Social media tools

Uplift Social is a fairly new player in the social media marketing realm, but it holds a lot of promise. Their powerful post and tweet scheduling function ensures you’re posting at the most optimal times, and their Analytics dashboard allows you to track your brand engagement statistics across multiple networks. It also includes a Feeds feature, which helps marketers generate engaging stories by consolidating the latest updates from around the web. Plus, with the Uplift Social mobile app, you can do all your posting while on the go.

Hootsuite has a more corporate feel with a lot of great functionality. Because of its considerably more robust functionality, it seems to appeal quite a bit to professional marketers from larger companies. However, with great power comes greater cost, and you may have to figure out exactly what you want for your organization if you want to avoid the extra fees charged for little bits and pieces. That said, Hootsuite is still fairly affordable for all that it provides, so it’s worth considering as a robust social media management tool.

Buffer is a clean, minimalist interface that ranks highly in the ease-of-use department. It may seem a bit lacking in functionality compared to more established products like Hootsuite, but it’s easier on the wallet, has a shallower learning curve, and contains the main features you’ll need for effective social media management. Buffer also wins out for one unique offering – Pablo – which enables you to create visually-stunning graphics for easy social media shareability. Do note that Buffer does not have content recommendations, so social media marketers new to the field will have to get their learning elsewhere.

Sendible is recommended for small to medium-sized businesses as well as enterprises. It shines in the analytics department for its ability to provide 360-degree monitoring, so if you’re big on the analytics aspect, Sendible is a strong candidate for its deep and segmented analytics. It also goes beyond social media, giving you the ability to track e-mail marketing campaigns and popular bookmarking sites like Delicious. One area in which it’s lacking, however, is in its collaboration tools: if you’re working with a team of marketers, Sendible may not provide as much functionality in that aspect.

With its pricing packages, it’s obvious that Sprout Social is targeting larger enterprises with cash to spare. But with that heftier price tag also comes a cleaner, more user-friendly design that doesn’t detract from the wealth of features offered. Comprehensive analytics reports, superb publishing tools, one of the most powerful built-in social media image editors on the market, and even a social CRM: this complete package makes publishing and management a breeze. There is one disadvantage, though: their listening and influencer identification tools are lagging behind the competition.