Article written by Charli and originally published at Moose Media Management

Moose are delighted to introduce Charli as our first ever guest blogger.

Charli Day is a British writer and social media manager specialising in dynamic branding, campaign strategy and content engagement. Responsible for a number of high profile brands and with 500+ articles published, her success lies within her originality and hands on experience of the digital marketing world. Charli lives by the Mediterranean and loves Starbucks, popcorn flavoured jellybeans and writing poetry

If you’re managing a small business then the chances are, you have three challenges when it comes to social media management.

The first is finding the time for social media.
The second is getting the right person to manage your social channels.
The third is, of course, the dreaded budget.

Even so, we sometimes forget that there is a thing called marketing automation that can help us gain more customers without putting in a lot of effort. Enterprises frequently invest in business process automation tools that can aid in marketing, increase accountability and transparency, and enable accurate data recording. These tools can also keep all process-related communication within the workflow, making it easier and faster to execute. Specifically, marketing automation is frequently used as part of a larger marketing funnel that includes a variety of tactics such as email marketing, social media, regular newsletters, content marketing, SEO, and so on. That’s why corporate software such as OKR (objectives and key results) can assist businesses that want to be more targeted and efficient. Because marketing automation is so effective, it has quickly become the most popular tool in companies’ digital marketing automation toolboxes. It enables businesses to make changes in real-time. As a result, many businesses are looking into such software tools to improve workflow and KPIs (key performance indicators) as a way to maintain a consistent pulse on their business performance.

Anyway, with all this in mind, let’s take a look at the top 5 social media management tools for small businesses which tick the boxes for time, resources and price.

Buffer

Best for Individual Marketers

Buffer has a great, simple to use interface

Buffer is a cool social media management tool which allows you to schedule content across your networks so your fans get more chances to see it. With its browser extensions and mobile apps, Buffer allows you to add content to your queue and share it later. An added benefit of using Buffer is that it will also track your links which means it tells you how many times they have been clicked and what their sharing potential is. An individual plan on Buffer is free but you can only use it for one social profile and there are some restrictions. It will cost you $10 per month to use their “Awesome” account which is still very competitive and allows you to add more accounts.

Post Planner

Best for Sharing Content

PostPlanner is great for finding great 3rd party content

Whilst there is no free option with Post Planner, there is a “Love Plan” which is just $7 per month. The nicest feature of Post Planner is its “Top Articles” feature which allows users to keep up with the hottest articles in their specified niche and share them with their network. This means that if you don’t have time to write your own content, you can easily share someone else’s! On the downside, Post Planner only supports Facebook and Twitter so if you’re looking for a more comprehensive management tool then this might not tick the box.

IFTTT

Best for Tech Savvy Users

If This, Then That is great for automating processes be careful in automating responses. This is ‘social’ media

IFTTT (“If This Then That”) allows you to create personalized actions (called “recipes”) which allow you to specify what to do when something happens on one of your networks or your blog. With 132 channels to connect and a free plan, it will allow you to automate pretty much anything on your social channels.

EG: Your business is mentioned on Twitter. So each time that happens you can create an action which tells the system what to do next… for example… a thank you message.

The problem with IFTTT is that it’s not easy for newbie social media managers to set up and you do need to be careful with automation. (We agree with this. At Moose we tested its use out on our personal accounts before letting loose any automation on our posts. We’ve still not committed to it)Ed

Leave this one for the more tech savvy users who will love its endless functionalities.

TweetDeck

Best for Twitter Fanatics

TweetDeck is a cheeky little Twitter app if your business is just on Twitter and/or runs multiple twitter accounts

If your business is only on Twitter or if you are managing a bunch of Twitter accounts, then TweetDeck is an awesome social media management tool. Tweetdeck allows you to schedule Tweets, switch between Twitter accounts, track hashtags and create multiple lists. The downside of TweetDeck for small businesses is of course that it only allows you to manage Twitter so you will probably need to use another tool for your other networks. However, it is free and great for those wishing to boost their Twitter presence.

Agorapulse

Best for Overall Social Media Management

A more complete social management tool

Agorapulse gives social media manager the ability to manage Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in one super-organized dashboard. You can also schedule posts across multiple channels, create and manage contests, and monitor the mentions of your brand. The micro package starts at €29 per month. With four different price packages, there is plenty of choice for your growing business.

Managing a small business can be tough but with the right tools it can be really rewarding too.

Which tool might you give a go? Tweet us and let us know @moosesocial & @AgoraPulse.