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Best Social Media Management Tools

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Best Social Media Management Tools

Read the features, benefits, and limitations of the best social media management tools in 2024.

The goal of social media marketers is to maximize return on investment (ROI) while minimizing time wastage. However, managing multiple accounts and building a community can be challenging and repetitive. This is where today’s best social media management tools come to the rescue.

Best social media management tools offer more than just a convenient way to schedule posts in advance. With the right tools, you can manage your social media accounts more effectively, freeing up more time to create engaging content and interact with your audience in real-time. Whether your objectives include monitoring engagement, planning posts, or evaluating performance, finding the best social media management tools will set you up for success.

This guide will introduce you to the best social media management tools that can help teams save time and enhance the marketing  campaign performance.

Table of Contents

What is a Social Media Management Tool?

What is a Social Media Management Tool?

A person (or group of users) can more effectively manage one or more social media profiles across platforms by using a best social media management tool. These tools might be anything from basic post-scheduling applications to all-inclusive AI-powered solutions that can manage everything from content creation and posting to moderation and reporting of comments.

Whatever tool you choose, it will undoubtedly relieve part of your workload and free up more time for the things that count, like creating interesting material for social media and developing relationships with your audience.

What is a Social Media Management Tool?

What Makes the Best Social Media Management Tool?

The challenge with social media management tools is that it is all limited by the same capabilities that are available to them on different social networks. This indicates that while the functionality offered by the majority of social media scheduling applications is very similar, they differ depending on the social networks they are compatible with.
For instance, Instagram is a different platform to upload to than YouTube, and TikTok offers an entirely different set of analytics data than Facebook and that’s before we even discuss X, or rather, Twitter. 

Twitter had one of the most open APIs until Elon Musk purchased it. It was used by several social media management apps to provide functions like social media listening and competition tracking. However, those features currently run about $42,000 a month, so only the most feature-rich enterprise apps or the priciest plans have access to them.

All of this means that you shouldn’t anticipate wildly unique features specific to a given social network while looking for the best social media management tool. No social media management tool is able to remark on posts made on someone else’s Facebook Page or post straight to a personal Instagram profile.

Still, the best social media management tool differ from one another in a few crucial ways. In general, they simplify and streamline the process of managing your company’s social media presence. Specifically, they provide:

At the very least, support for Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok; but, it appears that future importance will increase for support for Mastodon, Threads, BlueSky, and the other Twitter substitutes. Managing as many of your social networks as you can in one app is the aim of all these apps.

  • Support for Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok; but, it appears that future importance will increase for support for Mastodon, Threads, BlueSky, and the other Twitter Managing as many of your social networks as you can in one app is the aim of all these apps.
  • Strong scheduling capabilities that allow you to bulk publish on social media at the beginning of the week or month and then leave it there . (Having access to your social media inboxes to respond to clients was a bonus; it wasn’t necessary.)
  • Detailed data analytics on the performance of your posts. Until the social media apps reach their limit, the more expensive the app, the more robust the analytics you You get to needed more robust X features for enterprise apps, for instance, like social monitoring, which allows you to search for posts about your company or even your rivals. Simpler apps cannot afford the access to APIs that these would otherwise need.
  • Since all social media tool is only capable of providing the same functions, expensive costs must be supported by extra features, excellent customer service, and team and collaboration tools.

Best Social Media Management Tools at a Glance

We understand that time is valuable and you don’t want to test each tool. Therefore, we have done all the necessary research in advance.

Here is our quick breakdown of the top social media management tools available on the market:

No Tool Name Social Accounts Schedule Count Special Feature Starting Price
1 Sprout Social 5 50 Per Profile Review Manager $249/Month
2 Zoho Social 10 35 Per Profiles Link Shortner $15/Month
3 Sendible 6 Unlimited 10 Smart Queues $29/Month
4 Hub Spot 50 10k Per Month 3 Years Scheduling $890/Month
5 Pally 7 15 Per Profile 30 Day Tracking $18/Month
6 Social Pilot 10 50 Per Profile CSV Uploads $30/Month
7 Buffer 6 10 Per Profile 100 Content Ideas Free
8 Keyhole 12 10k Per Month Quick Trends $189/Month
9 HootSuit 10 Unlimited All-in-One Inbox $99/Month
10 Sprinklr 15 Unlimited Brand Dashboards $249/Month
11 E-Clincher 10 Unlimited Ads & Boost $65/Month
12 Tailwind App 3 5 Per Month Email Feature Free
13 Preview.App 2 Unlimited Reply Comments Free
14 Metricool 5 50 Per Month Verified Blue Tick Free
15 Publer.io 3 10 Per Account Mobile Apps Free
16 CoSchedule 2 15 Per Profile AI Social Assistant Free/Month
17 Meed Edgar 5 Unlimited 20 Team Members $29.99
18 Later 7 10 Per Profile Content Library Free
19 Loomly 10 Unlimited Zapier Automation $42/Month
20 Iconosquare 5 10 Per Profile Custom Reporting $59/Month
No Tool Name Social Accounts Schedule Count Special Feature Starting Price
1 Sprout Social 5 50 Per Profile Review Manager $249/Month
2 Zoho Social 10 35 Per Profiles Link Shortner $15/Month
3 Sendible 6 Unlimited 10 Smart Queues $29/Month
4 Hub Spot 50 10k Per Month 3 Years Scheduling $890/Month
5 Pally 7 15 Per Profile 30 Day Tracking $18/Month
6 Social Pilot 10 50 Per Profile CSV Uploads $30/Month
7 Buffer 6 10 Per Profile 100 Content Ideas Free
8 Keyhole 12 10k Per Month Quick Trends $189/Month
9 HootSuit 10 Unlimited All-in-One Inbox $99/Month
10 Sprinklr 15 Unlimited Brand Dashboards $249/Month
11 E-Clincher 10 Unlimited Ads & Boost $65/Month
12 Tailwind App 3 5 Per Month Email Feature Free
13 Preview.App 2 Unlimited Reply Comments Free
14 Metricool 5 50 Per Month Verified Blue Tick Free
15 Publer.io 3 10 Per Account Mobile Apps Free
16 CoSchedule 2 15 Per Profile AI Social Assistant Free/Month
17 Meed Edgar 5 Unlimited 20 Team Members $29.99
18 Later 7 10 Per Profile Content Library Free
19 Loomly 10 Unlimited Zapier Automation $42/Month
20 Iconosquare 5 10 Per Profile Custom Reporting $59/Month

20 Social Media Management Tools to Use

20 Social Media Management Tools to Use

We hope our quick view table was helpful for you! However, if you need further explanation, then please have a look at our pros and cons details regarding each individual tool.

20 Social Media Management Tools to Use

Social Media Management Tools for Big Businesses

social media management tools for big businesses
social media management tools for big businesses

If you are working with a big team with a big budget, then these are the tools for you.

Sprout Social

Similar to Sprinklr, Sprout Social lets you handle all of your social media accounts in one location, which facilitates teamwork. With its comprehensive reporting and analytics tool, you can monitor every one of your social media initiatives and gauge their effectiveness. Additionally, it has an asset library that lets you swiftly share resources with other stakeholders and members of your team.

However, Sprout Social’s CRM functionality is its most notable feature. Gaining a comprehensive understanding of your clients’ interests and expectations through a 360-degree view will help you forge closer bonds with them.

 

sprout social
Source: Sprout Social

Key features

  • Scheduling and publishing tools
  • Social inbox
  • Review management
  • CRM
  • Reporting
  • Keyword tracking
  • AI assist
  • Brand advocacy

Pros:

Cons:

Zoho Social
Source: Zoho Social

Zoho Social

Another social media scheduling tool that aids in business web presence development is called Zoho Social. You can manage your leads, generate and schedule content, and keep an eye on key hashtags all from one location with this scheduling tool. It also recommends when to upload your content.

Key features

  • Publishing
  • Monitoring
  • Analytics
  • Small to midsize businesses (SMBs) target audience

Pros:

Cons:

Hubspot

As part of its marketing package, HubSpot provides best social media management tools in addition to its well-known CRM features. These technologies streamline your social media endeavors by consolidating all of your social media accounts and information onto a single platform. This enables thorough performance analysis, audience participation, and simple post-scheduling. In the end, it improves your social media marketing strategy and saves you time.

The best aspect is that you can use keywords to monitor trends and publish material to your social media profiles straight from the CRM. Furthermore, HubSpot offers an extensive overview of clicks, visits, leads, and additional metrics to assist you in evaluating your overall performance.

Hubspot
Source: Hubspot

Key features

  • Manage and analyze customer interactions
  • Organize contacts, deals, and tasks

Pros:

Cons:

Social Media Management Tools for Agencies

Social Media Management Tools for Agencies
Social Media Management Tools for Agencies

The best social media management tools have been hand-selected and put to the test. Examine your demands and financial constraints to identify the best solution for your marketing firm.

Sendible

Sendible is the most scalable social media scheduler and management tool, which makes it a great choice for growing agencies that want to keep costs to a minimum. It’s also affordable for individuals.

The social media scheduler from Sendible includes every functionality you might want. Thanks to built-in Canva & Pexels connections, you can easily plan, compose, and design social media posts. And without ever leaving the app, you can modify mentions, resize photos, and more to make those posts specific to each social network.

sendible
Source: Sendible

Posts can be added to content queues or scheduled one at a time. Additionally, the calendar view allows you to manage your schedule and see a comprehensive visual summary of all of your campaigns.

Sendible has a ton of social media management features, including social listening, reacting, and reporting, in addition to the scheduling.

Key features

  • Post scheduling
  • Bulk scheduling
  • Post queueing features
  • Agency features
  • Collaboration features
  • Analytics and reporting

Pros:

Cons:

Pallyy
Source: Pallyy

Pallyy

The greatest social media scheduling app for visual material is Pallyy. It works best if your primary focus is on social media sites like Instagram or TikTok. The scheduling workflow of Pallyy is something you find really appealing. It works well with visual media.

Simply drag & drop your media from the collection into your calendar, add a few details, and schedule it. It’s quite simple. Additionally, there is a Feed Planner that is perfect for individuals who wish to design a certain Instagram profile style. It allows you to design and see in visual form how your Instagram feed will appear when it’s complete.

Pallyy allows you to schedule and automatically publish material to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, GMB, and TikTok in addition to Instagram. Utilizing the user interface is quite simple. Additionally, several useful tools keep you organized, like media storage, hashtag lists, templates, and comments and notes.

Apart from its tools for organizing and planning, Pallyy also includes an analytics package and a single social inbox where you can handle and respond to all of your incoming comments, direct messages, mentions, and reviews.

Key features

  • Easy-to-use calendar
  • Visual scheduling for Instagram
  • Social inbox
  • Content planning tools
  • Hashtag tool
  • Best time to post feature

Pros:

Cons:

Social Media Management Tools for Small Teams

Let’s uncover the comprehensive list of the best social media management tool for small teams.

socialpilot
Source: Sendible

SocialPilot

With its user-friendly interface and affordable pricing, SocialPilot is especially well-suited for smaller businesses. It can handle essential tasks such as content scheduling, publishing, commenting, reporting, and analytics. Additionally, it can curate relevant content from various industries to facilitate your content creation efforts. Its extensive reports cover everything from audience insights to content performance, giving you a better understanding of your target audience and helping you create more impactful content.

Key features

  • Reporting/analytics Features
  • Account management Features
  • Paid media management
  • Channel coverage/integration Features

Pros:

Cons:

Buffer

Another excellent social media management tool for startups and small enterprises is called Buffer. It provides a plan that is totally free for the first three social networking platforms you use. It’s therefore the ideal choice if you want to set up Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

With an AI assistant that comes up with fresh ideas, the platform makes content creation easier. You can even save ideas to expand on them at a later time. Importing content to edit and post on social media is made much simpler by a direct integration with Canva, DropBox, and OneDrive.

Source: Buffer

Key features

  • Publishing
  • Scheduling
  • Campaigns
  • Analytics and reports
  • Integrations
  • Calendar view
  • Team management

Pros:

Cons:

Keyhole
Source: Keyhole

Keyhole

Keyhole differs from the majority of the tools on our list in that it also functions as a marketing and influencer tracking tool. It conducts thorough analytics to assist you in vetting and contrasting influencers. The profile statistics assist you in identifying influencers who are able to generate real engagements. The tool tracks each influencer’s performance and how it affects your campaign objectives after it launches.

Key features

  • Automated social media reports that are shareable
  • Brand reporting
  • Campaign reporting
  • Hashtag reporting
  • Influencer reporting

Pros:

Cons:

Sprinklr

Sprinklr is a customer experience management platform with features to manage your socials. It provides an editorial schedule and a digital asset management to serve your fundamental social publishing demands. You can browse messages, mentions, and comments all in one location with the engagement dashboard.

The ability to manage user-generated content (UGC) is one of Sprinklr’s special features. It can be used to compile fan content and reshare it to increase brand awareness.

Sprinklr
Source: Sprinklr

Key features

  • Sprinklr AI to speed up content generation
  • Personalized approval processes to improve teamwork
  • Consumer intelligence and customer service integrations for a single customer experience management

Pros:

Cons:

eClincher
Source: eClincher

eClincher

eClincher positions itself as a social media management tool and emphasizes its dedication to round-the-clock customer service. Similar to most of the products on this list, eClincher has a social publishing mechanism that works across networks. It has a publication queue, a dedicated messaging inbox, and a visual calendar. Additionally, it offers sentiment analysis-powered brand monitoring across social media, news, blogs, and more.

Key features

  • Offers its users round-the-clock customer service so they may “strategize, optimize, and measure
  • Using drafts, comments, notifications, tagging, and message assignment to facilitate team collaboration

Pros:

Cons:

Social Media Management Tools for Dedicated Platforms

Social Media Management Tools for Dedicated Platforms

There are some of the best social media management tools that can help you optimize your social media presence across multiple platforms, including tools that allow you to manage accounts in one place, create and schedule posts, and track performance so, let’s look in detail:

Social Media Management Tools for Dedicated Platforms
Tailwind App
Source: Freepik

Tailwind App

Tailwind was initially developed as a solution to fill a void in the Pinterest scheduling industry. Therefore, its original concentration was on automating brand marketing on Pinterest. Since then, Facebook and Instagram have been included. However, the platform still distinguishes itself in the management of Pinterest.

You can schedule and arrange all of your social media postings in one location with the aid of the visual calendar. To see what your Page might look like, you can set filters to view only your Pins. Following that, the site automatically distributes these Pins to reach your audience at their most receptive moment.

Key features

  • Post ideas to make sure you always have Pinterest content in the pipeline.
  • Automatic customization of designs to consistently produce posts that are on-brand.
  • Use a hashtag finder to locate trending and extremely relevant hashtags to increase interaction.

Pros:

Cons:

Metricool

Metricool is a digital marketing solution that facilitates performance measurement across various social media and paid platforms, as well as their analysis and management. It boasts one of the easiest layouts you will ever see and makes gathering data so much easier. Metricool is the right place to go if you want to easily examine all of your data from different channels in one dashboard.

Metricool
Source: Metricool

Key features

  • Custom Formulas, White-Label and Data Blending
  • Import/Export
  • User Management
  • Metricool Dashboard

Pros:

Cons:

Preview App
Source: Preview App

Preview App

Preview is a mobile app that lets you visually plan out your Instagram feed. Using the tool to create a feed based on a certain Instagram feed look is ideal. The software allows you to add as many images and videos as you like, allowing you to preview your feed before publishing.

Key features

  • Use the Preview app to add images, videos, and carousels to see how they would appear live on Instagram.
  • Using the Preview app, schedule your material to publish when you’re ready.
  • Plan for your regular Instagram feed, Reels, and Stories so you know how everything will work together.

Pros:

Cons:

Publer.io

Publer is used by more than 240,000 social media managers, businesses, and agencies to better manage their social media presence and SMM efforts. The social media scheduler on the platform is its fundamental component. With its drag-and-drop content calendar, you may use it to schedule interesting posts for all of your social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.). After that, at the time and date you specify, Publer will automatically publish them for you.

Publer.io
Source: Publer.io

To help you make the most of it and organize your campaigns more efficiently, the scheduler is loaded with useful features. These include cross-platform customization, auto-scheduling (content queues), post recycling, comment scheduling, and more.

Key features

  • Workspaces
  • Social media scheduler
  • Content calendar
  • Recycling
  • Content curation
  • RSS feeds
  • AI Assist

Pros:

Cons:

Social Media Management Tools for Publishing

Social Media Management Tools for Publishing

Let’s read about some additional social media tools for publishing along with their basic specification, pros and cons.

Social Media Management Tools for Publishing
Hootsuite
Source: Hootsuite

Hootsuite

A social media marketing platform with strong publishing capabilities is Hootsuite. A visual calendar is included so you can organize your content and quickly fill in any gaps. You can utilize the program to generate an unlimited stream of content ideas in case you run out of things to share. To help you plan your posts for maximum engagement, the program even suggests the ideal times to post.

Key features

  • Post content on several social media networks and schedule it.
  • Utilize a single inbox to monitor and reply to all incoming messages and mentions.
  • Keep an eye on internet discussions surrounding your company and sector to keep informed about popular subjects.

Pros:

Cons:

CoSchedule

CoSchedule started as a content marketing firm and has since expanded to include social media management and calendars. With a social calendar, you can view your content schedule and better coordinate your social media publishing efforts. According to the Best Time Scheduler, your posts will appear when users are most likely to interact.

CoSchedule
Source: CoSchedule

Key features

  • Utilize Social Message Optimizer to create impactful content for your social media postings.
  • AI Social Assistant to produce concepts and social media posts in real time
  • You can avoid starting from scratch when creating a publishing plan by using pre-made social sharing templates.

Pros:

Cons:

MeetEdgar
Source: MeetEdgar

MeetEdgar

Teams may automatically curate their social media feeds with MeetEdgar, a social media management platform. For small-team firms or solopreneurs, this is ideal. The tools that MeetEdgar offers will be helpful to startups where team members handle many responsibilities.

Key features

  • Content can be repurposed and given a fresh start by having it automatically republished at a later time.
  • Tools for scheduling that enable you to determine the best times for meetedgar to arrange your material.
  • Immediate content insights to see what works best so you may adjust your approach.

Pros:

Cons:

Later

A social media management application called Later helps with content production and publication. A visual planner combined with a media library can help you plan your social media content strategy. The optimal moment to share suggestions assure that you are connecting with your followers on TikTok and Instagram at the appropriate times.

Later
Source: Later

Key features

  • Utilizing tags and mentions to find user-generated content.
  • Use the Instagram hashtag suggestions tool to come up with new, pertinent hashtags.
  • Caption writer is a tool that creates effective social media captions automatically.

Pros:

Cons:

Best Social Media Management Tool for Custom Sites

Best Social Media Management Tool for Custom Sites

The best social media management tool for custom sites are of the following:

Best Social Media Management Tool for Custom Sites
Loomly (Web, iOS, Android)
Source: Loomly

Loomly (Web, iOS, Android)

One amazing feature sets Loomly apart from other decent social media tools: you can build a personalized social network that enables you to post to nearly any platform as part of your social media management. It has a multi-service inbox, scheduling capabilities, and basic analytics, and it checks all the other boxes, but it’s this one feature that makes it to our list.

You can use Loomly to create multiple scheduling calendars for your various social media requirements. A Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, and, of course, a Custom Channel can be added to any calendar.

Key features

  • Hashtag management
  • Direct publishing to Instagram
  • Easy-to-read reports and analytics

Pros:

Cons:

Best Social Media Management Tool for Visual Social Network

Best Social Media Management Tool for Visual Social Network

The best social media management tool for visual social networks are of the following:

Best Social Media Management Tool for Visual Social Network
Iconosquare (Web, iOS, Android)
Source: Iconosquare

Iconosquare (Web, iOS, Android)

Iconosquare may be the app for you if highly graphic social networks like Instagram and TikTok are your top priorities. It supports LinkedIn Company pages, X accounts, and Facebook Pages, although it clearly prioritizes images over word postings.

The kinds of things you can schedule make that evident. You may plan single-picture posts, photo carousels, Reels, and Stories with an Instagram account.

You can even cross-post all of these to numerous Instagram accounts at once. You have the option to schedule the initial comment if you’d like.

Although support for TikTok isn’t quite as extensive, you can still plan posts and use content from a shared media library. Of course, copies of all these may also be shared on Facebook or X, but the feature set seems to be a step back.

Key features

  • Provides insights into engagement and performance metrics using graphs.
  • Allows users to schedule posts to appear on social media, blogs, and websites at specific times.
  • Allows users to send scheduled posts to external collaborators for approval, rejection, or notes.
  • Allows users to see what people are saying about them on social media, as well as what their competitors are doing.
  • Automatically calculates engagement rates, such as impressions, likes, comments, and reach, and shows percentage of change over time.

Pros:

Cons:

How to Find the Best Social Media Management Software for Your Business

You want to add value to your marketing tech stack when you invest in new tools for your company. Therefore, it’s critical to carefully consider your options to make sure you’re selecting the best option. The following criteria will assist you in selecting the best social media management tool for your demands.

Research and Compare

Start by conducting thorough research to identify potential social media management tools. Look for platforms that are well-reviewed and align with your business demands. Compare features, pricing, and customer feedback to shortlist the most promising options.

Define Your Needs

Assess your business requirements before diving into the tools. Consider factors such as:

  • The number of social media platforms you manage.
  • The size of your team.
  • Specific features you need (e.g., content scheduling, analytics).

Free Trials and Demos

Most social media management tools offer free trials or demos. Take advantage of these to test the software’s usability and see how it fits into your workflow. This hands-on experience will help you gauge if the tool meets your expectations.

Ease of Use

A user-friendly interface is crucial for efficient management. Choose software that is intuitive and easy to navigate. A steep learning curve can slow down your team and impact productivity.

Scalability

Make sure the tool can upgrade with your business. Look for options that offer scalable features, allowing you to upgrade as your social media demands expand. This will help you avoid the hassle of switching platforms in the future.

Support and Training

Good customer support and comprehensive training resources can make a significant difference. Check if the software provider offers responsive support, training materials, and onboarding assistance to help your team get the most out of the tool.

Security Measures

Security is paramount when managing social media accounts. Verify that the tool has robust security measures in place, such as data encryption and secure user authentication, to protect your accounts and sensitive information.

Integration

Compatibility with other tools in your marketing tech stack is essential. Make sure that the software integrates smoothly with your existing systems, such as CRM, email marketing, and analytics platforms, to streamline your processes.

Scheduling

Effective content scheduling can save time and assure consistent posting. Look for features that allow you to plan, schedule, and automate posts across multiple platforms easily.

Collaboration

If you have a team working on social media, choose a tool that facilitates collaboration. Features like shared calendars, task assignments, and team communication can enhance coordination and efficiency.

Social Listening

Social listening capabilities help you monitor brand mentions, track trends, and engage with your audience. Opt for a tool that includes these features to gain valuable insights and respond proactively to conversations about your brand.

AI Capabilities

Artificial Intelligence can enhance social media management by offering features like content suggestions, sentiment analysis, and performance predictions. Tools with AI capabilities can provide valuable insights and improve your strategy.

Reporting

Comprehensive reporting features are essential for measuring the success of your social media efforts. Look for tools that offer customizable reports, detailed analytics, and performance metrics to evaluate your campaigns effectively.

Cost

Consider your budget when selecting a social media management tool. Compare pricing models and ensure the cost aligns with your needs and financial constraints. Remember to weigh the cost against the features and benefits offered.

Adaptability

The social media platform is constantly changing. Choose a tool that is adaptable and frequently updated to stay aligned with the latest trends and platform changes.

FAQ's

The most effective social media management tool is Hootsuite, Buffer, Later, CoSchedule and many more. It totally depends on your specific demands, goals, and resources.

Social media management tools can help businesses and individuals manage multiple social media profiles across platforms more efficiently.

Social media management can be important for businesses and individuals because it can help connect with audiences, build brands, and increase sales.

Final Verdict

After evaluating each tool based on the criteria above, make an informed decision by weighing the pros and cons of each option. Consider how well each tool aligns with your business goals and requirements.

The information above can help you select the best social media management tool for your company, which will improve your social media strategy and generate better outcomes.

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