As 2018 draws to a close, we are constantly inundated with new Social Media Management tools, all with competing and robust features and benefits. With the abundance and the ongoing growth of Social Networks, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest updates for each platform, or even just to keep engagement rates on the rise.
When it comes to Social Media, engagement is a huge part of retaining customers and making them feel part of your brand and journey. Yes, social media is a great way to increase brand awareness. But is also an effective digital marketing tool for connecting with your target audience. 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others. (Source: Ambassador) These tools allow you to monitor your online presence and respond to any queries immediately.
Social Media tools take the lengthy process of engaging with your consumers online and simplify it. Allowing you to keep up to date across a broad range of platforms and manage multiple accounts in one place. These tools give the opportunity to fine-tune your customer relationship management too. You can add notes to specific customers with some tools to improve efficiency and to provide a better customer experience.
If you work in a large team, with several people involved with the same account, a Social Media Management Tool can also provide transparency, for example avoiding responding to the same enquiry twice on Twitter. You can also perform research from trending Keywords to hashtags, making it easier to curate a content calendar. Having your content organised and scheduled where you can see it all in one place is an effective way of maintaining quality, measuring results and ensuring you are providing relevant, original content on a consistent basis.
So what Social Media Management Tools should you be using going into 2019? We’ve curated our top 3 below:
Hootsuite
If you’re not new to the Digital Marketing world, the name Hootsuite won’t be new to you. One of the first Social Media Management Tools available, Hootsuite has many features and benefits that are constantly updated to make your Social Media content easier.
You can schedule hundreds of social media posts simultaneously across multiple accounts, measure the results of your Campaigns to track and prove your social ROI and analyse keywords and conversations that people are having online about your brand. Hootsuite is on the pricier side of Social Media Management tools, however, you do have the option to use it for free, with limited features. Also, you cannot respond to social messages through Hootsuite, instead, you can manually log in to your social media profile to reply. Hootsuite’s pros seem to outweigh the cons with the endless features available and with so many Social Network options. For us, it takes the win.
Buffer
Buffer has also been around for a long time and is one of the biggest Social Media Management tools available today. Like Hootsuite, you can schedule posts across multiple Social Networks. And instead of choosing the time and date individually, Buffer will automatically publish posts according to the posting schedule you set up. The analytics tool allows you to compare the success of previous posts to help maintain engagement levels and stay relevant. It’s easy to use and is reasonably priced. However, Buffer does not cater to Instagram, so it’s a good idea to know exactly what you want to use these tools for before you commit to a plan.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is another big player in the Social Media Management tools game. This all-in-one tool allows you to schedule, analyse and engage your audience with extensive extra features such as Bit.ly integration and a unified Social CRM inbox, making it one of the pricier options. The tool has an easy to use interface and has the added extra of Social Listening.
Sprout Social also caters to a lower amount of Social Networks than Hootsuite, which is one of its drawbacks. In terms of pricing, again, Sprout Social is on the higher end of the scale and does not offer a free plan. However if you’re looking for a tool with robust features that you can utilise to your benefit, then it could work best for you.
Social Media Management tools are constantly updating to keep up and stay ahead with one another. Each tool is unique and there are pros and cons for each. All we know is that if you manage Social Media profiles, then you should be using one of these!
Don’t have time to manage your Social Media? Need to outsource to the experts? We can help. FireTap knows how to make the most of your social media and use it as an effective digital marketing tool for connecting with your target audience. We work closely with you to identify the appropriate social media platforms for your business and develop a social media strategy to reach and engage your target audiences.
We are seriously good at what we do. If you want to know how we can help you develop your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch by calling us on 020 3911 9715 or making an Online Enquiry.
We’re here to help every step of the way, navigating you through the modern marketing landscape.
