Best CRM for social media in 2024

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems have evolved significantly, integrating social media capabilities to cater to the growing importance of social interactions in business. As businesses increasingly rely on social media to connect with customers, having a CRM that effectively manages these interactions is crucial. In this blog post, we unpack the best social CRM software and the features you should look for in your social CRM solution, so that you can make the most of it.

6 features a social media CRM should have

If you're looking for a CRM system that will streamline your social media management tools, below are some features you need to look out for in any social CRM tool you consider.

1. Social media integration: A good social media CRM should seamlessly integrate with major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more. This integration allows businesses to monitor and engage with their audience directly from the CRM.
2. Social listening and monitoring tools: To help businesses get social insights and track mentions of their brand, competitors, and relevant keywords. This feature is essential for understanding customer sentiment, identifying trends, and responding to issues in real-time.
3. Customer segmentation: Segmenting customers based on their social media interactions allows businesses to personalize their communication and marketing efforts. This feature helps in targeting specific groups with tailored messages, enhancing customer engagement.
4. Integration with other tools: A robust social media CRM should integrate with other business tools such as email marketing software, e-commerce platforms, and customer support systems. This integration ensures a unified approach to customer relationship management.
5. User friendly interface: To help you avoid clunky user experience and a steep learning curve.
6. Marketing and sales automation: To streamline workflow automation across your sales and marketing strategy, look for automation such as de-duplication, sequences and AI assistance.
   

Traditional CRM vs social CRM

Wondering what the difference is between a traditional CRM and social CRM? It comes down to the way each CRM system uses and interacts with customer communication across social media conversations and data.

Traditional CRM

A traditional CRM has a stronger focus on collecting and managing customer data from multiple inboxes. Some traditional CRMs without social media integrations mean that you need to then manually copy and paste data from social media platforms such as LinkedIn to keep track of your favourite leads social activities and promotions.

Social CRM

A social CRM uses branding and in-bound marketing campaign strategies to spark conversations. Think along the lines of social selling methods such as Founder-led sales. Most of the customers who go through this already have an interest in your brand, product or service. A good social CRM can help you understand your customer habits through their social media engagement with your content. A great one can help you automate the process of capturing information and interactions.

Now that you know what to look for and the key differences between a traditional CRM and social CRM, let's explore the best social CRM platforms on the market.

3 Best social media CRM software

Below are the best social CRM tools on the market. We've got different areas covered from a traditional crm system, to a more social friendly CRM systems.

1. folk

Best for: Best all-in-one social CRM platform

folk offers a clean, intuitive interface and robust social media management features alongside traditional CRM functionalities. With its highly customizable nature, folk is the best CRM on the market if you're looking for a platform that can support multiple business functions, from marketing to sales, recruitment, fundraising and more.

Key features

• Omnichannel lead generation support to support multiple social media channels
• Founder-led social sales workflow automation and tech stack
• LinkedIn social listening tools including importing search lists, turning engagement into warm leads
• Marketing automation to help capture social media data and import contacts from Facebook, X, Instagram and more.
• Multiple marketing campaign pipeline management.
• Mail merge bringing together Gmail and Outlook.
• Contact management and real-time contact sync across multiple inboxes and social media platforms.

Pros

• Highly customizable dashboards and pipelines with custom fields, email marketing campaign support
• User friendly and intuitive interface.
• Marketing and sales automation.
• Customizable dashboards for multiple campaign management.
• Social media integrations.
• Affordable pricing.
• LinkedIn messaging template library.
• Personalize your email marketing campaign with AI-assistance.
• Multiple business function support to empower your marketing and sales teams to work closely effectively.

Cons

• Reporting isn't available in folk yet, but is coming soon.

Price and plans

You can try folk for free with a 14 day free trial. After that, a monthly or annual subscription plan is as follows. 

• Standard: $20 per user, per month 
• Premium: $40 per user, per month
• Custom: Starts from $60 per user, per month 

2. Zoho Social by Zoho CRM

Best for: Lead generation workflow automation

Zoho Social is part of the Zoho suite of business applications. Its business suite has a mix of traditional CRM product and Zoho Social, their social CRM solution.

Key features

• Social media activity monitoring and activity logs
• Role assignment
• Workflow automation
• Social media platform integration
• Lead generation
• Social listening, social media engagement

Pros

• Good basic starter kit for marketing teams that need a lightweight solution
• Strong social listening integration for Facebook and X
• Access to more social media integrations available through third party integrations
• Lead generation automation setup

Cons

• Zoho Social isn't as robust as Zoho's Sales focus CRM.
• With its extensive features, Zoho Social can be complex to set up and navigate, especially for smaller businesses without dedicated social media teams.
• While Zoho Social offers a range of pricing plans, the more advanced features are only available in the higher tiers, which might be cost-prohibitive for some small businesses.

• There can be a steep learning curve for new users, requiring time and training to fully leverage the platform's capabilities.

Price and plans

You can get Zoho Social through an all-in-one CRM plan that starts from $60 per user, per month. Or you can opt for their Marketing Zoho campaign product that is priced based on the number of your subscribers. These plans are based on the number of subscribers per 500 contacts, and email credits you require.

3. HubSpot CRM

Best for: Inbound marketing campaigns

HubSpot CRM is one of the most mature CRMs on the market known for their free forever plan. HubSpot's marketing CRM comes with strong marketing automation features at a handsome price.

Key features

• Marketing automation
• Ad management
• Mobile optimization
• Forms

Pros

• Strong basic marketing tech stack through their free plan.
• Free live chat bot installation available as long as you don't mind the HubSpot watermark.
• HubSpot CRM integrates well with major social media platforms, enabling users to manage their social interactions from within the CRM.
• The platform offers powerful marketing automation tools, helping businesses streamline their marketing efforts and improve efficiency.

Cons

• Most useful marketing features including campaign management, calls to action, live chat without HubSpot watermark are only available from paid plans.
• HubSpot CRM becomes an expensive option once your marketing team is ready to scale. With most features available from their Professional plan.

Price and plans

An annual subscription plan is as follows for HubSpot CRM's marketing hub.

• Starter plan: Starts from $15 per user, per month.
• Professional: Starts from $800 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: Starts from $3,600 per user, per month.

Conclusion

Choosing the best CRM for social media depends on your business's specific needs and goals. Folk, Zoho Social, and HubSpot CRM each offer unique strengths and cater to different types of businesses. folk is ideal for busy marketing teams looking for an all-in-one social CRMs with traditional CRM features that can help them collaborate closer with sales. Try folk free, today.

More resources

• folk LinkedIn comment exporter
• LinkedIn listening tool
• folk X LinkedIn search list exporter

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