Last Updated on May 23, 2024 by Jhonni Jets
As social media becomes increasingly prominent in marketing strategies, it’s crucial for agencies to have the proper tools to manage client profiles effectively. With so many options available, choosing the right social media management platform can be overwhelming. This comprehensive guide explores the top 10 tools that provide agencies the features needed to excel at social media. We’ll cover scheduling, engagement, reporting, and more to help you find the perfect fit.
In today’s digital world, social media is a must-have part of any marketing strategy. From Facebook and Instagram to Twitter, LinkedIn and beyond, businesses need a strong presence on the major social platforms to reach customers, build their brand, and drive sales. However, managing multiple client accounts across many networks can quickly become unruly without the right tools.
Table of Content
This is where social media management platforms come in. These software solutions give agencies a single dashboard to schedule and publish content, monitor engagement, get analytics and reporting, and more – all in one place. A good social media management tool empowers agencies to save time, streamline workflows, and deliver top-notch results for clients.
With so many options on the market, choosing the right platform can be daunting. This comprehensive guide examines the top 10 social media management tools specifically suited for agencies. We’ll break down the key features and benefits of each, including capabilities for scheduling, engagement, reporting, team collaboration and more. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of the best social media management software for your agency’s needs.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is one of the most popular social media management tools and for good reason. As the industry pioneer since 2008, Hootsuite has built robust functionality and an intuitive interface that makes it easy for agencies to oversee client accounts. Some key strengths include:
Scheduling: Hootsuite allows you to schedule posts weeks or months in advance across all major social platforms. You can bulk schedule, set up recurring posts and track scheduling performance.
Engagement: The dashboard centralizes all client conversations in one location. You can respond to mentions and messages, and Hootsuite measures engagement metrics over time.
Analytics: Detailed reports provide a bird’s-eye view of key social metrics like impressions, engagements, follower growth and more – both for individual posts and overall account performance.
Team management: Hootsuite has robust permissions so agency staff can be assigned specific accounts and tasks. Managers can oversee the work of many users from the main dashboard.
Integrations: Hootsuite plays well with other popular tools via 200+ integrations. This allows you to sync tasks, automate workflows and share assets between platforms.
Pricing starts at $19/user per month for the Standard plan. More robust features are included in the higher-tier Professional and Enterprise plans suiting large agencies.
Sprout Social
As another leading provider, Sprout Social has the full spectrum of functions agencies require. Some highlights that make it a top choice include:
Campaign management: Organize posts into targeted campaigns to demonstrate ROI. Track objectives and analyze performance after launch.
Content calendar: Plan content well in advance across channels with Sprout’s customizable calendar. Set reminders to stay on schedule.
Reporting: Generate in-depth reports on metrics, campaigns, content performance and more. Share reports professionally via Sprout’s native design templates.
Engagement tools: Features like smart replies help scale conversations. Sprout also identifies influential followers for prioritizing outreach.
team collaboration: Work together seamlessly with assigned permissions, tasks, comments and @mentions within accounts.
Advanced automation: Powers publishing based on hashtags, keywords and more. Automatically share client posts to other networks, too.
Pricing starts at $99/month for the Standard plan and scales up based on number of users and social accounts linked. The robust features benefit large agency workflows.
AgoraPulse
AgoraPulse stands out for its powerful reporting and analytics, making it a top choice for agencies focused on measurement and strategy. Key aspects include:
Analytics hub: Enhanced metrics like follower demographics, top posts, mention analysis and more offer deep campaign insights.
Custom reports: Drag-and-drop builder empowers you to create completely tailored reports for clients. Brands can even access their own account analytics.
Benchmarking: Compare client performance to industry competitors. Identify growth opportunities based on top-performing similar brands.
Targeting: Leverage audience insights for targeted ad campaigns or tailoring content to what resonates most.
Enterprise features: Robust API, SSO, dedicated support and more advanced tools suit agencies with 50+ users or very large workloads.
Plans start at $99/month but scale up significantly for the feature-rich Enterprise edition best fitting agencies. The powerful analyticscapabilities are very appealing for data-driven teams.
Buffer
Buffer remains a top choice for basic yet effective social publishing. Key strengths for agencies include:
Simple, clean design: Publishing is hassle-free with large, central posting buttons across networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Advanced scheduling: Options like recurring posts, share on multiple networks at once, and manual or scheduled publisher all streamline workflows.
Analytics: Track basic metrics without a steep learning curve. Buffer keeps it straightforward.
Team sharing: Multiple users can access accounts while retaining individual separation of scheduled content.
Integrations: Buffer pairs well with project management tools like Asana or Trello to further streamline processes.
Affordable pricing starts at just $15/month for the Pro plan. Best for small agencies or teams just dipping their toes into social management.
Sendible
Sendible stands out for its strong publishing and robust calendar features benefitting creative agencies. Key highlights include:
Visual calendar: See content queues across channels in a customizable calendar view perfect for planning. Drag-and-drop to reorganize timing.
robust Publish: Share content to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and more via one dashboard. Advanced publishing includes polls, carousels and more complex formats.
Collaboration tools: Assign tasks, leave comments or chat directly in accounts to collaborate seamlessly.
Reporting: Track basic metrics as well as more robust analytics like audience demographics and interests for client insights.
Integrations: Connect to Adobe Creative Cloud for easy content asset syncing, ideal for agencies with in-house design teams.
Pricing starts reasonably at $29/month then scales up based on numbers of publishers and social profiles.
SocialPilot
SocialPilot stands out for its emphasis on creative marketing through campaigns and user journeys. Top highlights include:
Campaign builder: Plan strategic campaigns with defined goals, themes and content sequences.
User journeys: Analyze audience pathways and create customized marketing sequences based on follower behaviors.
Content store: Store large asset libraries and share with clients directly for consistent branding.
Robust analytics: Visualize consumer actions at each campaign touchpoint for optimization.
Workflow tools: Assign staff to campaigns, leave in-platform comments and track progress seamlessly.
Best suited for full-service creative agencies, SocialPilot facilitates strategic campaigns. Pricing starts at $79/month.
MavSocial
MavSocial focuses heavily on performance metrics to appeal to analytics-driven agencies. Key strengths include:
Real-time tracking: Continuously monitor key metrics without time-consuming manual reporting.
Benchmarking: Compare clients not only to competitors but also high-performing brands in any industry.
Engagement intelligence: Understand what types of posts, times and platforms achieve highest reach.
Demographics data: Gain insights into follower age, location and interests for targeting campaigns.
Custom analytics: Configure customized reports and KPIs to surface the most important numbers.
Enterprise features: Advanced API, dedicated support reps, configurable user roles and more suited for large agencies.
Pricing is on the higher side starting at $99/month but the powerful analytics are worth it for data-driven teams.
Crowdfire
Crowdfire stands out for robust publication tools and in-depth content research. Key assets include:
Visual publishing: An intuitive toolbar lets you easily format and stylize social updates.
Hashtag tracking: Monitor trending topics, find influencers discussing them and source content ideas.
Content research: Analyze hashtags, keywords, locations or URLs to spot viral hits and emerging discussions.
Engagement tools: Bulk like/comment on relevant conversations and get notified of new mentions to scale interactions.
Metrics dashboard: Track high-level performance metrics without advanced analytics capabilities.
Affordable pricing at $49/month makes it a solid starter tool with an emphasis on content creativity.
Conclusion
As you can see, various social media management platforms cater to different agency needs – from basic yet effective tools to highly robust enterprise solutions. The best choice depends on your budget, team size, client roster, and focus areas like publishing, analytics, collaboration or campaigns.
We recommend Hootsuite, Sprout Social and AgoraPulse as top overall options due to their balance of core functionalities, robust feature sets, scalability and pricing. However, specialized needs may point to Sendible for creative agencies focused on visual planning, or MavSocial and Crowdfire for analytics-driven teams.
Be sure to test platform capabilities thoroughly with trial versions before committing. Also consider talking to software representatives and reviewing client case studies for a complete picture. With the right research, any agency can find a social media management solution empowering them to excel at client engagement and results.