5 reasons brands change social media tools

When choosing between renewing the contract for your current social media tool or trying a different provider, many questions arise. You might ask yourself, is it better to stay with our current tool or try something different? Is changing worth the effort? If we change, how long will it take to see the value of our new tool? What are the benefits of switching?

Many brands are hesitant to change social media tools — and rightfully so. Depending on your chosen provider, changing software can be a long, drawn-out process that costs a lot of time, money, and effort.

It’s normal to fear a complicated roll-out process and wonder how long it will take before you see the value of your decision.

Despite the fears associated with changing social media tools, there are also risks associated with staying with your current tool. It’s essential to weigh the costs and benefits involved with switching and understand when it’s time to move on.

If one of these five reasons resonates with you, it could be time to consider switching to Khoros’ social media tool.

Some common frustrations teams face with the scalability of their social media tool are:

• Needing a specialist/developer to add users or customize the solution for a growing team: Not only is this incredibly frustrating, but it also limits flexibility.

• Facing hidden costs for simple services: This is not uncommon for many social media tools and often puts extra stress on an already tight budget.

• The tool isn’t built for an enterprise marketing team and struggles to keep up with demand: This causes unnecessary glitches and interruptions to a team’s workday.

As your team and responsibilities expand, you need a tool that helps optimize processes while keeping you organized and agile.

Utilize a social media tool like Khoros, tailored for enterprise businesses by incorporating user-friendly features and functionalities, such as dashboard customization and configuration settings, and the ability to onboard new users with no hidden fees.

Another common reason brands switch social media tools is the constraints of their current one's analytics.

Some issues teams experience with social media tool analytics are:

• Lack of in-depth analytics: Some social media tools only offer surface-level analytics that are not as detailed as an enterprise business needs, limiting the ability to understand what’s working and what’s not.

• Data needed to prove ROI is fragmented: sifting through results and trying to find valuable data wastes time and energy that teams could otherwise spend on more important things.

• Restricted reporting access: Some social media tools require a developer or specialist to build reports, which leads to long wait periods and limited agility.

When choosing a social media tool, make sure it gives you easy access to the data you need when you need it, so you can quickly build reports in a matter of minutes without the help of a specialist or developer.

As brands grow and expand, so does the need for unified software solutions. Without unified software solutions, companies face challenges like:

• Disjointed teams: Having separate software solutions for different teams can result in a breakdown of communication between departments, making it harder to execute a unified strategy.

• Paying extra costs: Most of the time, it becomes more expensive to pay multiple software vendors for tools that could otherwise be through one vendor.

• A poor brand experience for customers: Disjointed teams and a lack of a unified strategy leaves customers confused and unimpressed with a brand.

Choose a social media tool that allows you to unify your software solutions across departments, keeping your teams aligned and creating a seamless digital engagement experience for your customers.

Another reason that customers tend to switch software frequently is due to a need for more support from their current vendor, with teams taking days or weeks to respond to questions or concerns.

Common issues that brands experience when needing a better partnership are:

• Bogged down processes and workflows: Unanswered questions about the tool or best practices can bottleneck teams and slow production.

• Prolonged glitches: Software glitches affect not only a brand but also its customers.

• Broken trust: By not hearing back from a provider for prolonged periods, trust disintegrates, forcing teams to find workarounds and bandaids for things the provider should otherwise take care of.

Your social media tool provider should instill a sense of trust in you through ongoing, meaningful support. You should be able to count on expert deployment, training, and advice for optimizing your social investment at no hidden cost.

Unforeseen costs are a common reason brands tend to switch social media tools.

While upfront low costs can be enticing, it’s essential to understand what extra charges you could incur down the road and how they will affect your return on investment.

Here are some questions to consider when choosing a social media tool:

• Are there hidden service fees?

• How much does it cost to add more users?

• Will upgrades or maintenance require a fee?

Read 8 essential questions to ask your prospective social media tool vendor for a more comprehensive list.

When you choose a social media tool like Khoros, get transparent pricing with no hidden fees. We will work with your internal teams to ensure a smooth rolling-out process for the fastest possible time to value. We also offer complimentary product coaching so your teams feel empowered to navigate the solution and optimize their own workflows.

If you have been thinking about making a change in social media tools, but are still on the fence, here are a few helpful resources to help you along your journey.

• Navigating the risks of switching social media tools

• Optimize social media management workflows and efficiency

• Khoros vs Sprinklr: Head-to-head comparison