Social media management tools have saved my life while working here at Roundpeg. As a member of Roundpeg’s content team, I spend quite some time creating social media campaigns and strategies. Because of this, it’s important that I use a tool that allows me to easily schedule content ahead of time.

There are plenty of tools out there for you to use, so I recommend checking them out before settling on one. However, since I’ve used a few different management tools, I feel as if I can recommend a few of my favorites. Here are some of the best social media management tools I’ve found.

Buffer

Buffer is an incredible social media management tool trusted by brands, businesses, agencies, and individuals to help drive meaningful engagement and results on social media, Roundpeg included. This is the current tool we use here in the office. With this tool, it’s easy to schedule and publish content. Plus, I’m really able to personalize the schedule for each client and their audience. Buffer allows me to check engagement and other important analytics once a post has been shared, making it a great all-in-one social media management tool.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite, probably the biggest social media management tool, is used by over 15 million people and more than 800 of the Fortune 1000 companies. Now, that’s a lot of people. I’ve used Hootsuite before, and I know Roundpeg has as well. It’s an all-in-one platform that allows you to schedule content, run social media ads, and more. Probably one of the most compelling reasons to use Hootsuite is the fact that it allows you to manage so many different social networks including the basics such as Facebook and LinkedIn. However, with Hootsuite, you can manage other networks including Tumblr, WordPress blogs, and even Vimeo.

Sprout Social

Similar to Hootsuite, Sprout Social combines several social media tools into one platform – from social media scheduling to monitoring and reporting. Sprout Social is one of the few social media management tools that provides customer relationship management (CRM) features. With this CRM feature, you’re able to have a complete profile of your customers. This helps you serve them better and build stronger relationships with them.

Hubspot

Hubspot Social Media Software is a suite of social media management tools available under the Marketing Hub. The aim is to save time by prioritizing social connections you place the most value on across a range of social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. Just like the other tools, there are various management features available. Some features include publishing content, monitoring mentions, and reporting tools to let you know not just levels of engagement but also how these translate into actual business metrics.

Which tool is right for you?

There is no simple answer, because every business is different, but each platform does a few things exceptionally well. Buffer is an awesome and affordable tool for companies with a lot of accounts manage. Sprout Social offers more features, but can be expensive if you have multiple accounts per platform. Hootsuite, originally developed for Twitter, is still the best for managing real time engagement across multiple lists, groups and hashtags. And Hubspot is for companies ready to take a much more strategic approach to integrating all of their inbound tools into one dashboard.

Our suggestion, start with a free trial of each and see which one fits your needs best.