Top 12 Social Media Tools for Scheduling and Publishing in 2016

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With the large numbers of social media tools available, choosing ones that really work is not an easy task.

In order to help you to sift through the sea of tools, we decided to research several tools that help you update multiple social media networks in one place. In this post, you will find our conclusions for others who are also in the process of choosing a social media publishing tool for their business.

Social Media Tools Comparison

Here is the list of 12 social media tools you need to use in 2016:

  1. AgoraPulse
  2. Buffer
  3. Everypost
  4. HootSuite
  5. IFTTT
  6. MarketMeSuite
  7. MassPlanner
  8. Oktopost
  9. Sendible
  10. Sprout Social
  11. ViralTag
  12. Zapier

Social Media Tools Comparison Chart

Here’s a list on pricing, features, and social networks supported for each of the above mentioned social media tools. Please keep in mind that while some offer specific features, they are only offered at certain pricing plans. Also, some features may be available for specific platforms but are not noted in the chart because the details were hard to find on their website.

Click the image below for a larger view. Pricing is USD.

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Extra Notes

  • IFTTT and Zapier are not social media management tools. However, they do have features that allow you to automate publishing updates to specified social media networks.
  • MassPlanner is the only tool thatwill allow you to schedule updates to Google+ Profiles and Communities. However, it’s a desktop-based tool for Windows. Mac users will need Parallels for Mac or a Windows virtual machine. You also have to have this software online and running when posts are scheduled to be sent.
  • Sendible can publish to a lot of additional channels not listed in this chart.

Initial Impressions

PostPlanner is not included in the chart because it only works with Facebook. However, it’s still an awesome tool to use on a daily basis for updating my Facebook page.

You can use an IFTTT recipe to automatically send all of the posts you save in Feedly to Buffer to be tweeted out at a later time. Other combination you can use including HootSuite for Twitter engagement and real-time keyword monitoring. You can also use Oktopost to create campaigns for my latest posts that you want to promote to as many social media profiles, pages, and groups.

Additional Usage Notes

  • Every Facebook group, Google+ community, and LinkedIn group has their own rules. Some do not allow you to post links. Be sure to review each group’s rules before you add them to these social media scheduling and publishing tools. When you do find groups that allow members to share links, make sure your links are 100% relevant to the group topic.
  • When you publish to multiple public Facebook groups, it will show up in people’s news feed. When you publish to groups that your friends are members of, it might also notify them that you’ve posted to a dozen or so groups. In other words, publishing to multiple groups on Facebook could make you look like a spammer. You might want to consider spreading out your Facebook groups promotion across several days.
  • When you publish to public Google+ communities, it shows up on your Google+ profile by default. Go to your Google+ settings and uncheck the box under the Profile section to “Show your Google+ communities posts on the Posts tab of your Google+ profile.”
  • Several tools allow you to automatically schedule and publish updates from RSS feeds. Choose your feeds carefully as you don’t want to over inundate your audience or end up sharing content that isn’t great or relevant to your audience.