(Article Updated 10-29-2021)
Small business owners like you often have to wear different hats and juggle different tasks. Being a social media manager is one of these many hats. It can be overwhelming to take on the different tasks in your social media strategy. You need to create engaging content, schedule posts, engage with followers, manage your growing community, and more. If you are aiming to reach your target audience and establish your brand, you need a good social media management tool to help you execute your strategy more effectively.
Choosing a social media management tool can be tricky too. There are plenty of options and most of them offer similar features. In this article, we focus on some of the most popular tools and their most relevant features for small business owners. We hope this can help you decide which tool to use. Let’s check them out!
Table of Contents
HootSuite
HootSuite is the all-in-one solution to social media management needs. In fact, it is the most used social media tool of Fortune 100 companies including HP, Starbucks, General Motors, and more. The app works with 35 of the most popular social media platforms. Users love HootSuite’s clean and easy-to-use interface where you can manage all your social platforms in different tabs.
The bulk auto-scheduler is one HootSuite feature that busy entrepreneurs will find useful by allowing you to schedule up to 350 posts. You simply upload a .csv file pre-filled with content to fill up your queue. Then you can see all your scheduled posts laid out in a calendar view and edit accordingly. HootSuite’s powerful analytics will also provide you with very useful insights on how to better reach your audience.
HootSuite has a limited free plan that includes 1 user, 2 social accounts, and scheduling of up to 5 messages. However, advanced features like auto-schedule and analytics, as well as the ability to schedule unlimited posts, are only available in the paid plans starting at $49/month and rising the whole way to $599/month for the business package. HootSuite can help you save a lot of time but there is a bit of a learning curve to using it, especially for less tech-savvy users.
Social Champ
This tool is super easy to use and has lots of great features. Not to mention, it’s very affordable, which makes Social Champ an excellent social media management tool for small businesses. The publishing tool is very user-friendly and allows you to post immediately as well as schedule posts out in advance. And the calendar tool allows you to easily keep track of the content you’re posting as a whole or to break it down by each account.
Another beneficial feature is the analytics tool Social Champ offers. It rivals platforms like HootSuite, but you’ll like find it much cleaner and simpler to navigate than some other channels. The social media management tool integrates with six channels, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and even Google My Business.
There are four levels of pricing available, so you’re able to select the perfect price point and account for your particular situation.
- Professional – $9/month
- Champion – $26/month
- Business – $89/month
- Agency – $179/month
Buffer
If you need a simple and efficient post scheduling tool, you should consider Buffer. It connects to popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. It is quite easy to use with a simple and straightforward interface. When you sign up and connect your social profiles, Buffer instantly creates a schedule for you. You can then upload your media and content and schedule for posting.
Buffer lets you connect to three social accounts in the free plan and eight social accounts in the paid plan. You can sign up for a $5/month plan as well as a $10/month plan, so this one is certainly low cost for your small business. The tool also offers in-depth analytics with the pro ($35/mo) and premium ($50/mo) versions.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is another all-in-one social media management service for top platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Sprout offers all the tools you need to perform your SMM strategy: scheduling, analytics, social listening, and more.
The service shines best in its team collaboration features, which allow you to assign tasks to team members, allow team collaboration on drafts and lets you see team members view or reply to messages in real-time. Sprout’s social listening tools are also especially useful if you need to monitor your social channels for content that you can re-use or check your mentions for issues that you need to address. Pricing starts at $99/mo for a Standard Plan, which includes five social profiles.
Flow Flow
One great way to grow your followers on your social media channels is to bring your full social presence together in one place. With the Flow Flow plugin from Social Streams, you can combine social media feed from multiple social media channels in one place on your WordPress blog. This allows site visitors to easily connect with you across various channels, as well as engage directly on your site rather than having to navigate.
The plugin allows for a significant amount of customization so you can bring in any of the most popular social media networks, as well as configured the display in a variety of ways. The design is responsive, so no matter if someone is visiting from a mobile device or on their laptop, the experience will be equally valuable. And, perhaps the most important feature is that social sharing buttons are included to driving sharing and engagement directly from your site.
Iconosquare
If your social media strategy is focused on Instagram and Facebook pages, you should definitely look into Iconosquare. This service lets you publish visual content on Instagram, analyze in-depth insights, and monitor social channels. Small business owners love the easy to use scheduling feature that includes posting images and videos on Instagram and Facebook, as well as the popular Story updates.
The social listening feature allows you to monitor up to 50 Instagram feeds or Facebook pages to find either inspiration for original content or content that you can re-use. Iconosquare also has a robust analytics dashboard offering in-depth and actionable insights. Pricing starts at $49, which includes three social profiles and two team members. The Advanced package is $79/month, and the Enterprise package is $139/month. Each package offers a variety of add-ons.
Wrapping it up
Which social media management tool should you use?
These social media management tools provide all the features that you need to execute your social media strategy. Your choice of tool will depend on the type of services that you need and your budget. The best part is all of these tools are scalable if you need more advanced features as your business grows.
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- What are the Top Social Media Management Tools for Small Businesses? - October 29, 2021
