Today, one of the most popular ways to market any business is through social media. However, the go-to tool for publishing on these networks isn’t native posting – it’s social media management platforms. You may ask why. Well it’s no secret: effectively scheduling, engaging, and managing your social media accounts in one place can keep you ahead of the competition.

According to a recent article by Forbes, “the right social media management tools can help your business thrive.” But knowing how to effectively manage your social media accounts is imperative. With so many social media management platforms available, how do you decide?

The best social media management platforms for your brand will be both on trend and work most effectively for your social media marketing manager’s process. Here are my top five:

 

Sendible

Sendible specializes in streamlining your social media management options. As a social media management option for agencies, Sendible gives their clients everything they need to manage their social media under one roof. In fact, there is no longer a need to juggle multiple platforms with their ease of use quality standards. With a unified social media platform, everything is as simple as a push of a button including post and reporting of your social media activity. Schedule your social media activity individually or in bulk. They offer several social media management software pricing options to meet the demands of your business budget, all with a free thirty-day trial.

 

HootSuite

HootSuite is one of the more popular household name social media management tools in the industry. With over 18M customers, they serve as a powerful social media management tool for businesses. They strive to help businesses save time and money by avoiding errors and rouge posts to their social media accounts. With customized access options, employees can be restricted to only permissions, profiles, and networks according to what your business deems appropriate. They offer a free thirty-day trial for all their plans, starting at the free individual plan.

 

Later

Later is integrated to work predominately with the Instagram social media network. Thus, the Later platform is perfect for social media marketers and business owners. You can manage several accounts and schedule your posts ahead of time to give your business an opportunity to focus on other important tasks. They pride themselves in being the number #1 marketing platform for Instagram. Visually plan, analyze, and schedule your post. However, they also work for Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Their service is always free to customers without the need for a major credit or debit card for integrating only one network. If you’d like to connect more, as well as access many other scheduling features, their plans are never more than fifty dollars per month.

 

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a leading social media management tool that’s great for businesses to manage their brands while providing faster, smarter, and more centered social media communication. Businesses receive publishing, response management, and productivity tools all with one social media management platform. Easily share posts, engage with followers, and measure performance with the Sprout Social media management solution. Align your content to help your business successfully reach their goals with a 30 day free trial to start any of their plans.

 

Buffer

Surprisingly, Buffer offers their customers the convenience of managing their social media accounts from the web and on mobile. They understand the vast number of customers need the opportunity to manage their business from their handheld device. Analyze your results and engage with your social media followers on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. You can build your audience and grow your brand right from your smartphone. Their platform strives to create meaningful engagement between businesses and their customers. Customers are offered a free one or two-week trial of any of their plans, and after the trial they can downgrade to their free basic services or purchase a fuller one.

 

As a business owner or marketing manager, you have more on your plate to think about than when to log in to each social media account to post multiple times a day. With social media management platforms, you can schedule, engage, and analyze with ease. There is absolutely the right platform out there for you and your team. And if you have more questions about how to utilize social media management for your business, contact me to discuss a consultation.