5 Best Social Media Management Tools For Small Business Owners

Why Are Social Media Management Tools Important?

Social media management tools is like Jack of All Trades for social media. These tools come in many different shapes and forms, but they are the same at their core - they help you manage your social media accounts in a more efficient and time-saving way.

Did you know that the average number of platforms people use each month is 7.5? By the way, we aren’t implying that you need to be active on that many platforms, but the fact remains you’ll be using at least three, if not more.  

If you attended to each of the platforms you use manually or individually, you would waste a lot of time. Imagine preparing a post for only one platform and everything that goes into it: preparing images and content, updating the document where you keep track of what’s been posted, etc. Now multiply that amount of time with the number of platforms you’re using. Not so much time left afterward. And this is only social media. As a small business owner, you have so many other business activities you must do.

The beauty of social media management tools is that:

• You can organize all your accounts in one place - this is very practical because you get an overview of all the posts, comments, shares, replies, and messages. 

• You can schedule your posts - Like in the calendar, you can see your daily, weekly, or monthly schedules. 

• You get a better insight into social media metrics- This data is extremely helpful because it shows you what’s working for your brand and what's not.

We’ve already mentioned that social media management tools come in various shapes and sizes. Let’s see what types these are.

Types of Social Media Management Tools

One vital thing to mention straight away is that some social media management tools fall into more than one category. There is some overlapping, but in a nutshell, we can divide social media management tools as follows:

• Tools for scheduling provide everything you need to schedule and track your social media posts and activities.

• Tools for social media engagement, as the name suggests, enable you to check and track comments, likes, shares, messages, etc.

• Tools for content creation  help you create engaging and high-quality content that will distinguish your business on social media channels

• Analytics tools help you analyze the performance and see which posts are performing well. They also give you access to information valuable for your future strategies.

Finally, we are moving to the 5 best social media management tools. Let’s dive in!

1. Glorify Your Social Media Posts

Yes, we know that Glorify doesn’t fall in the social media management tools category if you really stick to the definition. It’s true. But where Glorify steps in is helping you create highly-engaging content for your social media. Glorify is perfect for small business owners with no or rusty design skills. You can choose and edit photos to suit your business needs in a few minutes.  

You can use our gallery of templates to create:  

•  Instagram profile images, posts, carousels & stories

• Facebook profile images, posts, covers & stories

•  LinkedIn profile images, posts, banners & stories

• YouTube thumbnails, channel, and profile photos

• Twitter profile images, posts, covers & infographics, etc.

What does it mean in practical terms? It means you have almost limitless possibilities to customize and edit highly converting images for your business. 

What else can you do with Glorify editing tools? 

1. You can add shadowing and reflections to add a more realistic touch to your images

2. You can remove the background and fully customize it

3. You can use the Brand Kit to centralize all your branding assets in one place. This feature helps you stay consistent and recognizable across all the platforms you’re using.

This tool can be a great addition to your tools and can help you save a lot of effort while creating first-class content.

Pricing

When it comes to pricing, there are a few options:

• Free plan: limited to 5 projects and 3 users. 5 projects might not seem a lot, but it is enough to see if the platform suits you and if you should upgrade

• Pro plan:  limited to 5 users, but unlimited projects and 5 workspaces. It costs $ 29.99 per month

• Business plan: limited to 10 users with all the other features unlimited. It costs $ 74.99 per month

2. Hootsuite

Perhaps one of the best-known platforms, Hootsuite is an all-in-one platform where you can monitor multiple accounts and connect with over 35 social networks, all from one dashboard. What’s more, you can bulk-schedule social media posts. At the same time, you can communicate with your team and assign tasks, all from a single dashboard. With Hootsuite, you can curate and schedule content, plan campaigns, run and manage social media and track relevant analytics such as social ROI. 

Pricing

When it comes to pricing, you have a 30-day trial period, and the paid version starts from  $49 a month.

3. Zoho Social

Zoho is also an all-in-one tool that helps you run social media activities and CRM ( email marketing, projects, etc.). It works with major social media networks. It is excellent for small businesses because it is very affordable. Its free plan allows unlimited posts and no scheduling limits. It goes without saying that higher plans unlock more features, but the good thing is that the other plans aren’t expensive, which is so essential if you are starting small.

Pricing

The pricing goes like this:

• Standard: $10 per month

• Professional: $30 per month

• Premium: $40 per month.

These non-free plans offer analytics, engagement, and organization tools.

Combined with its CRM tools, Zoho social is quite a robust social media management tool.

4. MeetEdgar 

This tool earned its place on our list because of its scheduling and automation features. Furthermore, there is even an option of continuous posting. What does it mean? They will automatically prepare and reshare relevant posts across your social media accounts. You can, of course, group your posts into different categories. The automation feature is great if you are already struggling with time management.  On the downside, Meet Edgar doesn’t integrate with as many social media networks as some competitors. It integrates with Meta, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram. If you are using only these platforms, then it wouldn’t be a problem.

Pricing

As far as the pricing goes,

• the Edgar Lite plan costs $19/ month and you can work with only three networks. 

• The Edgar costs $49.99 / month and offers 1,000 recurring scheduling time slots per week, whereas the Edgar Lite plan offers “only” 10.

5. AgoraPulse

AgoraPulse offers a range of features to help you stay better organized. You can choose from reporting, monitoring, collaboration tools, etc. You can track all the messages and conversations easily because they are all stored in a unified inbox. Talking about time-saving, right? It is very intuitive and user-friendly, which makes it very popular.  Thanks to the CRM tools, you get a clearer picture of your social media engagement. IT integrates with major social networks.

Pricing

In terms of pricing, it is a bit on the pricey side ( the paid plans start from $79), but considering all the features you can use, it is a good value for money. A free plan is limited to a single user, but you can add up to three accounts.

Conclusion

When you take into account that 424 million users have come online since 2021, it is more than evident that social networks are here to stay. We aren’t saying that social media management tools are a must if you are a small business, but they are definitely worth investing in.

Each social media management tool is good in its own right. What works for one person might not for another.  The good thing is that many of these tools come with a free trial period,  so you can test them and see what suits your business needs best. 

We’ll leave you with one last tip - when choosing the tool that is right for you, pay attention to:

• its features to see how much they match with what you want to deliver

• how many team members are allowed to use it ( it differs according to the plan)

• Its customer support is really important if you are a newbie. And even if you are not. Each platform is different, so having proactive and responsive customer support is quite beneficial

• the cost or the price that fits into your budget and doesn’t cost you dearly

If you couple SMM tools with a user-friendly and intuitive design tool, you will multiply the benefits to your business. Primarily in saving time, energy, and money - the rest will follow. Check out one of these tools, and if you need a tool that will help you create beautifully designed social media posts, Glorify got you covered. Try it for free now, and see how it transforms your business with engaging social media posts!