Studies show that the average internet user between the ages of 16-64 is active on 5 or 6 different social media accounts.

Facebook alone has recorded 1,871 million active users as of January 2017. With these kinds of numbers, it’s no wonder that businesses have started paying more attention to their online presence in social media. But how do you manage the content of several accounts efficiently? How can you be up-to-date with streams on twitter but, at the same time be up-to-date with likes on Instagram? Many of us go into each network individually and switch between apps consistently throughout the day. If you fit into this category, let me recommend to you the use of a social media management dashboard, an application that connects to all your social media accounts in a singular location. Depending on what your social media management goal might be, the following apps could be the right fit for you:

Let’s start with an introductory look at Hootsuite. Hootsuite allows almost anyone to sign up with a free account, however, a user with a free account can only add and manage three social media accounts from the options of Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Linkedin or Youtube. While Hootsuite has an app on iOS windows and android, it can also be accessed directly from your web browser. A free account also offers a feature called auto-schedule that allows you to schedule the content you would like to post throughout the week, access to six free online courses on Hootsuite and up to 2 RSS feeds. (RSS feeds to gather information from the web on a topic of your choice and send a simplified version to your computer so that you can easily repost the info to your followers on social media.) This platforms main strengths are that it has been operating for a long time in this market (9 years) and has numerous features. However, because of its numerous features, Hootsuite’s dashboard is a bit complex and requires some follow up

Another option is Buffer, another popular social media management dashboard application. Buffer does not have as many features as Hootsuite does but, it is relatively easier to use platform for beginners. Buffer also allows users to synchronize the management of platforms such as Facebook, Google+, Linkedin, Instagram, and Twitter.  Buffer is available for free if there is only one social media app you would like to manage. Other than that, there are four other subscription choices starting at $10 a month and managing 10 social media accounts for an individual.

Then there’s Fan Page Robot; not as popular as the other two but definitely an interesting dashboard application. It can automatically create content for your social media accounts based on the keywords you input and run all of your pages on autopilot. Definitely, a cool tool to have if you do not have a lot of time to create content all the time yourself. It also allows you to auto-post to several social media applications including Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Linkedin, and much more.  The application even has a method that allows you to place ads on Yahoo, Youtube and other high authority web pages for free. It has a $9.95 a month Pro Plan and a $29 a month Unlimited Plan.

So, if you are struggling to keep up with several different accounts and posting content, give one of these apps a try. Investing a little bit of time in any of these apps could make managing content a lot easier and more efficient.