If you’ve ventured into the world of social media marketing, you’ve likely encountered two truths: social media is a powerful marketing tool for ecommerce business owners, and implementing an effective social media marketing strategy is time-intensive.
Social media scheduling tools can help you reclaim some of your time. They streamline the social media management process by helping you develop a content calendar, tailor your posts to individual platforms, and strategically time your posts to coincide with your target audiences’ browsing habits. They can also help your marketing team measure performance and monitor chatter about your business—all without being logged into multiple social media accounts at all hours of the day.
Here’s more about the common features of social media scheduling tools and a few popular options to consider.
What is a social media scheduling tool?
Social media schedulers are a type of social media management tool designed to help you plan and schedule posts across specific channels. With a scheduling tool, you can prepare weeks (or even months) of content in advance.
There are three main social media scheduling tools:
- In-platform publishing tools. Some social channels have built-in social media posting tools. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, for example, allow users with business accounts to create and schedule content within their platforms.
- Social media scheduling apps. Third-party scheduling apps can integrate with existing content databases (such as product catalogs) to make creating and sharing content across social media accounts easier.
- Social media management platforms. Third-party social media management platforms allow users to schedule posts across multiple accounts from a centralized dashboard. These platforms often offer additional time-saving components like content development features, social listening and engagement functions, and analytics and reporting tools.
6 key features to look for in a social media scheduling tool
- Platform compatibility
- Scheduling and publishing capabilities
- Social listening and engagement features
- Analytics and reporting
- User-friendly interface
- Collaboration functionality
Every social media scheduler offers different features and subscription tiers. Keep an eye out for these key functions when choosing a scheduling tool for your small business.
1. Platform compatibility
One of the main benefits of a social media scheduling tool is centralization—users can manage multiple accounts from one place. For this reason, perhaps the most important feature of a social media scheduling tool is platform compatibility. If your social media strategy involves Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, then a tool that doesn’t allow you to schedule posts on Pinterest is not a good fit. Select a platform that’s compatible with all of your social media channels.
2. Scheduling and publishing capabilities
Look for differences in social media publishing and scheduling abilities. Is there a limit on the number of social media posts you can schedule or on how far in advance you can queue up content? Can you tweak posts you’ve already scheduled, unpublish, or edit live content from within the scheduling tool? Think about your ideal content creation and management process and find a tool with the flexibility to support it.
3. Social listening and engagement features
Some social media scheduling platforms let you monitor social chatter and respond to comments directly within the platform. These tools can help you track your brand reputation, efficiently respond to customer requests, and engage directly with customers without needing to log in to individual social media accounts.
4. Analytics and reporting
Many platforms offer integrated analytics and reporting features, which can help you monitor the performance of your social media campaigns and adjust your strategy to optimize results. If your business involves presenting reports to clients, look for a tool that offers one-click, client-facing reporting options.
5. User-friendly interface
An intuitive, user-friendly interface can cut the time it takes to learn a new scheduling platform. Is it easy to view and edit your upcoming social media calendar? How many clicks does it take to schedule posts on Instagram or see your weekly engagement data? Switching scheduling tools can be a bit of a hassle. Spend some time exploring a demo version, keeping in mind the features you intend to use.
6. Collaboration functionality
Some social media scheduling tools offer collaborative functions. To decide which features you need, consider the structure of your social media marketing team. How many users need access? Would you like to limit certain user permissions (e.g., the ability to publish a draft or delete a post)? Many platforms charge per user. Deciding how you’ll structure workflows can help you select the best-value product for your business.
5 popular social media scheduling tools
The best social media scheduling tools for small business owners balance value, flexibility, and advanced capabilities. These five popular options can save you time and support your social media efforts.
Agorapulse
Agorapulse offers four plans to support small, midsize, and enterprise-scale businesses. The free plan allows one user to schedule up to 10 social media posts at a time across a maximum of three social profiles. Paid plans start at $49/month and are priced per user.
Cost: Free to $119/month
Platform Compatibility: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok
Features
- Reporting
- Social listening and engagement functions
- Mobile app
- Emergency pause button
- Ability to schedule and save drafts
- Approval function
- Evergreen content rescheduling
- Content calendar
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Paid plans allow multiple users
- Free plan offered
Cons
- No ability to edit posts
- Not compatible with Pinterest
- Free plan scheduling is limited to 10 posts
- Limited third-party integrations
Hootsuite
Like Agorapulse, Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows marketing teams to schedule social media posts to multiple platforms from one centralized dashboard. Hootsuite supports collaboration and reporting, and its consolidated social inbox allows users to receive and respond to messages from multiple social media accounts from one dashboard.
Hootsuite offers four plans. Its lowest-tier plan costs $99 per month and includes one user and 10 social media accounts.
Cost: $99–$739/month
Platform Compatibility: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube
Features
- Reporting
- Social listening and engagement functions
- Mobile app
- Ability to schedule and save drafts
- Consolidated social inbox
- Content calendar
Pros
- Advanced reporting
- Facebook posts can be edited after publication
- Social scheduling recommendations
Cons
- Not compatible with Pinterest
- Higher price tag than some competitors
- Free plan no longer offered
- Collaborative functions like approval workflows and team roles only offered with higher-tier accounts
- Social listening offered as an add-on to more expensive plans
Supra Social Media Publisher
Supra Social Media Publisher is a social media scheduling app designed specifically for ecommerce store owners. It integrates with your ecommerce store’s product catalog to automatically create and publish product-focused posts across three major social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). The Supra Social Media Publisher costs just $2.99 per month and is available through the Shopify App Store.
Cost: $2.99/month
Platform Compatibility: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Features
- Automatically publishes posts using information from your product catalog
- Allows editing of post content and images
Pros
- Affordable
- Automated social media publishing
- Specifically designed to support ecommerce businesses
- Integrates with Shopify
Cons
- Not designed for social listening or content creation
- Fewer features than a social media management platform
Sprout Social
Spout Social is a social media management platform that supports developing and scheduling content and includes reporting, social listening, and engagement features. Sprout Social offers four plans. The Standard plan costs $249 per month for one user and up to five social profiles. Extra users can be added for an additional $199 each.
Cost: $249–$499/month
Platform Compatibility: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, WhatsApp, Reddit, Tumblr, Yelp
Features
- Reporting
- Social listening and engagement functions
- Ability to schedule and save drafts
- Consolidated social inbox
- Content calendar
- Mobile app
- Business review management
Pros
- Third-party integrations include Hubspot and Zendesk
- User-friendly interface
- Wide range of platforms supported
- Advanced reporting abilities
Cons
- Higher price tag than many competitors
- Additional cost per user for each plan tier
- No reposting abilities
SocialBee
SocialBee is a social media management platform with a heavy emphasis on features that support developing and scheduling content. The tool can help you import RSS feeds, organize your posts into content categories, schedule posts by category, and edit AI-generated content.
SocialBee offers three paid plans: the Bootstrap plan costs $19 per month for one user and five social profiles, the Accelerate plan costs $39 per month for one user and 10 social profiles, and the Pro plan costs $79 per month for three users and 25 social profiles.
Cost: $19–$79/month
Platform Compatibility: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube
Features
- Collaborative workflows
- Evergreen content rescheduling
- Content approvals
- Analytics and reporting
Pros
- Lower cost than some competitors
- Supports Canva and Giphy integration
- Allows content categories and category-based scheduling
Cons
- Limited analytics on lower-tier plans
- PDF reporting offered for the Professional plan only
- No social listening or engagement tools
- Multiple users allowed on the Professional plan only
Social media scheduling tools FAQ
Are social media scheduling tools affordable for small businesses?
Yes! Many social media scheduling tools offer free versions, and most provide tiered pricing plans to meet the needs of businesses of various sizes.
Is there a free social media scheduling tool?
Yes! Many popular social media scheduling tools offer free versions designed for small businesses and the option to scale up to a paid plan as your business grows.
What are the best practices for using social media scheduling tools effectively?
Start by experimenting with the lowest-cost plan that meets your needs—ideally a free plan—to get a sense of the functionalities you need to achieve your goals. Once you get a feel for the tool, you can upgrade to a paid version. When implementing a scheduling tool into your social marketing plan, be clear with your team about roles, responsibilities, and workflows. After you’ve published a handful of posts, take advantage of the analytics, reporting, and built-in social media scheduler features to optimize your results.
