All social media managers use specific social media management tools in order to make day-to-day activities easier. In order to help you, here are some of those tools, together with the associated advantages and disadvantages that you have to be aware of.
HootSuite
HootSuite is basically the most popular of all the social media management tools that are used by professionals right now. You have access to various built-in analytics and you use it in order to schedule posts on all main social media channels.
Advantages:
- Connects to all main social media channels
- Offers highly comprehensive analytics
- Posting updates is made really easy
- The free social media management version offers the possibility to manage over 2 profiles
- An unlimited number of accounts can be managed
Disadvantages:
- Highly complex � really steep learning curve
- Twitter posts that have pictures cannot be scheduled properly
- Some people do not like the present interface
- All posts will be listed as being added via HootSuite
- Only owl.ly can be used as an URL shortener
Crowdbooster
The tool is highly valuable at helping professional marketers to create reports for clients or for the manager to have data that is easy to access.
Advantages:
- You get reminders to respond to missed Tweets
- Visually appealing
- Intuitive navigation
- Recommendations about how to find relevant content sources
- Can be used with bit.ly
- Scheduler is really easy to use
Disadvantages:
- Just supports Facebook and Twitter
- Basic analytics
- It takes time to aggregate the social media channels
- Keywords are not monitored
Bufferapp
Bufferapp has been gaining a really large popularity, mainly because of the fact that it is more user friendly as compared to Hootsuite. This social media management tool is nowadays highly preferred by managers. You use the app in order to add updates and space them out appropriately. You also have some extra features that are associated with paid versions.
Advantages:
- You can use the URL shortening that you want
- Web interface is really easy to use
- Users will schedule the number of posts that they want
Disadvantages:
- Only 10 posts can be scheduled when you have free accounts
- Only 2 profiles can be added to free accounts
- The analytics feature is really basic
- The scheduling features are not too advanced, especially when compared with Hootsuite
Choose Your Tools Carefully
The tools that we highlighted above are just some of the many that you can consider. It is really important that you stay focused on what is really effective and the personal wishes that you may have as a manager. While these are really good, new ones appear on the market every single month.
Have patience and use the free versions of all the social media management tools before you make a final decision. That will help you since it is really easy to find those opportunities that are the best on the market for you.