As a marketer, I work with social media a lot. I manage social media promotion and help create posts that help small businesses grow… Heck, you’ve probably even seen me in some of Thryv’s social media videos.
Over the years, I’ve picked up a lot of insights on managing social media accounts, and the first thing I would recommend is getting the right tools. Social media management software is critical to your success because it saves time and makes planning your social content easier.
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In this post, I’ll review the best social media management tools for small businesses. I’ll start by explaining what these tools are and how they work. Then, I’ll dive into the best solutions available, their key features, and the pros and cons of each.
Definition: Social Media Management Tool
A social media management tool is a platform that connects all of your social media accounts together. This software allows you to schedule posts, react to customers, and review your performance from one app. It helps you create effective social media marketing campaigns while minimizing the tasks added to your workflow.
For example, let’s say your business has a Facebook and an Instagram account but doesn’t have a social media management tool. If you wanted to post on both platforms, you would have to pull up both apps and schedule the same post on each site. It’s tedious, and you risk making mistakes.
The same goes for customer engagement. When customers like posts or leave comments, you’ll have to switch between apps to respond to each person. You might miss a comment or forget to reply to a customer. That creates a poor experience for people expecting quick and personalized responses.
Now, add a social media management tool to the mix. Instead of switching between apps, your business has one platform where it can manage its entire social media strategy. You can reply to comments, schedule posts, and review analytics all from one place. It’s convenient and creates a better customer experience, leading to more engagement and increased brand awareness for your business.
Now that we’ve covered why you need a social media management tool, let’s review the best options for small businesses.
Best Social Media Management Tools
Here are the best social media management tools for small businesses. We’ve divided this list into two sections: best overall and best free tools. Read on to learn about the key features, pros and cons, and pricing plans for each.
1. Thryv
Best For: Small Businesses
Thryv’s Social Media Management Tool has all the features needed to create a robust social media marketing strategy for your small business. It has an interactive calendar where you can write and schedule posts, and there are even AI tools that suggest captions and hashtags. These features come packed in a handy mobile app to manage your social media content while on the go. It’s perfect for business owners who work in busy environments that range from professional services to plumbing.
Pros
- Compatible with all major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), YouTube, and Pinterest.
- The AI assistant also suggests hashtags and emojis to use in each post.
- Includes a social content library with images and templates that can be easily added to a social media calendar.
Cons
- Thryv is designed for small businesses. Enterprise organizations may feel limited by these products.
$228/month for Plus plan; $382/month for Professional plan; $533/month for Unlimited plan
2. Sprout Social
Best For: Social Media Teams
Sprout Social is ideal for businesses with a social media team. For instance, a “case assignment” feature assigns customer questions to individual team members, and the group reports show the average response time for different employees. These tools are great for scaling your social media strategy and ensuring that all your employees contribute to your success.
Pros
- The AI assistant can read customer reviews and determine if they are positive or negative.
- You can build a chatbot to respond to customers for you.
- You get alerts if there’s a surge in customer engagement, so you can react quickly.
Cons
- Small business owners may not have as many uses for the customer service team features.
- You can only connect five social media accounts with a Standard plan.
$199/seat/month for Standard plan; $299/seat/month for Professional plan; $399/seat/month for Advanced plan
3. Sprinklr
Best For: Ecommerce
Sprinklr is a social media management tool that has helped companies like Uber improve their online customer service. It has plenty of features that speed up response times, like automatic message routing and team dashboards that track customer comments. There are also AI features that help you post content at the right time and provide recommended responses to each customer. Beyond that, Sprinklr offers tools like product tagging, which creates a product catalog you can link to in your Instagram posts.
Pros
- The built-in tutorials make the platform easy to learn and use.
- You can create personalized email campaigns that are sent to customers automatically.
- The contact management features track customer information, like a CRM.
Cons
- The advanced terminology used within this platform may confuse people who are newer to social media marketing.
- Some users experienced bugs and glitches while using this product.
$199/seat/month for Social Media Management plan; $299/seat/month for Social Media Management and Customer Service plan
4. SocialPilot
Best For: Multi-Location Brands
SocialPilot is great for creating unique social media content for your business. It has a “Content Library” to save images, texts, and ideas and store them for later use. That reduces the time it takes to find creative assets like logos and seasonal graphics. There’s also a “Smart Scheduling” feature that helps you plan your social schedule each month. You can automate publishing based on your audience’s time zones, so you always share content when your customers are online. Not only does that improve engagement, but it saves you time from manually publishing each post.
Pros
- SocialPilot integrates with Canva, so you can design custom graphics using Canva within the platform.
- Video walkthroughs are included with each tool, making them easier to use.
- SocialPilot is compatible with nine different social media platforms.
Cons
- Each plan has a limited number of social media accounts you can connect to.
- The mobile app does not have as many features as the desktop version.
$26/month for Professional plan; $43/month for Small Team plan; $85/month for Agency plan; $170/month for Agency+ plan
5. Hootsuite
Best For: Digital Marketers
Source
Hootsuite was one of the first social media management tools I used as a marketer. It has grown significantly since then and now offers features like AI analyses, advanced reporting, and social listening. Social listening is the process of tracking your brand online. Hootsuite monitors mentions, trends, and industry topics related to your business so you can stay on top of the latest news and engage customers promptly.
Pros
- Hootsuite offers several free social media tools, like engagement rate calculators.
- The social advertising dashboard helps you create and track social media ads across all platforms.
Cons
- You have a limited number of users with each account.
- Several users have noticed that Hootsuite has become more expensive over time.
$99/month for Professional plan; $249/month for Team plan
Free Social Media Management Tools
Here are the best free social media management tools for small businesses. While they also offer paid subscriptions, these solutions provide free accounts that are not demos or limited-time trials.
6. Buffer
Best For: Mid-Sized Businesses
Buffer is a popular social media management tool used by businesses of all sizes. People like Buffer because it’s easy to navigate and has several useful and effective free features. For example, I really like how it shows you a preview of your post before publishing it. You can see exactly what your post will look like from the perspective of your followers, which is handy for creating and sizing graphics to ensure they look good on sites like Instagram and Facebook.
Pros
- Buffer is easy to use and navigate.
- You can create a landing page for your website with forms and links to your other pages.
Cons
- The reporting features are only included in a paid account.
- There are no free tools for responding to or reviewing customer comments.
Free to get started
7. Planable
Best For: Franchises & Corporations
Planable is designed for businesses that have multiple teams working on social media. It’s user-friendly and has a mobile app that helps you create content on the go. It also connects to your Google Business Profile, so you can manage your business listings within the platform. Finally, Planable has several features for compliance and authorization. You can ensure all your content is automatically reviewed and approved before it’s published to your accounts.
Pros
- It only takes a few clicks to create a Plananle account.
- Planable has a simple and easy-to-navigate interface.
Cons
- Free plans do not have analytics and are incompatible with X (formerly Twitter).
- Free plans are limited to 50 social posts in total.
Free to get started; $33/month for Basic plan; $49/month for Pro plan
8. Monday.com
Best For: Project Managers
Monday.com is more of a project management tool but can also double as a social media planner. It integrates with Facebook Ads and LinkedIn and automatically creates social posts when tasks are completed on your dashboard. While it may take some time to configure, Monday.com offers plenty of customization features that you can use to build a social media calendar personalized to your business.
Pros
- Monday.com integrates with 70 other tools and applications.
- You can create unlimited documents and collaborate with team members in real time.
Cons
- Monday.com is designed for project management. There are not many tools specific to social media.
- There aren’t as many automation features available on this platform.
Free to get started; $9/seat/month for Basic plan; $12/seat/month for Standard plan; $19/seat/month for Pro plan
What is the Best Social Media Management Tool?
The best social media management tool will depend on your business needs. Some businesses need features for publishing and planning, while others focus on customer service and engagement. Use the options above, as well as their free trials, to familiarize yourself with each platform. If you need more help, check out the buying software checklist below to find the best solution for your business.
Buying Software
Checklist
A 12-step guide to buying the right software for your business.
