The Top Social Media Marketing Tools in 2024

Trying to stay ahead of the curve is an ongoing battle for many brands across all social media platforms. As we navigate through 2024, the overwhelming amount of social media marketing tools available to brands continues to grow. 

In this blog we will look at the top social media marketing tools in 2024, including features, benefits, and potential drawbacks to using these tools. 

Source: (www.hootsuite.com)

Hootsuite remains a dominant force in the social media management space. With its extensive dashboard and range of intuitive features, Hootsuite allows marketers to:

• Schedule posts across multiple channels
• Monitor social media channels
• AI features for content writing
• Analyse performance across various platforms 
• Utilise search tools for competitor research 

Hootsuite is able to integrate with a variety of different social media networks, making it an ideal solution for all types of brands. 

Features:

• Custom dashboard for multiple social media platforms 
• Advanced scheduling capabilities within calendars (automation) 
• Extensive analytics and reporting
• Social listening toolS

Benefits:

• Management of various social media accounts in one location for ease of use
• Saves time with bulk scheduling and automation capabilities 
• Offers deep insights into marketing campaign performance and tracking 

Disadvantages:

• Can be expensive for small businesses with limited budget 
• Beginners may find it harder to use 
• Limited features on lower-tier plans

Source: (www.buffer.com)

Buffer is becoming increasingly popular among social media managers for its simplicity and effectiveness for social media marketing. 

In 2024, Buffer has even started to introduce more enhanced features such as AI-driven post suggestions, optimised posting time recommendations, and advanced analytics capabilities. 

Features:

• User-friendly platform for scheduling posts and content across various channels 
• Optimised posting time recommendations
• AI-driven post and caption suggestions
• In-depth analytics and reporting capabilities 

Benefits:

• Simple and intuitive to use, ideal for small teams and businesses 
• Help to maximise engagement with timing recommendations on when to post 
• Improves content quality with AI suggestions 
• Affordable pricing options for all sized businesses 

Disadvantages:

• Limited social listening and monitoring capabilities for competitor research 
• Fewer collaboration features compared to competitors such as Hootsuite
• Analytics may not be as advanced as other tools and provide basic insights

Source: (www.sproutsocial.com)

Sprout Social has been around for a long time and continues to grow in popularity with its extensive analytics and social listening capabilities. 

In 2024, Sprout Social’s customer relationship management (CRM) features enable brands and organisations to build stronger connections with their audience and followers by tracking interactions and managing customer inquiries seamlessly across social media channels.

Features:

• Powerful analytics and performance metrics
• Social listening and monitoring tools
• CRM features for managing customer engagement
• Robust publishing and scheduling tools for content
• Comprehensive reporting capabilities and dashboards

Benefits:

• Provides actionable insights into target audience and user behaviour
• Strengthens customer relationships with integrated CRM features
• Analytics help to refine marketing strategies
• Supports collaboration with team-based features – having multiple teams working at once

Disadvantages:

• Higher price point may be prohibitive for small businesses and out of budget
• Complex interface requires time to master and to customise to business needs
• Limited integrations with some social platforms

Source: (www.canva.com)

Canva is well-known for its graphic design capabilities, its role in social media marketing cannot be overstated with a wide range of extensive features. Canva’s vast library of design templates, coupled with intuitive design tools, allows users to create visually stunning posts, stories, reels, videos and advertisements. In 2024, Canva’s collaboration features and integration with social media platforms make it easier than ever to manage and upkeep a cohesive brand image across all channels.

Features:

• Extensive library of design templates and design elements
• Variety of stock imagery
• Drag-and-drop design interface
• Collaboration tools for team projects
• Integration with popular social media platforms
• Brand kit for consistent and maintaining visual identity

Benefits:

• Enables easy creation of professional-quality graphics for social media
• Enhances brand consistency with templated designs for improved productivity
• Facilitates teamwork with collaborative editing and features
• Affordable pricing for premium features for all sized businesses

Disadvantages:

• Primarily a design tool, lacks advanced social media management features and content features
• Limited scheduling and analytics capabilities available
• May require some level of design skills to fully leverage its potential

Source: (www.buzzsumo.com)

BuzzSumo is a powerful social media tool for content discovery and performance analysis across various types of content. It helps marketers identify trending topics in their market or niche, key influencers, and the most shared content types amongst their target audience. With its enhanced features in 2024, BuzzSumo now offers deeper insights into audience engagement and competitive analysis features.

Features:

• Content discovery and content trend analysis
• Influencer identification/analysis and outreach tools
• Competitor analysis features
• Performance tracking
• Integration with various social media platforms

Benefits:

• Helps identify trending topics and popular content to use
• Enhances influencer marketing strategies and capabilities
• Provides insights into competitor activities and trends
• Aids in optimising content for better engagement

Disadvantages:

• Can be costly for extensive use – where multiple analysis are performed
• Primarily focused on content discovery, not full social media management tool with multiple features
• May require additional tools for comprehensive social media strategy

Choosing the right social media marketing tool can significantly impact and improve your brand’s online presence and engagement stats. Each of these tools explored above offer unique features tailored to different aspects of social media marketing and management. By understanding their benefits, limitations and features, you can select the tool that best aligns with your business needs and marketing goals.