6 powerful social media management tools to boost growth

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, staying on top of your social media game is crucial for business success. With social platforms constantly evolving and new ones emerging, managing your social media presence across organic and paid social can feel like an overwhelming job. That’s where social media management platforms come in, offering a streamlined approach to posting, engaging, and analysing your strategies and efforts.

Through our years of building and scaling brands via organic and paid social strategies; we’ve tested dozens of these management tools. Whether you’re a brand founder, business owner, or a marketing professional, these tools can help you maximise your social media impact while saving time and resources.

The best social media management tools at a glance

Hootsuite: Best for comprehensive social media management

Buffer: Ideal for straightforward scheduling and analytics

Sprout Social: Perfect for team collaboration and in-depth analytics

Later: Excellent for visual-focused platforms like Instagram

Agorapulse: Great for social inbox management and team workflows

Sendible: Solid all-rounder with good value for money

HubSpot: Powerhouse for integrating social media with a larger marketing strategy

When evaluating social media management platforms, we looked for

• Multi-platform support (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Intuitive scheduling and publishing features
• Robust analytics and reporting capabilities
• Collaboration tools for teams
• Social listening and engagement features
• Integration with other marketing tools
• Value for money

Let’s look at the top 6, best-reviewed social media management tools for growth and how they can help optimise your strategy.

Hootsuite: best for comprehensive social media management

Standout feature 

Hootsuite remains a powerhouse in the social media management arena. Its ability to manage multiple social networks from a single dashboard makes it invaluable for businesses juggling various platforms. It also offers extensive platform support and advanced scheduling features.

Key benefits

• Supports over 20 social networks
• Advanced scheduling with bulk upload options
• Robust analytics and custom report generation
• Team collaboration features

Pricing

• From $49/month for the professional plan 
• Team plans start at $129/month

Our verdict

For one of our lifestyle e-commerce clients we used Hootsuite to coordinate a multi-platform holiday campaign, resulting in a 35% increase in engagement across all their social channels.

Sprout Social: perfect for team collaboration and in-depth analytics

Standout feature 

Great for comprehensive reporting and team workflow tools; Sprout Social is a robust platform that excels in providing detailed insights and allows excellent team collaboration.

Key benefits

• Advanced reporting and analytics
• Social CRM tools
• Team collaboration and task assignment features
• Competitive analysis tools

Pricing

From $89/user/month

Our verdict

For a B2B client, we leveraged Sprout Social’s competitive analysis tools to refine the content strategy, resulting in a 48% increase in LinkedIn engagement over three months.

Later: excellent for visual content planning and scheduling

Standout feature 

Later is tailor-made for businesses that prioritise visual content, especially on Instagram and Pinterest.

Key benefits

• Visual content calendar
• Instagram Stories scheduling
• Hashtag suggestions
• User-generated content curation

Pricing

Free plan available; paid plans start at $15/month

Our verdict

Use Later’s media library to organise and tag your visual content for quick and easy access when planning your feed.

Agorapulse: great for social inbox management

Standout feature 

Agorapulse stands out with its excellent unified social inbox management features that make it easier for teams to handle customer interactions across platforms.

Key benefits

• Unified social inbox
• Automated moderation rules
• Team collaboration tools
• ROI reporting

Pricing

From $79/month for the Pro plan

Our verdict

We managed to improve the response time by 60% for an e-commerce client; using Agorapulse’s unified inbox, leading to higher customer satisfaction scores.

Sendible: solid all-rounder with good value for money

Standout feature 

Sendible offers a customisable dashboard and a comprehensive set of features; all at a competitive price point, thus making it an excellent choice for agencies and small businesses.

Key benefits

• Customisable dashboard
• Content suggestions and RSS feed integration
• White-label reporting
• Integrations with various third-party tools

Pricing

From $29/month for the Creator plan

Our verdict

Leverage Sendible’s content suggestion feature to keep your content pipeline full and engaging.

HubSpot: excellent for integrating social media with your broader marketing strategy

Standout feature 

Great for seamless integration with CRM and marketing automation; it is ideal for larger agencies and businesses. HubSpot’s social media tools are part of its broader marketing suite, making it an excellent choice for businesses looking to seamlessly align their social media strategy with their overall marketing and sales efforts.

Key benefits

• Integration with HubSpot’s CRM and marketing tools
• Social media content calendar and scheduling
• Monitoring and engagement across multiple platforms
• Detailed analytics and reporting tied to marketing ROI
• Lead generation through social media

Pricing

Social media tools are included in HubSpot’s marketing Hub plans, starting at $800/month for the professional plan.

Our verdict

Larger agencies and businesses can leverage HubSpot’s integration capabilities to create seamless workflows between their social media activities and sales processes. For example, setup automated tasks for sales teams to follow up with leads who engage with specific social media content.

Choosing the right management  tool for your needs

Selecting the right social media management tool can significantly influence the impact of your content strategy and your digital marketing efforts. We recommend assessing your client’s specific needs, team size, and budget before making a decision. Many of these tools offer free trials, so don’t hesitate to test them out before committing to a subscription.

Remember, the best tools are those that align with your workflows and help you achieve your social media goals efficiently. Whether you’re looking to streamline your posting schedule, dive deep into analytics, or improve team collaboration, there’s a tool on our list that can help you optimise your social media strategy.