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How We Rank Software

The rankings and reviews shown on this website are the opinion of the webmaster. Affiliate links are used on this website to receive compensation from mentioned brands which can influence our rankings and reviews. We do not review every software available in the marketplace. We don't guarantee the accuracy of information shown on this website.

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We rank marketing software according to 6 major categories; relevance to category, vendor reputation, ease of use, functionality, pricing & partner program strength. We seek to bring to our audience the most reliable and user friendly software that anybody can use.

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Related Categories

18 Social Media Marketing Tips To Grow Your Business

Read this article to learn the best strategies and techniques to help grow your sales.

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How To Use Social Media To Grow Your Business

Every business should be active on social media today, find out what it takes to succeed.

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How To Find Good Content To Share On Social Media
Success on social media is all about sharing amazing content relevant to your audience.

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How To Use Social Media Monitoring Tools To Lift Sales

Using the right software is a must now days in order to grow sales via social media.

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Why Using Social Media Management Software Is Smart

The old days of manually posting content to social media are long gone, discover the best tools here.

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Email Software With Built-In Landers

SocialDraft
5 stars

$5 - $49

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Chrome plugin for easy publishing

Content recommendation system

Simple social management tool

$15 - $300

Visual content calendar

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Advanced scheduling

Team collaboration features

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Social Media Marketing For Teams

Postfity
Mass Planner

$9.95 - $44.95

Automated following and liking

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Windows only software

Up to 24 social media accounts

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Simple Scheduling & Automation

AgoraPulse

Brand monitoring & contests

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Easy 1-click publishing/scheduling

Built-in CRM and collated inbox

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Simple Social Manager Dashboard

HootSuite

$9.99

Extensive widgets and extensions

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Comprehensive functionality

Connect 35+ social networks

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Very Popular Social Tool

Sendible

$10 - $80

30 day free trial

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In-built social CRM

Advanced functionality

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All-in-one Social Dashboard

SproutSocial

$59 - $500

Beautiful analytics reports

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Powerful CRM integration

Smart inbox technology

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Comprehensive Social Tool

SocialOomph

$17.97

Post to social networks via email

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Scheduling & tracking

7 day free trial

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Simple Social Media Software

Commun.it

$55 - $1,100

Twitter analytic reports

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Automated campaigns

Find customers & influencers

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Specialized Twitter Manager

SocialMotus

$15

Monitoring & engagement

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Scheduling & publishing

Facebook & twitter integration

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Simple Social Marketing Application

4.5 stars
4.5 stars
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4.5 stars
4 stars
4 stars
4 stars
4 stars

$49 - $299

Social Media Scheduling Tools Buyers Guide

Social media scheduling tools are software applications that help in the management, collaboration, analysis and planning of social media content. Social media has completely revolutionized both personal and business communication. It is estimated that over 3 billion people log on to different social media platforms on a daily basis.

 

This makes social networking site a great way to create brand awareness and enhance online visibility. With hundreds of social media networks, digital media websites and mobile applications there is need for a tool that can help managed social media presence and this is where social media scheduling tools come in. 

In the current cut-throat business environment promoting a brand on social media is an indispensable step in developing and building a loyal clientele base. Social media scheduling tools are meant to make social media management easy and more professional. Some of these tools are specific to one social networking site while others allow the management of assorted social media accounts from a single dashboard.

To understand why social media scheduling tools are an absolute necessity, it is crucial to first understand why scheduling social media communication is important.

So why schedule social media communication?

· Managing business or personal multiple social media activity requires consistent responsiveness and activity that is hard to achieve manually. Scheduling helps to organize a consistent, natural and free flow of information.

· There is high probability that your target audience is not online 24/7/365 so you have to select appropriate times throughout the day to post content. Scheduling will helps to test what time of the day content gets most traction. Scheduling allows publishing messages at the most optimal time for engagement.

· Social media communication is all about striking a perfect balance between original and curated content. However, curating relevant content is time consuming; using notification services such as Google Alert can help receive alerts on a news item or relevant topic. By curating and scheduling such content it is easy to spend active time responding to comments as well as reviewing content suitable for share.

Why are Social Media Scheduling Tools a Worthwhile Investment?

· They make it easy to keep up with social media engagement 

Social media has made it easy for customers to communicate and reach out to brands. Through social media a customer is able to answer questions, make complaints and voice constructive criticism. Essentially, social networks provide a direct channel to give positive and negative feedback. By using a great social media scheduling tools, it is possible to engage with customers in real time and address their concerns promptly. Productive engagement increases the likelihood of creating and retaining consumer loyalty.

Reliable statistics by renowned software company Zendek estimate that close to 40% of consumers use social media to voice their opinions about brands. These tools give a company the ability to initiate and respond to all social media messages. Prompt response makes consumers feel valued and appreciated.

· Enables easy management of multiple social media accounts

In order to reach a wide customer base, it is necessary to have multiple profiles on multiple social networks. This makes social media management exponentially complex. There a number of reasons why multiple social pages are necessary; different product lines, locations and teams. Imagine how difficult it is to log in and out of individual accounts to engage with customers and update posts. Social media scheduling tools aggregate messages sent through all profiles and networks into a single and manageable spot. This saves time and effort required to manually juggle account

· Easy personalized management of customer relationships

Every customer is unique and has specific needs that require to be addressed in a personalized way. Social media scheduling tools are able to keep notes on customers that have been communicated to before. This way it is easy to personalize every conversation and make it appropriate for the particular needs of a specific customer.

· Enables monitoring of relevant keywords

Some of the customers who are impressed with a service or product may not necessarily tag a page directly. Most will just mention a brand or product and assume that the message is easily recognizable. Social media scheduling tools come in handy in monitoring social media networks thoroughly to help respond and join such conversations and respond effectively. Social media scheduling tools enable monitoring information across social sites. Such information includes;

· Direct mention of brand or product offerings

· Brand adjacent terms help to track customers how show intent to purchase. Brand adjacent terms can be narrowed down to any keyword that can be used to look up a particular product or service.

· Tracking competitor handles to keep tabs on what competitors are up to. This includes their marketing tactics and customer complaints that they receive.

Social Media Scheduling Tools analyze the performance of a social media marketing campaign

These tools enable proper analysis of social media marketing campaigns to track the level of performance in order to ascertain the techniques that worked and those that failed. They give accurate data that can be used to dictate which marketing strategy works and can be implemented moving forward. The data social media scheduling tools offer is able to answer questions such as:

· Which social networks have the widest outreach?

· Which demographic does your content captivate and intrigue? 

· What kinds of posts get the most social media engagement?

· Why phrases and keywords get many clicks?

This information comes in handy in helping come up with effective social marketing strategies that create brand awareness and boost online visibility. 

 

Social media scheduling tools streamline team collaboration to create a synchronized social media marketing strategy

If you are handling multiple social media accounts that have numerous followers then it may require a joint team effort.

 

Co-ordination and collaboration can be extremely difficult in this case causing confusion such as responding to the same message more than once and having some messages slip through the cracks. A great tool will enable a centralized working system that has a joint inbox that clearly shows what is going on in all the other accounts on different social media platforms.

These tools increase accountability on social media

Social media is susceptible to being compromised either by hackers or rogue employees looking to vent and destroy the reputation of a person or business. If such an account is hacked or tampered with it can result in debilitating consequences such as loss of potential customer or permanent stain on an already established reputation. An ideal social media scheduling tool should reduce the risk of an account getting compromised by having additional security layers. It should also enable easy visibility to ascertain who is responsible for an inappropriate post.

Avail a clear and professional way to show reports to stakeholders

Keep in mind that apart from marketers there are other stakeholders interested in looking at the analytics to ascertain just how well social media marketing is progressing. Social media scheduling tools provide easily under stable and digestible information that makes presenting reports effortless.

What To Look For In Social Media Scheduling Tools

· In-depth robust analytics

No matter the industry a person is in, the most important social media management feature is a robust analytic that delivers a detailed report and analysis. This is a feature that enables detailed planning and enables a marketer to see what works and what doesn’t. 

It is more advantageous if the analytics are in built as this enables easy access to see what works and doesn’t in real time to avoid sharing the wrong kind of content. Additionally, built-in analytics also enable staying on one screen and not having to jump back and forth which can be time consuming and tiring.

· Mobile functionality

It is extremely important that a social media scheduling tool has the ability to post and moderate content on the go. This enables marketers to keep tab on accounts even when out of the office. Surveys ascertain that customers are more likely to be loyal to a brand that responds on time, maybe an hour or less.

· Simple and easy interface

This feature ensures that the tool is not only easy to understand but also very easy to use. Having a simple and easy interface eliminates the need to have particular skills that may take time to master. The simple the interface the easier it is to manage and schedule social media accounts. 

· Great segmented scheduling

This feature comes in handy in ensuring that the schedule time repeats throughout an entire week or adjusts according to different days. This segmentation makes it easier to manage social media accounts without the need to manually log in and update posts. It ensures free flow of information consistently. Apart from saving time, this feature also enables proper prior planning.

· Features a buffer button that integrates effortlessly across the web

When a social media scheduling tool has this extension it makes buffering a breeze as it enables using a single button to manage all social media accounts across different networks such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The ability to easily integrate multiple social media accounts and channels makes it easy to plan and synchromise the flow of information across different networks.

· User relationship management

This is an indispensable feature as it enables easy interaction and engagement with potential or existent customers. An ideal social media scheduling tool should have user relationship management technique that is detailed and enables keeping tabs on past conversations to ensure personalized communication that is specific to particular customers.

· Tech support and mega customer support to ensure any issues are resolved promptly

A great social media scheduling tool should be backed up with exceptional customer care support to ensure anytime a problem arises it is resolved as quickly as possible. Exceptional customer care service is particularly indispensable in solving issues that may stagger social media operations that can hinder the swift flow of information and communication.

· Built-in learning

A good social media scheduling tools should not only be easy to use but should also have an easy to understand tutorial video and mouse over instructions that make it easy to use and master. A built-in learning feature makes it easy to manage social media accounts and resolve any issues that may occure along the way.

· Tool efficiency

It is important to opt for scheduling software that does not breakdown regularly or need clicking on different posts just to schedule a single post. It is advisable to go for a social media scheduling tools that has a user-friendly design.

· Multiple user access

This is a very beneficial feature as it allows a large marketing team to work on a single social media campaign. Keep in mind that it is not always the case that only a single person manages social media accounts. It also saves the hassle of maintaining multiple log ins.

· Social listening

The ideal social media scheduling tool enables social listening; allows setting up of topics that require monitoring on social networks related to a brand, industry or interests. Through social listening it is easy to weigh in on conversations and spot out mentions of a brand that are not tagged.

Advanced global insights

For efficiency and for the sake of thoroughly understanding a wider clientele base, it is essential to extensively monitor campaigns and audiences in global markets worldwide. Understanding the global international market is particularly important if the aim is to internationalize operations.

Social Media Scheduling Tools Strategies, Tips, and Tricks

1) It is important to ascertain where your target social media audience is located

Social media marketing is only productive when you know where your followers are. What this means is that you need to understand which social networks attracts the kind of clientele base you are looking to communicate to. The analytics come in handy in helping to uncover where your followers are located.

2) Effectively use a social media content schedule to plan all social media activities

When coming up with a social media marketing plan, it is essential to have high-quality content that captivates and grabs the attention of the target audience. Creating and publishing content can be time consuming and overwhelming which is why a social media content schedule comes in handy. Apart from telling when content needs to be posted, it also helps in maintaining a consistent synchronized voice across all platforms.

3) Always review all scheduled messages on-time

It is recommended that all scheduled messages are reviewed on time. This will eliminate being overwhelmed or bombarded by too many messages. 

4) Take time and come up with a well-though out and organized social media content calendar

An efficient social media content calendar should break down which social network a post will go out and the URL that should accompany the post, any relevant hash tags and most importantly the specific time and date. A calendar helps adhere to a schedule.

Top 10 Best Social Media Scheduling Tools Compared

Being active on social media is a must now days for businesses of all sizes. Chances are your desired customers are already active on social media engaging your competitors. To have a strong presence on social media you need to continually be posting interesting and relevant content across your channels. However the problem is, it's not always easy to find or produce good content and having to manually post it. With social media scheduling software you will easily be able to source quality content and schedule it to be published across your channels at optimum times. With the in-built analytics you will easily be able to tell which content performs the best and at which times does your content get the most engagement with views, likes, shares or comments.

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