5 Best Social Media Management Tools 2023

ByCarol Updated on

Are you a small business owner, you know that staying ahead of the competition means being up to date on all the best social media management tools. With so many options out there, it can be hard to choose the right one for your needs. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the five best social media management tools for 2023.

Whether you’re just starting out or have thousands of followers across all major platforms, these solutions will help make sure your brand is communicating effectively with its audiences.

Read on to learn more about the different features built into each platform so you can pick the one that is right for you.

Interested in growing your business through social media? You are not alone…..By 2026, 60% of millennial and Gen Z consumers will prefer making purchases on social platforms over traditional digital commerce platforms.

In fact, 73% of all marketers rank “increased acquisition of new customers” as their top outcome for social in 2021

Photo by Aman Pal

Social Media Tools

Social media is a great way to connect with customers, promote your products or services, and build brand awareness. If you’re trying to manage social media through multiple platforms, it can be overwhelming. That’s where social media management tool comes in.

They can help you understand what’s working, what isn’t, and gives you insights for future campaigns. With the right tool, managing multiple accounts becomes much easier than before. So if you’re looking for a way to simplify your social media marketing, consider investing in a social media analytics tool. It could be the best decision you ever make for your business!

Automation tools can save you time by allowing you to schedule posts in advance. These tools also make it easy for you to monitor conversations about your brand on social media.

1. Crowdfire – Best Overall Social Media Management Tool

Crowdfire is quickly becoming a must-have for anyone with an online presence. It offers 19 million+ users cutting edge features to maximize their visibility and help them deliver smart social media strategies.

In addition to sharing content, Crowdfire helps you grow more followers and mentions by automatically discovering articles and images that will love—so you never have to worry about coming up empty.

Moreover, the platform has highly competitive pricing plans, adds on extras easily, and its transparency means you’re always in control of your content. Not only does it enable you to pre-schedule posts at the times of your choice, but also provides extensive analytics that help track outreach efforts and monitor website traffic from each post from each network. With Crowdfire, you can make sure your timelines are buzzing every day with relevant, engaging content.

That’s why it’s the go-to tool for countless people looking to optimize their social media strategies!

Top Features

  • Content Curation
  • Automation
  • Scheduling publication
  • Competitor Analysis
  • Report customizer
  • Mention Monitoring and Instant reply management

Pricing plan

  • Crowdfire offer 5 plans, the basic option is FREE.
  • Plus plan starts at $7.48 p/m and is recommended for Start up’s and Solopreneurs
  • The Premium Package is $37.48 p/m and covers everything a medium business needs to manage its social media presence.
  • VIP package $74.98 p/m and is geared towards large companies and digital agencies.
free Sign up to Crowdfire

2. Hootsuite – Best Social Media Marketing Tool

Hootsuite is the leading social media management platform, and for over a decade it has been helping businesses use social media to increase their visibility and reach. Hootsuite’s powerful tools make it easier to schedule posts, track analytics, and collaborate with team members.

Hootsuite also has a free plan perfect for small businesses just beginning their social media journey. With Hootsuite you can easily create, manage, and publish content across popular social networks from a central dashboard. It also lets you take advantage of its Social Commerce messaging feature that helps you provide exceptional customer experiences with no extra effort.

Hootsuite helps you build your brand while simplifying your marketing efforts and providing in-depth customer insights – making it the ideal choice for launching successful digital campaigns!

Top Features

  • Publish and schedule
  • Engage customers
  • Manage incoming messages from multiple social channels
  • Monitor activity
  • Advertise content
  • Analyze results

Pricing plan

Hootsuite offers 4 x plans. 2 of which are tailored for the needs of small businesses and come with a 30 day free trial. Which means you can test the software out and be sure it meets your needs before committing to a purchase.

  • Professional Plan starts at $49 p/m and lets you manage 10 Social accounts, Unlimited posts, Post scheduling and full access to messages in one inbox
  • Team costs $249 p/m and is ideal for a lean start up as it comes with full access for 3 users and manages up to 20 accounts.
Sign up for hootsuite

3. Buffer – Best Free Social Media Management Plan

Buffer is a powerful and reliable marketing tool for ambitious businesses and people who want to build their audience organically. Its intuitive features, such as post scheduling, analytics and team collaboration tools give users the tools they need to craft engaging content that stands out from the competition.

It also includes access to various integrations with Zapier, IFTTT and other platforms such as Dropbox, and Google Drive, which allows users to easily share their content on multiple channels. Buffer’s suggested hashtags, businesses can increase their reach quickly and make sure their content reaches the right audiences.

With its easy-to-use interface and great feature set, Buffer is a must-have for businesses looking for an affordable solution for building an audience organically.

Top Features

  • Planning and scheduling; Management & Custom posting schedules
  • Instagram scheduling features
  • Performance overview report
  • Engagement: Respond to Facebook comments and Instagram, Sentiment labels

Pricing plan

Buffer 4 plans in total. Their first plan is free and offers the basics, so you can sign up and test it.

  • The Essential plan is only $5 p/m and comes with a 14 day free trial.
  • The Team plan is $10 p/m and comes with a 14 day free trial.
  • Agency package $100 p/m and manages up to 100 channels and comes with a 14 day free trial.
try Buffer

4. Sprout Social – Best Social Media Listening Tools

Sprout Social offers a comprehensive and powerful social media management solution, allowing businesses to get the most out of their presence on social media. With Social Sprout, you can track and gather trends and insights from their social engagement data for informed decision-making. Social Sprout’s platform promotes user adoption through its usability, customer support satisfaction and commitment to delivering ROI.

Social Sprout is trusted by more than 30,000 businesses from all over the world, from small startups to renowned organizations. Social Sprout enables social analytics, social engagement, content publishing, listening for conversations about your brand, automation for efficient workflow and collaborative partnerships among team members.

Top Features (which they’ve tailored for) Smaller teams, bigger challenges

  1. Publishing tools
    Social Sprout’s publishing tools allow you to schedule and publish content across all of your social media channels from one central location. You can also customize your content for each individual channel, as well as track the performance of your posts with detailed analytics.
  2. Engagement tools
    Social Sprout’s engagement tools help you to quickly and easily respond to comments, messages, and reviews from customers across all of your social media channels. You can also use the platform to monitor social media conversations for keywords and brand mentions, so you can quickly jump in and engage with potential customers.
  3. Analytics tools
    Social Sprout’s analytics tools give you detailed insights into the performance of your social media campaigns. You can track your reach, engagement, and conversions, as well as see which types of content are performing best on each channel. This information can help you to fine-tune your social media strategy for maximum results.
  4. Customer support
    Social Sprout offers 24/7 customer support so you can always get help when you need it. The team is available via phone, email, or live chat, and they’re always happy to answer any questions you may have about the platform or your social media campaigns.

Pricing plan

  • Free trial
    Social Sprout offers a free 30-day trial so you can try out all of the features before committing to a paid plan. This is a great way to see if the platform is right for you and your business before investing any money.
  • The Standard plan starts at $249 p/m and comes with a 30 day free trial
  • The most popular plan is the Professional plan and it costs $399 p/m and includes all the features and a 30 day free trial
Sign up for Sprout Social

5. SocialPilot – Best Social Media Analytics Tool

Social Pilot is the perfect tool for any business looking to hit their social media marketing goals. This amazing and affordable program allows you to publish, schedule and customize posts across all major social media platforms with ease.

Scheduling is a breeze, allowing you to upload up to 500 posts in bulk! Social Pilot also provides valuable analytics and reports that allow you to keep track of your progress, or you can share them directly with your clients using Social Pilot’s convenient branding feature.

Social Inbox allows you to continue the conversation easily, ensuring that customers’ queries remain attended and nothing slips through the cracks – making Social Pilot the ideal choice for any marketer!

Top Features

  1. Engagement Tools: Social Pilot’s engagement tools help businesses to interact with their customers and followers on social media. The platform provides users with a range of features, including the ability to post updates, respond to comments, and track engagement metrics.
  2. Reporting Capabilities: Social Pilot’s reporting capabilities help businesses to track their social media performance. The platform provides users with a range of reports, including detailed posts analysis, social media insights, and competitor analysis.

Pricing plan

All packages come with a 14 day free trial and if you pay annual, you’ll make a savings of 15%.

  • Professional $25.50 p/m: 10 Social Media Accounts and 1 user
  • Social Pilot Small Team costs $42.50 p/m and lets you manage 20 Social Media Account with 3 users
  • Their Agency package is their most popular option and costs $85 p/m
Sign up for social pilot

What Is The Best Software To Manage Your Social Media Presence?

Social media tools help you manage your social networks efficiently at scale. They can help you with tasks such as scheduling posts, analyzing your audience, and optimizing your campaigns across a number of platforms. 

This way, you can respond quickly when someone mentions or messages your brand online. There are many other benefits of using these types of tools as well including analytics reports and detailed insights into which posts are performing well. So if you’re serious about growing your business through social media, be sure to invest in the right tools.

What are the Benefits of Social Media?

Social Media provides many benefits for your business such as Brand awareness Increase brand awareness – With over half of the world’s population using social media, platforms like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter a natural place to reach new and highly targeted potential customers.

Growth

Increase website traffic: Social media posts and ads are key ways to drive traffic to your website. Sharing great content from your blog or website to your social channels is a great way to get readers as soon as you publish a new post. (You can even use UTM tracking tags to collect data on your click-throughs!)

Participating in social chats can also be a great way to increase your visibility, get attention from new people, showcase your expertise, and drive traffic to your website. (Though make sure to go beyond self-promotion to offer real value!).Include your website address in all of your social media profiles so that people who want to learn more about you can do so with one easy click.

Leads

Generate leads: Social media offers an easy and low-commitment way for potential customers to express interest in your business and your products. Lead generation is such an important benefit of social media for business that many social networks offer advertising formats specifically designed to collect leads.

Sales

Boost sales: Your social accounts are a critical part of your sales funnel—the process through which a new contact becomes a customer. (Lingo alert: this is called social selling!). As the number of people using social media continues to grow and social sales tools evolve, social networks will become increasingly important for product search and ecommerce. The time is right to align your social marketing efforts with sales goals.

How To Choose An Social Media Platforms?

Okay, so let’s talk about the factors you should take into account when deciding which social media tools to use.

Curating and Social Media Posting

Tools for curating content and posting to your social media come with an array of features such as “smart queues” which create a posting schedule for you based on audience activity and past performance, or “auto-posting” which means the tool will post your content at predetermined times.

Some tools even suggest content to post that is tailored to your audience or interests, and many of them also have a media library where you can store images and videos making it easy to add to posts. Another feature that many posting tools come with is auto-fill. When you have a gap in your queue, your highest performing posts will be pulled in to fill in space.

Relationship Building and Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

If you need to keep track of your customers, you’ll need a social media tool that includes CRM (Customer Relationship Management) functionality. This will help you do things like: get referrals and leads from social media, reach and engage with customers, find influencers to connect with, and store customer profiles. CRM tools give you the opportunity to serve your customers better than before and build stronger relationships.

Collaboration

There are social media management tools that include collaboration tools. With these tools, you can work with your team on content, social media posts, and other tasks. This will help you to organize your communications and projects in one place. The tool will be accessible to everyone on your team.

Analytics

Analytics are key to any successful social media marketing strategy. They let you monitor your posts, pages and accounts so that you can understand what is working with your social media campaigns or not. Analytics also give insight into who is viewing/interacting with each post or update. Another advantage of using analytics is that you can see everything in one place, instead of having to sign in to different platforms and check your analytics individually.

There are a few things to keep in mind if analytics are especially important to you:

If the reports are clean and easy to read, you can simply download them and then send them along to the client, management. Some tools won’t just measure results – they’ll give you recommendations on how to improve your performance.

If you need more features, look for a social media management tool that has integrations and unique features. For example: competitor analysis so you can see what they’re doing right and where they’re leaving gaps, do-it-yourself landing page builder to give you control over where you direct your audience, Facebook contest apps so you can create a Facebook contest right from the management tool, and in-depth management for platforms such as being able to follow or unfollow people on Twitter right through the management tool.

There are many different tools that you can use to manage your social media accounts. However, if you want a tool that has all the features, you should look for an all-in-one tool. Just be aware that even all-in-one tools have some features that are missing.

To find the right comprehensive tool, think about the features you do and don’t need. You want to find a tool that includes what you need without having too many features that you will never use. All-in-one tools can do things like: Analytics and reporting, Monitor multiple social media accounts simultaneously, Respond to customers via various communication channels, Schedule social media posts.

Customer Support

Customer Support is an essential part of any social media management tool. The more features your social media management tool has, the more you’ll need to rely on customer support. You need to make sure that your customer service team can respond quickly and be friendly, helpful people when you have questions or problems with using the program! You should also make sure you can troubleshoot on your own to solve minor problems.

When it comes to usability it is important to try out the tool before you decide to buy it and connect it to your platforms. The tool should be easy to use, intuitive and have automation capabilities to complete simple and repetitive tasks. small businesses may need more advanced features than what is included in basic tools. And companies that focus on a specific type of marketing might find an easier-to-use tool with only the basics meets their needs. Social media tools come with a lot of choices, so you can find the perfect one for your business’ goals.

Have Questions? We Have Answers.

Frequently asked questions about Social Media Management Tools.

Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Buffer are all great social media management tools. They offer a variety of features, including the ability to manage multiple accounts, schedule posts, and track analytics.

Each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to choose one that will fit your needs. Hootsuite is probably the most comprehensive tool, while Buffer is great for small businesses with limited resources. Sprout Social is a good option if you want to combine social media management with other marketing activities like email marketing and CRM.

Social media management tools allow you to save time by helping you schedule and publish posts on your social media platforms. Some tools also offer analytics features that help you track the success of your posts and measure your audience engagement.

To use a social media management tool, first create an account with the tool. Then, connect your social media accounts to the tool. Once your accounts are connected, you can start creating posts. The tool will automatically publish your posts according to the schedule you set up. You can also edit or delete posts as needed. Additionally, most tools offer analytics features that provide insights into how well your posts are performing.

There are a number of different tools that can be effective for managing social media. Some of the most popular ones include Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Buffer. However, there are also a number of other options available, so it’s important to find one that best suits your needs.

One of the benefits of using a tool like Hootsuite is that it allows you to schedule posts ahead of time, which can help you save time. Additionally, it provides you with analytical data that can help you track how well your posts are performing.

Sprout Social is also a popular option because it offers a wide range of features, including scheduling, reporting, and team management tools.

The key features of these tools are that they allow you to share and listen to content, schedule content, automate publishing, and publish in real time. Each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to choose the tool that will work best for your individual needs.

Sharing and listening is one of the key features of these tools because it allows you to curate content and find new sources of information. Scheduling content is another key feature because it allows you to plan your social media calendar in advance. Automation is important because it helps you save time by automating certain tasks. And finally, publishing in real time is important because it allows you to respond to current events quickly and easily.

Most social media management tools are designed to be user-friendly and easy to learn. The best ones have simple interfaces that make it easy for you to accomplish all your tasks without having to learn a lot of complicated bells and whistles.

That said, it’s always important to do your research before you buy any kind of software, so you can be sure you’re getting something that will work well for your needs. And if you ever have questions about how to use a tool, most good social media management platforms offer customer support in the form of tutorials.

There are many different tools that can help with social media engagement. Some of the most popular tools include Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Buffer.

Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows you to connect all of your social media accounts in one place. This makes it easy to track all of your channels and responses in one place.

Sprout Social is a social media marketing platform that helps you better understand your audience and how they interact with your brand. It also provides insights into which content is resonating best with your audience.

Buffer is a social media scheduling tool that helps you schedule posts ahead of time for all of your social media channels. This helps you ensure that your content is delivered frequently and on time with your audience.

The best free social media management tools are the ones that meet the needs of your business and help you achieve your goals. The most basic of tools should make it easier for you to publish content, reach a bigger audience, increase brand recognition and analyze the reports. The right platform can give you better sales and generate good reviews for your business.

There are a few major tools of media management, the most popular and well-known being Hootsuite and Crowdfire. These offer the broadest range of features and functionality, making them ideal for managing large amounts of content and social media accounts. Other tools include Sprout Social, Buffer, and CoSchedule.

There are a number of tools that can help with social media management. These tools vary in their features, but they typically offer some combination of the following:
– Scheduling posts
– Tracking analytics
– Monitoring mentions and messages
– Editing photos and videos
– Analyzing trends

Each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to find one that suits your needs. For example, if you’re looking for a tool that offers extensive analytic data, then Hootsuite would be a good option. If you’re more concerned with scheduling posts, then Buffer would be a better choice.

Social media management tools offer tons of benefits, but there are a few potential downsides to be aware of as well.

First, using social media management tools can help you save time by streamlining your workflow and allowing you to post content across all your social media platforms at once. This means that you can spend less time on social media overall, which is great if you find it to be a time-sink.

However, there is always the potential for automation to go wrong. If mismanaged, automated campaigns can result in uneven messaging or even worse – negative publicity. So it’s important to always test and tweak your campaigns before launching them live, and to keep a close eye on engagement levels and feedback from followers.

Social media management tools help with engagement by providing users with the ability to see how their social media posts are performing. They also provide users with the ability to schedule posts ahead of time, which can help to ensure that content is being posted consistently.

Additionally, social media management tools can help to identify influential followers and target them with specific content in order to increase engagement.

Tools can vary in price depending on their quality and features. However, as a general rule, you can expect to pay anywhere from $10 to $200 for a good quality tool. It is also important to remember that you get what you pay for, so if you opt for the cheapest tool available, you may find that it doesn’t last as long or doesn’t work as well as more expensive options.

There are many social media management tools available, both paid and free. Some of the most popular free tools include Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Buffer. These tools allow you to manage all of your social media accounts in one place, schedule posts, track analytics, and more.

If you’re looking for a more powerful tool that offers more features, paid options like BuzzSumo offer a lot of value for the price. These tools can help you with everything from content planning to analyzing your competition’s social media activity.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best tool for managing your social media presence will vary depending on the specific social media platforms you use and your own personal preferences and needs.

However, some general tips that may help include using a social media dashboard or management tool to help track all of your accounts in one place, scheduling content ahead of time to save time, and using tools like Hootsuite or Google Alerts to help monitor mentions of your brand online.

1. Start by defining your goals for using social media tools. What do you hope to achieve?
2. Identify the key audiences you want to reach with your social media efforts.
3. Choose the social media tools that will best help you reach your target audiences.
4. Develop content and strategies for using those tools effectively.
5. Monitor and adjust your efforts regularly to ensure you’re achieving your desired results.

There are a variety of ways to measure social media success, but some of the most important metrics include reach, engagement, and social signals.

Reach is the number of people who have seen your content, while engagement is the number of people who have interacted with it. Social signals are the number of likes, shares, and comments your content has received.

These metrics can help you determine whether your social media strategy is working and whether you need to make changes. However, it’s also important to engage with your audience and create content that is engaging and relevant to them.

SSO, or single sign-on, is an important feature for social media management because it allows users to access all of their social media accounts with a single login. It saves time and energy. Instead of having to remember multiple login credentials (usernames and passwords), you only need to remember one set of login information.

Final Thoughts

Social Media Management tools can provide your business with valuable insight and ways to engage potential customers. From automating tasks such as post scheduling, Easily analyzing your audience, Optimizing your campaigns across multiple platforms, Responding quickly to mentions and messages, Getting detailed insights into which posts – Everything you need to deliver your social media marketing strategy.

We hope you’ve found this article helpful and insightful. If so, we urge you to explore our other blog posts on social media marketing tips for small business owners. Our goal is to help as many entrepreneurs and marketers as possible grow their businesses through the power of digital and automation tools that allow them to focus more time on what they do best – making great products and providing excellent service! Which one of these SaaS solutions have you tried?

Leave a comment below with your thoughts!

Carol

Carol Anne is a seasoned pro in the digital marketing and eCommerce world. With a Master's in Entrepreneurship Marketing tucked under their belt, they've spent over two decades working with big names across a range of industries - think finance and travel. They're all about taking their hard-earned wisdom and using it to help fellow entrepreneurs hit their business targets.