Your social media marketing efforts for your own business or the marketing you do on behalf of your clients in case you work in the online marketing industry, can sometimes become quite an undertaking, especially if you want to keep track of literally everything everywhere. This is why there is such a wide variety of social media software solutions that you can try out and buy for your needs. We will be looking at the 10 most important factors to weigh when deciding on the software of your choice. Or more of them.
1. Price
This is usually the #1 factor that people are looking at when choosing their social media software. If you thought that all of the various solutions are priced similarly, then you will be very mistaken. There are some solutions that are free in one form or another, like for instance TweetDeck or HootSuite while there are those that start off at thousands per month, like Spredfast, for example.
2. Target consumers
Not all social media software is aimed at the same type of users. For instance, TweetDeck is aimed at individuals who work with a few of their own Twitter accounts or for people who do Twitter marketing for a few clients. On the other hand, a solution like Spredfast is so obviously aimed at enterprise-level users.
3. Supported social media
Another important factor when choosing social media software is what social media you are concentrated on in your undertakings. Some of the solutions are restricted to a single social network like Sprout Social or SocialBro while others can help you with all of them, such as HootSuite. Also, it needs to be said that versatile software may be better in dealing with certain social networks than with others.
4. Your needs
Of course, all of the aforementioned factors become irrelevant if the software does not suit your needs. For example, you may need to find influencers on a certain network; or you may need to track the results of your social media campaign; or you may need to be able to quickly respond to the inquiries and contacts from your clients, users or potential clients. These are just some of the things that various social media software can accomplish and you will need to find the one that does what you need the best.
5. Reputability
Not all social media software solutions are of the same or even of the similar quality. It can sometimes feel that a new piece of software is coming out daily and it is obvious that you cannot go out and buy just about anything. You need to check how long they have been around, what users have to say about it, has anyone had particular problems with it, etc. If you have acquaintances that used the software in the past, ask them how they feel about it.
6. Stability
Stability is always a factor when choosing any type of software and it goes without saying that this is true for social media solutions as well. There is nothing worse than delegating a part of the job to a piece of software only to later find out that it hasn’t been working for hours or that you have lost vital information and time due to its instability. Once again, be meticulous in checking the experiences that previous users have had.
7. Innovation
Like with everything, there is sometimes a tendency among the developers of social media software to start rehashing the same ideas, slapping new labels on them and selling them as new products. This is why you should be particularly alert to any new pieces of software that come out and that offer new things. They might give you an edge over the competition and provide you with better results.
8. User friendliness
Another factor that you must not forget about is how user friendly the software is. The good news is that most social media software solutions are quite intuitive and that even the most complex ones will become navigable after a while. Still, the more user-friendly the software is, the better.
9. Customer support
There is always a possibility that you will run into problems when using your software and you need to be able to get help easily. This is why customer support is always one of the things to look in your social media software. The support staff should be available 24/7 and they should be able to help you with any problem that you might run into.
10. The ‘feel’
The ‘feel’ is that intangible and very difficult to explain feeling that you get working with a certain piece of software. You have probably had experiences when a particularly popular piece of software just did not feel the way you expected it to be and you might have found yourself defending some software that other people hated. Sometimes you just click and if you can find the social media software that will have all of the aforementioned factors and still click for you, well, then you have your perfect software.
About the Author
Leana Thorne has been blogging about technology and its role in business for years. She is always ready to learn new stuff and share her knowledge. She and her partners have had great experiences with Infinity Technologies, a Sydney-based digital agency.
Photo credit: Heather / Doris Hausen / Todd Fong
