There are no shortages of social media services available online. Managing a single Facebook account might not warrant much assistance, but when it comes operating multiple accounts or brands, like Coca-Cola with over 500 subsidiaries, the workload can be overwhelming. Expecting a single individual or team to monitor, coordinate, and update numerous individual accounts without a central platform can be both time consuming and expensive–that’s where social media managers come in.

Manage All Your Accounts In A Single Location

Social media managers make it possible to connect all your accounts in one place, thus alleviating the strain from maintaining many different profiles. These services will send out an initial authorization request to whatever platforms you wish to use, and request necessary identifying information. Once you make the authorization by logging into your account, the authorization will register as an API key to retain access. From there, information is automatically transferred back and forth to the manager and social media accounts, while all relevant information is displayed in a single webpage or mobile application for you to manage.

Some managers are what you would consider ‘all-in-one,’ and are optimal choices for high traffic accounts. This implies that whatever task you would normally perform through your individual accounts–post new content, respond to comments, and manage followers–you can do through the central dashboard. Sites like HootSuite offer additional resources like a built in RSS feed to monitor and develop new content, a post scheduler so that you can automatically update accounts on a schedule, and a URL Shortener to help meet character requirements and manicure content.

Other services, such as Buffer, are specifically designed to publish scheduled posts throughout the day and track clicks. You’ll want to select a service that best fits your total usage and amount of time your willing to invest.

Analyze Social Analytics And Coordinate Efforts

The single best way to test the effectiveness of a social media campaign is by comparing data trends. Social media managers track your engagements and provide easy to interpret statistical information that you would normally have to collect manually. This includes the number of clicks on posted links, how many individuals responded or shared your content, and the follower changes within a certain period of time.

All of the information is stored within the manager, and displayed through graphs and data tables for you to analyze. If you have ever used Google Analytics to monitor website traffic, the concept will be very similar.

In addition, these services make it easy for teams to work together acting as a social media project manager. Rather than handing out a single login for the entire office to use, individuals have the opportunity to setup their own accounts and access the information needed to perform their jobs. With these powerful resources at hand, even small teams on limited budgets can independently manage multiple platforms and brands all at once, allowing for better coordination and optimized results.