A guide to small business social media management
But small business social media management can be overwhelming at times.
To generate impressive results and return on your investment, you need to:
- Implement an effective social media strategy
- Create content
- Schedule and publish to your chosen platforms
- Monitor engagement
- Track UGC (user-generated content)
- Analyse
- Report
And more.
If you don’t have a huge team to delegate to or the funds to onboard an agency, you need a social media management system.
In this article, we’ve pulled together a list of 4 of the best social media management tools for small business owners to help you streamline your process, as well as a few bonus platforms to boost your social media design.
You’ll find a mixture of free social media tools as well as low budget options, but our advice? Test out a few of these useful tools for social media to find what works best for you!
(This list is not exhaustive, and there are plenty of other features for each platform, these are just our favorites to get you started.)
1. Later
“The world’s favorite Instagram marketing platform”
Designed for simple social media planning, Later (formerly Latergramme) allows you to visually plan out your grid with a drag and drop calendar, and now has over 4 million users globally.
The platform has grown to offer scheduling for Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook and Pinterest, and their newsletter provides actionable social media ideas for small business owners.
Key features of Later:
- Multiple image (carousel) and video posting
- Video scheduling available on the free plan
- Stories scheduling
- Shoppable posts using a unique ‘Link in bio’ page
- Easy UGC curation
- Visually driven
Pricing: forever free plan, business plans starting from $12.50 per month, upgrade as you go options.
2. Sprout Social
“Reimagine the role of social in your business”
Sprout Social is an all-in-one platform that aims to boost productivity. It’s one of the few social media tools that offer an in-built CRM (customer relationship manager), a fantastic tool to grow and nurture relationships with your ideal customer.
It’s been awarded by top-tier software review sites for its customer usability and satisfaction, and has over 250,000 world-class brands on its books.
Key features of Sprout Social:
- Different packages dependant on your needs, split into: engagement, publishing and scheduling, analytics and ‘listening’ (monitoring UGC and trends)
- Management of 7 different social platforms in one content calendar
- In-built CRM and all-in-one social inbox
- Data driven
Pricing: 30 day free trial available, plans starting at $99 per month, upgrade as you go options.
3. Hootsuite
“Social is your superpower”
Hootsuite focuses on “the power of human connection”, so their platform has plenty of features to make sure you never miss a lead or customer interaction.
Used by 18 million customers globally including Fortune 1000 companies, Hootsuite is a firm favourite social media management tool for small businesses and enterprises alike.
Key features of Hootsuite:
- 3rd party app integration like Slack and Monday.com
- Keyword monitoring
- Manage multiple accounts in one place
- In-depth analytics and customizable reports
- Community and data-driven
Pricing: 30-day free trial available, plans starting from $39 per month, upgrade as you go options, and customized plans.
4. Buffer
“Simpler social media tools for authentic engagement”
Buffer offers scheduling, analytics, and engagement in one place for multiple social media platforms, and has in-built team collaboration features that can be useful as your business scales.
They’re known for their clean and intuitive platform, as well as quality customer service, and now serve over 75,000 companies world over.
Key features of Buffer:
- Built with small businesses social media management in mind
- Visual planner and all-in-one calendar view
- Direct to Instagram scheduling and Stories schedule options
- In-depth analytics and performance reporting
- Data- and visually-driven
Pricing: Forever free plan, 14-day free trial on paid plans, plans starting from $15 per month, upgrade as you go options.
Bonus tools to boost social media for small businesses:
Optimized to automate your Pinterest content and drive an increase in traffic to your website, Tailwind is unmatched if you’ve got valuable long-form content to share, like blog articles.
If you’re struggling to improve your aesthetic but want to give it a go yourself, Canva is a great social media design tool to create your own graphics with free responsive templates. The paid plan allows you to upload your own fonts, too, but if it’s an on-brand, unique design that you’re after, Design Force is the way to go.
We know that short-form video is a key driver in social media engagement, but if you’re not ready to invest in a video team or external video agency, Inshot is a great app for quick video edits that offers a free (watermarked) version, too.
Ready to bring those social media ideas to life?
Try these useful social media management tools for small businesses to see what works for you.
And remember, if you’re looking to upscale your design output and make your social media work for you, book a demo with Design Force today.
Our world-class designers can whip up the highest-quality, on-brand social media graphics to suit your business goals and bring those customers in.
All you need to do then is hit schedule on your social media management tool of choice. Which do you think is best for you? Let us know!
