Most marketing consultants and business owners pay close attention to how much they spend on Facebook ads…
…but not many know that they may be spending too much money elsewhere - like on their social media management tool.
Why?
Because it’s easy to know how much you’re spending on Facebook ads.
Facebook sends you a notification every time they bill you.
The same bill shows up in your statement very month.
It’s really hard to miss them.
But social media management tools?
They just silently charge your card every month…
Worse, you may not even be getting a fair deal.
If you’re choosing between Hootsuite, Sproutsocial, or Agorapulse (the 3 hottest tools right now), you may face a barrage of price plans.
You have to weigh several options, like…
Thankfully, there now is a tool that will help you compare the different costs.
This cost comparison tool, created by Ian Anderson Gray of Seriously Social, is still in beta at the moment.
But I have to say, it’s really useful for finding the best pricing plan and tool that matches your needs!
As you can see below, you can enter all kinds of data so that the tool knows exactly what you’re looking for in a social media management tool.
Step 1: Select the number of social media profiles you are going to want to manage with the tool and total number of fans for all of your social accounts (as this can be a deciding factor for pricing in some cases).
A tip from the experienced: think about how many people need to use the tool to manage your social media profiles.
Once you are done, add the advanced options to get even better results.
If you enter more data, you’ll get better results.
For example, some tools might charge you extra for working with a team and using team features.
Others might ask you to change your plan to let you make all of the keyword searches and monitoring you want.
So to get the most accurate prices, enter as much information as you can in the tool’s form.
Step 2: For example, tell the tool how many Twitter keywords you want to monitor everyday. The tool will show you a price.
Does it exceed your budget? If so, you can adjust the number of Twitter keywords to get the most out of your budget.
Step 3: Tell the tool what kind of statistics you need.
If you’re only looking for basic data like followers, likes, and shares, choose “basic statistics”.
If you want more detailed statistics – like more in-depth look at your followers and who they are or the updates you are posting and the engagement you’re getting - then click on ‘advanced statistics’.
Step 4: Tell the tool if you want to export your reports.
Again, this is a feature that sometimes costs extra depending on the tool and plan you’re using. But a data export may not be important to you.
For example, if you don’t have to present your data to stakeholders or clients, you may want to save the money.
Step 5: Want control over how your links look like? Tell the tool.
Whether you want to connect your own bit.ly account or another custom branded URL, you may need to pay for the extra feature. If it’s not something that is relevant to you, simply select No.
That’s it!
When you’re done, tell the tool if you want to pay monthly or annually and let the tool do its magic.
What I like about this tool (well, apart from its purpose!) is that as you use it, it makes you think more about what you really need.
Note: If you’re looking for an enterprise-level plan, you may not get accurate results.
Why?
Because most companies today provide a customised quote to enterprise clients. So it’s hard to know for sure what they’ll charge you.
Nevertheless, this is a good start towards a more transparent environment.
You may also use the prices here as a benchmark to evaluate the quotes you get.
And if you’re looking for a solo- or an agency-level plan, this cost comparison tool can save you so much time.
What do you think of this tool? Would it be something that would be of help when making the decision to get a new social media management tool?
What other options would you like to see it include in order to help you create a more advanced search? Let me know – the tool is in beta, so who knows, Ian must take up your suggestions.
Brought to you by Seriously Social with Ian Anderson Gray