library.
PROS:
- Re-sharing content used prior to the platform
- Smart insights keeping the page active
- Unlimited content library
- Arranging by category to make sorting easier
- Auto-expiring content
CONS:
- Fewer platforms (only 3) for posting
- Cannot access management panel for a dynamic conversation
- A limited number of postings on the library
MeetEdgar makes it easy to schedule social posts across different channels. It categorizes postings for publishing on a particular day of the week. Therefore, it keeps you on track and helps a great deal in time management.
2. IFTTT: Get Your Applications Working Together
IFTTT (if this, then that App) is an application that helps bring different tools to work as a unit. It creates an individual set of instructions. This service can be set up to send a tweet every time there is a new story on Instagram. The free version of the account pulls data and controls more than 500 social services. The fact that the basic version is free makes this one of the best social media tools. It is perfect for start-ups and those with a tight marketing budget.
PROS:
- Works well on mobile platforms
- Personalized knowledge feeds leaving all relevant content at the top
- Create custom connections
CONS:
- No ready-made list of social networks
- Fewer automation options
IFTTT links users with their favorite mobile applications. This linking is through automatic data management and personalized feeds. The free-to-use software is available on mobile and desktop applications. It comes with a data management feature that allows sync across all channels.
3. Feedly: Organize, Read and Share What Matters
Feedly has built-in software that aggregates news items available on SASS. The news can either be on PC, Android, and iOS platforms. The tool allows re-arrangement, customization, and sharing of news feeds. It is beneficial for advertisers. It helps them maintain a close touch with influencers and other subscribers.
PROS:
- Discover helpful resources by reading publications
- RSS feeds available
- Gives an up-to-date keyword alerts
- Allows saving bookmarks for future use
CONS:
- Needs a Google account
- Lacks Internet Explorer Bookmarklet
Feedly is an organized system that useful in site finding. You can add favorite sites to the reading list. With this tool, all articles and postings show the time of publishing. They also display the author and the number of shares for every item.
4. BuzzSumo: The Best Guide for Content
BuzzSumo is a software that will discover new, accessible, and fresh content on the web. The platform makes it easy to plug in any selected topic and break it down to match the day's message. You can also use the same approach to identify influencers who may help you in the future.
PROS:
- Sends alerts by monitoring brand competitors and keywords
- Has a question analyzer
- Tracks posts performance
- Offers unlimited searches
CONS:
- Time-consuming especially when learning the best features
- Not applicable in most tech industries
- Costly compared to others
BuzzSumo is good for content-research. It has a content alert feature that makes it possible to set brand name alerts. These alerts can be either from your marketing team or from competitors. The alert feature is on the pro version.
5. SocialOomph: Increase Social Media Activity
The SocialOomph platform may seem simple compared to others on this list. However, it can be quite useful where marketing is concerned. When posting large uploads, utilize this app to get everything done at once.
PROS:
- Tweet scheduling
- Tracking keywords used on twitter streams and sending them to personal email
- Saving and re-using drafts
CONS:
- Outdated interface, which is text-based
- Difficult to see schedules on the grid
- Incorrect and challenging timing of postings
SocialOomph is a budget resource that controls the automation of twitter profile. It is perfect for users managing many profiles. It comes with a direct message and auto-follow/unfollow features. These options should be able to make any professional marketer want to utilize it.
Top 10 Best Social Media Tools (Price & Options)
| Service Name |
Ratings From 0-5 |
Starting Price $ / mo |
Trust Score From 0-10 |
Free Version Yes / No |
Free Trial Amount of Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. HootSuite | 4.6/5 | $19/mo | 9/10 | Yes | 30 days |
| 2. MeetEdgar | 4.5/5 | $19/mo | 9/10 | No | 14 days |
| 3. Sendible | 4.5/5 | $29/mo | 9/10 | No | 30 days |
| 4. IFTTT | 4.4/5 | Free | 10/10 | Yes | Yes |
| 5. Sprout Social | 4.4/5 | $99/mo | 9/10 | No | 30 days |
| 6. eClincher | 4.3/5 | $59/mo | 10/10 | No | 14 days |
| 7. Feedly | 4.2/5 | $6/mo | 8/10 | Yes | Yes |
| 8. BuzzSumo | 4.2/5 | $79/mo | 9/10 | Yes | 7 days |
| 9. SocialPilot | 4.0/5 | $25.5/mo | 8/10 | No | 14 days |
| 10. SocialOomph | 3.9/5 | $15/mo | 7/10 | Yes | 30 days |
Useful Tips Before You Get Started [Infographic]
If marketers would like to make use of these social media tools, then they should make sure to choose the best ones. It’s not feasible to carry out all the tasks by themselves. Especially if they have a lot of pages, which would be difficult to handle.
1. Number of Platforms
Be careful when deciding on the tool you will work with. There are some that only support one social media app. That would not be useful if owners have to manage many different ones. The possibility of managing all the accounts from just one page is great.
2. Options For Publishing and Scheduling
Most of the apps mentioned above have one perk. That is being able to put dates to the content the owner would like to post. So, they can write something and schedule it to appear in the future. It applies to platforms like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Metrics can aid in deciding when and how to post the text or pictures.
3. Tools for Social Media Monitoring and Listening
Taking a look at what is going on in social media apps can be a daunting task. There are millions of users today. So, it’s very hard to make sense of all the data a person can process. Using a tool can aid in filtering what is relevant and what is not so.
4. Analytics
Knowing metrics is essential when measuring how well or badly a campaign is going. Without data such as reach, comments, how many people watch ads and so on, it is impossible to know this. Insight gives owners data about their errors and merits. So, they will understand which are the ads, titles, and pictures that work best in their channels.
5. Flexible Plans and Pricing
Marketers should always calculate how much you are willing to pay. There are many alternatives today. But all of them have a budget available. If theirs is a bight tight, owners might consider all the free software that is out there. Others also have a trial without having to pay.
What is a Social Media Management Tool?
It is a tool that helps with the arranging and analysis of campaigns. These ones are on other platforms. Such a thing will give the owner allows more time to engage with the audience on a personal level. Thus, they will save a lot of effort to spend on other more important tasks. The best tool provides a single board where people can use many accounts at the same time. This is important for companies that aim to establish a brand presence across a number of networks. These companies, them, come with features that make it easy for users to work with them.
Why is Social Media Important?
This should be an essential part of one’s strategy. With proper use, it will help anyone solve issues that may arise in the course of enterprise. It also makes it easy for potential customers to know their products. Advertisement costs on these networks are low. Because of this, it will give a company a chance to grow. Owners can post ads on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Those tactics should focus on creating and distributing valuable content. It is very useful in creating marketplace awareness. Finally, it expands brand authority.
Which is the Best Social Media Tool?
This is a hard question to answer. Mainly because different companies do not require the same things, that said, this review samples 10 of the best available today. To ensure that one settles on the most suitable one, people have to assess the present and future of their own company. A nice choice should be one that can change the brand position for at least a year. Looking for this type of tools can be easy, then. People just need to be sure of what their business requires. Their choice should help get more leads and boost engagement. It should also increase following on every network.
Why Not Starting Today?
There is no doubt that these networks have changed the market world and in a good way. When used right, these networks can help a company grow. They can open a person’s business to customers in all parts of the world. Also, marketing here costs less compared to traditional forms of the same feature. Even better, numerous resources are available to make its use easy and efficient. They come with various features. Some of them include content creation, automated posting, and analysis. In this way, these products aid in keeping in touch with one’s audience.
Comments