Top tools for social media scheduling

Buffer

Buffer is similar to Hootsuite, with a range of plans for all sizes of charities, including an extensive free version, where three profiles can be connected and up to 30 posts scheduled at any one time.

A key difference with Buffer’s free version compared to Hootsuite is that the dashboard is more streamlined. This reduces the complexity involved and the intuitive interface is easy to use.

While this simplicity does limit functionality, it also makes it ideal for small charities with limited social media experience, looking to schedule a small number of posts from three or fewer profiles. Buffer also allows scheduling of social media posts with links to website and blog posts that have not yet been published.

Pricing plans include a $15 (£11.15 approx) a month deal, which allows for 100 scheduled posts across eight social channels, and the $99 (£74 approx) plan that allows charities to schedule 2,000 posts across 25 social channels.

Airtable

Both Buffer and Hootsuite can be used in tandem with collaboration tool Airtable.

This includes an interactive spreadsheet that staff and volunteers can use to collaborate and create posts for scheduling. This helps to organise content and boosts workflow efficiency by allowing collaborators within a charity to upload their images for marketing and communications professionals to then schedule.

Through Airtable a social media planning template is created that helps team members to visualise how content will look. This is through a page designer function were the post is mocked-up before publishing.

Airtable’s products include a free plan, through to $10 (£7.50 approx) and $20 a month (£15 approx) plans, and an unlimited package.

Sendible

All-in-one social media management tools can be useful for scheduling, although they often offer less functionality than a dedicated scheduling product.

Sendible is a social media management tool worth considering as it offers a range of management functions while still offering robust scheduling capability. Content can be scheduled individually in queues or in bulk.

Sendible has a ‘smart posts’ feature to enable tailoring to the different requirements and audiences of a variety of social media platforms.

For charities looking to plan a campaign, content can be scheduled offline and then uploaded in bulk using Sendible’s scheduling functions.

Another of Sendible’s features is an interactive calendar, which is a strong visual way for charity digital marketing professionals to see when posts are being published each month.

Sendible’s pricing ranges from £25 for solo operators and small charities to £245 a month for larger organisations.

The lowest-priced plan allows only one user and up to 12 social media profiles, with the more expensive plans catering for up to 12 users and 192 social media profiles.