20 Social Media Holidays to Celebrate This May
By Yasmin PierreApr 10
[Webinar] Leveraging Social Media Trends for Brand Engagement
Unlock the secrets to staying ahead in the ever-evolving world of social media marketing.
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Unlock the secrets to staying ahead in the ever-evolving world of social media marketing.
Published August 21st 2023
Social media management has never been so important, and it’s a job that will only get bigger and more complicated. At a time when a brand’s influence can rise and fall off the back of a single post, social media accounts can even pose a reputational risk if you don’t have time to – or don’t know how to – manage them effectively.
From content creation and scheduling to reputation management and complaints, a lot goes on behind each and every social post. Regardless of an organization's size, using tools for social media management can make life much easier for marketers and community managers, helping them to generate positive growth for their businesses. So much for the stereotype of social media being run by interns.
Almost 94% of US businesses use social media, and a social media management tool helps marketers and community managers deliver holistic campaigns across various channels by creating and scheduling content quickly and easily. Using a social media monitoring tool at the same time to understand what response you’re getting back from your posts can push campaigns even further.
Plenty of platforms are available to manage your social media accounts, and they all offer different opportunities for businesses and users, whether you’re a founder managing your own social media or an agency running various social streams. The tools out there offer everything you need, but this makes choosing social media management software difficult. That’s why we’ve looked over 15 of the top tools available to help you make the best decision for your business.
A social media management tool helps marketers and content creators oversee their social content and track both positive and negative trends. Tools are usually set out with dashboards where you'll see basic performance data for your social posts across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and others.
The aim of using these tools is to keep abreast of your social platforms, track the engagement you’re generating, understand how this affects brand reputation, and make strategic choices based on the data and insights you get from the management tool. The range of tools is extensive and bleeds into other areas of marketing and sales, while AI is beginning to help managers create tailor-made content in seconds.
Whether you’re a start-up running your social media alongside your new business, or working as part of a team in an agency, finding the right social media management tool is crucial to developing your output and hitting those KPIs.
The best social media management tools let you create content, schedule it, track its impact, and create analytics reports. But different tools are better for different things, depending on your priorities. You may need an all-seeing tool like Brandwatch to aid the full marketing funnel from start to finish, or perhaps you're looking for a tool to manage a specific part of a project, such as AgoraPulse’s AI content creator.
Below are 15 tools of the best social media management to check out, each offering their own take on social media management.
From simple data tracking to company-wide project delivery, here are the best on the market right now:
We couldn't begin this article without giving ourselves a little shout-out, could we? Here at Brandwatch, we offer an industry-leading social media management suite that gives you everything you need to discover, attract and engage with customers.
Manage your community in a single, easy-to-use and customizable inbox, get relevant social insights, and benchmark against your competitors.
Brandwatch has harnessed the power of artificial intelligence since our in-house team began working with it in 2008, and our first-to-market AI search now aids consumer research and post analysts. Content creation has never been easier than with the Writing Assistant that integrates with ChatGPT, while our Iris Post Analysis identifies audience sentiment to help improve the effectiveness of any content strategy.
Brandwatch is ideal whether you’re a lone marketing officer or small team, an agency, or a bigger business that requires cross-team approval flows. Users can run through the entire social media process from content creation and publishing to audience listening. Sign up for a demo today and see how Brandwatch can help you.
Pros:
Pricing:
While Twitter – currently rebranding to “X” – has changed a lot recently, the basics of their social media platform remain the same. If you're looking for social media managing software specific to Twitter, TweetDeck is an ideal starting point.
TweetDeck allows users to monitor several Twitter (X) streams in real-time and keep an eye on trends, breaking stories, and engagement as well as replies. It's perfect for training new employees in a social media department as they'll likely be familiar with Twitter and its simple key features.
However, in August 2023 TweetDeck was moved under X’s subscription model, meaning only accounts who pay $8 a month for Twitter Blue can access the platform. Corporations need to pay $1000 for a blue tick and TweetDeck access.
Social media managers can schedule posts ahead of time, which is ideal for those working with neatly-packaged marketing campaigns that aren’t reactive and just need content publishing at the right moment. Linking these campaigns with Twitter analytics will help you get more out of TweetDeck.
Pros:
TweetDeck is easy to use, and its likely new employees will be familiar with its structure.
Cons:
It's difficult to manage more than one Twitter (X) account on TweetDeck, and the lack of easily-accessible analytics is an issue. What’s more, corporations now need a blue tick to access TweetDeck’s latest version, at a cost of $1000 a month.
Pricing:
$8 to $1000 a month as part of Blue subscription
Oktopost is ideal for B2B social media management, easing users through the entire social media marketing process. From strategy to publishing content at scale and measuring performance metrics, Oktopost promises it all. The result is users driving revenue from B2B connections established on social and improving their productivity and reporting on those campaigns.
It's ideal for brands that specialize in areas like education, tech, and finance who are seeking to catch the eye of other businesses through thought leadership and sharing conversation about their industries.
What’s more, Oktopost recently joined the TikTok Marketing Partner Program to help customers analyze their campaigns more effectively on a medium that isn't naturally set up for B2B marketing.
Pros:
A powerful management tool for companies engaged in B2B marketing that want to break out from traditional networking practices.
Cons:
Limited options to share a piece of content across multiple channels at the same time.
Pricing:
Available on request.
Khoros – the new name for social media management tools for the merged Spredfast and Lithium – is targeted toward big businesses that deliver a lot of social media content on a weekly basis. One of its defining features is the ability to label posts in order to keep abreast of multiple campaigns at one go.
The Khoros dashboard links to on-page briefs and insight analysis, so that social media managers can stay on track with their original project goals. This makes it ideal for social media agencies who might be delivering several campaigns at once.
Teams of multiple employees can access the dashboard via a single point of entry without the need to share passwords, making Khoros a malleable and accessible tool throughout your company and crucially easy for agencies and clients to access at the same time.
Pros:
Labeling posts for social media management and monitoring helps big businesses oversee multiple projects.
Cons:
Probably not ideal for small-scale businesses or marketing managers with only one or two social media channels to oversee.
Pricing:
Not advertised.
Buffer is all about growth: its sleek, user-friendly interface is ideal for pushing captivating content across core social channels. Buffer provides businesses with the functionality required to grow and manage a range of social media accounts.
If you're in search of an easy-to-use and efficient tool to schedule updates and streamline your social media management, Buffer is a powerful ally that can help you save time and meet your targets.
A particularly useful addition to the Buffer range is the Google Business Profile. If your company requires both strong B2B and B2C engagement, then there are functions here to strike the right balance.
Buffer also offers a complimentary image creation tool, Pablo, which simplifies the process of creating captivating visuals for your social media content. Its AI assistant takes content creation to the next level and helps you repurpose old posts into fresh material.
Pros:
Includes a powerful AI tool that helps to repurpose content, while the dashboard is great for managing both B2B and B2C campaigns.
Cons:
If you're handling social media accounts with large follower bases and you need to actively engage by responding to comments, Buffer might not meet all your requirements.
Pricing:
Free for up to three channels, scaling to $120 p/m for 10 channels.
Looking to boost engagement? AgoraPulse stands out from most social media management tools in this area. It offers users an all-in-one inbox for replying to comments and messages across multiple social accounts. This Social Inbox makes it much easier to manage replies and interactions with potential customers and quickly address complaints.
The platform also recently launched an AI writing assistant to beef up your copy and make it more eye-catching specific to the social platforms you’re posting on. It also carries an AI image generator plug-in from Canva, giving social media managers full control of content creation and engagement in one place.
Additionally, its Facebook Barometer offers an intelligent, swift method to gain insights into vital metrics like reach, engagement levels, and click-through rates with Facebook Ads reports and Employee Advocacy support included in its free tier.
Pros:
The Social Inbox is an ideal customer support tool that is easy to use and can aid crisis management response.
Cons:
Bulk actions such as content queues and inbox messages are restricted to the 'Advanced' package.
Pricing:
Free for up to 3 social profiles, plans also include $49/month (Standard), $79/month (Professional), $119/month (Advanced), with custom plans also available.
If you're looking for social media management software that can deliver automated publishing at scale, then eClincher might be for you. It allows you to categorize your content into themed queues such as ‘industry articles,’ ‘tips,’ and ‘blogs.’ Your updates will then be published automatically across any chosen social network. The platform also supports content recycling, a feature that is increasingly useful at a time when social posts can quickly be buried under others.
eClincher's platform also lets you monitor important keywords and hashtags and track discussions around your brand. Its social listening functions aren't perfect, and there are certainly better social media analytics tools out there. But it does a good enough job for those who want a quick insight into what others are saying about them.
Integrations with Canva and ChatGTP mean it's easier than ever for social media managers to create new content themselves. Suggested content and real-time analysis of engagement means the dashboard will quickly become a go-to hub for delivering successful content strategies for small- and medium-sized businesses.
Pros:
An ideal platform for helping small- and medium-sized businesses deliver the content management side of their social media strategy.
Cons:
Its interface was recently modernized but still has a bulky UI that needs smoothing out.
Pricing:
$65 p/m for a basic package on 1 user and 10 profiles, scaling to $425 p/m for agencies. (10% off with an annual plan)
CoSchedule is an all-in-one communications platform for those with targets to meet across everything from on-site content creation to customer acquisition. Its social media management software is part of its Marketing Suite, the section of the platform that helps users with marketing calendar planning, content creation, and asset organization.
Social media is just one section of the CoSchedule tool and lets you target specific social accounts to reach your audience faster. You can see all posts on the calendar dashboard view and monitor their performance in real time, which can be useful if you’re spending all your time in the back end and want to see what your feed looks like.
Use the Social Message Optimizer to see how your posts would perform before publishing and to speed up your content creation process.
Pros:
Ideal for marketers who need a straightforward strategy for their social media, without taking time and resources away from on-page content and SEO workloads.
Cons:
Social media publishing doesn't extend to TikTok while finding a price for the Marketing Suite requires a customer to contact the sales team for a bespoke package.
Pricing:
$29 p/m for Pro Marketing Calendar, while there is no set price for the Marketing Suite
Seismic's fancy-sounding 'Enablement Cloud' is an all-in-one tool that unites sales, marketing, and content delivery in one place. While this Cloud can be used to run a business's entire marketing operation, we're really interested in its social media management tool.
This comes from its impressive content automation and strategy features. Social media marketers can generate quick, on-brand content that feeds into strategy via the Seismic platform and maintain consistency across a project. From there, they use the same platform to monitor every post they put out.
Seismic also champions what it calls 'social selling' and has a bank of guides to help new customers figure out their best strategy on social media, whether they work in B2B or own an SME.
Pros:
Seismic's impressive dashboard makes it easy to automate content and stay on message.
Cons:
This powerful management tool is more suitable for large sales and marketing departments rather than companies with just one or two marketing employees.
Pricing:
Not advertised.
While many of these tools offer social media management as part of their overall marketing package, Zoho Social is a specialized social media management tool. It's quick and easy to use, with an aim of saving content creators time when it comes to monitoring and reporting on the success of their posts.
A well-crafted content calendar is perfect for getting posts out there, while Zoho Social has ‘listening columns’ that lets users monitor everything they need, including brand reviews, brand mentions, and @mentions.
Audience listening, engagement data, performance, and reach are available for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (currently rebranding to X), YouTube, TikTok, and more.
Pros:
It’s nice and simple. The platform is easy to set up and begin working with from day one.
Cons:
No more than one team member is permitted on the Standard and Professional packages, making cross-business integration difficult.
Pricing:
Between $10.50 and $43 p/m.
If you need to publish identical content across multiple platforms then SocialPilot is the tool for you. You can manage the creation of posts from Facebook, Twitter (currently rebranding to X), Instagram and the rest, and categorize them to your clients via its Groups function.
This makes SocialPilot an ideal platform for agencies that manage multiple social accounts. Schedule up to 500 posts in advance and spend your time monitoring your successes and shortcomings and tweaking upcoming posts.
SocialPilot also has an 'evergreen content' store to keep your best stuff safe and available to reuse at a later date. This, alongside its Analytics and Reports tools, makes it a highly worthwhile piece of software for social media managers.
Pros:
The ability to manage multiple client accounts and schedule up to 500 posts in advance means social media managers can get ahead.
Cons:
There is no ‘Social Inbox’ access to the lowest-paid membership, which might put off small businesses and individuals.
Pricing:
Between $25.50 p/m and $170 p/m.
Hootsuite is a good social media management tool for busy social media marketers looking to have everything in one place. Its original focus on publishing and scheduling has expanded into customer engagement and activity monitoring. This is managed all from one dashboard.
Hootsuite also provides data analysis and ad content, to lend businesses a hand in scaling up their brand reputation. New in the suite is the OwlyWriter AI, which – like the Brandwatch AI – does things like instantly generate social media captions and propose options to fill content gaps. Perfect for a day when you’re low on inspiration.
Its software for social media management allows for multiple users across different departments, aiding the development and execution of large social campaigns. Its integration with Brandwatch’s social media analytics tools means Hootsuite is a strong solution for those seeking to combine social analytics with publishing and engagement.
Pros:
An expansive range of benefits from a social media management software that lets multiple departments work in one place.
Cons:
Hootsuite is a complex and multifunctional platform, which makes it a little daunting for those new to social media management.
Pricing:
There is a 30-day free trial for all new customers, and a four-tier pricing structure from $99/month to $739/month, with custom plans available. You can skip the free trial and get 20% off.
Sendible aims to help you scale up your social media output while still ensuring you oversee every post as you go. Social media managers can collaborate with clients and bring them onto the platform in order to better share ideas and outline strategy goals.
The Sendible dashboard is easy to use and can be personalized to your clients. This makes it ideal for agencies working on multiple campaigns and managers who need to report back easily-understandable results to their seniors.
With Sendible, you can track your published posts, discover new content through its smart social listening software, and give clients access so they can oversee and liaise on projects. Create approval workflows to eradicate typos and errors, and use automated reports to keep clients up to date.
Pros:
Sendible is an all-in-one platform for content creation, analysis, and reporting that clients can monitor throughout a project.
Cons:
Small- and medium-sized businesses may not be able to afford the White Label package to access Sendible’s full range of tools.
Pricing:
$29 p/m to $399 p/m
MavSocial is all about ease of use, and businesses that have social media managers or content creators who work in different time zones will likely benefit from its straightforward dashboard and communications links.
Scheduling and post automation is what MavSocial does best, even if the platform graphics feel a little dated. What's impressive about MavSocial, though, is its digital asset management suite. You can easily store and alter high-res images, then drop them into your social schedule. If you're a business that champions high-quality images in its social media marketing – say you’re producing amazing ad campaigns – then MavSocial is definitely worth looking at.
Pros:
An exceptionally powerful post creation tool for social media managers tasked with dealing with high-res images.
Cons:
A tired-looking dashboard might put some people off, particularly if they’re design aficionados.
Pricing:
$78 to $499.
Awario's big selling point is that it's a social media insights tool, which marketers can use alongside a separate content creation tool to improve their overall reputation and reach. So, Awario can’t generate your next TikTok video, but it can help you figure out what to publish.
What's great about the platform is its deep analytics data reports that look at the sentiment in reactions to your posts. Figure out what's doing well and what you need to change. If you’ve got a strong social presence already but are looking for more reach and engagement or want to improve your workflow, this could be the tool for you.
Pros:
Awario delivers a thorough social listening platform to assist your content creation.
Cons:
Some users have highlighted a long onboarding process.
Pricing:
$38 to $380 p/m.
Social media management tools may all appear similar on the surface, but when you dig into them each one offers something unique. There's something for everyone here but it requires you to consider what you need when selecting a social media management tool before you get started.
If you need help creating content then a tool that offers an AI plug-in can help generate new posts in an instant. If you're stuck on strategy and need to grow then a management platform with in-built KPIs could be for you.
No matter which tool you choose, keep an eye out for free trial periods and take advantage of what's on offer. That way you can get a taste of how a tool works and, importantly, how your business works with the platform before committing to a paid plan.
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Existing customer?Log in to access your existing Falcon products and data via the login menu on the top right of the page.New customer?You'll find the former Falcon products under 'Social Media Management' if you go to 'Our Suite' in the navigation.
Brandwatch acquired Paladin in March 2022. It's now called Influence, which is part of Brandwatch's Social Media Management solution.Want to access your Paladin account?Use the login menu at the top right corner.