Your business needs a social media presence to grow an audience and gain conversions, and you need a presence on several platforms. You may post short videos on TikTok, make informative posts on LinkedIn, create stunning photos on Instagram, etc.
It can be challenging to balance all of these sites. You may have to visit each one to upload content, answer messages, and perform other time-wasting tasks. That’s why we highly recommend using social media management apps.
These apps can help you view stats, schedule content, and manage your community all in one place. Let’s look at several apps that may help you.
1. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is perhaps the best all-in-one social media management app. It lets you schedule posts, monitor mentions, track analytics, and collaborate with your team. Its user-friendly interface makes it great for newcomers, but advanced users will love its analytics.
But what about its mobile app? This app has plenty of features as well, letting you schedule posts and monitor your analytics through modern mobile devices. That said, not every feature is available on the app. Mainly, if you wish to create analytics reports, add team members, and manage your organization, you need to use the web version.
The only major downside to Hootsuite, in general, is that it has a limited free version. Odds are, you will need the premium plan. Premium plans can be costly. If you own a small business, you may not have the money yet to take full advantage of Hootsuite.
2. Buffer
Buffer is a social media manager app that works great if you’re new to this and don’t have much money to spend. You may just want an app that can schedule multiple posts at once, manage your accounts, and have basic analytics. And Buffer works great in all those regards.
Buffer also has a mobile app that, once again, has the basics. Scheduling and managing your posts is easy with the app, which is also friendly for people on a small budget. Buffer has a free version that gives you three channels and up to ten posts you can schedule. If you want to upgrade, the cost for premium is not that much a month—less than some streaming services!
3. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is another site that is meant for bigger businesses. It focuses on customer engagement and advanced analytics that can help you change your business strategy seamlessly. Like all of the other social media management apps, it also has a mobile app.
The mobile app helps you manage your teams, view analytics, and easily engage with your customers across different platforms. Overall, it’s probably the most advanced app on this list. That said, Sprout Social is expensive. Even their basic plan will cost you a couple hundred dollars. If your business is a startup, this app may be overkill. But as your business grows, Sprout Social may be one you will want to check out.
4. Later
If you schedule a lot of visual content, check out Later. One feature Later has that we’re here for is its ability to schedule YouTube Shorts. Shorts have yet to have an in-app scheduler on YouTube, so this may be valuable for your business strategy. And yes, you can do this via Later’s app. Later also has a drag-and-drop calendar that makes planning content a breeze.
Later is also affordable. It costs a little more than Buffer, but it’s much cheaper than Hootsuite and certainly Sprout Social. That said, if your social media platform is text-heavy, you may want to look elsewhere.
5. Meta Business Suite (Formerly Facebook Business Suite)
What if you primarily use Meta sites (Facebook, Instagram, Threads) and you want to manage all of those sites? Then, you may want to use Meta’s Business Suite. This suite lets you schedule posts, view detailed analytics, and manage any messages you get via Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
However, if you don’t use that many Meta platforms or you want a more advanced social media manager, you may want to invest in the first four platforms on this list. However, this app is truly free (no free trials or limited free version,) so we recommend you try it if you need some basic ways to manage your social media.
Conclusion
Here are five apps that work well for different situations. Hootsuite and Sprout Social are the most advanced managers, but you will need to pay some money. Buffer and Later have affordable pricing and enough features for someone new to social media. Meanwhile, Meta Business Suite is truly free, and it’s great if you use mostly Meta apps. The apps we have listed also have free trials or a free version, so try each of them out at no risk. Good luck!