Social Media Management Tools: What Works & Why You Need Them

Maintaining a consistent online presence on your social media networks has become an essential part of all businesses. With today’s consumers being active on multiple social platforms, companies must remain on top of their channels to engage their users and grow their brands. “Currently, there are 3.78 social media users worldwide in 2021-and this number is only going to continue to grow over the next few years. As it stands, that request to about 48 percent of the current world population” (Oberlo, 2021).

Most commonly used are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. With Facebook being the market leader, “With over 2.32 billion active monthly users” (Oberlo, 2021). While not every network is relevant or valuable to your business, the chances are that your customers are already active on a few of them. With that, this means it is vital for companies to be active on their social accounts, posting relevant content or creating engaging conversations with their audiences and continuing to bring brand awareness. “Activity and engagement is crucial for every social platform to build a positive brand experience, and develop meaningful relationships with new and potential future customers” (Hootsuite, 2020).

Maintaining a social presence on multiple social networks can seem like an impossible task. Especially when Social Media Markets are already responsible for creating and planning social content strategies/calendars, then posting said content, all while responding and engaging their audience on ten+ social media platforms — daily.

Managing multiple accounts simultaneously can be overwhelming, especially when maintaining a consistent and lively online presence. However, there are tools and resources to take advantage of, which will ease some of that burden.

Social Media Management Tools: What Are They?
Social Media Management Tools allow users to manage all their consolidated social media accounts from a single interface or tool. These tools enable businesses to work more efficiently by simplifying the process of engaging with their audiences, publishing content, analyzing data, and generating reports. In other terms, a social media management tool saves businesses time and money.

Reasons you should invest in a Social Media Management Tool:

1. One tool = all accounts. The days of keeping up with multiple usernames and passwords or over. Take the stress out of managing your social media platforms by logging into one user-face and take care of business!
2. Never miss out! Consumers are online all the time. You do not want to miss an excellent opportunity to engage with your audience, and social media management tools make it almost impossible to miss a notification. These tools allow you to keep track of what is essential to your company and streamline the conversation with your consumers.
3. Save Time. Get it done. Social Media Management Tools take the stress out of content planning and scheduling. A good tool will allow users to organize their content, schedule what and when they want to post, and then post it automatically! This not only saves time but saves money.
4. Be on top! Social Media Marketing Tools help you maintain better social media listening. These tools allow you to see your competitors, the market, what is trending, and how you can improve your social strategy and message (FanBooster, 2020).
5. See What's Working. It is a waste of time, money, and resources to continuously post content that isn’t returning your investment. Management tools can provide insight into what is working and what isn’t by showing your likes, comments, retweets, click-through rates, engagements, etc. Additionally, knowing what works can help you better plan for future content. “ Understanding what these numbers mean and adjusting accordingly is crucial. The cycle to social media optimization is simple: test, tweak, optimize” (Eclincher, n.d.).
6. Data Collection. Social Media Management Tools are a great asset to companies in generating valuable data regarding their online presence. “Social media management tools can help you collect the data from all separate channels and provide you with a clear and concentrated report — only showing the key performance indicators (KPI’s) and metrics that are relevant to you or your managers” (The Next Ad, 2020).

So what tools are worth it?
A quick google search will inundate you with dozens of social media management tools. To take out the grunt work, I compared two social media management tools Hootsuite and CoSchedule, and I can say that Hootsuite takes the cake. Hootsuite is capable of managing and syncing media accounts from Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest — while letting you plan and schedule posts across all platforms. It also allows you to monitor online trends easily and receive social media analytics to improve your social strategies. Lastly and most importantly, you can manage three social profiles FOR FREE.

Hootsuite’s competitor, CoSchedule, falls short. It does not manage nearly as many platforms as Hootsuite but manages Facebook and Twitter, Google Docs, and WordPress while also offering a short-term free trial.

As a Social Media Manager utilizing a social media marketing tool makes sense. If you want to manage your time efficiently and effectively, then take the time to research what social media management tool can work for you and your business.