3 risks to look out for in your current social media management tool

A lot of time, effort, and resources go into creating a great social media marketing strategy, and marketers need the right tools to execute their plans successfully. Social media management tools are a great way to optimize workloads and streamline processes — if you have one that is right for you. However, brands often hold onto a solution that doesn't help and sometimes hinders success.

While concerns around switching solutions are understandable, it's essential to consider if staying with your current solution is helping or hurting you. In this blog, we will explore three common risks to look for in your social media management tool. Let's dive in.

Social media is a fast-paced, ever-changing landscape. You can't afford complicated workflows that don't enable you to adapt and act quickly. For example, most enterprise companies have specific roles within the marketing team that only require certain functionalities in an SMM tool. Some team members might only need to post on organic or paid channels, some might only need to review content, some might only need to build reports, and so on. While some SMM tools have a lot of fancy features that look impressive, their workflows and dashboards either aren’t customizable or are extremely difficult to customize for each team member.

Without the ability to tailor workflows for a specific role, it’s easy to get bogged down trying to accomplish the simplest tasks. Even just trying to post on social media can become a long, drawn-out process due to complicated workflows. Marketers are agile and shouldn't always need a team of developers to make updates or changes for them.

Customers today have high expectations of brands on social media — if brands want to keep up with the demand, they need a solution that empowers them to do just that. While it’s easy to assume that all tools are equally complex, fortunately, that isn’t the case! An uncomplicated social media management tool empowers your team to tailor their workflows, build their own reports, and adjust quickly as needed without the help of a developer!

Every company is different, so social media management tools should be more than just a one-size-fits-all solution. Without the ability to customize a social media management tool's features, brands end up either overpaying for capabilities they don't need or facing hidden charges for something they do need.

Many providers still use volume-based pricing models for things like social listening and paid advertising, meaning the more you grow, the more you get charged.

A good social media management tool vendor should give you straightforward, honest pricing and shouldn’t make you pay for a range of features your team doesn’t use. They should also provide complimentary product coaching and minimum service fees.

Customer service plays a vital role between a brand and its customers. Not having good customer service from your social media management software provider can create a domino effect, making it harder for you to serve your customers. For example, let’s say you experience an influx of customers reaching out to you on social media, but your team is having trouble keeping up with the volume of inquiries and figuring out the best way to set up automated processes for responding. If you reach out to your social media management tool provider for guidance, you want a fast response to understand the most efficient way to serve your customers. Or let’s say you run into a bug that affects your workflows that, in turn, affects your customer response time or ability to post. In the midst of an already stressful situation, you don’t want to spend valuable time just trying to get through to your support team.

Unfortunately, many brands settle for poor customer service when it comes to their social media management software, leading to frustration and inefficiency. Slow response times, lack of support, and limited resource access are signs of subpar customer service.

A good social media management tool provider shouldn’t just be a vendor, it should be a true partner with a support team committed to your success. In addition to expert training and ongoing support, you should also receive advice on things like how to navigate through the changing social media landscape and how to optimize your social investment.

Sticking with an ineffective social media management tool can harm a brand's online presence and marketing efforts. By avoiding the risks of assuming complicated workflows are normal, overpaying, and settling for poor customer service, brands can unlock their full potential in social media management.

Assessing your tool choices, exploring cost-effective alternatives, and prioritizing customer service empowers marketing teams to optimize their social media strategies and stay ahead in the ever-evolving social landscape.

If you’re looking for a trustworthy partner to help you successfully plan and execute your social strategy, read up on our award-winning SMM solution and talk to one of our experts to learn more.