As last year’s lockdowns forced many small companies to close their doors, many of them migrated online. While this assisted them in gaining more clients and surviving the pandemic, it also brought a new challenge: maintaining a digital presence on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. It turns out that there are a plethora of apps targeted at making activities like scheduling posts, evaluating engagement, and monitoring transactions easier. Bloomberg asked digital business consultants about their top social media management tools. Here are their top recommendations:
Hootsuite
The software allows you to generate and schedule articles across many networks, as well as monitor what people are saying and evaluate why your material works – or does not work. According to Alisa Cohn, a startup and CEO coach, Hootsuite is “a very smart shortcut and time aver.” A single-person license costs $49 per month, while a companywide license costs up to $599 per month.
Ripl
Ripl can help businesses that need content development and engagement monitoring but don’t have the cash for professional labor. The company provides templates for social media brand marketing and allows you to plan updates and rack how viewers interact with your material. It is $15 each month, or $120 per year.
Buffer
This platform allows users o schedule tweets and Facebook posts from any device or browser, and an extension called Pablo provides a rapid way to produce photos and graphics for social media, which makes it a suitable fit for organizations with limited social media resources. “The free option can be a great way for the most budget-strapped- small businesses to start out,” says Vicky Wu, CEO of Vicky Wu Marketing. Add-ons start at $5 per month and are free.
Sprout Social
Allows users to schedule posts across several platforms, coordinate and code campaigns for future reference, and track what competitors are doing on social media. According to Brooklyn Holt, a marketing specialist at Rice University’s Doerr Institute, the application “provides detailed metric reports on performance and engagements that can be compared across specific ranges of dates/times.” Monthly fees range from $99 to $279 per person.
SocialPilot
Enables you to plan posts, monitor performance, and discover and share hot online content. If you’re running ad campaigns, integration with Facebook Ads can help SocialPilot stand out from the crowd. A base package costs $30 per month, with additional user access and services costing up to $150 per month.
Grin
This service connects influencers and businesses in order to help brands better target their clients. “You can get massive word-of-mouth traffic,” says Cohn, the startup coach. “And if you tap into influencers who have diverse networks, you can reach a lot more people.” Pricing is affected by the influencer.