In a world where a solid social media presence is increasingly crucial, businesses and individual users alike are always looking for the best tools to streamline their social media management. While Buffer has been a popular choice, it’s not the only player in the game. Tools like eclincher and HubSpot are becoming pivotal contenders for the top spot in the social media management sector, as they offer several advantages over Buffer. Here are some alternatives you can explore:
In this article, we explore the six best Buffer alternatives based on personal experience, feature reviews, and an analysis of each tool’s value. We also explore some reasons why people want alternatives to buffer and discuss why eclincher is currently the best Buffer alternative.
1) eclincher
For those looking for the most comprehensive social media management tool at an amazing price point, eclincher is the tool for you. eclincher not only offers industry-leading social media analytics but also provides a social media scheduling tool that makes your posting schedule much more labor-intensive.
eclincher suits businesses that like keeping all their social media accounts in one place, thanks to its social inbox feature. The tool allows you to manage interactions, engagement, and much more, all from a single interface.
Once I got the hang of the app’s intuitive dashboard, I immediately went over from the 14-day free trial to a paid subscription, and my social media presence has been elevated ever since, with higher social media ROI, better engagement rates, and just an overall more enjoyable social media management experience.
If you want the best Buffer alternative, this is the app to explore!
2) HubSpot
If you’re running an integrated marketing campaign that spans beyond just social media, HubSpot is an excellent choice. Known for its robust CRM, HubSpot seamlessly blends your social media management processes with other aspects of your customer relationship management.
Additionally, HubSpot offers a lot of content optimization suggestions. Like eclincher, HubSpot also does detailed reporting on your social media performance and posts. Unfortunately, to unlock the app’s full potential, you need to use other HubSpot products, which can become expensive and result in a steep learning curve.
3) Sprout Social
Sprout Social shines in the areas of collaboration and customer engagement. Its key features, such as the customizable reports and collaborative tools, make it easy for team members to work together on social media campaigns.
One thing I like to see in social media management tools is mass integration. After all, the chances are very slim that you only advertise your business on one social media platform. This is why I like tools like Sprout Social and eclincher so much: they support a wide array of platforms, offering seamless integration without the learning curve associated with conventional management tools.
Therefore, if you want a tool specializing in team collaboration and app integration, Sprout Social might be the app for you!
4) Zoho Social
Zoho Social is our budget-friendly option. This app is ideal for budget-conscious small businesses or startups that still want a powerful social media tool. It has pretty good social media management features with an easy-to-use interface, making it efficient for smaller teams.
The tool offers CRM integration but has limited analytics and supports fewer social platforms than others on this list. Therefore, Zoho Social can be a great app to start “testing the waters” of incorporating a social media management app in your social media marketing efforts before moving on to more versatile tools like eclincher and HubSpot.
5) Loomly
Loomly is extremely useful to content creators who want to see exactly how their posts look before they go live. Like eclincher, Loomly allows you to preview your posts, automate publishing workflows, and schedule posts for peak engagement hours.
When I used Loomly, I found the calendar views very helpful, allowing me to make my content planning and execution as smooth as possible. Loomly is reasonably priced, but this app lacks features like in-depth analytics and managing social media efforts for multiple accounts.
6) Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a tried-and-tested player in the social media management arena. This app offers a plethora of integrations and robust analytics, helping you uncover all you need to elevate your social media marketing campaigns on various social platforms.
While I found it incredibly useful, its interface is a bit outdated, which can lead to frustration and reduced effectiveness at times. Nonetheless, Hootsuite is an established management tool that deserves to be considered as a Buffer alternative.
Why Do People Want Alternatives To Buffer?
There are many reasons why people move away from Buffer. One major reason is that pricing can be too expensive for small businesses, as they have to spend more to get advanced features like AI writing and in-depth analytics.
Additionally, the tools listed on this list offer better value than Buffer, providing more features (often better) and a much more reasonable price point. For instance, this is a major reason customers switch from Buffer to eclincher.
What Is The Biggest Reason Customers Switch From Buffer To eclincher?
The biggest reason why people switch from Buffer to eclincher is eclincher’s superior analytical features. eclincher is renowned for providing extremely accurate, in-depth, and customizable analytics. This allows businesses to learn more about their audience and optimize their future social media content to yield higher click-through rates, engagement rates, and social media ROI.
Does eclincher Offer AI Writing Capabilities?
While eclincher does not directly offer AI writing capabilities, the tool offers integrations with AI-powered tools. This includes tools such as text generators and other AI writing models to help you generate more captivating captions that meet SEO standards, allowing you to create superior content and rank higher on social media metrics than your competitors.
Which Factors Make A Great Social Media Management Tool?
A social media management tool must adhere to a few key principles to be great. Firstly, the tool has to offer great value—many features at a reasonable price.
Secondly, the tool should have advanced tools, meaning they should be very accurate and enhance the user’s marketing capabilities. A great social media management tool must be easy to use. What good is a social media management tool if the interface is so difficult to navigate that you can’t even find all the features?
Finally, one very important factor that determines the quality of a social media management tool is its integration capabilities. If you’re going to use the tool for social media management, it should at least offer integration into the major social media platforms, such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. It should also have integration capabilities into other tools, like CRM tools, content creation tools like Canva, and content curator apps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Buffer alternatives provide options for multiple social media platforms?
Yes, most Buffer alternatives like eclincher, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social support a wide range of social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and more.
Can Buffer alternatives offer similar features for scheduling and analyzing social media posts?
Yes, eclincher and HubSpot, for instance, offer robust scheduling and analytics features that can effectively replace and even surpass Buffer's capabilities.
Do Buffer alternatives cater to various business sizes and industries?
Yes, the tools listed in this article cater to all business sizes and industries. For instance, Zoho Social is ideal for small businesses, while HubSpot is perfect for large businesses, and eclincher is perfect for any size business.
The Bottom Line
While Buffer does have distinct advantages, other tools like eclincher do offer more advantages, such as better pricing, more advanced features, and even just because of a more user-friendly interface. In the end, the tool you decide to replace Buffer with will depend on your use case and business size.
If you are interested in something new, might I suggest giving eclincher a try. Once you experience the feature-rich interface the platform has to offer, you won’t want any other tool. If you’re still skeptical, book a meeting with their panel of experts, they’ll tell you exactly how eclincher can help your business expand its social media dominance.
