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6 Best Tools for Social Media Scheduling in 2021

Candace Bozek | May 25, 2020

Candace Bozek
Top social media scheduling tools

Posting frequently and consistently on social media is the cornerstone of a strong digital marketing strategy. In order to execute this strategy, you need to take advantage of online tools to plan and post your content. Manually posting your social media content can be cumbersome and lead to missed opportunities. Using a social media scheduler will allow you to post at optimal times and measure the results of your efforts with in-depth reporting metrics.

Keep in mind that certain social media tools are not accepted by the platform and may lead to temporary or permanent bans. Instagram is particularly tough on bots that are used to gain followers or send automatic direct messages or comments.

Social media scheduling is permitted, however, so be sure to pick a tool that is compliant with platform rules. To help you decide which tool to use, we’ve reviewed our favourite social media schedulers. Of course, a professional social media strategy is the best way to get the most from these tools so for the best results reach out to an experienced team of professionals.

Read through the pros and cons of each of the following platforms before choosing the right social media scheduling tool for your brand.

  1. Sprout Social
  2. Sendible
  3. Hootsuite
  4. Buffer
  5. CoSchedule
  6. SocialPilot


Top social media scheduling tool: Sprout Social

1. Sprout Social

Of all the social media scheduling tools out there, Sprout Social remains our favourite. It’s one of the more expensive options but it has the most attractive interface and powerful reporting and social listening tools.

Sprout Social social media scheduler interface

Pros:

  • Attractive and intuitive interface
  • Great ‘explore’ page for finding interesting articles to share on social media
  • The Sprout queue function allows you to build up posts to automatically send at optimal times
  • RSS function is great for content generation
  • In-depth reporting and social listening
  • The post preview function gives you a realistic idea of how it will look

Cons:

  • More pricey than some alternatives
  • No hashtag suggestions when composing your posts
  • Doesn’t allow scheduling across all platforms such as Youtube, Vimeo, LinkedIn groups or Facebook groups
  • Mixed reviews on their support team
  • No bulk uploader

Price:

$99-$249 per month

Rating:

Capterra

4.4

G2 Crowd

4.3

Our Rating

4.6


Top social media scheduling tool: Sendible

2. Sendible

Sendible is a good option for lower pricing points. The interface is easy to use and there are tons of topics to follow on the explore page. The platform is a bit newer than some of its competitors so it is continuously improving and adding new features.

Sendible social media scheduler interface

Pros:

  • Clean and simple interface
  • Automatically generates link titles and offers suggestions for hashtags when creating posts
  • Lots of topics on the explore page
  • Queue feature allows you to send posts at optimal times
  • Allows you to send live reporting links to others
  • Very responsive support team
  • Less expensive pricing plans

Cons:

  • A little buggy. There are few minor bugs such as needing to refresh sometimes when creating many posts at a time
  • The reporting feature isn’t as comprehensive as some of the other platforms. It can be confusing when switching between social media accounts
  • The mobile app doesn’t allow you to edit posts

Price:

$19-299 per month

Rating:

Capterra

4.5

G2 Crowd

4.4

Our Rating

4.6


Top social media scheduling tool: Hootsuite

3. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of the original social media scheduling tools that has been around for many years. As such they can connect to just about any platform you can think of. Since it is an older tool, the interface does look a bit outdated.

Hootsuite social media scheduler interface

Pros:

  • Connects to a large number of platforms
  • Older platform that has been fine-tuned over many years
  • Multiple options for different streams
  • Auto scheduling to allow you to post at optimal times
  • Bulk composer allows you to upload a CSV file of prepared content
  • Strong focus on integrations

Cons:

  • Outdated, clunky user interface
  • A bit of a learning curve for using the tool
  • Occasional misfires with posting
  • Mobile app is difficult to use

Price:

$29-$599 per month

Free version available

Rating:

Capterra

4.3

G2 Crowd

4.1

Our Rating

4.5


Top social media scheduling tool: Buffer

4. Buffer

Buffer is a classic tool for planning and scheduling content. It is very similar to Hootsuite but is a little less robust. In addition to social media scheduling, Buffer offers analytics and tools for engaging with social media audiences.

Buffer social media scheduler interface

Pros:

  • Simple user interface but not as attractive as some of its competitors
  • Offers analytics but they are less comprehensive than some of the other platforms
  • Ability to post to Instagram stories
  • Unique browser extension option that allows you to add an online article to your queue with just the click of a button

Cons:

  • Post limits: the free version has a maximum of 10 scheduled posts and the basic plan has a limit of 100
  • The pricing can get expensive if you have more than one or two users

Price:

$15-$99 per month

Free version available

Rating:

Capterra

4.5

G2 Crowd

4.3

Our Rating

4.4


Top social media scheduling tool: CoSchedule

5. CoSchedule

CoSchedule is a very simple tool for scheduling social media posts and managing your content calendar. It has some unique features that set it apart from other scheduling tools like its headline analyzer but the platform lacks some of the nice-to-haves such as an explore page with suggested content.

CoSchedule social media scheduler interface

Pros:

  • Very easy to use, great for beginners
  • Has a built-in headline analyzer to help you choose the best headline for your post
  • ReQueue feature allows you to reshare your most popular posts at optimal times
  • Excellent editorial calendar that shows each team member’s responsibilities in one place

Cons:

  • The mobile app is quite buggy
  • Can get expensive if you have many different users
  • The analytics are not as sophisticated as some of its competitors
  • Doesn’t have an explore page or recommended content to post
  • No hashtag suggestions

Price:

$15-30 per user per month

Rating:

Capterra

4.5

G2 Crowd

4.5

Our Rating

4.4


Top social media scheduling tool: SocialPilot

6. SocialPilot

SocialPilot is a social media scheduling tool targeted towards small businesses and digital agencies. This tool is one of the more affordable options out there and continues to roll out new features.

SocialPilot social media scheduler interface

Pros:

  • Offers a bulk scheduling option
  • Allows you to schedule posts on TikTok
  • The browser extension allows you to share articles and schedule posts by adding them to your queue
  • Offers a post recycling feature to schedule a post on multiple dates
  • Allows you to manage conversations in your social inbox

Cons:

  • The interface is a bit clunky and not the most intuitive to use
  • No hashtag suggestions
  • Fails to error notifications on occasion
  • Mobile app is a bit difficult to navigate

Price:

$25-$83.33 per month

Rating:

Capterra

4.4

G2 Crowd

4.3

Our Rating

4.3


The Gist

Posting frequently and consistently is important for maintaining a strong social media presence. Using a top-rated social media scheduling tool will make it easier for you to post your content at optimal times and track the results of your efforts.

For help with your social media strategy or content creation, book a free consultation with the MORAD Creative team.

Categories: Social Media,