Ah, the world of social media marketing. When it first started out, you would have to work with each platform individually. Thankfully, we no longer have to worry about this issue. Social media marketing platforms make it easy to post everything to social media and even schedule things out ahead of time. HootSuite, Sprout Social, and Buffer are top choices. But, which one is for you? 

• Sprout Social is considered to be the top for analytics. 
• With over 18 million users, Hootsuite is the most popular for major enterprises.
• If you have a magazine, Buffer is the best option.

If you are in the market for a new social media marketing software kit, you need to know what each offers you. This guide is here for you to get a better understanding of each. 

What is Hootsuite?

HootSuite was started in 2008 and was one of the first social media marketing platforms to exist. It’s mostly made to post and schedule content to social media. Since then, it branched out into different arenas. 

What features does Hootsuite have?

I’ll keep it brief, but the answer is, a lot! The most popular features include:

• Scheduling Calendar. You get to schedule your posts to a wide range of platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and others too. If you want to publish content, this is a quick way to do it. 
• In-App Posting. You can open up Hootsuite and access an image library to post your own stuff directly from your app. 
• Live Social Conversations. You also can see replies and engagement in real-time. 
• Multiple Accounts. Share the corporate account for dozens of platforms!
• Analytics. You can see engagement, click rates, and comparisons from different time periods to see how well your company’s social media campaign is going. 

How much does Hootsuite cost?

Hootsuite is a little more complex in its pricing, but it’s important to note that none of their platforms are free. Here’s what you need to know:

• $49 monthly will get you 10 social profiles and 1 user. 
• $129 monthly will get you 20 profiles and 3 users. 
• $599 monthly will get you 35 profiles and 10 users. 
• Custom pricing is available.

What is Sprout Social?

Sprout Social is one of the newer names on the block, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad at social media marketing. This is a popular pick among large scale companies who want to have a heavy level of engagement and analytics. 

What features does Sprout Social have?

Sprout Social gained its popularity because of the plethora of different features it offers. The most popular features include:

• Scheduling Calendar. Their visual calendar is very similar to Hootsuite, and has all the same perks. You can drag and drop scheduled content into place with a single click.
• Email Updates. You get notifications and updates from Sprout right in your mailbox. 
• Listening. You also can see replies and engagement in real-time, and also get “listening” on global conversations that could impact your brand. 
• Multiple Accounts. Oh, and it works with all major operating systems too. 
• Analytics. Out of all of these, Sprout Social tends to have the best analytics. Or at the very least, it ties with Hootsuite. 

How much does Sprout Social cost?

Like Hootsuite, Sprout Social has three pricing tiers. They are as follows:

• $99 per user per month will let you manage up to 5 social accounts. 
• $149 per user per month will increase that number up to 10 social accounts. 
• $249 per user per month will allow you to manage up to 10 social accounts and also get bonuses like an asset library and notifications. 

What is Buffer?

Touted as “the world’s most intuitive social media tool,” Buffer is all about scheduling things and making life on the social media circuit easier. This is a social media tool that comes in the form of both an app and a Chrome extension. It’s fairly popular among online magazines. 

What features does Buffer have?

Buffer gained its popularity because of the plethora of different features it offers. The most popular features include:

• Scheduling Calendar. If you can’t tell, the scheduling calendar portion of the features seems to be standard across the board here. Like all the others, there are plenty of easy ways to schedule, including a “drag and drop” function. 
• Visual Analytics. If you like your analytics to say it all in plain English, then this is the app for you. 
• Chrome Extension. This has a very easy to use Chrome extension. So, you can post once you find a cool site, too. 
• Fast Comment Response. They make it easy to respond to comments thanks to the use of hot keys. 
• Engagement Enhancement. Want to get better engagement? Buffer can help. 

How much does Buffer cost?

Buffer starts out free for up to three channels with a basic social plan. However, things go up from there:

• $99 per month gets you up to 8 social media accounts.
• $199 per month gets you up to 20 social media accounts.
• $399 per month gets you up to 50 social media accounts.

Which is the easiest platform to use?

It’s hard to tell as there is no clear winner. All three are considered to be impeccably easy to use. They are made to be intuitively used, which means that you won’t have to take time to train yourself. Moreover, all three come with ample customer service and a knowledge base. 

Buffer generally has the reputation for being the easiest to use right off the bat. However, Sprout Social is considered to be the better pick when it comes to easy setups. It’s best to take a look at each one to find the one that clicks for you. 

What integrations does each platform offer?

So, from what we saw, all three platforms offer up integrations with most major social media platforms. This includes major names like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. However, there seems to be a couple of major differences worth mentioning:

• Buffer has 77 different platforms and programs it integrates with, including WordPress, Trello, and Mailchimp. This makes it ideal for people who want a streamlined look. 
• Sprout Social has only 18 different integrations, including names like ZenDesk, Shopify, and HubSpot. So, this one tends to be better for things along the lines of e-commerce. 
• Hootsuite has the highest number of integrations, with well over 100 different programs and platforms. This means that it’s a good pick for people who want to have a “jack of all trades” program. 

The final verdict

If we had to choose one platform to use, we would have to choose HootSuite, simply because of all the integrations that they offer. Since it’s a fairly intuitive platform, it’s easy to find a way to make it work for you---even if you are not exactly tech-savvy.

The next steps

Now that you have a better idea of what each tool does, how much it costs, and what you need to use it for, it’s time to take the next steps. Here’s what you should do:

1. Learn more about what you need in your social media marketing campaign. 
2. Get the software you need. 
3. Develop a strong social media strategy for your company. 

Learning more about social media marketing is vital to any company’s success. You can find out more about it in SavvySME’s Marketing Group.