The case for better social media technology in 2024

What is social media technology?

At its core, social media technology is software designed to manage a company’s social media profiles across multiple platforms. But as social media has evolved, management platforms have matured beyond this primary function, delivering much more to brands and the people behind them.

About 88% of business leaders who use social media technology agree it’s a critical tool in their company’s tech stack, according to The 2023 State of Social Media report. These leaders say they use social media data for:

• Customer service (62%)
• Brand awareness (60%)
• Market insights (53%)

From sophisticated data analysis to advanced customer care capabilities, social teams and business leaders have come to rely on social media tools.

How social media technology has evolved

Over 5 billion people use social media worldwide, and, according to Sprout Social Q4 2023 Pulse Survey data, 42% of users expect to be present on even more networks in 2024. From emerging networks to well-established platforms, audiences have a nearly insatiable appetite for social media content across channels. As a result, social media networks are constantly changing to keep up with the emerging preferences of their growing user base.

As networks innovate, social media technology has evolved in lockstep—ensuring practitioners can continue to show up where and how their audiences expect. In The Sprout Social Index™, 68% of consumers say their top reason for following brands on social is to stay informed about new products or services. Another 76% notice and appreciate when companies prioritize customer support on social, and 76% value how quickly a brand can respond to their needs.

Social media technology has come a long way since its origin. In addition to its original function of helping teams schedule and cross-post content, it now plays a pivotal role in enhancing the customer experience, making it possible to respond to customers more efficiently and use performance metrics to inform content strategy.

Social media tools also:

• Establish operational efficiencies
• Enable teams to connect with audiences at scale
• Interpret performance data
• Help understand customers across every stage in the journey
• Integrate emerging tech like AI into team workflows
• Empower leaders with valuable market intelligence

There is no clear roadmap for how networks will change in the next five years. But social media technology ensures your brand is maximizing—not just managing—social, and developing at the lightning speed pace of the industry.

The role of social media technology at your organization

Social media is so much more than a push channel: It’s a direct portal to your customers. According to Deloitte’s research from January 2024, “Social-first brands are repositioning social media at the core of the entire brand and customer experience, as a key driver of strategic priorities across the entire C-suite—from commerce and customer care to risk management, product development and beyond.”

With the right social media technology, you can streamline manual tasks and handle all your use cases, while also uncovering customer insights that matter to your entire company. Social media tools prepare your team to be at the forefront of the future.

Make time for more meaningful work

Without an effective management platform, executing a social strategy that encompasses publishing, reporting, customer care and interpreting data is extremely complex. Teams without the right dedicated software are forced to perform tedious manual tasks while working in disparate tools, spreadsheets and email threads, costing teams and brands valuable time and resources (not to mention the high likelihood of manual error being introduced during reporting).

According to The Social Media Productivity Report, marketers who use social media management platforms are almost twice as likely to report having enough time to get their work done, compared to those without a dedicated tool. They are also able to accomplish more strategic work than those who don’t use dedicated software, including business-critical activities like social listening for competitive analysis (47%) and audience research (43%). These teams report being able to perform additional responsibilities, too, like responding to customers and analyzing the health of their brand.

Social media technology gives teams the resources they need to work more effectively, and the structure to meet the most critical business objectives. For example, by using Sprout Social, the Salesforce team saved 12,000 hours by automating simple tasks, and were able to spend more time forging and fortifying relationships with customers.

Enrich customer experiences

Social media technology enables you to provide an unforgettable customer experience and build long-lasting customer relationships—never missing a message or brand mention and offering the right level of support every step of the way. For example, Sprout unifies all incoming messages into the Smart Inbox, where you can monitor incoming messages, foster conversations, respond to your audience quickly and prioritize the most urgent customer needs.

A recently commissioned Total Economic Impact™ study conducted by Forrester Consulting found that Sprout helped a composite organization representative of interviewed customers gain 92% of time back by using the Smart Inbox. The report explained that the streamlined Inbox improves the customer experience by creating faster response times and establishing brand credibility through reliable support on social.

Social tech collects data from customer exchanges, illuminating needs and pain points that you can use to improve your customer care interactions, while increasing loyalty and evangelism. In The 2023 State of Social Media Report, 59% of business leaders anticipate care will be more heavily informed by social in the next few years.

For example, through Sprout’s integration with Salesforce, you can already empower your care team by layering social insights on customer profiles—providing a seamless experience for your customers (and making your customer support team’s work easier at the same time).

Centralize and share data-driven insights

Social’s role has expanded well beyond marketing, touching nearly every corner of a business. Today, 76% of social marketers say their team’s insights inform other departments, according to the Index. Another 97% of leaders believe businesses will increase their use of social for understanding market trends in the next three years, while 93% believe social insights will be a primary source of company-wide business intelligence in the same time period.

A sophisticated platform unifies your social presences and your existing tech stack—aggregating data from many different sources and making it easily shareable outside of the marketing team. By integrating social data into “state of the business” reports, you can demonstrate a holistic view of your business results, gather consumer feedback to shape R&D product decisions and distribute key competitive research to help leadership combat market headwinds, uncertainty and doubt.

With Sprout’s Listening solution and Analytics tools, brands can keep a pulse on their performance, what competitors are saying, posting and doing, and identify trends across their industry. Sprout’s automated, presentation-ready reports eliminate time-consuming manual data collection, empowering social marketers to easily tell a compelling story about their brand and the market.

The Total Economic Impact™ study found that using Sprout helped eliminate manual data collection of monthly reports by 75%, resulting in $39,000 in savings over three years.

Why invest in social media technology

When social teams are equipped with the right solutions, they can bring more value to not only the marketing organization, but the entire company.

Investing in a social media management platform gives your business the tools to grow or maintain brand relevance. Social data is a source of truth that will help your company refine product development, strengthen your employer brand and recruit top talent—while directly driving revenue.

When you’re up against tight budgets and looming economic uncertainty, investing in social gives you a competitive advantage.

Pro tip: Not all social media management platforms are created equal

There are hundreds of platforms on the market today, but most lack the roadmap and commitment to meet a business’ long-term needs. For example, some platforms’ mergers and acquisitions have led to disparate offerings being haphazardly pieced together, resulting in a difficult user experience for sophisticated teams.

Alternatively, over the past year, Sprout Social strategically acquired companies like Repustate and Tagger to enhance our customers’ ability to drive deeper insights from social media and expand their brand presence. We never simply tack on or silo an acquired company. Instead, we thoughtfully weave them into the customer experience to ensure seamless delivery of service.

Some platforms prioritize cost efficiency and short-term investment over customer service and innovation, leaving customers in the dark. While they all work off the same APIs and network limitations, it’s really the way the platforms are built that matters most to your business. Platforms should be elegantly designed to drive adoption across small and robust teams alike, built to move at the speed of social and provide access to key insights that your whole organization can leverage.

The platform you select should be easy to use and offer dedicated and reliable support, while maintaining a clear product vision and relationships with major networks. Your social media technology of choice should prioritize innovation without renovation and clunky re-training that costs your business time and money.

Without social media technology, your brand risks getting left behind

Social media is more critical to business success than ever before.

But without the right technology, social teams are overextended—leaving companies at risk of missing out on crucial insights. To truly tap into the power of social, you need a management platform that improves workflow efficiency, scales customer interactions and elevates audience data.

Ready to see Sprout’s powerful data, flexible tools and intuitive user experience in action? Request a personalized demo with a member of the Sprout Social team. We look forward to showing you how our platform can help you connect with your audience at scale and gather critical insights that propel your business forward.

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How to create a single-page website that leads to a conversion

When you think of a website, you probably imagine a homepage with a menu linking to various categories and sub-pages.

But not every business or creator needs a classic multi-page website. For many, a long-scrolling, single-page website could be the perfect solution.

Which approach is right for you? And if you decide to create a one-page website, what crucial elements do you need to include?

Read on to answer those questions (and more)...

What is a one-page website?

A one-page website is exactly what it sounds like: a site containing a single HTML page, with no links to additional pages (like a blog, contact page, or About Us page).

These clutter-free, easy-to-navigate websites are designed to provide just the right amount of detail to persuade visitors to take some sort of action, such as:

• Buying a physical or digital product
• Completing a contact form to receive a price quote
• Signing up for an online event or course

That makes them a great fit for businesses and creators promoting one type of product or action — like a photographer with a portfolio website showcasing their best work, or an online course creator selling a single course.

Because they only comprise a single page, many one-page websites don’t bother with a navigation menu like you’d find on a classic site.

However, it’s still possible to add navigational elements to a single-page website. It’s just that when the visitor clicks a link or menu button, they’ll instantly be transported to the relevant destination on the page, rather than being sent to a totally different page.

When to consider a one-page website

Let’s consider the main reasons why you might choose a one-page website template over a classic website.

👍 One-page websites could work for you if:

• Your content fits naturally onto a single page
• You want to showcase your professional skills through an online portfolio
• You want website visitors to complete a specific action (like buying a single product or service, or completing a contact form)
• You don’t have the time or budget to build a full, multi-page website
• Your product or service is simple enough to explain in one page of content

On the flip side, there are some scenarios in which a single-page website almost certainly isn’t the right fit for you.

👎 One-page websites probably won’t work for you if:

• You want to publish blog content to bring people to your website
• You’re planning to invest heavily in search engine optimization (more on this later)
• You sell a wide range of products and services across multiple categories
• You want to build dedicated web pages for different customer types
• Your product or service is too complex to explain on a single page
• You want a scalable website that you can easily expand when you enter new markets, target new customers, or launch new products

Benefits of a single-page website

By this stage, it should be clear whether or not a single-page website is a viable solution for your business. Now, let’s consider some of the key advantages these stripped-back sites offer over classic, multi-page sites:

Easy to navigate

Sick of aimlessly clicking around websites to find what you’re looking for? So is everyone else.

Confusing navigation is a big issue for many websites, making it tough for visitors to track down relevant information. If they can’t find that information, they’ll almost certainly bounce — and they probably won’t come back.

This isn’t such a problem for single-page websites, where everything is laid out on one page. No more grappling with confusing navigation menus; you just need to scroll down to find out more.

It’s the simplest possible user experience.

Clear user journey

One-page websites are typically built around one action — like persuading visitors to buy a single product or sign up for a specific online course.

That makes for a simple, clean user journey where you reveal more information as potential customers scroll further down the page. It often looks something like this:

• Top of page: Briefly explain your offer and who it’s for.
• Middle of page: Introduce further features and benefits.
• Further down page: Demonstrate social proof through testimonials and customer reviews.
• Bottom of page: Persuade the user to take action through a “Buy Now” button or a lead capture form.

It all feels very natural.

Mobile-friendly experience

Since late 2019, mobile users have accounted for at least 50% of total global website traffic.

That’s a big tick in the box of one-page websites.

Why? Because mobile browsing is built for scrolling — and that’s exactly what you get with a single-page site. 

With no complex menus to navigate or links to click, they’re often easier to get around on mobile than their multi-page equivalents.

Higher conversions

Classic websites are built around a wide range of different goals and actions. 

For instance, consider a typical e-commerce store. At any given time, it might want visitors to…

• Learn about the organization’s commitment to sustainability
• Apply for vacant jobs at the company
• Sign up for the brand’s newsletter
• Follow the brand’s various social media channels
• Read their latest blog post

…and that’s without even mentioning the store’s main, overarching purpose of driving sales.

By contrast, single-page websites tend to be laser-focused on driving a specific action, which can help them generate more (and more valuable) conversions.

Perfect for Storytelling

An astonishing 94% of consumers agree that high-quality content “tells a good story”.

Again, single-page websites thrive here. They have a clear start, middle, and end (AKA the top, middle, and bottom of the page), which makes it comparatively easy to weave a compelling narrative.

It’s far harder to achieve the same thing across a classic website with hundreds, or even thousands, of pages and practically infinite possible user journeys.

Drawbacks of single-page websites

Of course, a one-page website isn’t a silver bullet guaranteed to work for every business type. There are some significant drawbacks to the single-page approach, including:

Limited SEO potential

Search engine optimization (SEO) strategies rely heavily on identifying high-value keywords, then targeting them through individual category, service, and product pages and blog posts.

With a single-page website, you’ve only got — guess what? — one page to play with, giving you far fewer opportunities for effective keyword targeting.

Also, you can’t take advantage of one of the most effective SEO tactics: internal linking.

Internal linking is about improving the search performance of your most important pages by linking to them from lots of other pages.

Clearly, if your website only comprises a single page, there’s no scope for internal linking.

Lack of flexibility

Another major drawback of single-page websites: they give you minimal scope for entering new markets or targeting new customers.

Why? Because they’re designed to promote a single action for a certain type of customer. Once you branch out to different actions and customers, they can become unworkable, fast.

Of course, if you’ve got no plans to step outside of your current niche, this isn’t a problem.

But it’s impossible to say what your business will look like in 12 months or five years, and you might not want to feel like your website’s holding you back.

Intimidating layout

Because you’ve got to incorporate all your valuable content in a single place, one-page websites often look pretty… long.

This can be a little intimidating to first-time visitors, who are immediately presented with a seemingly never-ending column of text and visual elements.

If they’re looking for a specific piece of information about your product or service, they might not want to scroll down through several screens of content to find it.

6 essential elements of a one-page website

Convinced that a single-page website is right for you? Here are six key elements to inform your design:

A clear goal

The first step when creating any website or landing page is to define a clear objective.

Are you selling a product or service? Showcasing your experience in a specific field? Promoting an online course or event?

Setting a goal helps to guide the design and content creation processes.

Logical, linear structure

If visitors have to constantly scroll up and down the page to find all the information they need to make a buying decision, you haven’t built an effective one-page website.

Plan your structure to ensure would-be customers are sufficiently clued-up by the time they reach the bottom of the page.

Prominent CTA

Think of a call to action (CTA) as a signpost on your website that tells visitors what to do next, like buying a product or signing up for an online course.

Add CTAs in prominent locations throughout your single-page website, like this example from instant coffee brand st33p:

Failing to include clear CTAs can leave visitors confused, which will likely harm your conversion rate.

Product/service description

Without wishing to state the obvious, it’s hard to sell a product or service without an adequate description. Think of this section as the “pitch” for your product or service: why should people buy it?

Focus on benefits rather than features. For example, check out all the benefits in these copy samples from sleep technology company Somvai:

• “Somvai uses radar sensing to gently wake you up at the perfect point in time to make you feel most energized”
• “You can tell Somvai when you need to be up by, and it will give you the best possible nap within that time”
• “Somvai will rhythmically pulse its lights for you to follow with your breathing, helping you fall asleep faster”

That makes for a far more attractive “sell” than simply explaining that the product has flashing lights and a built-in countdown timer.

Social proof

Visitors to your site don’t want to hear you endlessly discussing the brilliance of your product or service — they want to know what real customers think. 

Indeed, 98% of shoppers say reviews are an “essential resource” when making purchase decisions.

As well as reading customer reviews and testimonials, consumers want to hear from authority figures like:

• High-profile publishers
• Influencers and thought leaders
• Accreditation bodies (like the Better Business Bureau)

All that stuff is known as “social proof”, and it plays a key role in persuading potential customers that your business is legit.

There are lots of ways to display social proof beyond the obligatory Trustpilot or G2 logo.

For instance, Pull Systems incorporates the logos of its high-profile industry partners… 

…and also shares news stories from big-name publishers like Bloomberg and Fast Company:

Contact information

Last but not least, don’t forget to include your contact details.

To be clear, that doesn’t just mean linking to your social media profiles. Sure, you can do that too — but first and foremost, you need to give people a direct line to your support team, like an email address, phone number, or contact form.

If you don’t, there’s a real risk that would-be customers will simply look elsewhere, with three-fifths of consumers saying it’s “critical” for businesses to add contact information to their websites.

5 one-page website examples to inspire you

Keen to build your first one-pager, but not sure where to start? Check out five of our favorite single-page website examples:

KNOB

• Niche: Consumer tech

Get over the terrible name, because KNOB gives us a superb example of how to build a single-page website to promote a product launch.

This site builds anticipation by highlighting the product’s eye-catching design through attractive imagery. And it incorporates a simple, striking CTA urging visitors to sign up for the brand’s newsletter to join the “waitlist” ahead of the launch date.

That way, the brand can keep in touch with prospective customers.

Concept Capers

• Niche: Physical games

Think one-page websites have to be simple? Think again, because this one-pager for the creative card game Concept Capers is both beautiful and highly sophisticated.

Practically every element of the page is interactive, from the example playing cards at the top of the page to the draggable blocks in the footer. It’s honestly a pleasure clicking around to see what happens next, which means you actually enjoy learning about the product.

Importantly, this site also gets the basics right by incorporating multiple prominent CTAs throughout the page.

KreativePro

• Niche: Online courses

Selling online courses is all about building trust with your audience by demonstrating your skills and credentials.

KreativePro clearly understands this. Its one-page website is crammed full of social proof, including awards and accreditations, customer testimonials, and the brand’s Trustpilot review score.

The site also effectively pitches KreativePro’s courses through subheadings discussing:

• The “problem” of other creative design courses
• The “solution” that KreativePro provides
• Who would benefit from KreativePro’s courses

This makes it easy for would-be customers to figure out whether KreativePro is right for them.

Moritz Petersen

• Niche: Web development

Moritz Petersen is a web developer who’s built a portfolio-style single-page website to showcase his best work.

Attention to detail is clearly a big deal for Moritz: he mentions it in the above-the-fold introductory copy, but it’s also evident through the design of his one-page site — from the stylish scrolling testimonial banner to the interactive cards in the portfolio section.

Importantly, the aesthetics never interrupt the site’s functionality. Whichever section you’re reading, the “Project request” CTA is always visible at the top-right of the screen.

Arts District Kitchen

• Niche: Hospitality

At first glance, Arts District Kitchen’s website looks like a classic, multi-page site thanks to the top-of-the-page navigation menu.

In reality, it’s a skillfully designed single-page website that contains everything a potential restaurant visitor needs to know: location, opening hours, the menu, and even a little back-story about how the business started.

We also love how Arts District Kitchen gives would-be customers multiple ways to get in touch by including its social handles, phone number, and a built-in contact form.

Build your single-page website with AWeber

Looking for a one-page website builder? AWeber’s landing page builder is the perfect solution, allowing you to:

• Get started fast by choosing from 100+ mobile-responsive landing page templates
• Grow your marketing list through on-site lead capture forms
• Monetize your single-page site with checkout functionality for one-off or recurring payments
• Measure and optimize your performance by integrating Google Analytics and Meta’s tracking pixel
• Connect or buy a custom domain to establish trust and build your brand
• Design beautiful images using our built-in Canva integration

Ready to build your first single-page website?
Sign up for your free AWeber account today!

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Top 18 social media management tools for businesses in 2024

Social media marketing is more than just posting content and hoping for engagements. It’s maintaining an active presence and building a strong brand community. And it’s monitoring conversations to identify and mitigate risks to your brand reputation. That’s why you need powerful social media management tools to help you do all of this more efficiently.

With the right tools, social media management becomes more manageable. You can use these tools to do everything in one place–from scheduling posts to analyzing your performance. It becomes easier to stay on top of tasks with features to collaborate with team members and set alerts.

This post rounds up some of the top social media management platforms in the market to help you decide on the best option for your team. Let’s take a look.

Table of contents:

• What is a social media management tool?
• Best social media management tools overall
• Social media management tools for agencies
• Social media management tools for small teams
• Social media management tools for dedicated platforms
• Social media management tools for publishing
• How to select the best social media management tool for your business

What is a social media management tool?

A social media management tool is a software solution that lets you manage all aspects of your social media in one place. That means you can perform multiple social media tasks without having to switch to a different platform. This includes tasks related to creating, scheduling, publishing, monitoring, analyzing, engaging and collaborating.

Most social media management tools let you manage more than one social media profile across several networks. As such, they play a vital role in executing your social media marketing strategy.

Best social media management tools to use

The best social media management tool for you depends on what you need. Factors like the size of your operation and the platforms you use will influence this decision.

Agencies may need a tool that lets them manage multiple social media profiles for their clients. Meanwhile, small teams may look for something with robust collaboration features. Others may only need a tool to help them manage a specific social media platform. On the other hand, some may want to focus on automating their publishing.

Based on these unique needs, we’ve handpicked some of the best social media management tools to consider.

1. Sprout Social
2. Zoho Social
3. HubSpot
4. Sendible
5. Pallyy
6. SocialPilot
7. Buffer
8. Keyhole
9. Sprinklr
10. eClincher
11. Tailwind
12. X Pro (formerly Tweetdeck)
13. Preview
14. PromoRepublic
15. Hootsuite
16. Coschedule
17. MeetEdgar
18. Later

Best social media management tools overall

1. Sprout Social

Can’t blame us for giving ourselves the top spot, right? Sprout Social is an all-in-one social media management tool to manage all aspects of your social media strategy.

Sprout offers integrations with all the major social networks. This includes Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube. So you can work across your entire presence in a single dashboard.

Plus, you can also manage reviews from sources like Google My Business, Trustpilot and Facebook. It even lets you create shoppable posts integrated with Facebook Shops and Shopify catalogs.

Sprout’s Employee Advocacy tool gives it an added advantage over other social media management platforms. This lets you create a curated feed of content for your employees to share across their social networks. So you can take your employee advocacy efforts up a notch and amplify your brand reach.

Features:

• Social media publishing, scheduling, monitoring, analytics, reporting and more in one easy-to-use dashboard
• ViralPost feature to publish your content when your followers are most likely to engage
• Smart Inbox that compiles all your incoming messages from different social media platforms
• Hashtag tracking to identify the most popular and relevant hashtags to boost visibility
• Custom URL tracking to get a more in-depth insight into how your posts are performing in terms of referral traffic and conversions

2. Zoho Social

Zoho Social is a tool that boasts features “built for every social media feed.” The platform allows you to start discussions, share reports, create team roles and encourage feedback. This makes it easy to get everyone on board with your updates, strategies and performance insights.

In addition to scheduling, the platform has its own optimized timing features similar to Sprout. You can customize your content for each network and schedule them to go out at the right time.

The platform’s Inbox keeps track of all your conversations in one place. So you don’t have to switch between multiple platforms to manage your customer interactions.

Features:

• An instant integration with the Zoho CRM and the ability to monitor customer interactions
• Social listening dashboards to track brand reviews, social mentions and branded keywords
• Ability to collaborate with teammates within the platform via chat, audio and video calls

3. HubSpot

HubSpot is a leading customer platform with powerful social media management features. Its centralized social inbox lets you keep track of all your social interactions in one place. You can further gain contextual information on these conversations with a CRM integration. That way, you have the insights to enhance and personalize the customer experience.

The platform helps you organize your efforts by tagging marketing assets and content. So you can associate your posts with specific campaigns and measure their effectiveness.

Additionally, it comes with all the essential features you need in a social media management software solution. This includes tools for publishing and scheduling as well as keyword monitoring and social media reporting.

Features:

• Keyword monitoring streams to identify important interactions and prioritize the right conversations
• AI-powered social media post generator to simplify publishing
• Best time to post suggestions to optimize scheduling

Social media management tools for agencies

4. Sendible

Sendible has done a great job of niching down for agencies and large brands. It offers client dashboards and automated client reporting features for agency users. Collaboration tools and user management capabilities make the platform ideal for multiple users.

Additionally, it offers a number of helpful integrations to make social media management as easy as possible for users.

Features:

• An all-in-one dashboard that makes it easy to see your overall social media performance at a glance
• Collaboration tools that allow your team to create content and then send it to the client or team leader for approval
• Presentation-ready reports to showcase social media ROI to clients
• A mobile app that lets you monitor and manage your social media accounts on-the-go

5. Pallyy

Pallyy is a unique social media management tool specifically targeted at agencies. This software helps agencies plan and schedule clients’ social media posts all in one place. The platform features a Kanban-style workflow and a visual planner where you can plan your grids. Additionally, you can easily access media files from the media and folders library.

Features:

• Integration with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, Pinterest and TikTok
• Visual planners make it easy to prepare content across platforms and grids, especially when aesthetics is a priority
• Folders to better organize your media files
• Shareable content calendars where clients can leave comments and approve posts

Social media management tools for small teams

6. SocialPilot

SocialPilot is a straightforward social media management solution for those just starting out. It provides all the essential publishing and scheduling features that you need in a social media tool. The platform simplifies content creation with an AI Assistant. This helps you generate engaging captions based on the latest trends and audience preferences.

SocialPilot offers in-depth analytics reports to guide better strategies. The content performance and audience insights help you understand what people are engaging with. You can analyze growth patterns to continue creating great content.

Features:

• Integration with several major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube
• Ability to customize and optimize posts for multiple social networks in a single composer
• Bulk scheduling for up to 500 posts to help you save time

7. Buffer

Buffer is another social media management tool that’s ideal for small businesses and startups. It offers a completely free plan for your first three social media channels. This makes it the perfect option for setting up your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

The platform simplifies content creation with an AI Assistant that generates new ideas. It even lets you store ideas so you can build on them later. A direct integration with Canva, DropBox and OneDrive makes it much easier to import content to edit and share on social.

Features:

• Social media publishing tools that allow you to easily schedule out all the social media content you’ve created for each channel
• A social media engagement dashboard that lets you respond to all mentions or messages online in one place
• Analytics and reporting to give you a bird’s eye view of how your social media efforts are performing
• Landing page builder to create a customized experience

8. Keyhole

Keyhole is unique from most of the tools on this list in that it’s an influencer tracking and marketing software as well. It performs in-depth analytics to help you vet and compare influencers. The profile analytics help you zero in on influencers who manage to drive authentic engagements.

After your campaign goes live, the tool measures the performance of each influencer and their impact on your campaign goals.

Features:

• Automated social media reports that are shareable and presentation-ready within seconds
• Several reporting features, including brand reporting, campaign reporting, hashtag reporting and influencer reporting

9. Sprinklr

Sprinklr is a customer experience management platform with features to manage your socials. It supports your essential social publishing needs with an editorial calendar and a digital asset manager. The engagement dashboard lets you view comments, mentions and messages in one place.

A unique Sprinklr feature is the user-generated content (UGC) management capabilities. You can use it to organize content from fans and repost them to amplify brand reach.

Features:

• Sprinklr AI to speed up content generation
• Custom approval workflows to streamline team collaboration
• Customer service and consumer intelligence integrations for a unified customer experience management

10. eClincher

eClincher markets itself as a social media management platform that highlights a commitment to 24/7 customer support. Like most tools on this list, eClincher features a cross-network social publishing tool. It comes with a visual calendar, a dedicated messaging inbox and a publishing queue. Plus, it features brand monitoring across social, news, blogs and more, complete with sentiment analysis.

Features:

• Provides 24/7 customer support for its users so they can “strategize, optimize and measure ROI”
• Team collaboration with drafts, comments, notifications, tagging and assigning messages

Social media management tools for dedicated platforms

11. Tailwind

Tailwind started out as a tool to address a hole in the market for Pinterest scheduling. So it initially focused on automating Pinterest marketing for brands. It has since expanded to cover Instagram and Facebook. But the platform continues to stand out when it comes to managing Pinterest.

The visual calendar helps you plan and organize all your social media posts in one place. You can apply filters to view only your Pins to see how your Page would look. The platform then auto-publishes these Pins to catch your audience when they’re most responsive.

Features:

• Post ideas to make sure you always have Pinterest content in the pipeline
• Automatic personalized designs to create on-brand posts every time
• Hashtag finder to discover popular and hyper-relevant hashtags to boost your engagement

12. X Pro (formerly Tweetdeck)

X Pro (formerly Tweetdeck) is an X-owned management tool to monitor conversations on the platform. It gives you real-time visibility to monitor multiple timelines on a single screen. So you can easily jump in on the right conversations and engage with your audience.

Since its rebranding to X Pro, the tool is now a part of X Premium subscription. As such, you can access plenty of premium features not available to regular users. This includes the ability to share longer content and download videos among many others.

Features:

• Ability to create longer posts to share in-depth information and messages
• A dedicated Highlights tab to showcase your best posts on your profile
• Reply boost so your responses show up more prominently

13. Preview

Preview is a mobile app that lets you visually plan out your Instagram feed. The tool is perfect for creating a feed that’s based on a specific Instagram feed aesthetic. You can upload as many photos and videos into the app so you can preview your feed before you publish.

Features:

• Upload photos, videos and carousels to the Preview app to get an idea of what it would look like live on Instagram
• Schedule your content right within the Preview app so it’ll publish when you’re ready
• Plan out Reels and Stories as well as your regular Instagram feed so you know how everything will fit together

14. PromoRepublic

PromoRepublic is a unique tool on this list as it markets itself as a local marketing platform. Having a localized social media management tool makes it easier to target local audiences. You can create hyper-localized ads targeting audiences on Facebook and Instagram.

Through its local SEO tool, businesses will be able to grow foot traffic and web traffic. You can even manage customer reviews and feedback right within the dashboard.

Features:

• Best for small businesses, franchises and businesses who want to grow awareness in local audiences
• Dynamic fields to automatically localize content across thousands of local pages
• Content labeling to see what social content resonates in specific locations

Social media management tools for publishing

15. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media marketing tool with powerful publishing features. It comes with a visual calendar to plan out your content and easily fill gaps. If you ever run out of things to post, you can use the tool to generate an endless stream of content ideas. The tool even provides suggestions on the best time to post so you can schedule your posts for the highest engagement.

Check out our list of Hootsuite alternatives if you’re looking to take your social media management in a different direction.

Features:

• Publish and schedule social media posts on a variety of platforms
• Manage incoming messages and mentions and respond to them in a single inbox
• Monitor online conversations around your brand and industry to stay on top of trending topics

16. CoSchedule

CoSchedule began as a content marketing company and has since brought social media management and calendars into its fold. It helps you organize your social media publishing efforts with a social calendar to visualize your entire content plan. The Best Time Scheduler ensures that your posts go out when people are most likely to engage.

Features:

• Social Message Optimizer to craft powerful messages for your social posts
• AI Social Assistant to generate ideas and social messages instantly
• Predefined social sharing templates so you don’t have to create a publishing plan from scratch
• ReQueue automatically creates recurring social posts from your best content

17. MeetEdgar

MeetEdgar is a social media management tool that helps teams automatically curate their social media feeds. This is perfect for solopreneurs or businesses with small teams. Startups, where team members wear a lot of hats, will benefit from the features available with MeetEdgar.

Features:

• Repurpose content and give it new life by automatically republishing it at a later date
• Scheduling tools that let you set the optimal times for MeetEdgar to schedule your content
• Real-time content insights to see what performs best so you can optimize your strategy

18. Later

Later is a social media management tool that assists with publishing and content creation. You can organize your social content strategy with a visual planner and a media library. The Best Time to Post recommendations make sure that you’re reaching your audience at the right time on TikTok and Instagram.

Features:

• User-generated content discovery using tags and mentions
• Instagram Hashtag Suggestions tool to generate fresh and relevant hashtags
• Caption Writer tool to automatically craft powerful social media captions

How to select the best social media management tool for your business

When investing in a new tool for your business, you want something that adds value to your marketing tech stack. So it’s important to carefully weigh your options to ensure that you’re making the right choice. Here are some factors to help you narrow down the ideal social media management software for you.

Integration

The first thing to consider is whether it has a social media integration for the platforms you use. It should integrate with all the major networks so you can manage them all in one place.

Scheduling

Publishing is one of the most vital aspects of social media management, so you need a tool to simplify the process. Look for one that comes with features for scheduling social media posts and best time to post suggestions. Bulk scheduling capabilities are a plus if you have to schedule hundreds of posts each month.

Collaboration

Whether you work with a small team or with clients, you need a tool that supports seamless collaboration. Look for one that has a shared publishing calendar along with multi-user support and message approval workflows.

Social listening

A core aspect of social media management is being able to track and engage with relevant conversions. So you need a tool with social listening capabilities to monitor specific keywords and tags in addition to brand mentions.

AI capabilities

While not a necessity, AI marketing capabilities give you an added advantage. You can find social media tools that offer AI-powered features, especially when it comes to content creation. Being able to generate ideas and captions in an instant will help you speed up the process of creating new social posts.

Reporting

The easier it is to highlight your performance and KPIs, the better. Whether you’re reporting to clients or presenting data to stakeholders, in-depth social media reporting is a must-have.

Additionally, reporting can help highlight what’s working and what’s not in terms of your social presence. So make sure the tool can monitor the social metrics that matter most to your business.

Cost

Whether or not you can get by with totally free social media management software really depends on your business’s size and scope. For solo businesses and up-and-coming agencies, free or freemium tools might serve as a stepping stone toward paid ones.

But oftentimes, “you get what you pay for” rings true. That’s why it’s important to assess which features matter most to your business and what your non-negotiables are.

Take care to consider the overall cost of social media marketing when deciding on your budget for a social media tool.

Adaptability

Another major consideration is how well the tool can adapt to changes in your social media planning. Does it have a built-in editor in case you decide to create more visual content? Can you get hashtag ideas in case you want to start adding more hashtags? Make sure it has all the features you might possibly need so it can quickly adapt to your latest social media plan.

Scalability

One crucial factor is the ability to scale along with your needs. Almost in line with the previous factor, scalability helps you ensure that the tool can support your business growth. At the bare minimum, it should offer the option to add more users and social profiles.

Manage social media like a pro

The right tool helps you manage your social media like a pro. It streamlines publishing and allows you to manage all your social media interactions in one place. More importantly, it enables you to collaborate seamlessly with your team and clients.

After going through our list, take some time to weigh your options before you make the final move. And remember, you can get a first-hand look at Sprout’s automation, collaboration and reporting features with a free 30-day trial.

The post Top 18 social media management tools for businesses in 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.

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Best blogging platforms for every type of blog

If you’ve ever had a blog before, you probably know what a hassle it can be to decide which blogging platform to choose. Each boasts a long list of tools and features that can start to sound alike after you’ve browsed five or six of them.

If you’re looking to start your first blog, choosing the right blogging platform can be even more difficult. Especially when (and we all know this happens) everyone you know has a different, and often passionate, opinion on which one is best.

In this guide to the best blogging platforms, we make it easy for you to choose the best blogging platform for your business or personal blogging needs. You’ll discover which are easy or difficult to use, how much they cost, why people do and don’t like them, and who each platform is best suited to.

This guide will save you hours of research time and help point you in the right direction when looking for a blogging platform that fits your needs. 

Looking for a blogging service you can stick with for years to come? Your journey starts here!

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Best blogging platforms

• What is a blogging platform?
• What to look for when choosing a blogging platform
• 8 Best blogging platforms
  • WordPress
  • Medium
  • Wix
  • Squarespace
  • Joomla!
  • Weebly
  • Blogger
  • Tumblr
• How to get your first 5,000 blog readers

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What is a blogging platform?

A blogging platform is a type of software or service that allows you to publish online content in the form of a blog. 

Blogging software, such as WordPress or Wix, requires “hosting” to go live on the internet. Hosting is often included with blogging software, for a monthly fee. Most blogging software doubles as website-builder software so you can build your website alongside your blog or integrate it at a later time.

Blogging services, such as Medium and Tumblr, host your blog for you. These are blog-only services that do not allow you to create a website. They are less expensive or free and easier to use. However, blogging services allow you very little control over your design. They also leave you heavily reliant on the success of the platform for continued blogging.

What to look for when choosing a blogging platform

When choosing the best platform for your blog, consider your needs, goals, and level of technical expertise.

• Is the platform user-friendly and easy to use?
• Does it allow for the types of customizations you have in mind?
• Will it let you create the design you have in mind?
• Does it have the essential features and plugins you need to meet your goals, such as SEO boosters or ecommerce integrations?
• Can it meet your needs as you grow?
• Is it within your budget?

Shopping for a blogging platform can make you feel like a kid in a candy store. It’s easy to find yourself wanting to build something bigger and better than what you need, especially when faced with some of the incredible features and plugins today’s blogging platforms offer.

That’s why making a list of your needs, goals, and expectations is important. It will help you focus on what you need in a blogging platform without getting (too) distracted by the endless possibilities.

8 Best Platforms for Blogging

Our picks for the best blogging platforms include a wide range of options to fit many different types of blogs. Whatever kind of blog you’re hoping to build, you’ll likely find a good platform match in the selection below.

WordPress

WordPress.com content management and website builder software

Popular blogging and website software WordPress powers more than 40% of all websites on the internet. WordPress is popular because it allows you to build and design nearly any blog or website you can imagine, yet requires no programming skills.

There are two versions of WordPress; 

• WordPress.com is the more user-friendly version because it includes managed hosting. The hosting service handles most of the technical aspects of your site, including optimizing your site for security, performance, and speed.
  
  WordPress.com is the best choice for bloggers with no programming or web-building experience who don’t mind having their site hosted by WordPress.

• WordPress.org requires you to use a separate website hosting service, such as GoDaddy or WPX. This puts the technical maintenance in your hands or within the control of your hosting provider. WordPress.org software is free to use. However, you are responsible for separate hosting, maintenance, and domain expenses.

WordPress.org is a good choice for bloggers wanting to manage their hosting, security, and maintenance independently of WordPress.

WordPress is an ideal blogging platform for people in any industry who anticipate growing their blog into a full website. 

WordPress Pros:

• User-friendly platform with visual editors.
• 11,000+ free theme options.
• 60,000+ free plugins available.
• Minimal learning curve for simple blogging.

WordPress Cons:

• Ongoing learning curve requires a time investment for WordPress beginners.
• Costs can add up for hosting, premium themes, and premium plugins.
• Abundant selection of themes and design options can be distracting.

“I like the versatility of WordPress as it can power a wide range of websites from blogs and small businesses sites to e- commerce platforms and large enterprise websites. Its SEO plugins help users improve their website search.”

- Asna F., G2 Reviewer

WordPress.com Pricing:

• Free version
• Starter plan: $9 per month
• Explorer plan: $18/month
• Creator: $40/month
• Entrepreneur: $70/month
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing

Medium

Medium reading and writing community

Launched by two of Twitter’s co-founders, Evan Williams and Biz Stone, Medium is a widely-known and well-respected blogging community with more than 100 million active users. 

Think of Medium as a social networking site known for its emphasis on high-quality writing and simple design.

Medium is best for bloggers seeking exposure on a community-based platform. It’s also a great fit for individual bloggers looking to build a following and monetize their content.

Medium pros:

• User-friendly platform.
• Built-in audience.
• Requires no design or website building.
• Requires no technical maintenance or knowledge.
• Partner program provides monetization options.

Medium cons:

• Limited customization options.
• Long-term reliance on the platform’s hosting, policies, and pricing (which can change at any time).
• Like social media, your content visibility depends on Medium’s algorithm (which can change without notice).
• Readers must pay to access more than 3 articles per month.

“Medium is the perfect blog because you don't need an external service. You don't need a server… All in all, we find it an easy to use and clear platform that has helped us replace our old reliance on WordPress.”

- Kevin O’Grady, TrustRadius reviewer

Medium pricing:

• Writing and publishing: Free
• Partnership program: $5/month
• Full access reading: $5/month

Wix

Wix is a visually-driven website builder and business management platform that hosts 43 million websites. Rated the best blogging platform for drag-and-drop by Forbes Advisor, Wix specializes in websites for ecommerce, restaurants, blogging, fitness, and service businesses.

Wix is best for creatives or small businesses who want to develop a visually stunning blog without deep technical skills. 

Wix Pros:

• User-friendly drag-and-drop platform.
• Excellent template options.
• Enterprise-grade security.
• Marketing and SEO tools and analytics.

Wix Cons:

• Advanced features may require a learning curve.
• Limited design flexibility.
• Occasional slow loading times.

“I love the ease of creating a new site. All the options are fabulous and I learn new features almost daily.”

- Michelle M., Capterra Reviewer

Wix Pricing:

• Free version
• Light: $16/month
• Core: $27/month
• Business: $32/month
• Business Elite: $159/month
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing

Squarespace

Squarespace lets you create gorgeous website designs that focus on aesthetics and user experience. 

The platform requires no coding knowledge and makes it easy to modify pre-built template designs. Squarespace customers love its ecommerce capabilities and compatibility with services such as PayPal and Stripe.

Squarespace is best for bloggers, artists, and entrepreneurs wanting a super-easy way to quickly build a beautiful website. It may not be a good match for people looking for full control over their website design.

Squarespace pros:

• Praised for its user-friendly tools.
• Easy to use, allows you to quickly create web pages and blog posts.
• Works well with ecommerce.
• Provides a premium, hassle-free experience for bloggers.

Squarespace cons:

• Doesn’t allow for easy advanced customization.
• Some design, technical, and SEO limitations exist.
• May feel too limiting for people with WordPress or other technical experience.

“Squarespace has saved me time, money, and has allowed me to expand my photography business over the past 5 years by providing the perfect place for clients to find me online. Plus, I get SO many compliments on my website!”

- Jenna S., Capterra reviewer

Squarespace pricing:

• Personal: $16/month
• Business: $23/month
• Commerce Basic: $23/month
• Commerce Advanced: $49/month

Joomla!

Joomla! is a robust, open-source content management system that allows you to create, manage, and publish digital content. Users enjoy its flexible functionality, powerful extension system, extensive user management options, and wide selection of design templates.

Joomla! is a good choice for intermediate to advanced users who need more flexibility and control than they can get with standard blogging platforms like WordPress and Squarespace. It’s also an ideal platform for websites with multiple users and access levels.

Joomla! pros:

• More advanced than most blogging platforms but not as complex as Drupal.
• Multilingual features.
• Excellent user management features for companies with multiple users.
• Highly scalable platform for ecommerce.

Joomla! cons:

• Requires previous website-building skills.
• Limited javascript abilities.
• Updates can be buggy and sometimes break the theme.

“I like how it supports complex themes and the ability to add-on modules, plugins, payment gateways, etc. The possibilities are endless with what you can do with it.”

- Joel A., G2 Reviewer

Joomla! pricing:

• Free

As an open-source software, Joomla! Is free to use. However, you might incur expenses such as web hosting, paid templates and extensions, and development and maintenance services.

Weebly

Weebly is a super user-friendly platform with drag-and-drop features. It allows you to customize your page designs and sell products online. 

Weebly is best for beginners or small businesses looking for an easy, all-in-one solution to integrated blogging and ecommerce.

Weebly pros:

• Rated best blogging platform for ecommerce blogging by Forbes Advisor.
• User-friendly platform that requires no technical knowledge.
• Built-in features include contact forms, photo galleries, and sliders.
• Built-in SEO settings to help you optimize your blog content for search engines.

Weebly cons:

• Limited design options and code customization such as HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.
• Limited capabilities compared to more comprehensive platforms such as WordPress.
• May feel outdated to some users.

“The best thing about Weebly is the simplicity of building a very professional looking website with little or no site-building experience. If WordPress is out of reach for you but you need a solid professional looking site for your small business, Weebly is the way to go.”

- Joshua M., Capterra reviewer

Weebly pricing:

• Free plan
• Personal: $10/month
• Professional: $12/month
• Performance: $26/month

Blogger

Blogger, owned by Google, is a 100% free blogging platform that allows you to post unlimited articles. It’s known for its straightforward, user-friendly interface, and is easy to set up and manage.

Blogger makes it easy to monetize your content through Google Adsense. However, some speculate that its future is uncertain because Google has a history of discontinuing services. 

Blogger is best for beginning bloggers looking for a free platform to write and post articles. 

Blogger pros:

• 100% free, including themes, gadgets, and hosting.
• Super easy to use, no experience required.
• Monetization options are available through Google Adsense.
• Reliable hosting by Google means minimal downtime and no technical hassles.

Blogger cons:

• SEO limitations; does not provide the wide range of SEO tools and plugins as most other blogging platforms.
• Limited features and extensions compared to more comprehensive platforms such as WordPress.
• Limited design and template options.

“It allows you unlimited hosting that provides you with any amount of memory you need to write your articles, regardless of their size and length. I would also like to point out that Blogger is easy to use and simple, and it will not require you to have any experience or specialized education to use it”

- Oussama R., Capterra reviewer

Blogger pricing:

• Free

Tumblr

Tumblr is a unique blend of a blogging platform and a social network that is especially well-suited to microblogging. If you prefer short-form content such as brief text posts, images, quotes, or GIFs, rather than long-form articles, you might want to check out Tumblr.

Tumblr may be a good fit for visual artists, photographers, community-seekers, niche hobbyists, and lifestyle bloggers. 70% of Tumblr users are between the ages of 12 - 43 years old.

Tumblr is best for microbloggers who want to be part of a community of people with similar interests, and who are drawn to its vibrant and diverse community.

Tumblr Pros

• Fosters connections and community with like-minded people.
• Easy to use.
• Excellent for micro-blogging.

Tumblr Cons

• Many people find the interface overcrowded and unattractive.
• Occasional slow loading times.
• May not be a good fit for businesses due to the lack of updates and design.

“It is a good place to find different kinds of communities. I have used tumbler for my work when I have needed to talk with people about their experiences with products. It is a nice place to find people willing to talk with you voluntarily.”

- Daniel M., G2 reviewer

Tumblr pricing:

• Free

*Note: Tumblr’s Post+ exclusive content subscription plan is no longer available as of January 2024.

Whether you’re looking for beautiful design, easy set-up, or comprehensive features and plugins, the blogging and website platforms above are among today’s most popular. 

How to get your first 5,000 blog readers

Getting those first readers to your blog can be a challenge, especially during the early months when you might feel as if you’re writing to crickets. Here are some tips to help you increase traffic to your blog.

• Create Valuable Content: Ensure each blog post is insightful and tailored to a specific audience.

• Incorporate Lead Magnets: Offer free valuable resources (e.g., e-books, webinars) in exchange for people subscribing to your email list or newsletter. Create a landing page to promote your lead magnet, then share it on your blog and with your social and professional networks. 

• Engage your email subscribers: Send regular, personalized emails or newsletters with content that adds value beyond your blog posts. Encourage readers to share your content with friends.
• Use Social media and your personal and professional networks to promote your blog and grow your email list.

Building blog readership takes time, but if you consistently publish great content and support it through email marketing and networking, you can build an active and engaged audience much quicker.
Do lead magnets, landing pages, and email newsletters sound like a lot to take on?

We’ve got you covered! AWeber makes it simple to create professional emails and landing pages in minutes. Give AWeber a try, for free, today!

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