Top 5 Social Media Scheduling Tools in 2023 

Planning and scheduling social media content in advance has become crucial for marketers looking to maximize their reach and effectively manage their accounts. The right social media scheduling tools can save time, ensure consistency, and allow for strategy and automation. In this post, we will look at the top 5  scheduling tools in 2023 that you should consider to take your social media marketing to the next level.

Why Use a Social Media Scheduling Tool?

A social media scheduling tool enables you to plan, organize, and schedule social media content ahead of time. Here are some of the key benefits of using a scheduling tool:

1. Saves Time – Scheduling content in advance saves the time needed to post each time manually. You can take a few hours to schedule posts for the entire week or month.
2. Ensures Consistency – Scheduling keeps your social accounts active regularly with high-quality content. It prevents gaps due to forgetting to post.
3. Allows for Strategy – You can plan content types and timing based on goals and audience preferences. Scheduling allows you to take a strategic approach.
4. Provides Analytics – Many tools offer insights into how scheduled posts perform through analytics. You can optimize your strategy accordingly.
5. Offers Automation – From auto-posting to recycling old content, automation features help scale efforts. It is invaluable as your accounts grow.

Top Social Media Scheduling Tools for 2023

1. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of the most popular social media management platforms, used by over 15 million users globally. Here are some of its key features:

• It Supports scheduling for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest.
• Offers a unified dashboard to manage all accounts from one place.
• It lets you schedule unlimited posts for up to a year in advance.
• Provides bulk scheduling options to save time.
• It provides a Social inbox to monitor mentions and engagements.
• It offers an Instagram carousel and video scheduling (even unavailable in Meta Business Suite).
• It provides Analytics for performance insights beyond just basic metrics.
• It offers a Browser extension for quick access and posting.
• It also has collaboration tools for teams and agencies.

Hootsuite’s pricing starts at $99 monthly for the Professional plan and goes up to $739 monthly for Businesses. Some cons of Hootsuite are the steep learning curve and the need to purchase extra features a la carte.

2. Buffer

Buffer focuses on an intuitive, user-friendly interface for scheduling social media content. Some notable features include:

• It Supports scheduling for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+.
• Chrome and Firefox browser extensions for easy sharing of links.
• The analysis feature provides insights into the best times to post top-performing content.
• Recycle old posts with the Retweets, Replenish, and Revive features.
• Collaborative workflows for teams to manage accounts together.
• Image creator with templates and stock photos.

Buffer offers free and paid monthly plans for individuals starting at $6. One downside is that it lacks native analytics beyond post-engagement data.

3. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a powerful social media management platform for more prominent brands and agencies. Here are some key features:

• It is a Comprehensive scheduling tool for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.
• It has Advanced analytics and reporting on audience demographics and engagement.
• CRM integration and customer management tools.
• It has Monitoring and engagement capabilities across all accounts.
• It has Collaboration features and separate permissions for team members.
• It offers Audience segmentation tools for personalized content and engagement.
• Automated and queued post-scheduling.

Sprout Social’s paid monthly plans start from $249. Given the price point, the platform is better suited for a more prominent social media presence. The interface also has a learning curve.

4. Agorapulse

Agorapulse prides itself on customer support and education alongside its social media management features:

• Scheduling capabilities for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
• There are forums, training programs, and courses offered in the community.
• The suite of engagement features for listening, replying, and Monitoring.
• Analytics on post-performance, best times to post, and audience demographics.
• Campaign reporting and audit tools for clients.
• Team workflows and message approvals.

Agorapulse plans range from $49 to $119 per month. The tool needs more scheduling for YouTube and Pinterest. But its world-class customer support makes up for this for some users.

5. Sendible

Sendible stands out for its post approvals feature. Here are some of its key highlights:

• Post scheduling for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
• User permissions and post approvals for brand control.
• UTM campaign tracking for ads and promos.
• RSS feed integration to convert blog posts into social content.
• Waitlist for future post-scheduling when the account reaches the limit.
• Multi-user access with customizable roles and permissions.

Sendible costs $29 monthly for up to 10 social accounts and one user. While affordable, it does lack more advanced analytics offered by costlier tools.

Choosing the Right Social Media Scheduling Tool

With these top tools in mind, which one is right for your business will depend on your budget, feature needs, and size of operations. Here are some key considerations when deciding on a scheduling tool:

1. What social platforms do you need to schedule for? Make sure the tool supports those networks.
2. Look at the volume of scheduling you need. Tools like Hootsuite offer bulk and automation options for larger books.
3. Do you want to schedule video content? YouTube integration is a must, then.
4. Do you need advanced analytics beyond primary post-engagement data?
5. Does a collaborative team workflow with user roles and permissions matter?
6. How much are you willing to spend monthly for a robust scheduling tool?

Evaluating these factors will help determine which scheduling tool fits your business requirements and has room for future growth. Don’t be afraid to try out free trials to get first-hand experience. The key is choosing a platform that streamlines your social media scheduling while providing the necessary functionality.

Conclusion

Scheduling and planning social media content using the right tools greatly benefits any business. It saves time, drives strategy, and leads to more consistent engagement.

This article looked at five of the best scheduling tools for 2023—Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, Agorapulse, and Sendible. Each platform has strengths in features like bulk scheduling, post approvals, analytics, and more.

Carefully assess which tool aligns with your current business needs and goals for social media. The tool you choose should make social media scheduling as seamless as possible. Remember to use this content to delight your followers and boost your brand’s presence on social media.

FAQs

1. What are the benefits of using a Social Media Scheduling Tool? 

Scheduling tools provide several key benefits:

1. Save time by allowing you to plan, organize, and schedule unlimited posts in advance rather than manually posting each day. It frees up time for other marketing tasks.
2. Increase consistency by auto-posting your content on a regular schedule. It keeps your social accounts active and keeps gaps from remembering to post.
3. Allow for strategy by planning content types, timing, and hashtags based on your goals and ideal audience. You can take a much more strategic approach.
4. Provide analytics into your performance, such as engagement rates, best times to post, top content types, and more. SMM tool allows you to optimize your approach continually.
5. Offer automation through features like auto-posting, recycling old popular posts, bulk scheduling, and more. It helps scale your efforts as your accounts grow.

2. What types of content can I schedule with these tools?

You can schedule a wide variety of content types and formats, including:

1. Text updates such as announcements, captions, etc.
2. Images such as infographics, photos, illustrations
3. Videos such as demos, how-tos, testimonials
4. Carousels and slideshows
5. Stories for Instagram and Facebook
6. Quotes and testimonials
7. Live videos
8. Blog post links and headlines
9. Event details

You can schedule content across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest.

3. How far in advance can I schedule social media posts?

Most tools allow you to schedule content months in advance, often up to a year ahead. For example, Hootsuite enables unlimited scheduling up to one year in advance.

The key is ensuring your account scheduling limits aren’t exceeded and maintaining a content calendar to reuse evergreen content. You can develop a library of reusable content to space out scheduling.

4. Can I manage multiple social media accounts with one scheduling tool?

Leading social media scheduling tools allow you to connect and manage multiple accounts across different platforms. These are extremely useful for agencies or companies working on various brand profiles.

For example, Sendible allows you to schedule posts across 10 profiles, and Sprout Social lets you connect unlimited brand profiles. Tools like Hootsuite also offer consolidated dashboards to access all accounts.

5. Which scheduling tool is best for startups vs. large companies?

For early-stage startups, free tools like Buffer provide excellent capabilities for one or a handful of accounts. Affordable paid options like Sendible work for small teams managing under 10 accounts.

Larger companies benefit most from robust tools like Sprout Social, Agorapulse, or Hootsuite. Their suites of analytics, automation, collaboration features, and enterprise-scale capabilities are ideal for large organizations with expanded needs.