One of the best tricks for “getting it all done” is delegation. Heck, for those of us who have sons, a little internal timer started the day they were born, counting down the days until we can delegate mowing the lawn to them.
With websites, though, delegating is a little trickier, especially in the early days when your page isn’t bringing in much income yet. You could have a child with the intent of delegating your content posts as soon as they reach the Age of Literacy, but most of us don’t have that level of patience.
Fortunately, there are a host of social media management software tools that exist to lighten the load for us, and while there is usually a fee involved, we don’t have to feed them, clothe them, or pay their college tuition, so in the end… a lot cheaper.
These programs typically help by taking a single post and sending it to all our social media accounts, or they allow us to schedule posts to nail peak social media usage hours without us having to be tied down to a computer screen. But with so many software options, which one is the option?
Tricky question, because the answer is subjective. What works best for you might not work best for the next website creator. But to help you decide which is best for you, here’s a quick breakdown of some of the top choices.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is probably the most widely used, and for good reason. This tool allows you to monitor your multiple accounts and keywords, see ROI, and works with the broadest number of social media networks and associated apps (including WordPress). Plans range from free to $29, $159, and $599 depending on the size of your business.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is similar to Hootsuite but focuses on the primary social networks only. The highest praise for Sprout comes from its amazing reports and customer profiles. Plans starts at $99.
Sendible
Sendible is a social media management tool built specifically for agencies—meaning it’s designed for those who have multiple accounts/brands they are managing at once. It also provides some graphic design support and a royalty-free image search. Plans range from $29 to $299.
eClincher
eClincher is a popular choice for those who like to schedule autoposts through RSS feeds (translation, if you can handle a more complex setup, this is the tool for you). It also does a decent job connecting you with social influencers. Plans range from $49 – $199.
Social Pilot
The main takeaway for Social Pilot is affordability. It may not have some of the bells and whistles of other software, but it gets the job done, and plans start at just $10.
CoSchedule
CoSchedule is more of a calendar tool than a social posting tool, and it’s great if you have multiple projects or goals and need them all displayed in one cohesive form. This one is also great if you work with a team and need a collaborative medium. It also helps you pinpoint peak social usage hours so you can better time your posts. Plans start around $20.
Edgar
Edgar is borderline AI, which is always cool. The software doesn’t just automate your posts, it creates posts based on your past content and posts accordingly. There’s a learning curve, but done right, Edgar can take over a lot of your posting responsibilities. Costs $49 a month.
We’ll check out some of the lesser used software in a later post. But for now…