Social media is a beast. The platforms evolve every day, the algorithms shift, and keeping your strategy effective is like trying to hit a moving target.
If you’re a social media manager, you know the importance of staying sharp and staying ahead. And the tools you use can be the difference between drowning in chaos or driving exponential results. Tools aren’t just add-ons—they are non-negotiables for streamlining workflows, maintaining consistency, and scaling impact.
Here are the must-have social media management tools that will help you crush your 2024 goals.
1. Social Media Scheduling: Buffer / Hootsuite
Time is your most precious asset. Without a solid scheduling tool, you’re losing that asset to repetitive tasks. Buffer and Hootsuite are the OGs of the social media game. These tools give you the power to plan, schedule, and automate posts across multiple platforms. With easy drag-and-drop content calendars, you can map out weeks of content in one go, leaving you time to focus on creative strategy and engagement.
Why it’s critical: Automation is your best friend when you’re managing multiple accounts, across 3-4 platforms, and posting multiple times a day. Tools like Buffer and Hootsuite streamline that process, ensuring you’re never playing catch-up.
2. Design & Visual Content Creation: Canva
Look, content is still king, but visual content is emperor. With algorithms favouring engagement-heavy media like videos, images, and infographics, having a tool that allows you to whip up pro-level designs is essential. Enter Canva.
No fancy design skills? No problem. Canva offers an array of easy-to-use templates for social media posts, stories, ads, and even video thumbnails. Whether you’re running a solo business or part of a larger marketing team, Canva’s intuitive interface means anyone can quickly create stunning visuals that grab attention.
Pro tip: Invest in Canva Pro. The extra features like brand kits, access to premium photos, and one-click resizing will save you hours every week.
3. Analytics & Reporting: Sprout Social / Later
Without data, you’re flying blind. You need to understand what’s working and what isn’t. This is where Sprout Social and Later come in. These tools offer in-depth analytics that go beyond the surface-level likes and shares. We’re talking about audience insights, engagement trends, and performance reports that show you exactly what’s driving results.
More importantly, tools like these help you report to clients or stakeholders in a clean, professional way. You can’t just tell your clients or boss, “Yeah, we did well.” They want the numbers. Sprout Social and Later automate those reports so you can keep everyone happy without spending hours piecing together data.
4. Content Research: BuzzSumo
Content ideation is a constant grind. If you’re posting daily, you need fresh ideas that resonate with your audience. BuzzSumo takes the guesswork out of that process. It allows you to see what’s already trending, what’s working for competitors, and what’s getting the most engagement across the web.
By using BuzzSumo, you can reverse engineer the content that’s already proven to work. It’s like having a content crystal ball. You’ll spend less time brainstorming and more time creating content that hits.
5. Hashtag Research: Flick
Hashtags are still a major player in organic reach, especially on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. But throwing in random hashtags is just a waste of space. Enter Flick—your ultimate hashtag discovery and analytics tool. Flick helps you find relevant, niche hashtags and shows you how they perform. It also tracks hashtag performance over time, giving you deep insight into which tags bring the most value.
Effective hashtag use can dramatically increase your content visibility. With Flick, you’ll never waste time on pointless hashtags again.
6. Community Management: Agorapulse
Engagement isn’t optional. Social media isn’t a monologue; it’s a two-way conversation. Managing your community—answering questions, responding to comments, and staying on top of brand mentions—can get overwhelming fast. Agorapulse centralises all your social media interactions into one place, helping you engage efficiently without hopping from platform to platform.
Bonus? You can automate responses for frequently asked questions, schedule your replies, and never miss an important comment. Agorapulse also allows for team collaboration, so if you’re managing multiple clients or have a large team, this tool is a no-brainer.
7. Video Editing: InShot / CapCut
Video is the present and the future. Whether it’s short-form clips for TikTok, Instagram Reels, or long-form YouTube content, you need a tool that lets you edit on the go. InShot and CapCut are game-changers in this space.
These mobile video-editing apps offer powerful, yet simple-to-use features. You can trim, cut, add music, transitions, and even special effects right from your phone. Given the fast-paced nature of video content creation, having something this easy to use is a must for any social media manager.
Don’t overcomplicate it. You don’t need expensive editing software for most social media videos. These tools let you produce quality content without the headaches.
8. Team Collaboration: Slack / Trello
Managing social media is rarely a one-person show. You need team collaboration tools that keep everyone on the same page and workflows smooth. Slack and Trello are the go-tos here.
Slack is perfect for communication—keeping chats organised, sharing ideas quickly, and keeping the inbox clutter-free. Trello, on the other hand, helps you map out projects, track tasks, and collaborate seamlessly on content calendars, asset development, and post approvals. Both of these tools are essential if you’re working with teams, freelancers, or clients.
9. SEO Optimisation: SEMrush
SEO isn’t just for websites—it’s for social media too. If your content isn’t discoverable, it’s useless. SEMrush gives you insights into the best keywords to use, the right way to optimise your content for searches, and how to beat the competition.
With SEO-optimised content, your posts will have higher chances of showing up in searches, which means more eyeballs on your brand. Pairing this tool with solid hashtag research can skyrocket your organic growth.
The Right Tools Are Non-Negotiable
You can’t expect to scale and succeed in social media management without the right tools in your toolkit. From scheduling to design, from community management to SEO—these tools are critical to your efficiency, creativity, and ability to deliver results.
The best part? You don’t need to use them all at once. Find the ones that best fit your workflow and invest time in mastering them. Social media management is hard enough. The right tools make it manageable.
The game changes every day. But with these tools, you’ll stay ahead of the curve—and your competitors.
Remember: use tools as leverage to streamline your time and maximise your impact. No fluff, just results.