By Carly Bauer, Marketing Consultant at Heinz Marketing

We are in the midst of an economic downturn; current budgets are being evaluated and cuts are being made to areas less prioritized. For many we are also nearing the end of the fiscal year and are working on new budgets for 2023.

With budgets in mind and a recession looming over our heads, how can marketers keep social media efforts afloat and make the most of what they have?

If your social channel budgets have been diminished and you are limited to organic content to build brand awareness, having the right tool can help optimize your efforts on a limited budget, making the most of your organic content without worrying about your budget.

Here are four different social media management solutions that you may or may not have that can help boost and analyze your social marketing efforts.

What is Social Media Management Software?

Social media management software provides functionality to administer social media accounts, schedule posts, suggest content, and boost posts. These solutions are used by social media, marketing, and communications departments to increase brand awareness, manage workflows, and engage online communities in a more effective way. They are used to create engaging content for marketing campaigns, as well as maintain an online presence. Common tools within these platforms include user access control, content creation, content libraries, calendars, post scheduling, archives, and performance analytics. All these tools are aimed at maximizing search engine optimization along with increasing inbound traffic, customer satisfaction, and customer conversion.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is an all-in-one social management solution that helps users better connect with audiences, streamline publishing workflows, collaborate in real time and turn social data into meaningful insights, at scale. Sprout Social is compatible with Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube. It also integrates with WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Google’s Business Messages, Bitly, Google Analytics, Canva, and more.

G2 Rating 4.3 stars (1,978 reviews)

Features

Social Management

• Social Analytics
• Social Engagement
• Social Publishing
• Campaign Optimization

Reports & Dashboards

• Report Customizability
• Report Exporting
• Scalability

Social Analytics

• Competitor Analysis
• Follower Analysis
• Post Performance

Monitor & Listening

• Social Measurement
• Influencer Identification

Data Management & Analysis

• Social Reporting

Pricing

Standard, $249 1 user/month

• 5 social profiles
• All-in-one social inbox
• Publish, schedule, draft and queue posts
• Social content calendar
• Review management
• Profiles, keyword, and location monitoring
• Tasking and social CRM tools
• Group, profile, and post-level reporting
• Paid promotion tools to boost Facebook posts

Professional, $399 1 user/month
Includes all Standard features, PLUS –

• Unlimited social profiles
• Competitive reports 
• Incoming and outgoing message content tagging
• Custom workflows 
• Scheduling for optimal send times
• Trend analysis for Twitter keywords and hashtags
• Paid social reporting
• Helpdesk, CRM, and social Commerce integrations

Advanced, $499 1 user/month
Includes all Professional features, PLUS –

• Increased message activity alerts
• Digital asset and content library
• Chatbots with automation tools
• Saved and suggested replies
• Automated Link Tracking

Enterprise, contact sales
Includes all Advanced features, PLUS – 

• Tailored implementation and onboarding
• Premier consulting services
• 24/5 prioritized customer support
• Customize further with premium add-ons

Agorapulse

Agorapulse can help you stay organized, save time, and easily manage your social media with its all-in-one inbox for channel messages, publishing, reporting, monitoring, and team collaboration tools. Agorapulse integrates with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Google Business Profiles.

G2 Rating 4.5 stars (852 reviews)

Features

Social Management

• Social Analytics
• Social Engagement
• Social Publishing
• Campaign Optimization

Reports & Dashboards

• Report Customizability
• Report Exporting
• Scalability

Social Analytics

• Competitor Analysis
• Follower Analysis
• Post Performance

Content & Collaboration

• Content Calendar
• Users and Permissions

Monitoring & Listening

• Social Measurement
• Influencer Identification

Data Management & Analysis

• Social Reporting

Pricing

Free

• Integrates with all channels except Google Business
• 3 social profiles
• 1 user
• 10 scheduled posts at anytime
• Social CRM tools

Pro, $79/mo
Includes all the capabilities of Free, PLUS – 

• Integrates with all channels
• 10 social profiles
• 2 users
• Unlimited Posts
• Asset Library
• Unified Calendar
• Reel & Carousel Publishing
• Competitor Analysis
• Unified Calendar

Premium, $199/month
Includes all the capabilities of Pro, PLUS –

• Integrates with all channels
• 20 social profiles
• 4 users
• Assign and approve posts
• Overlapping message detection
• Team Reports

Enterprise, contact sales
Includes all the capabilities of Premium, PLUS –

• Integrates with all channels
• 40+ social profiles
• 8+ users
• Social Media ROI
• Additional trainings and access

Hootsuite

Hootsuite’s platform and solutions can help marketers launch one-of-a-kind social campaigns to deliver top-notch social commerce experiences and manage all their customer conversations from one place. Schedule posts across multiple social networks (including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube), manage organic and paid social content together, easily keep track of customer conversations, and gain actionable real-time insights from social media to make critical business decisions – all from one dashboard.

Hootsuite can also set you up with expert certifications, training, and coaching in social marketing, social listening, customer care, and social commerce.

G2 Rating 4.1 Stars (3,765 reviews)

Features

Social Management

• Social Analytics
• Social Engagement
• Social Publishing
• Social Ads
• Campaign Optimization

Reports & Dashboards

• Report Customizability
• Report Exporting
• Scalability

Social Analytics

• Competitor Analysis
• Follower Analysis
• Post Performance

Monitoring & Listening

• Social Measurement
• Influencer Identification

Data Management & Analysis

• Sentiment Analysis
• Social Reporting

Pricing

Professional, $49/month – Ideal for entrepreneurs, small business owners and independent consultants that want to maximize their time on social media.

• Includes up to 10 social profiles
• 1 user
• Unlimited Posts
• Access to message in one inbox
• Real-time analytics
• Schedule multiple posts at a time with per network editing and “best time to post” recommendations

Team, $249/month – Ideal for small marketing teams looking to collaborate more effectively on social media.
Includes everything at the professional level, PLUS –

• Includes up to 20 social profiles
• 3 users
• Team assignments
• Role access & permissions

Business, starting at $739/month – Includes features business and agencies need to build their brand, grow followers, and manage social media more efficiently as a team.
Includes everything at the Teams level , PLUS –

• Includes up to 35 social profiles
• 5 users, unlimited add-ons
• Approval workflows
• Inbound/outbound tagging
• Content & asset library
• Hootsuite customer support

Enterprise, contact sales – Ideal for large organizations with sophisticated requirements and companies with multiple teams handling social media, where security and workflows are critical.
Includes everything at the Business level, PLUS –

• Starts at 5 users
• Starts at 50 social accounts
• Social ads management
• Social ads analytics & reporting
• Employee advocacy
• Team productivity reporting

Buffer

Buffer is a great platform if you are on a tighter budget and are looking for general everyday tools to make your day-to-day social marketing easier. Compatible with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, Shopify, and Google Business Profiles. Buffer helps you build an audience organically by providing affordable, intuitive marketing tools to better streamline your social marketing efforts.

G2 Rating – 4.3 stars (958 reviews)

Features

Social Management

• Social Analytics
• Social Engagement
• Social Publishing
• Campaign Planning
• Campaign Optimization

Content & Collaboration

• Content Calendar
• Instagram Reels and Carousels
• Approval Workflows
• Content Library
• User and Permissions
• Shared Inbox
• Content Creation

Analytics & Reporting

• Performance Overview
• Post Analytics
• Campaign Analysis
• Hashtag Performance
• Audience Demographics
• Custom Reports

Prices

Free – For individuals and businesses getting started with social media.

• 3 social profiles
• 1 user
• 10 scheduled posts per social profile
• Scheduled TikTok reminders
• Browser extension
• Content calendar

Essentials, $5+/month – For professionals who need publishing, analytics & engagement tools.
Everything in the free plan PLUS –

• Unlimited profiles, $5/mo per channel
• 1 user
• 2000 posts per channel
• In-depth analytics
• Engagement tools
• Multi-channel campaigns

Team, $10+/month – For teams who want unlimited user seating, collaboration, and reporting.
Everything in the Essentials plan PLUS –

• Unlimited profiles, $10/mo per channel
• Unlimited users
• Team collaboration tools
• Additional users

Agency, $100+/month – For agencies that need to connect a larger number of channels.
Everything in the Essentials plan PLUS –

• Unlimited profiles, after first 10 channels it’s $60/yr per channel

There are a variety of social media management solutions to fit every budget and need. When marketing budgets are limited, tools like these are beneficial to evaluating and optimizing current efforts.