Knowing what kind of content to post, when to post, and other tricks are one thing – but sometimes we need some help. There are thousands of social media monitoring tools available to businesses to make the most of their social media efforts, so I thought I would share my opinion on four of the most popular social media monitoring/scheduling tools.
HootSuite
Hootsuite is without a doubt the best free tool on the market, but like most you can pay for upgraded features (a whopping $10 a month). Personally, I think it’s 100% worth every penny – especially for those looking for low-cost options. Hootsuite is what I use to manage my clients (outside of WSI), and have found no issues with it to date. The only downfall is that the reporting is not as in depth as I would like – but there is an option to purchase more detailed reports. If you are just managing a couple of accounts for your company I think this is a great starting point – you can schedule posts, have them send from multiple accounts, and get weekly reports sent to your inbox outlining new followers, clicks, and mentions.
Sprout Social
Sprout is, in my opinion, one of the best tools on the market today. Sprout allows you to organize several different social media accounts including Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. The key is that once each company is organized into their “tab”, you can see ALL posts in one place – instead of having to change tabs for each media. Another huge plus to Sprout is the detailed reporting, perfect for a company that manages more than one brand and wants their clients to see how their SM strategy is working for them. Another thing I prefer about Sprout (vs. Hootsuite) is that it allows you to schedule the same post on more than one day – without having to copy/paste and create an entirely new post. I would recommend this monitoring/scheduling tool for anyone working heavily on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
Oktopost
Oktopost is king for anyone using Linkedin – and would be my recommendation hands down. Oktopost allows you to add multiple accounts and import ALL groups you are part of without having to add them individually (as in Hootsuite). The dashboard offers an excellent snapshot of all activity, showing clicks, comments, and conversations of the ten most recent campaigns. Also, the social inbox allows for timely responses to comments on your posts, as it pulls them from Linkedin for you, so you don’t have to leave the program to reply. There are a couple of issues I have found, but nothing that can’t be resolved with a quick-fix. If you’ve never tried Oktopost I suggest you give it a try – you won’t be sorry.
TweetDeck
Tweetdeck is still one of my go-to tools for monitoring and engagement because it makes it easy to track conversations that are happening in real time. Sprout and Hootsuite do this too, but the ability to have several streams open at once without having to change windows comes in handy. This is a tool I usually run on my second screen and watch from the corner of my eye – especially when I am looking for specific search terms that clients want to interact with.
There are so many more tools available, and I found this great infographic in the Social Media Strategy Summit Blog that I think is an excellent resource for anyone researching monitoring tools. Take a look – there are some listed here that I have never heard about.
If you are having trouble choosing which tool to use, or need help with social media in general feel free to leave me a comment, I’m always open to answering any questions you may have.
