A good social media management tool can make your life so much easier. A bad one can be really frustrating. With tools changing ALL THE TIME, how can you be sure you’ve picked the right tool for YOUR business?

We have a series of questions we ask when considering a social media management tool for our clients. While some agencies put all their clients into their selected tool, that doesn’t always work well and you’re forcing your clients into what works for you. Which may not be a fit for that clients’ social media  practice.

These same questions are a great starting point for an entrepreneur or small business owner who is looking to start using a social media tool. 

What Features Do You Need?

Scheduling

If you’re looking for a new social media management tool, the first feature you will need is something that will help you schedule your content.

This will save you time and help you be more strategic in scheduling your content 

Connecting

The ability to connect specific channels is an important feature.

Not all social networks work well on all third party tools; Instagram is usually always the problem child!

Monitoring

Do the notifications from each social network work for you or your business? Or do you need to get them into a single pipeline? This is the most advanced feature of social media networks and is usually the most pricey.

Reporting

What kind of data would you like to see weekly, monthly or yearly from your social media channels? Have you set goals against them from which a report would help you see progress? 

How Many People Need to Use The Tool?

Many tools are priced by number of people using it or the number of social network connections made inside the tool.

Many of the great starter tools are a combination of both. For example, you can have 2 people and up to 5 networks.   

What Else Should I Know About Making the Purchase?

Some tools max out the number of scheduled messages per month but since that number is often really high (like 10,000) it may not apply to you.

Most will quote you a price per month, but if you sign for one year, there is a great price break.  We suggest trying a tool for 2-3 months before trying to grab that annual discount. It will make it easier to change your mind if you find it doesn’t work for you.

Jen and Fran recently did a live video on choosing tools. Check out this brief, 10 minute Q and A below.