9 Best Social Media Management Tools For Agencies (Expert Reviews)

When it comes to marketing on social media, many tasks and obligations eat up your and your team’s time. But what if I told you there is a tool that not only saves you time but also increases your marketing capabilities dramatically, in particular for marketing agencies.

A social media management tool for agencies is a must have tool to manage clients’ social media and online channels. However, there are many of these tools out there, some good and some could badlt impact the business reputation. We have tested the water on most of them. In this guide, you’ll find expert reviews on the best social media marketing tools for your agency and helpful insight into how they can elevate your marketing agency’s capabilities. 

What Is A Social Media Management Tool?

A social media management tool is software designed to make managing one or more social media accounts from different social media platforms easier and more effective. These tools can help your business publish content across multiple social media platforms, engage with your audience, monitor brand reputation, analyze performance metrics, and much more. 

These tools offer several features, such as content scheduling and publishing, social listening, commenting, engagement, hashtag tracking, competitor analysis, and account analytics. 

Why Do Marketing Agencies Use Social Media Management Tools?

Employing the right social media management tool will increase your social media ROI dramatically, which is why so many marketing agencies use them.  

The right tool makes it easier to manage their client’s social media presence, offering tools to streamline all of their tasks into a single interface. These tools also save a lot of time by taking over the responsibility of repetitive tasks. They also analyze your client’s posts and provide valuable feedback on how you can improve them to yield better engagement rates. 

They also make collaboration efforts much easier and help to generate leads for your marketing agency and client’s business. All-in-all, if you want to ascend to one of the top marketing agencies in the industry, you need to incorporate a social media management tool into your business model. 

9 Best Social Media Management Tools for Agencies

We have tested many social media management tools, some were great, and some were bad – even reputation damaging. Finding the right tool from the start ensures you miss some of the pitfalls I had to endure with some bad software. Here is the best social media management software for agencies, backed by my own and other’s experience.

1. eclincher

eclincher is like the Swiss Army knife for social media management. This all-encompassing tool allows you to professionally plan, schedule and automate the entire posting process. You can also engage with your client’s followers in an immersive way, allowing you to connect with them on a whole new level – increasing their audience’s trust in your client’s brand. 

eclincher’s analytical features are hands down the best in the industry – the data it gathers on social media performance is comprehensive and extremely accurate. But what I like most about eclincher as a management tool for agencies is its collaboration and streamlining efficiency functions. The tool’s unified social inbox and intuitive dashboard make managing all of your client’s social media accounts a breeze.

Using eclincher, you get to cover every aspect of your social media operations effectively and very efficiently. eclincher is at number one because it offers the best services at the best value.  

2. CoSchedule

Balancing multiple clients and campaigns? CoSchedule is the tool for you! Similar to eclincher, this tool offers a seamless marketing calendar and project management features, so your agency can stay on top and effortlessly coordinate marketing efforts across various social media platforms. 

The standout feature of CoSchedule has to be its unique content organizer, ensuring you never lose sight of your content strategy. If eclincher isn’t to your liking, then CoSchedule should be your second option! 

3. Planable

As all successful marketing agencies know, planning and coordination between team members are key. Here’s where Planable comes in. When it comes to collaborative content creation, few can beat Planable. This innovative platform allows you to co-create, preview, and approve social media posts with your clients in a shared space. 

Ultimately, with Planable, you and your clients can exchange real-time feedback and see a pixel-perfect preview of posts before they go live – ensuring complete transparency and satisfaction. 

4. Sprout Social

For those who rely on data-driven decisions and want an alternative to eclincher, Sprout Social should be a strong contender for your business! This platform offers a robust suite of tools for publishing, engagement, and social listening. 

However, its flagship feature lies in its reporting capabilities – detailed reports coupled with a smart inbox to manage messages across different platforms are all features you can expect out of this handy social media management tool. 

5. Agorapulse

Agorapulse makes team collaboration and customer engagement a breeze. Along with standard features like social media post scheduling and analytics, this tool offers competitive analysis, much like eclincher. Employing Agorapulse lets your agency offer services to clients to help them stay ahead of the competition. 

When my team used Agorapulse, we also valued the CRM capabilities. This feature lets you track follower interactions very efficiently to help your clients maintain strong relationships with their audiences. 

6. Hootsuite

Next on our list, we have Hootsuite – a veteran in the social media management game. Hootsuite is known for its ability to manage multiple social media accounts from one dashboard with great efficiency. 

It also offers a versatile suite of features, including social media scheduling, monitoring, analytics, and team management – features all crucial to ensure a successful social media marketing campaign. Plus, I also valued the wealth of integrations and educational resources it offers. 

7. Buffer

Buffer stands out with its sleek interface and ease of use. This social media management tool offers a straightforward way to schedule, publish, and analyze content across various social networks. If your marketing agency is just starting to explore the intricacies of social media marketing, then I would advise you to consider Buffer if eclincher isn’t to your liking. 

With features like Instagram Stories planning tools and post customization for each social platform, Buffer takes the headache out of learning social media management. 

8. Zoho Social

Zoho Social offers more than just social media management. As part of the comprehensive Zoho suite, this tool integrates seamlessly with other business applications, including CRM – if you already have your preferred CRM tool, and want an app that offers integration, then Zoho should be a strong contender for your agency. 

Advanced listening features and audience-active time scheduling (posting in peak hours) make Zoho Social a robust tool for any agency looking to integrate social media with broader business strategies. 

9. Later

Finally, we have Later. If Instagram is your client’s preferred marketing battleground, Later should be one of your weapons of choice. My team highly enjoyed its visual calendar and robust Instagram tools. It also offers unique features like a drag-and-drop planner and built-in tools for reposting user-generated content. Overall, this tool makes planning and posting visually appealing content easy. 

How Do Marketing Agencies Use Social Media Management Tools?

It depends on the services you offer to your clients, but most agencies find common ground that a social media management tool does the following for them:

• • Schedule and publish posts.

• • Monitor and respond to customer interactions (social monitoring and listening).

• • Analyze performance metrics of posts and accounts.

• • Manage client accounts for different social media platforms.

• • Keep track of industry trends and competitor activity, ensuring they stay ahead of the competition.

What Are The Benefits Of Marketing Agencies Using Social Media?

When using social media, marketing agencies unlock a treasure trove of benefits, including:

• • Reaching larger audiences – allowing their clients to expand their customer base as well as allowing the agency to reach more potential clients.

• • Build brand awareness for themselves and their clients.

• • Engage with customers in real time.

• • Targeted advertising – you can optimize your target audience exactly to the demographic of your liking. 

• • Instant feedback on how the audience perceives your posts and brand sentiment.

• • Allows you to showcase your creativity and industry expertise – opening the door to new clients. 

• • Gain insights into consumer behavior on a global scale.

• • Much more cost-effective marketing strategy than traditional methods (billboards, newsletter ads, etc.)

Which Social Media Is Most Effective For Agencies?

It depends on your client’s target audience as well as the type of content you want to share. Generally, the social media platforms most effective for me are:

• • Facebook – Older demography, perfect for real estate agencies, etc. 

• • Instagram – Ideal for reaching broad consumer audiences.

• • LinkedIn – B2B marketing and reaching a more professional audience.

• • TikTok – Younger demographics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg6xHqgyzhE

Are There Any Downsides To Agencies Using Social Media Management Tools?

Unfortunately, as with all new things, there is a learning curve associated with each tool. Some tools took me and my team weeks to figure out, and then we still haven’t used all the embedded features. This is why we enjoy eclincher so much – it’s user-friendly, has great customer service, and the tools are incredibly effective. 

Another potential downside is the cost of unlocking premium features, which can be quite expensive, especially for start-up marketing agencies. Over-reliance on automation can also become a problem, causing social interactions to feel less personal. 

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

If you are part of a marketing agency or own one, employing the use of a social media management tool is one of the best business decisions you will make. The number of benefits these tools offer makes them a worthwhile investment. Remember, starting with the right tool is important, don’t make the same mistakes I did. Start with a tool like eclincher, it offers a 14-day free trial, so you can test the waters, learn the ropes and decide if it truly is the tool for you. Give it a try – your marketing agency’s full potential can be one social media tool away!