What is the best free social media scheduling tool?

Throughout this blog, I will present some of the best FREE social media scheduling tools there are to offer. This means that there is no “free trial” period. It’s all free, all the time.

Why use a social media scheduling tool?

It may feel weird leaving all your posting to an automated algorithm and it sure can take away some of the interactiveness of posting for yourself. But as your business grows, so must your software. By having high-tech alternatives, you can free yourself to develop further in other areas of your business, such as face-to-face meetings or content creation.

A lot of tools make it really uncomplicated and enjoyable to schedule and organise your posts, and some even let you design your page beforehand

Zoho Social

Zoho social is not as popular as other social media scheduling tools but it definitely deserves some credit for how much is included in its free plan.

Features include:

• Ability to respond in real-time and engage with your audience. 
• Team partnership options allow you to work closely with your whole team.
• Analytics that include custom and pre-built reports.
• Post scheduling when your audience is most active enables you to get the most out of your efforts.
• Best time to post predictions. 
• Listening columns makes it easy to track and manage conversations.

What makes ZOHO Social special:

• A designated team member can post to all available platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, and Instagram)
• There is access to a URL shortener and statistics showing the most engaged followers and published posts.

Advantages of Zoho Social:

• Mass scheduling options save time and allow you to focus on the other areas of your business.
• You can manage content from a single screen

Disadvantages of Zoho Social:

• Cannot post to Pinterest (yet).

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of the most popular social media scheduling tools available today. You can choose to have a free account with no strings attached or pay to upgrade to a more premium plan.

Features include:

• A single inbox for all messages received over every linked social network.
• The ability to schedule posts.
• Supervise, optimise and report on search and ad campaigns.
• Compatible with mobile devices.
• Shows all of your social media activity.
• Allows you to follow and analyse trends.

What makes Hootsuite special:

• Link three social media profiles and schedule up to 30 posts

Advantages of Hootsuite:

• Merges with other tools including Dropbox, Google Drive, Salesforce, and the Adobe suite.

Disadvantages of Hootsuite:

• Free plans are basic compared to others, and upgrading can be expensive.
  

At a glance: What is the best free social media scheduling tool?

Social scheduling tools are quick and easy to use and can reduce the time you spend writing and making social posts, allowing you to focus on other important aspects of your business. 

Zoho Social and Hootsuite are both perfect for anyone looking to expand their business and to waste less time on posts. 

What would I choose?

The two tools I have shown you each appeal to me in different ways. But if I had to choose, I would pick Zoho Social. It has so much to offer and is also really easy to navigate. I also love that it gives you the ability to see how well each post does in the community. This can be super useful to help you get a glimpse of which posts work better than others.

For help with maximising your social media presence, get in touch today.