Social media management software (SMMS) is used by companies to engage prospects and customers on social media networks. The software can be used to track inbound and outbound brand mentions, social marketing campaigns, and the effectiveness of social media presence.Show moreBasic SMMS software enables a company to combine multiple social media accounts, and track and analyze conversations using a single dashboard. Web-based SMMS solutions enable automated and real time posting to multiple channels, and you can post the same content on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook with a few clicks. These platforms allow companies to monitor social media chatter and learn about the preferences of customers. Start by checking our leader HubSpot Marketing, and other recommended solutions in this category.Show less
In order to come up with this ranking of best Free Social Media Management Tools we have researched leading tools currently available on the market, studying their features, how easy are they are to learn, client support, offered integrations and mobile support using our patented SmartScoreTM rating system. This ranking has been prepared by Nestor Gilbert, our B2B expert dedicated to the Free Social Media Management Tools category.
Small businesses and freelancers alike use free social media management tools or social media management software (SMMS) to manage marketing efforts, engage their customers, and build their online presence. There are multiple tools out there that include similar features, so it can be tough to decide which one to use. This buyer’s guide gathers the best free social media management tools and highlights their powerful features that could meet the marketing needs of SMEs and independent users.
SMEs and individual subscribers can use a social media management tool free of charge through a vendor’s free trial offer. Taking advantage of a free trial gives users the chance to test the software and see how its features can help streamline social media marketing activities. Free trial periods can vary from 7 to 14 days. Here are free social media management tools to start exploring: HubSpot Marketing, monday.com, Planable, Facebook Pages Manager, and Zoho Social. These platforms received top ratings from our social media management software reviews.
Social Customer Care
Customers reach out to brands on social media because they expect a timely response. This trend has been pushing companies to invest more resources in social customer care to gain organic marketing traffic. Brands directly reply to followers and have a casual conversation on a social app. As a result, customers feel heard and delighted while the brand is able to build a stronger online presence and positive reputation.
Metaverse Social Strategy
Brands are exploring what’s possible with metaverse (VR/AR) technology. More than two-thirds of marketers anticipate their companies to invest at least a quarter of their marketing budget into technologies and strategies connected to the metaverse. Gen Zs and millennials are the primary demographics likely to interact with brands using VR/AR tech. Brands are now preparing to capitalize on this opportunity and serve immersive, hyperreal experiences to customers.
Creator Partnerships
Brands will continue to look into their community for possible partnerships with influencers/content creators. Statistics show that 90% of marketers consider influencer marketing as an effective form of marketing. Also, influencer content was viewed 13.2 times more than media and brand content. In the next years, marketing experts project that the creator/influencer economy will continue to grow and brands need to leverage their social networks to find creators they can partner with for their campaigns.
Taking care of several social media profiles
Managing multiple social media accounts for a company can be challenging. Social media management tools free marketers from the inefficiency of shifting between platforms to update and track social posts. With a social media management app, it’s easier to link all social accounts like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn and manage them in one app.
Measuring KPIs
Without the ability to check marketing campaigns against company KPIs, marketers and other stakeholders would also not be able to determine what works and what doesn’t. And if data from social accounts are not organized, marketers can’t be agile and proactive and could miss out on trends and opportunities for gaining customers. Free social media management tools include reporting and analytics capabilities that can address data visibility issues for many marketers.
Creating meaningful content
Social media managers believe finding new and meaningful content for their audience is one of the most difficult parts of content creation and marketing. How can they increase the value and engagement potential of each content they publish? Listening and analytics features in social media management tools help marketers find insights into their customers and followers. By tracking social chatter, marketers can discover new topics or identify gaps in their content.
Cost is a huge factor for companies looking to purchase social media management software. But the good news is many vendors offer free plans to suit small businesses and individual users. For companies that have more complex business requirements, there are also customized plans that offer premium features and big savings.
Free. Marketers can use a free social media management tool by login on to their free accounts. Most vendors include basic features in free accounts like planning and scheduling and post preview. They might also limit the number of posts marketers can upload monthly on a free account.
Monthly Plans. Vendors often combine their products’ basic features and more advanced tools in paid accounts. Automation and workflow approvals, for instance, are often part of paid plans.
Annual Plans. The initial investment for annual plans is often bigger than monthly subscriptions but they also come with discounts. Though the features included are usually the same, companies could benefit from cost savings when they opt to pay for the entire year.
Customized Plans. Vendors also offer customized plans for clients with specific requirements or business problems. Basic and advanced features could be combined in a customized plan and quoted differently from the fixed monthly prices. Companies might also want a customized plan if they plan to implement the software across departments or global social media/marketing teams.
Businesses that are not yet ready to commit to paid software products can always go for free social media management tools. Getting a free account or signing up for free trials is always a good way to start and learn about the software. Once your company has determined the right app, you can upgrade to paid versions or subscriptions to use advanced features.
Once you’ve signed up for a social media management platform, onboarding is crucial to users’ success. Though vendors have greatly improved in designing intuitive apps, employees still need to become familiar with the features and capabilities of the software.
Aside from providing technical support, vendors often provide an online knowledge base so that users can self-help if they get stuck using the app. Make sure to introduce this self-help option to your social media team to refer to it as they get used to your chosen social media management software.
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Infrastructure plays a key role in a SaaS system. If there is an outage, you would not be able to access the system. So, you should pay good attention to the system’s infrastructure when analyzing SaaS providers.
Many enterprises fail to ask their shortlisted SaaS providers questions about disaster recovery, service level agreements (SLAs), and security. These are key infrastructure factors that need careful consideration when analyzing a vendor.
SaaS is straightforward to subscribe to. All you need to do is go the website and purchase a suitable package for the required number of users. For this reason, many companies pay attention only to the cost of the software and not to infrastructure considerations. They may also think that careful evaluation is not needed since it is so easy to get started quickly.
But you need to be prepared for situations as such as the SaaS provider going out of business or their website going down. You need to have contingency measures in place to face these situations to make sure they do not have a deleterious impact on your business. It is simple to subscribe to a SaaS solution, but think about the impact on your business if the platform is withdrawn by the vendor.
The best free social media management software is HubSpot Marketing. It’s a marketing platform with all the social media tools, content management features, analytics, and integrations that marketers need to gain insights into their audience. Marketers use HubSpot to grow their social media presence, get more traffic, and run inbound marketing campaigns at scale.
Using HubSpot’s social media management software, marketers can spend less time monitoring social media accounts and more on creating data-driven marketing strategies for their brands. The platform allows users to publish content from the same place they built their campaigns and connect all interactions for contextual analysis and social media ROI reporting.
Businesses that leverage social media management software experience a wide range of benefits. Here are some of the top benefits according to marketers:
The easiest social media management software to use is HubSpot Marketing. The platform allows users to build and publish social media campaigns easily. You can publish directly to social accounts and get suggestions on how to optimize your post for the time and date to suit your audience. The tools are intuitive and customer support and online documentation are available in case users get stuck.
Marketers can also associate social posts with the relevant campaign. Using the campaign tool, marketers can tag related marketing assets and content. Also, powerful analytics and reporting tools allow users to easily measure how social posts impact overall marketing and see the effectiveness of all their marketing efforts.
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