Finding the Best Social Media Tools for your Businesses
There may be some that think the best social media management tools for businesses would have the same strengths. However, not all businesses are the same and their needs are diverse. After all, there are businesses of all sizes and different types of businesses may require social media tools that excel in certain areas. For instance, social media agencies, NGOs and public sector organizations, or franchises, all of which have certain specific requirements that social media tool must meet. While you may find information about the ideal tool for these businesses and organizations, your business may not fit neatly into any one of those broad types of businesses. This means you may be wondering what you need to consider shopping for the best tool for your business.
What makes finding the right social media management tool for a business even more challenging is that there is a crowded field of products, with everyone offering what appears to be the same solutions. This can be overwhelming, especially if you are not exactly sure what types of features you should consider and need to compare dozens of social media tools currently on the market. Keep in mind that not all tools are, in fact, the same and some will be much more suited to your needs than others.
If that sounds like you, don’t worry! We have just what you need, which is a guide to help you navigate the wide array of social media management tools designed for different businesses. We have written this guide in a way that focuses not so much on what specific industry you are in, but rather the needs that you may have and what features you should be on the lookout for. In all, we want to give you the insights you need to make an informed decision of when trying to find the best social media management tool for your small, medium, or large business.
Your Guide to Finding the Best Social Media Tool for Your Business
As we already promised, the purpose of this article is to help you navigate the world of social media tools and which ones will fit your business the best. In order to find the best social media management tools for your business, you should keep the following 10 points in mind:
- Focus on Your Social Media Activities, Not on Company Size, When Picking a Tool
- Pay Attention to the Number of Profiles you need to Analyze
- Don’t Neglect Access to Historical Data
- Make Sure Analytics is a Strength
- Check the Availability of Efficiency Boosters for Community Management
- Ensure that AI-Integrations are Actually Useful
- Look Closely at Trend Detection Features
- Decide if you Need Social Media Monitoring
- Remember that Reporting Features are Important
- Don’t Immediately Choose the Cheapest Option
1. Focus on Your Social Media Activities, Not on Company Size, When Picking a Tool
We have already made clear the size of the company should not be the most important factor when searching for a tool. Rather, the first step in finding the best social media management tools for your business is to clearly understand your activities and exactly what can be helped with a tool. It is important to realize that tools that brand themselves as “Enterprise” or for “large corporations” are a shorthand way of saying that you have a lot of social media profiles to manage and need a tool with all of the advanced features in order to manage them. These are often expensive, and there are times that large businesses may not need all of the features offered by an enterprise tool. Moreover, small businesses can have large and complex social media operations, which may require much more than tools that are marketed to small businesses.
The point is that the number of employees or branches your business has isn’t really the deciding factoring when shopping for a tool. In beginning your search, it is helpful to list out the different areas of social media management that are relevant to your business. This list would typically include many of the following areas: analytics, community management, trend research, finding influencers, publishing, and monitoring. You should always have a clear understanding about exactly what you need to do in those areas, and then make sure your tool provides you with what you need. We know this is easily said than done, which is why, in the following sections of our guide, we will go into more depth about what you need in many of these areas.
2. Pay Attention to the Number of Profiles you need to Analyze
One of the main steps to take in shopping for a social media tool is the number of profiles you need to track and analyze. First and foremost, this will mostly likely affect the cost you pay for your tool (more on this later), since the costs of many tools are tied to the number of profiles you want to track. Again, don’t think so much about the size of your business, but the number of profiles that will be involved in your management and analysis activities. This means the number of your own profiles you want to manage, as well as how many competitor profiles you want to track and analyze. So, if you are searching for best social media management tool for your business, and you have dozens or hundreds of profiles you want to track, it makes sense to look for a tool that allows for unlimited profile tracking. But why is the number of profiles so important? There are two key reasons for this.
The first has to do with managing your own profiles and how you can do this efficiently. You of course want to be able to track and analyze the progress of all your profiles, whether you have 10 or 100 as part of your company’s social media strategy. Moreover, in terms of publishing features of a social media tool, it is important to keep multiposting capabilities in mind if you are posting similar content across profiles and networks. This means that you can create your content one time and your publishing tool can automatically create posts of using the same content on all the profiles and to all the networks you want. Moreover, having project management and AI features integrated as part of your publishing and planning strategy can be a real help.
The second reason revolves around being able to can track and analyze enough your competitors or other similar profiles. We will talk about analytics as a whole soon, but you should know that being about to track dozens or hundreds of competitor profiles can help give you better benchmarking and competitor analysis insights. This is because you can track more competitors and take advantage of learning from what they are doing, which can enrich your own social media strategy.
3. Don’t Neglect Access to Historical Data
Similar to looking into how many profiles you can track and analyze, the amount of historical data you can access should also be a focus area. This is especially true if you are using a social media for the first time or if your existing tool limits the amount of historical data. This is because having access to historical data going back a year or more helps you create larger data sets and can help you detect trends over a longer period of time, which can, generally, give you more confidence in your conclusions.
Not all tools offer the same access to historical data. When studying the offerings of different tool, you should pay attention to which networks historical data is provided for (and how far back the historical data goes) as well as for what metrics it is available for. Historical data availability can be essential for strong analytical insights, which gives us a nice lead-in to our next point on the checklist.
4. Make Sure Analytics is a Strength
For many businesses of all sizes, social media analytics is the most important factor in choosing a tool, and it is clear why. From understanding how you compare to other profiles, to goal setting to finding ways to better optimize your content, social media analytics tools can be crucial for your success. Some people may think that large businesses or corporations would require the most advanced analytics tools, while small businesses need to only focus on the basics. Again, this assumption can be wrong. When looking for a social media analytics too, make sure it excels in two areas: content optimization and benchmarking/competitor analysis.
Content optimization is perhaps the most important function of an analytics tool since optimization techniques, based on the data you analyze, can help you increase reach and grow your following. Social media management software for businesses should be able to help you find ways that they can improve their performance and get the most of the resources they invest in social media. We have talked previously about all the different content optimization analyses you can conduct, but the main point here is that all businesses are different, so much sure you can research what is important for you and find a tool where you can make adjustments in terms of metrics, timeframe of analysis, and to the charts/graphs/tables that you are using.
You also want to be using your analytics for benchmarking and competitor analysis. This is an essential part of social media management for many businesses but, as we pointed out earlier, you should have a good idea about how many competitors you want to analyze. Beyond this, it is important to make sure that you are gaining insights from both your activities as well as your competitors across a whole range of metrics and that there are no problematic limits to competitor analysis.
5. Check the Availability of Efficiency Boosters for Community Management
Centralized community management is a standard function for many social media tools. Generally speaking, this means being able to answer questions or inquiries whether it is posted on an account or in the form of a direct message, post, or comment from within one platform. However, if you are looking for a specialized community management tool, there is a lot more you should be looking for. Remember, the size of your community, the activity, and number of profiles should drive your decision-making rather than any type of company size considerations.
There may be a number of different tasks or areas of responsibility that you need to organize when using a social media community management tool. Your social media profiles may be used by your community managers to help boost reach and awareness of your brand, or by customer service representatives who need to answer questions from your customers. What makes this a challenge in these cases is the need for efficient ways to organize different questions, comments, or other inquiries on their social media profiles in a way that every conversation is attended to and is transparent for all your team members. Project management features for community management are essential to have in this case, especially for having clear overviews and delegation capabilities.
There are other important community management features to be aware of that also help improve efficiency. These include AI features that help write your responses to messages and comments. Moreover, there are many tasks that advanced community management tools allow you to automate.
6. Ensure that AI-Integrations are Actually Useful
Chances are you have not missed all the talk about AI these days and how it will change everything. Almost all social media tools have claimed to have integrated AI technology into their tools, but what does this really mean? You should always be on the lookout for useful AI-integrations in terms of actual features, and not simply assuming that vague references make actually add real value to a tool.
As we already covered above, having AI integrated into a community management tool can help speed up your responses to questions, comments, and messages. However, what other areas should you pay attention to? One such area is related to publishing features, especially when it comes to content and image creation. If you are creating a lot of content, having the ability to use AI to help create eye-catching visuals and engaging content can help speed up the entire process and improve your efficiency.
Another area you should be aware of for when it comes to AI is to help with the analysis of various charts, graphs, and your overall performance. This can assist you in finding trends or spotting areas of improvement. You can also use this in order to explain social media performance to management when they are looking at your performance. The point is that AI-integrations actual enhance existing features in a way that helps you and, if you are interested in AI-integrations, to study exactly what features this brings with it.
7. Look Closely at Trend Detection Features
Being able to research social media trends is important for businesses who value keeping their content and presence online up to date. If you have a business that is posting about trending topics on a regular basis, there is a need to keep track of trends when devising your content strategy.
Trend detecting should be focused on a few different areas. The first is to simply be able to identify trending posts according to key metrics such as likes or post interaction rates. However, if you are interested in this feature, make sure that there are filtering options so you can focus only on posts from your industry and target country.
The second we will mention here is looking at general trends in your industry. This includes discovering top influencers, posts, the best posting times and hashtags, and a host of other things. This can be important for businesses who want to not only see what posts are trending, but also better understand wider trends in their industry or area of interest.
8. Remember that Reporting Features are Important
Social media reporting may sound like a relatively boring and straightforward topic, but it is actually incredibly important for many businesses. Reporting can be used to help you better understand and track what went well, what may not be going so well, and help you develop strategies in the future. When looking at the reporting features of a social media tool, you should make sure it has the sharing capabilities that you need, gives you automation options, and allows you to report in the formats you want.
In terms of sharing, it is helpful to be able to give direct access to your account to management or other to show your progress. Not all tools will offer this, so if this is a feature that you need, be sure to find a tool with these reporting features. Moreover, automated reporting features are another big plus that can help save you time. Lastly, be sure that you can make adjustments to your reporting sheets and all the charts, graphs, and tables to ensure that you can create the reports that help show your progress.
9. Decide if you Need Social Media Monitoring
Another topic that is using associated with those looking for a social media tool for business has to do with monitoring. Social media monitoring is an important function for businesses who need to protect their brand and to better understand people’s opinions about it. However, this should not be confined simply to social media but across the entire internet.
Monitoring can be a difficult task due to the vast number of social media posts, websites, and chat forums on the internet. Luckily, there are social media tools that are able to monitor hundreds of millions sources for mentions of your brand or company. The important thing for businesses to consider is whether they need this feature or not. If you do, then it is also generally advisable to make sure that analytics come with it as part of your monitoring tool so you get the most out of all the conversation and mentions you are tracking.
10. Don’t Immediately Choose the Cheapest Option
The final item on our checklist is price. Price can be a major pain point, especially for many small businesses that don’t have a large marketing budget. For this reason, free social media management tools for small businesses can be an adequate solution if your business doesn’t need to do much beyond the basics. However, free tools are free for a reason and may limit what you can do with them or hide other important features behind paywalls. What is seemingly the best social media management tool for small businesses simply because of price may end up costing you more for add-ons, or may not give you the features that you need.
With social media tools, you need to closely study the different plans they offer and always be on the lookout for hidden costs. As we already discussed, this is especially true of profile tracking since, for many tools, adding more profiles to your plan can dramatically increase your monthly rates. Also, be sure to find out how many additional features, such as social media monitoring, cost on top of your monthly subscription. Finally, don’t automatically choose the cheapest option, but rather use the points we mentioned above to reason through your choice. It is better to pay more for a tool that does everything you need than to pay less for a tool that is missing key features.
Top Social Media Tools for Businesses:
There is most likely not one “best” social media tool for all businesses, since they are so diverse and have different needs. However, the checklist above provides guidance for choosing social media management tools for small-, medium-, and large-sized businesses which focuses on their activities, and not the size of the business.
Now that we have given you this overview of all the different areas that you should pay attention to, we will give you an overview of, in our opinion, the 10 best social media management tools for businesses:
- Fanpage Karma
- Social Pilot
- Metricool
- Buffer
- Sprinklr
- Zoho Social
- Hootsuite
- Agora Pulse
- Swat.io
- Sprout Social
1. Fanpage Karma
Fanpage Karma stands out as a versatile and powerful social media management tool, especially for businesses aiming to improve their performance tracking and content strategy across multiple platforms. This tool offers wide-reaching analytical insights, enabling companies to monitor key metrics such as engagement, reach, follower growth, and a host of other metrics. By giving you the ability to analyze unlimited profiles, businesses can compile large and meaningful data sets that give them the insights they can benefit from.
Another one of Fanpage Karma’s core strengths is its publishing and scheduling features that include a centralized content calendar and the ability to automatically schedule posts across major social networks. The publishing tool also gives you access to AI-powered content and image generators, as well as project management capabilities.
Moreover, Fanpage Karma excels in community management. Through its unified inbox, users can easily manage messages, comments, and mentions from multiple channels in one place, streamlining customer support and engagement activities. This tool also comes with an AI and automation features, which are perfect for companies focused on efficiency. Additionally, it also offers research, monitoring, and influencer discovery tools.
If you are interested in trying it for yourself, you can give the free 14-day trial a try or participate in a free weekly webinar.
2. Social Pilot
Social Pilot is designed for businesses seeking an affordable yet feature-rich social media management solution. It offers content scheduling, bulk posting, and team collaboration tools, making it ideal for marketing agencies and growing businesses. One of its key advantages is the intuitive dashboard that consolidates all social media activities into a single view.
Social Pilot provides advanced analytics that allow businesses to track engagement trends, content performance, and audience demographics. Additionally, the platform integrates seamlessly with popular platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and Instagram. By providing insights into audience behavior, Social Pilot enables businesses to refine their social media strategies to better connect with their target market.
Another benefit is its client management feature, which simplifies collaboration with external partners and stakeholders. This is particularly useful for agencies handling multiple client accounts. Social Pilot also offers customizable reports, helping businesses present social media performance data in a visually appealing format.
3. Metricool
Metricool is a powerful tool that provides both analytics and scheduling features for businesses looking to optimize their social media presence. It allows businesses to track performance across platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, and TikTok. The platform’s user-friendly interface simplifies the process of creating, publishing, and analyzing content.
One key benefit of Metricool is its detailed analytics, which include metrics on audience growth, post reach, and engagement. Businesses can leverage these insights to make informed decisions about their content strategy. Additionally, Metricool offers heatmaps to identify areas of optimization which can maximize visibility and interaction.
Metricool also excels in competitor analysis, helping businesses benchmark their performance against industry leaders. Its integrated advertising features provide data on ad campaign results, allowing businesses to optimize their spending and improve ROI. With Metricool, companies can streamline both organic and paid social media strategies.
4. Buffer
Buffer is a widely-used social media tool that focuses on simplicity and effectiveness. It allows businesses to schedule posts across multiple platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn. The platform’s clean interface makes it easy to manage social media accounts and track post performance.
One of Buffer’s standout features is its content calendar, which provides a clear overview of scheduled posts. Businesses can easily adjust their posting schedules to align with campaigns and events. Additionally, Buffer offers link tracking, enabling businesses to monitor traffic generated by their social media content.
Another benefit is Buffer’s analytics suite, which provides insights into key performance metrics like engagement rates, reach, and follower growth. By understanding how their audience interacts with content, businesses can refine their messaging and boost overall engagement. Buffer’s team collaboration tools also make it a great choice for companies with multiple social media managers.
5. Sprinklr
Sprinklr is an enterprise-level social media management platform designed for large businesses with complex marketing needs. It offers advanced features such as social listening, audience segmentation, and AI-driven content recommendations.
One of Sprinklr’s key strengths is its social listening capabilities, which allow businesses to monitor brand mentions, sentiment, and trends in real-time. This helps companies stay ahead of potential issues and capitalize on emerging opportunities. The platform also provides robust analytics, including detailed customer insights and campaign performance metrics.
Sprinklr’s AI-powered automation tools enable businesses to streamline workflows by automating repetitive tasks such as post-scheduling and content moderation. This allows marketing teams to focus on strategic initiatives that drive growth. Additionally, Sprinklr integrates with CRM systems, providing a unified view of customer interactions.
6. Zoho Social
Zoho Social offers an all-in-one solution for businesses to manage and analyze their social media activities. It features post scheduling, monitoring, and analytics tools designed to enhance engagement and brand visibility. Zoho Social is particularly appealing to small and medium-sized businesses due to its affordability and integration with other Zoho applications.
One of the platform’s highlights is its social media listening feature, which helps businesses track conversations around their brand and industry. This allows companies to engage with their audience more effectively by responding to comments and mentions promptly. Zoho Social also provides detailed reports on engagement metrics, helping businesses measure the success of their campaigns.
Additionally, Zoho Social’s collaborative features enable marketing teams to work together seamlessly. Businesses can assign roles, review posts, and approve content before publishing. This ensures a consistent and cohesive brand voice across all social channels.
7. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is one of the most popular social media management platforms, offering a wide range of features to help businesses manage their online presence. The platform supports multiple social networks, including Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Hootsuite’s dashboard provides a centralized view of all social media activities, making it easy for businesses to monitor conversations and track performance.
A key feature of Hootsuite is its post-scheduling tool, which allows businesses to plan and automate content publishing. This helps maintain a consistent posting schedule, even during off-hours. Hootsuite also offers advanced analytics, enabling businesses to measure engagement, reach, and conversion rates.
Another benefit of Hootsuite is its social listening capabilities, which help businesses stay informed about brand mentions and industry trends. The platform also integrates with various third-party tools, allowing businesses to customize their social media workflows. Hootsuite’s comprehensive feature set makes it a good choice for businesses of all sizes.
8. Agorapulse
Agorapulse is a versatile social media management tool designed to simplify content scheduling, audience engagement, and analytics. Its unified inbox feature consolidates messages, comments, and mentions from multiple platforms, enabling businesses to respond to their audience quickly and efficiently.
One of Agorapulse’s standout features is its detailed analytics, which provide insights into audience behavior, post performance, and campaign success. Businesses can use these insights to refine their content strategy and improve engagement rates. The platform also supports social listening, helping companies monitor conversations relevant to their brand.
Agorapulse’s collaboration tools are ideal for marketing teams, allowing multiple users to manage social media accounts without overlapping tasks. The platform’s reporting capabilities make it easy to generate performance summaries for stakeholders, saving time and effort in data analysis.
9. Swat.io
Swat.io is a social media management platform that excels in content planning, team collaboration, and social listening. Designed for businesses with a strong focus on content marketing, Swat.io helps streamline the entire content creation and publishing process.
The platform offers a centralized content calendar that allows businesses to plan and organize their posts across multiple platforms. Swat.io also includes approval workflows, ensuring that all content meets brand guidelines before publication. This feature is particularly useful for larger teams with multiple stakeholders.
Swat.io’s analytics tools provide valuable insights into engagement rates, audience growth, and campaign effectiveness. Businesses can use these insights to make data-driven decisions that enhance their social media strategy. Additionally, the platform’s social listening capabilities help businesses stay informed about relevant trends and conversations.
10. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is known for its powerful analytics and social listening features, making it a favorite among businesses looking for a strong tool in these areas. The platform supports content scheduling, publishing, and performance tracking across various social networks.
One of Sprout Social’s key strengths is its audience insights, which provide businesses with a deeper understanding of their followers’ preferences and behaviors. This helps companies create more targeted and impactful content. The platform also includes collaboration tools, allowing teams to coordinate their efforts and maintain a consistent brand voice.
Sprout Social’s reporting features offer customizable performance summaries that highlight key metrics such as engagement, reach, and conversions. Businesses can use these reports to evaluate the success of their social media campaigns and identify areas for improvement.
