Meltwater N : Best Social Media Management Tools 2022

If content is king, then social media is queen. Social media posts and content marketing go hand in hand, a dynamic duo where each supports the other's initiatives. To drive your social media and content marketing strategy, the right social media management tools can help you stay on track and move forward.

Tools can help with every aspect of your social media management, from finding the perfect keyword to developing and publishing LinkedIn content to analyzing and reporting on your Facebook ad campaigns. They can help you learn more about your existing audience, find new niche audiences, and connect with an influencer in your market.

For every task, there's a tool. Which ones will bring the most value to you? Here's our round-up of the best social media management secret weapons for small businesses and enterprises.

Table of Contents:

Why You Need Social Media Management Software

Social media management is a complex ecosystem, one that's tough to navigate by hand. Part of the reason is that the landscape has grown so large. As of 2020, more than 3.6 billion people worldwide use at least one social media channel - a number that's expected to reach 4.41 billion by 2025. The number of social platforms also continues to grow. The more ground to cover, the harder it is for team members to keep managing social media manually.

Much like using a GPS to get you where you need to go quickly and efficiently, social media software can accomplish similar goals.

Brands need to learn the unique intricacies of each channel, including the brand-growing features available to them. They also need to create content for each channel - what works for Pinterest might not translate well to LinkedIn, for example. And then there's the chore of finding the right times to post content on all your social media platforms (and remembering to post!), responding to comments, and measuring your results.

Social media managers can hand off these and other tasks to social media management software. Purpose-built tools reduce the workload on social media managers so they can dedicate more time and resources to strategy. Plus, as you grow, your tools will scale with you.

Best Social Media Management Tools for SMBs

While automation and analytics software is often thought to be reserved for larger companies, small businesses can take advantage of social media management tools, too. Lighten the workload, improve social engagement, and share on-brand content flawlessly. Here are our top picks for the best social media management tools for small businesses:

Meltwater

Shameless plug for Meltwater, we know. But we'd be remiss if we didn't include ourselves on the list because our Engage platform is designed with a social-first mindset. Our social media management plugin lets brands schedule posts, engage with influencers and other social communities, and measure analytics across all their social networks. With a central anchor to unite your team and your cross-channel social media strategy, enterprises can keep everyone on the same page and never miss an opportunity.

Companies can engage in social listening across the most popular social media networks in the West (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) and the East (WeChat, Douyin, Sina Weibo, etc).

But, what really differentiates Meltwater from the other names on this list is the ability to listen across traditional media networks (Broadcast, online news, blogs, forums, etc.) in addition to the social media networks so that brands can get the full picture of how consumers are talking about them.

By integrating the needs of PR, Marketing, and Social Media teams, Meltwater is the ideal platform for teams looking to improve collaboration -- not only simplify social media scheduling and community management.

If you'd like to get a free tour of our Meltwater Social Media Management Platform, .

Hootsuite

One of the biggest (and first) names in social media management, Hootsuite automates your social schedule so you can worry less about posting. This tool works across multiple social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, offering a high-level view from a single dashboard.

In Hootsuite, you can:

• Bulk-schedule, manage, and review posts
• View engagement analytics
• Manage your image assets
• Keep track of social conversations, brand mentions, and trends
• Track real-time insights on a user-friendly dashboard

Hootsuite is free to try, and plans start at just $49 after the trial.

MeetEdgar

Small businesses that don't have a full copywriting team will love the AI power of MeetEdgar. You can connect all of your social profiles to the platform and schedule posts ahead of time. The social media tool will automatically scrape your blog for new content and post it on your behalf. And if you're not an expert copywriter, MeetEdgar's AI can generate several caption variations on your behalf and let you choose the best one. Plans start at just $19 per month for up to three social media accounts.

Zoho Social

One of the best CRMs also features dedicated social media tools. Zoho Social differentiates itself from other scheduling tools with advanced features like CRM integrations, Facebook lead ads, and advanced custom reporting. Create visual content pipelines to find gaps in your content marketing. Stay tuned into users' conversations to monitor your brand mentions and reputation. Most importantly, learn more about your audience so you can continue to create social posts that connect with them. Zoho Social offers a free plan, with paid plans starting at less than $10 per month.

Best Social Media Management Tools for the Enterprise

Larger companies have bigger needs when it comes to social media management. Teams are usually larger, responsibilities are often spread between multiple users, and the brand's stakes are much higher.

For more robust social strategies, here's a look at our favorite social media management tools:

Oktopost

Oktopost is a user-friendly social media management tool specifically geared toward B2B brands. Teams can plan, approve, and schedule posts directly within the platform, discover content ideas, and increase productivity. It also includes a built-in employee advocacy platform that makes it easy to share company content on their personal social profiles. Oktopost integrates with some of the leading marketing technology, including Salesforce, Bitly, HubSpot, and Zapier.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social offers an all-in-one management tool across multiple social networks. Publish, schedule, and report all from a single place. Sprout Social users can also track campaign performance, respond to audience messages, and easily assign tasks across your team to maximize each person's time. Take advantage of a free trial and test all of its cool features.

HubSpot

HubSpot is a user-friendly tool with robust features. Part marketing platform, part CRM, HubSpot helps sales and marketing team members bridge the gap so they can work toward common goals. Create and manage your content, generate inbound leads that are qualified and scored for your sales team, and easily compare results and ROI across all of your channels.

Khoros

Formerly Spredfast, Khoros goes beyond core social media capabilities to improve every digital interaction. It centralizes your social media posts to promote better collaboration, get insights into what's working and what's not, and makes it easy to shift your strategy when needed. Enterprise-level governance features help you control access and posting restrictions to protect your brand.

Free Social Media Management Tools

Got a business on a budget? There are tons of free social media tools that can help you jumpstart your strategy. In addition to the options above, we've picked out some of our favorite tools that don't cost a cent.

Agorapulse

While Agorapulse is not technically free, the feature-rich social media management tool offers a free plan with limited features. Its suite of modules includes publishing, inbox management, monitoring, and a reporting dashboard to help you gain a comprehensive grasp of your social strategy. With its free version, you get one user seat and can connect up to three social platforms at once.

Followerwonk

Followerwonk is a must-have real-time analytics tool to learn more about your audience. The tool digs into Twitter bios to find your most engaged fans. These are the people you're creating content for - not the many followers that never like, share, or comment on your posts. By learning more about your most active audience members, you can build on your successes and compare your relationships to your competitors.

Canva

Creating professional-looking content for social media can be quite an undertaking, especially if you don't have a designer's eye. Canva takes care of the bulk of this problem with its suite of easy-to-use design tools.

Social media pros can import images and use pre-defined templates to craft stunning imagery to headline their content. Add captions, decorate the image with shapes and lines, change colors, and apply filters in seconds. Then, use your visual content to add interest to your social media profiles and posts. Canva also doubles as your image asset library by automatically saving all of your creations.

Are Some Social Media Management Tools Designed for Specific Platforms?

Maybe you don't need all the bells and whistles of the above social media software tools. Maybe you're not investing in multiple social media accounts because you've got a solid foundation on just one platform. We've got you covered there, too.

Meet our top picks for platform-specific social media software:

Instagram Management Service SnoopReport

Curious to learn more about your followers and who they're following? Consider SnoopReport, your new favorite Instagram management service. You can see what someone likes and who they follow on Instagram - perfect for a little IG spying on your competitors. This is a great way to discover influencers in your niche and even competitors you didn't know you had.

One of our favorite Twitter management tools, TweetDeck is a must for any brand on Twitter. Use this tool for real-time tracking and engagement so you can take part in live conversations.

Tailwind for Pinterest and Instagram

One of the best social media tools for Pinterest and Instagram, Tailwind takes social media publishing to new heights. Tailwind is equal parts content creation, social publishing, and post optimizing. It turns photos and images into professional designs in seconds - zero design skills required. It optimizes the size of each image for the right platform and device so each piece of content looks perfect as soon as it's posted. Plus, you can automate scheduling, find high-performing hashtags, connect with content creators in other Tailwind communities, and create shoppable feeds, all from within the platform.

Tailwind has a free forever plan, and paid plans start at just $10 a month.

Try Meltwater's Social Media Management Tool Today

This is just the tip of the iceberg of all the available social media management tools, but it's a great place to start. For more insight on how Meltwater can support your social strategy, reach out today!