What Is Social CRM? 10 Best Social Media CRM Tools Reviewed

Quick Summary:

Social CRM blends traditional CRM techniques with the nuanced dynamics of social media. This integration gives businesses powerful tools to enhance customer interactions and harness social insights for strategic growth.

Social CRM combines traditional CRM with the power of social media, helping businesses engage with customers more effectively. By integrating social media analytics, companies can gain insights into customer behavior, enhance customer experiences, and improve brand loyalty.

This approach not only manages existing relationships but also helps acquire new customers by leveraging real-time interactions and trend analysis. In this article, we review the top social CRM platforms that blend social media management with robust CRM features to drive growth and engagement.

Top 10 Social CRM Summary

• Salesforce Social Studio – Best CRM for Social Media Overall
• HubSpot Marketing Hub – Top Social Customer Relationship Management Tool
• Zoho Social – Great Free CRM for Social Media Management
• Sprout Social – Best CRM for Social Media Marketing
• Nimble – Good Social Media CRM Software for Startups and Small Business
• eClincher – Good Social CRM Tool for Sales Teams
• Agorapulse – Top Social Media Marketing Tool for Large Business
• Buffer – Great Free Social Media Tool for Customer Engagement
• Hootsuite – Top Social Networking Platform for Customer Communication
• Later – Great Social Media Marketing Tool with CRM Integrations

What is Social CRM and How is it Being Used?

Social CRM definition would be that it's a tool that combines traditional CRM with social media management, helping businesses interact with customers through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It allows companies to schedule posts, monitor engagement, track customer data, and streamline communications, all while improving marketing, sales, and customer service efforts. 

What is Social Customer Relationship Management Meant to Measure? 

Here's a list of things you can measure with social CRM software:

Traffic

Social media drives traffic from their platforms toward brand pages and e-commerce sites. Social CRM lets you monitor traffic and click-throughs in real time to assess how much traffic ends as successful sales conversions. 

Engagement

Going beyond basic traffic and clicks, you can break down all engagements based on likes, shares, reposts, comments, and incoming communications, all for a more complex understanding of how people react to your content.

Level of Followers

In addition to simply tallying up the number of followers on a list, social CRM gives you an idea of who they are, who they're connected with, and how active they are online. 

Brand Mentions

Staying on top of the online buzz around your brand is paramount, but you also need to listen to your connections and those outside your network. With the right social CRM, no mention goes unnoticed.

Social CRM Software Comparison Chart (Top 10 Highest Rated Platforms)

Here's a summary breakdown of the top 10 social CRM platforms. For quick info purposes, you can see which tool is best for you, where the pricing starts, and if there's a free plan available. This list covers the best social CRM tools and social media CRM Software.

What Are the Best Social CRM Tools? Here's Our Top 10 List:

The list of great social media contact management software goes on. It's dizzying to go through a Google search. So we've done the leg work. If you're ready to boost your business through better social media practices, it's time to check out the best social CRM tools.

1. Salesforce Social Studio (Best CRM for Social Media Overall)

Why We Chose It:

Salesforce Social Studio is a leader in social CRM, and here's why it might be the perfect fit for your business. 

As you can learn in our Salesforce review, the Salesforce Social Studio is an integral component of its Marketing Cloud, delivering a comprehensive suite of tools for community engagement, marketing intelligence, and customer sentiment analysis.

This platform has traditional CRM features tailored for the social realm, including advanced 'listening' capabilities for brand mentions, active engagement response mechanisms, and sophisticated analytics.

But what sets it apart is the Einstein Image Classification AI tool. This innovative feature recognizes logos, objects, and scenes in social media images, providing a deeper understanding of where and how your products are perceived and used.

By leveraging machine learning, Salesforce Social Studio identifies brand sentiment and intelligently routes customer activities to the appropriate department, streamlining your entire business process.

If you aim to stay ahead in the dynamic world of social media, Salesforce Social Studio could be your gateway to more insightful, efficient, and responsive customer relationship management.

Pros:

They've got most of the traditional CRM features for social, like "listening" for mentions, responding to engagement, organizing social media posts, and analytics. Salesforce's smart "Einstein Image Classification" AI tool recognizes logos, objects, food, and other scenes in social images to show where certain products are being used. Machine learning helps you streamline your entire process by identifying brand sentiment and automatically routing customer activity to the appropriate department. 

Cons:

One of the most significant drawbacks is the price. That's why, even as one of the best CRM systems, Salesforce is limited to larger businesses with ready-made budgets.

Pricing:

• The basic plan is $1,000 per month, billed annually. 

• Pro plan is $4,000 per month, billed annually. 

• The corporate plan is $12,000 per month, billed annually. 

• The enterprise plan is $40,000 per month, billed annually.

Visit Site 
^{Go to Salesforce's official website}

2. HubSpot Marketing Hub (Top Social Customer Relationship Management Tool)

Why We Chose It:

HubSpot originally made its name as a pioneer of inbound marketing. Now, it offers a slew of tools. One of these is a social media management tool as part of its more encompassing marketing platform, which works with its free CRM and service platforms for support teams.

Imagine publishing, scheduling, and monitoring all your social media activities from one unified dashboard. This would be coupled with the ability to track engagements and analyze performance data across different platforms, including YouTube.

Additionally, HubSpot's intuitive ticketing tool can transform how your help desk interacts with customers, keeping track of contact requests and customer data in one place. You can learn more about this CRM in our detailed HubSpot CRM review.

If your business aims to enhance its social media presence while maintaining strong customer relationships, HubSpot Marketing Hub could be the solution you're looking for.

Pros:

The social media manager lets you publish directly to LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and manage a blog or landing page. You can schedule posts for later and get the best post-time recommendations. HubSpot lets you monitor mentions and comments in a unified inbox. The report compares engagements across platforms, including YouTube. For people contacting the help desk, the ticketing tool keeps track of contact requests and customer data.

Cons:

The free plan makes HubSpot a top contender. Sadly, however, there's quite the jump between the free version and the full premium plans where the better features are.

Pricing:

• HubSpot offers a free version.

• The Starter Marketing Hub plan starts at $45 per month.

• The Professional Marketing Hub plan starts at $800 per month. 

• The Enterprise Marketing Hub plan starts at $3,200 per month.

Visit Site
^{Go to HubSpot's official website}

3. Zoho Social (Great Free CRM for Social Media Management)

Why We Chose It

Zoho CRM mainly targets Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram, but its basic CRM integrates with other workplace platforms like Slack, Zapier, and Zendesk. With this app, users sift through social media venues to manually identify potential customers and bring their contacts into the leading platform.

This versatility will allow you to navigate social media venues efficiently, identify and engage potential customers, and integrate their details into the CRM for streamlined management.

This tool enables you to monitor customer feedback and engagement, track conversation histories, and sync these interactions across your social media accounts and the CRM.

Whether you're looking to enhance your social media presence or streamline lead management, Zoho Social offers a comprehensive, user-friendly solution that could transform your social media strategy.

Our comprehensive Zoho CRM review covers everything you need to know about this popular tool, so check it out before making a decision.

Pros:

Focusing on new lead acquisition, there's an automated function to add new leads based on custom-defined triggers. It identifies high-quality leaders with specific characteristics, such as demographics, 'likes,' or shopping habits. You can monitor customer feedback, keep track of engagement and conversation history, get notifications, and sync leads between your social media accounts and the CRM.

Cons:

The Instagram features are newer to this platform and are still limited, especially for things like Instagram Stories. Some of the Instagram features are for Instagram Business accounts only.

Pricing:

• Zoho offers a free version.

• The standard plan is $10 per month, billed annually.

• The professional plan is $30 per month, billed annually.

• The premium plan is $40 per month, billed annually.

Visit Site
^{Go to Zoho Social's official website}

4. Sprout Social (Best CRM for Social Media Marketing)

Why We Chose It

Sprout puts social media front and center in its CRM platform, incorporating accounts from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. It's a big brand for composing, backlogging, and scheduling social media posts across multiple channels and for many accounts and following customer engagement. 

However, Sprout Social is not just about managing social media accounts; it's about enhancing them with sophisticated features like a smart inbox for all social interactions, comprehensive brand monitoring, and robust rule-based workflow automation.

With Sprout Social, you'll have a powerful toolkit at your disposal, including detailed conversation histories, bot-building capabilities, and advanced team collaboration features.

This platform is particularly beneficial if your business aims to have a strong, consistent presence across multiple social media channels. It is backed by insightful analytics that tracks your posts and your team's performance. 

Pros:

This is a massive stack, covering virtually all the main features of a social CRM system. There's an intelligent inbox to collect all social interactions and an entire conversation history with each contact. There's brand monitoring with keyword, hashtag, and location searches. You get rule-based workflow automation and a bot builder. Team collaboration features include assigning and prioritizing tasks. Then, there's reporting for your posts and ads and your team's performance.

Cons:

Sprout is a powerhouse, truly. However, this is reserved for more prominent players with bigger budgets and more time to learn all the features, as there is a learning curve.

Pricing:

• The standard plan is $89 per user/month, billed annually.

• The pro plan is $149 per user/month, billed annually.

• The advanced plan is $249 per user/month, billed annually.

Visit Site
^{Go to Sprout Social's official website}

5. Nimble (Good Social Media CRM Software for Startups and Small Business)

Why We Chose It:

It was touted as a game-changing CRM. It is designed to work in tandem with the Microsoft family of programs and integrates Twitter, Facebook, AngelList, Instagram, Foursquare, and Google+.

Nimble's strength lies in its ability to monitor social media mentions and automatically link leads' and customers' social accounts, enriching their profiles within the CRM.

This integration allows for sophisticated social data utilization, enhancing contact management. Its 'smart' search functions enable efficient sorting of contacts by connectivity status or follower metrics, coupled with a robust agenda manager and detailed analytics.

Nimble's user-friendly, lightweight platform is especially beneficial for smaller businesses seeking to leverage social CRM without the complexity of larger systems. If interested in this tool, read our latest Nimble CRM review for more details.

Pros:

Nimble keeps tabs on social media mentions. It automatically finds and links the social accounts of leads and customers and uses that social data to enrich their contact details within the CRM. Nimble also has several "smart" search functions whereby contacts can be sorted by connectivity status or using following/followers stats. There's a good agenda manager, and they have detailed analytics with a broad range of metrics.

Cons:

This is an excellent and light platform. But, because of this, one feels that the sky is not the limit with everything Nimble can do. Scaling up is not its strong point.

Pricing:

• The business plan is $19 per user/month, which is billed annually.

Visit Site
^{Go to Nimble's official website}

6. eClincher (Good Social CRM Tool for Sales Teams)

Why We Chose It:

eClincher is an excellent choice for sales teams looking for a robust social CRM tool to prioritize sales performance and ROI.

This tool's versatility is evident in its ability to cover many social channels, including Facebook pages and groups, Twitter, Instagram (both Business and personal), LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Google My Business, Yelp, and Blogger.

eClincher's strength lies in its integrated social inbox and CRM capabilities. This will enable you to manage all customer interactions, from mentions and likes to comments and live conversations from one place.

Additionally, you'll find the keyword and hashtag monitoring tool invaluable for identifying new engagement opportunities. The platform also aids in connecting with influencers and suggests content for your posts, enhancing your social media strategy. 

Pros:

The social inbox and CRM let you manage all customer interactions, mentions, likes, comments, and even live conversations. There's a monitoring tool for keywords and hashtags, which can also translate to new conversations and engagements. eClincher can connect you with influencers or suggest content when planning your posts. They offer analytics, media management, and collaboration features.

Cons:

There are many tools and features here, meaning you and your team need to work long hours to master everything. Is it worth it after all? For sales teams? Yes. For everyone else? Maybe.

Pricing:

• The basic plan is $59/month for one user.

• The premier plan is $119/month for three users.

• The agency plan is $219/month for six users.

Visit Site
^{Go to eClincher's official website}

7. Agorapulse (Top Social Media Marketing Tool for Large Business)

Why We Chose It:

As the name suggests, Agorapulse keeps you up-to-date with trends, hot topics, and the latest ideas in the online marketplace. They aren't afraid to invite comparisons with more prominent names like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, or Buffer. 

Agorapulse also offers robust tools for publishing posts, a unified inbox for engaging with comments, and rapid analytics access. The automated inbox assistant further streamlines your social media management tasks.

While its CRM aspect might be lighter than others, its strengths in social media management make Agorapulse a top contender for large businesses looking to integrate social interactions with customer relationship insights.

Pros:

The built-in social CRM tool is a significant feature of Agorapulse. It combines public profiles with private notes for rich "fans and followers" contact cards and the platform auto-labels who might be important or influential. There are also tools to publish posts, engage with all comments in a single inbox, and get quick analytics. Finally, you can use an automated inbox assistant.

Cons:

As this one is a social media management platform, the customer relationship management angle is light, and you'll probably need to integrate it with other CRMs.

Pricing:

• Agorapulse offers a free version.

• The medium plan is $79 for two users per month, billed annually.  

• The large plan is $159 for four users per month, billed annually.

• The X-Large plan is $239 for eight users per month, billed annually.

• The enterprise plan is $399 for 20 users per month, billed annually.

Visit Site
^{Go to Agorapulse's official website}

8. Buffer (Great Free Social Media Tool for Customer Engagement)

Why We Chose It:

Buffer is an excellent free social media tool for customer engagement, especially if you're keen on enhancing your brand's social responsiveness and support.

Buffer's Reply tool is a standout feature designed to streamline your social media interactions. It enables you to respond to social comments efficiently, centralizing communication and customer support in one easy-to-manage space.

This is particularly beneficial if your brand is active across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. With Buffer, you get a collaborative team inbox where conversations can be assigned, ensuring there is no overlap in responses and allowing you to add personal notes for context.

Furthermore, Buffer's integration with major CRM platforms through Zapier and IFTTT means you can effortlessly incorporate it into your existing customer relationship management system. This integration empowers you to manage, analyze, and improve your customer engagement strategies. 

Pros:

All incoming messages from Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter go into a collaborative team inbox, where you assign conversations, avoid rep collisions on single conversations, and write notes. Easy task automation, reusable replies, and custom tags and folders exist. Reply also has reporting. Buffer Publish, meanwhile, lets you plan and post across all social channels.  

Cons:

Again, this is not a CRM, although integrating it is no big deal. And while Buffer works with Instagram, it does not automatically post Instagram Stories for you.

Pricing:

• Buffer offers a free version.

• The essentials plan is $5 per social channel, billed annually.

Visit Site
^{Go to Buffer's official website}

9. Hootsuite (Top Social Networking Platform for Customer Communication)

Why We Chose It:

Hootsuite emerges as a top-tier choice for social networking, particularly for enhancing customer communication. As a primarily social network management software, it offers a unique advantage: a focus on managing and maximizing social interactions rather than the traditional sales pipeline features.

Hootsuite integrates with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, and LinkedIn, and it even has an excellent WordPress CRM plugin that posts your articles automatically to social media.

Its dashboard can be tailored to your CRM needs thanks to a range of app extensions like Nimble, Salesforce, and Batchbook, all conveniently accessible from the Hootsuite app directory. For your business, this means the ability to not only schedule and plan posts but also to engage in effective social media monitoring.

You can track trends and keywords, save and share user-generated content, and promote your offerings. Plus, with Hootsuite's analytics and custom reporting, you gain valuable insights into your social media performance.

If you're looking for a tool that bridges the gap between social networking and customer communication, Hootsuite, with its comprehensive features and free plan, could be the ideal choice for your business.

Pros:

The Hootsuite dashboard can be customized to be more CRM-ready with a range of app extensions, like Nimble, Salesforce, Batchbook, and others—all available on the Hootsuite app directory. You can plan and schedule posts and monitor social media to follow trends or keywords. It's easy to save and share user content and promote your own. Hootsuite also has analytics and custom reporting.

Cons:

Hootsuite must also integrate with a dedicated CDRM to address all the customer management aspects you'd expect. Also, the best features are only in the premium plans.

Pricing:

• Hootsuite offers a free plan.

• The professional plan starts at $49 per month and is billed annually.

• The team plan starts at $129 per month, billed annually.

• The business plan starts at $599 per month, billed annually.

• For Enterprise plan pricing, contact Hootsuite.

Visit Site
^{Go to Hotsuite's official website}

10. Later (Great Social Media Marketing Tool with CRM Integrations)

Why We Chose It:

Later is a standout choice for those focusing on social media marketing, particularly if Instagram is a key part of your strategy. The platform excels in marketing automation, helping you expand your network and gain followers. This tool is not just about increasing numbers; it's about forging stronger connections.

Later, it worked seamlessly with Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, offering a suite of features like intuitive post-scheduling and an organized media library. This is especially beneficial for you if you need to manage and curate content efficiently.

What makes Later unique is its capability to connect with customers through their content, simplifying the process of sharing user-generated content. This feature is invaluable for building a more engaged and authentic community around your brand.

If Instagram is a cornerstone of your social media strategy and you're looking for a tool that combines ease of use with powerful marketing capabilities, Later could be the ideal solution for your business.

Pros:

Aside from Instagram, Later also functions with Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Features include the planning and scheduling of posts using an intuitive calendar tool. An organized media library lets you group, label, and bulk-upload files.

Later, it has tools to connect with customers who've uploaded their content, streamlining your ability to repost great user-generated content. There are also analytics for Instagram.

Cons:

Later, it becomes hyper-specific in its task. So, if you need a more versatile and robust platform that combines social media management and CRM, you should look elsewhere.

Pricing:

• Later, it offers a free version.

• The starter plan starts at $12.50 per month and is billed annually.

• The growth plan starts at $20.83 per month and is billed annually.

• The advanced plan starts at $33.33 per month and is billed annually.

Visit Site
^{Go to Later's official website}

Social CRM Features

The main features of social CRM software include:

Customer Profiles

Get a complete picture of everyone you're connected with across all your social media accounts, including age, location, demographics, engagement history, and links to their other social profiles. A good social CRM can scan your networks and auto-update anyone's profile when they make changes. The more you know about your fans and followers, the better you'll be able to offer them improved personalized content.

Social Listening

Social CRMs have tools that allow you to monitor the online conversation in real-time with specific keywords relevant to learning about potential leads and mastering your industry. You must never miss mentioning your brand or product, no matter when or where it's typed up. Social listening features mean your eyes and ears are ever stalwart in the digital content universe.

Sentiment Analysis

With sentiment analysis tools, you get a more nuanced picture of how people feel about what's happening in the world or within the intimate spaces created by your brand experience. 

Social Selling

While we're all on social media for various reasons—professional and personal—a company's presence on social media should never lose sight of its ultimate goal of converting leads into customers and boosting ROI. Many social CRM platforms streamline customer interest directly to your sales staff or an online shop, primarily through Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.

Social Media Management

A single social CRM platform syncs numerous profiles from many social media platforms. Simple scheduling operations allow a single post to reach every relevant channel at the ideal post time. The unified inbox collects all engagements and messages, showing fuller social profiles for each conversation. Finally, it gives thorough comparative analytics for all posts, posters, shapes, and platforms.

Benefits of Social CRM Software

Here's a breakdown of the main benefits of social CRM software:

Faster Customer Service

Using social CRM doesn't just allow service reps to speak directly with people; it enables them to listen to what people are saying to each other. With social listening, you never miss the chance to reach out and respond to anyone with a question or issue. Plus, customers prefer to communicate through their social media profiles, so it's best to have a presence there.

Build New Relationships

When any online profile engages with your content or uses keywords you monitor with social CRM, it's an opportunity to expand your network. Some tremendous social CRM tools also help you find the right target audiences to reach. Since you can easily stay up-to-date with their information and activity, you can offer them more personalized experiences.   

Better Understand Customer Needs and Issues

A lot of data builds up in the social sphere every moment. A social CRM helps navigate this info by giving you a broad-metric analytical overview of all the latest hot topics coming from around the globe on every social channel. It also lets you zero in on demographics or pick up on specific categories of content that might be super relevant to your potential customers.

Build and Improve Brand Reputation

When people complain about crummy products or lousy service through a post or a tweet, chances are they want to be heard. What better way to signal your brand's willingness to listen to the greater community than not shying away from criticism? Instead, show gratitude for the feedback. Social CRMs also let you publicly reward loyal customers and re-share their praises so that even more people get wind of your unsolicited awesomeness.

Improved Control Over Social Presence

Social media channels are increasing. Beyond the basics of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, there are platforms for image sharing, video posting, texting and messaging, news curation, and content creation. A social CRM can translate to fewer work hours because it unifies multiple accounts across every channel, helps you plan and post content simultaneously for many outlets, gives you a single inbox for all communication, and offers across-the-board analytics and reporting.

Bring Social Media Closer to Marketing, Sales and Service

Once upon a time, a social media department was hardly significant enough to warrant more than an intern working in isolation. Those days are over. Social media insights are valuable for planning new products and services. Social channels are vital avenues for marketing campaigns. Social contacts and connections are all potential leads on the way to successful conversions. Finally, social media is the preferred communication medium for customers seeking assistance.  

What is the Best Social CRM System for Me? Our Conclusion

In conclusion, Social CRM is a pivotal innovation for businesses looking to integrate their customer relationship management with the dynamic world of social media.

Systems like Salesforce Social Studio excel for businesses with larger budgets, offering comprehensive tools for engaging and analyzing social interactions. For cost-conscious businesses, HubSpot provides an effective and affordable solution.

The key advantage of any social CRM system lies in its ability to merge traditional CRM functions with social media management, offering a seamless, unified approach to customer engagement and relationship building.

This integration enhances customer interaction and provides valuable insights into customer preferences and behaviors, enabling businesses to tailor their strategies more effectively and build stronger, more meaningful connections with their audience.

When choosing a social CRM platform, consider factors such as the scale of your social media interactions, the depth of analytics you require, and the integration capabilities with your existing systems.

Remember, the goal is to find a solution that fits your budget and aligns with your customer engagement and data analysis needs. This tailored approach will ensure you leverage social CRM's full potential to enhance customer relationships and drive business growth.

Social CRM FAQs

What is the Difference Between Social CRM and Traditional CRM?

The main difference lies in the channels they focus on. Traditional CRM involves managing customer relationships through traditional communication channels like phone calls, emails, and in-person interactions. It's more centered on direct communication and transactional data. On the other hand, Social CRM incorporates social media channels into the mix.

It recognizes the importance of social media platforms in modern communication. Social CRM tracks customer interactions through traditional means and includes data and insights gathered from social media interactions.

What Are the Elements of Social CRM?

Elements of Social CRM include social media monitoring, listening, and engagement. Analyzing social data provides insights, and integration with traditional CRM ensures a complete customer profile. Collaboration and customer service on social platforms enhance interactions, while content management and advocacy programs boost brand presence.

What is Meant by Moving From CRM to Social CRM?

Moving from CRM to Social CRM involves expanding customer relationship management strategies to include social media channels. While traditional CRM focuses on direct communication through phone calls and emails, Social CRM incorporates social media interactions. This transition means adopting tools for monitoring, listening, and engaging with customers on social media.

It also involves analyzing social data to gain insights and integrating it with traditional CRM systems. This shift recognizes the significance of social media in modern communication and aims to build more comprehensive and dynamic customer relationships across various online channels.

What is the Disadvantage of Social CRM?

One disadvantage of Social CRM is the potential for information overload. Managing data from diverse social media sources can be overwhelming, resulting in challenges in sorting and prioritizing relevant information. Additionally, interpreting social media sentiments can be complex, as automated tools may not always capture the nuanced context of conversations.

Privacy concerns also arise, as collecting and analyzing data from social platforms requires careful handling to ensure compliance with regulations and respect for customer privacy. Moreover, maintaining consistency in engagement across different social channels can be challenging, risking a fragmented customer experience.