We took a look at Hootsuite, Buffer and Sprinklr – three of the most popular social media management tools – to see how they could help finance marketers improve how they manage and deliver social media content.
Hootsuite, Buffer or Sprinklr – why use a social media management tool?
For many finance businesses, social media and digital platforms form the core of their marketing strategy, and this emphasis on digital is only set to grow. In Accenture’s 2017 Financial Services Change Survey, 80% of financial services organisations said they currently invest moderately or significantly in new digital technologies and channels, and 60% expect to increase this in the next 12 months.
Curating content and managing online communities can be extremely time-consuming for a financial services marketer. There are often multiple channels to populate without compromising on consistency or quality of content, so many marketers are turning to online social media management tools to help lighten the load.
Hootsuite
One of the most popular social media management tools, Hootsuite supports a wide variety of social channels. A simple dashboard allows you to schedule posts in advance across all platforms as well as respond to community comments. Analytics allow users to track post-performance, and a sophisticated user set-up allows access to the platform by large, international teams.
Buffer
Buffer is primarily a content scheduling and publishing tool. Used to implement and analyse complex social media calendars, customers have described the tool as being smooth and streamlined. Perfect for any size business, Buffer allows users to publish content to their social channels through one simple platform but lacks some of the management features of other tools.
Sprinklr
Popular amongst the world’s largest brands, Sprinklr provides a complete social media management platform, allowing you to manage campaigns and audiences. The program takes an individual approach to each customer and prides itself on creating a unified customer experience. Offering solutions for marketing, advertising and research, Sprinklr provides an uncompromising cross-platform approach.
How to decide which tool is right for you
There is certainly a lot to consider. When making your final decision, here are a few questions to ask yourself that may help:
- What is the main problem I am trying to solve? Community management, smooth content uploading or something else?
- How long do I want to use this platform for – is it a short-term fix or a long-term investment?
- How many people need to use this platform – do I need something that will work for an international team?
- What’s my budget?
Finally, don’t be afraid to ask providers for demos or free trials of their systems to get used to ways of working. This will help you to be sure you’ve made the right choice for your needs. After all, the best way to know which platform will save you time and help you reach your objectives is to try them out.
Images: Hootsuite, Buffer and Sprinklr.
