Managing social media as an entrepreneur? These are 6 useful tools

Did we hear a sigh of relief? It’s true: you don’t have to become a full-time social media manager to manage your social media professionally. With a clear approach and the right tools, you can, as a self-employed professional, freelancer or SME owner, stay in control of your social media accounts yourself. Without it taking up your entire week. Combell gives you all the information and compares tools.

What is social media management, really?

More than ‘posting something now and then’

Social media management (or ‘social management’ for the trendy creators) covers everything involved in organising your online presence on social media in a structured way:

So it’s not just about ‘posting a nice photo’, but about a continuous process that strengthens your brand step by step.

What does social media management involve?

Whether you manage your social media yourself or work with an agency, this is almost always part of the process:

With a good tool, you can automate or bundle part of these steps, making social media management less time-consuming. And that’s exactly what you want.

Why social media is indispensable for entrepreneurs

Managing social media accounts is like emptying the dishwasher. You know you should do it, but somehow it never quite happens. Still, it’s worth making time for it.

Your customers are on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. They Google your company name and expect your brand to be alive online. But between quotes, customers and administration, social media management often gets pushed aside. And in the meantime… the dishwasher is still full. 😉

What social media can deliver for your business

Today, social media is one of the fastest ways to:

For Belgian SMEs, freelancers and self-employed professionals, social media is often the communication channel where personality and expertise come together. You don’t need millions of followers: a small, relevant community can already be extremely valuable. Join the social club!

The reality behind managing social media: little time, many channels

At the same time, reality can be tough:

• There are too many platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok…)
• You have little time to create content. “Great, another thing to add.”
• You forget to post, or only do it when it happens to cross your mind.

How much time does social media management take?

As a self-employed professional or SME, you can expect:

With a content calendar and scheduling tool, you can batch much of the work: plan everything in one half-day per month, and spend the rest of the month mainly on follow-up.

That’s exactly why structured social media management is so valuable: it makes the work manageable, allows you to plan ahead and automate where possible.

You use your time more efficiently, lose less time overall, and turn your social media efforts into concrete results.

Social media management in practice

Setting goals and defining your target audience

Before you start posting, ask yourself a few simple questions:

The answers determine what content you create and which channels you focus on.

Choosing the right social media channels

As an entrepreneur, you don’t need to be everywhere. A few simple rules:

It’s better to choose two strong channels you can maintain than five that end up being neglected.

Work with a content strategy and content calendar

A simple content strategy for entrepreneurs could look like this:

Add this to a content calendar for the coming month. Tools like Metricool and Buffer allow you to manage that calendar visually and schedule posts in advance.

If you really want to work on your own content strategy, it’s also worth reading our other blog article. In it, we explain everything about an effective content strategy, with practical real-life examples.

Community management and customer service

People expect to be able to ask you questions via social media. So social media management also means:

With a social media management tool, you can often manage all messages in one place, so you don’t miss anything.

Reporting: which metrics really matter?

You don’t have to be a data nerd. For most SMEs, these are the most important metrics:

Most social media tools automatically display these figures in dashboards or reports.

What does social media management cost?

Costs if you do it yourself

Managing your own social media mainly costs time. In addition, you might invest in:

For most sole traders and SMEs, these costs remain relatively limited, especially compared to outsourcing.

What if you outsource social media management?

If you outsource your social media to a freelancer or agency, you’ll quickly be paying monthly packages.

These often start at around €99-250 per month for a limited number of posts, and can rise to €500–1,000+ per month for full-service packages, depending on the number of channels, posts and extras (strategy, ads, reporting, video, etc.).

In return, you gain time and expertise, but for many starting entrepreneurs, that budget is still (too) steep.

Social media management: do it yourself or outsource?

Advantages of managing your own social media

Disadvantages of doing everything yourself

Advantages of outsourcing

Disadvantages of outsourcing

When are you ready to outsource?

Outsourcing becomes interesting when:

Until then, managing your own social media - with the right tools - is often the smartest choice.

Manage your own social media: how to get started

Start small with focus channels

Start with 1 or 2 channels and a realistic frequency, for example:

Consistently good is better than occasionally perfect. 😉

A basic workflow for busy entrepreneurs

• Collect ideas: note down customer questions, common mistakes, successes.
• Batch content: schedule one moment per month to create 8-12 posts.
• Schedule in a tool: add everything to your social media planner.
• Weekly 15 minutes: reply to comments and check the numbers.

How tools help you save time

With a good social media management tool, you can:

• prepare posts for multiple channels at once;
• use a visual calendar;
• automatically generate basic statistics;
• in many cases, even generate or rewrite posts using AI.

6 tools to manage your social media yourself

There are dozens of social media management tools out there. We focus on six well-known options that are often mentioned for self-employed professionals and SMEs.

Note: prices change regularly. Always check the official websites for the most up-to-date pricing.

Metricool

Who is it for?

Metricool is an all-in-one tool for managing multiple social media channels and, if needed, ads from one clear dashboard. It’s very suitable for self-employed professionals, SMEs and small agencies.

Think of freelancers building their own brand, SMEs combining multiple locations or accounts, or small agencies managing different clients from one overview.

For all these profiles, Metricool offers enough professional features to work seriously with social media, without immediately investing in expensive, complex enterprise solutions.

Key features

Pricing (indicative)

• Free plan to take your first steps.
• Paid plans from around €8/month that allow you to manage many social media channels, including extra integrations and extensive reports.
• For agencies and brand managers, pricing is available on request.

Good news: with Combell, you get access to Social.Coach in ALL packages.

This learning plan guides you with personal tips, tutorials and exercises to help you become a social media expert in no time.

Pros for entrepreneurs

Metricool offers a very clear calendar and reporting, combined with excellent value for money. You get a lot of features for a relatively low monthly price, and the platform scales easily as your needs grow.

Possible downsides

If you only want to schedule the occasional post, Metricool may feel a bit overwhelming at first. Some advanced features are only available in higher-tier plans.

Buffer

Who is it for?

Buffer is a user-friendly tool for solo entrepreneurs or small teams looking mainly for a simple planner and basic reporting.

Think of coaches, freelancers, small agencies or local businesses that want to schedule posts for an entire week or month without too much hassle.

For those who don’t need advanced analytics or complex campaigns but do want structure in their social media management, Buffer is a low-threshold option.

Key features

Pricing (indicative)

• Free plan with limited channels and posts.
• Paid plans from a relatively low monthly fee ($6) per channel.

Pros

Buffer is very intuitive and easy to get started with. This is ideal if your main focus is planning rather than advanced features.

Cons

Reporting and the social inbox are less extensive than with some competitors. Pricing also increases with the number of channels you connect, so monthly costs can add up quickly.

Agorapulse

Who is it for?

Agorapulse focuses on companies and agencies that are a step ahead and attach great importance to community management and reporting.

Take marketing teams or agencies that manage multiple brands or clients at the same time and have to follow up on many responses, messages and mentions every day.

For them, it is useful that Agorapulse not only plans and reports, but also serves as a central hub where the entire team works together on community management, without anyone losing track of the big picture.

Key features

Pricing (indicative)

• Paid plans in the mid to higher price segment.
• Packages range from Standard to Advanced.
• Prices typically between €79 and €149 per month.

Pros

As mentioned, Agorapulse is ideal if you need to monitor a lot of interaction. It is also a platform that stands out with its powerful reporting capabilities.

Cons

For many starting and small entrepreneurs, Agorapulse is often too extensive and too expensive.

Sprout Social

Who is it for?

Sprout Social is a powerful, rather enterprise-focused social media platform for larger companies, corporate marketing teams and agencies.

We are thinking of organisations with a full-fledged marketing team, multiple brands or international presence where reporting, collaboration and approval flows are crucial.

Sprout Social is appealing to such companies because it not only helps them plan content, but also manage it at a strategic level: from in-depth analysis and social listening to streamlining internal collaboration around social media.

Key features

Pricing (indicative)

• 30-day free trial available.
• Paid plans start at a high monthly price per user.
• Standard: $199/month, Professional: $299/month, Advanced: $399/month.

Pros

Sprout Social is very comprehensive and all-encompassing. The platform is ideal for teams that want to centralise everything related to social media in one place.

Cons

Precisely because Sprout Social is so comprehensive, it can be overkill for most self-employed people and SMEs. In addition, it is a significant monthly investment. It is quite an expensive platform.

Hootsuite

Who is it for?

Hootsuite is one of the oldest and best-known social media management tools and focuses on SMEs to large organisations.

Think of SMEs with multiple locations, marketing teams that manage different profiles and pages simultaneously, or organisations that already use social media structurally and are looking for a seasoned tool to do so.

Hootsuite is interesting for them because it bundles all your channels, messages and monitoring streams in one environment, allowing you to respond more quickly and maintain a better overview than if you had to log in separately everywhere.

Key features

Pricing (indicative)

• No real free plan anymore.
• Paid plans range from around €99/month to €249/month.
• Custom enterprise plans available on request.

Pros

With Hootsuite, you are acquiring a well-known name, including numerous integrations. You can also count on extensive features for teams.

Cons

The price of Hootsuite has risen significantly in recent years. In addition, online feedback has shown that some users (sometimes) find the interface rather busy and complex.

HubSpot (Marketing Hub & social tools)

Who is it for?

HubSpot is primarily a CRM and marketing platform. Its social media tools are especially interesting if you want to combine social media with email marketing, marketing automation and sales.

It’s ideal for companies that want to manage their entire marketing and sales funnel centrally: from the first social click to a customer in the CRM.

For teams already using HubSpot (or planning to), it makes sense to include social media management there as well.

Key features

Pricing (indicative)

• Free basic plan with limited marketing tools.
• Paid Marketing Hub plans start relatively low per user, but increase quickly as you need more contacts and features.
• Expect prices roughly between €9 and €150+.

Pros

This is an ideal platform if you want everything related to marketing and sales in one place. It gives you powerful insights into the entire customer journey.

Cons

But if you only want to manage social media, HubSpot is often too heavy and too expensive. The learning curve is also higher than with a pure social media tool.

Social media packages: ready-made solutions for entrepreneurs

What are social media packages?

Almost all platforms discussed above offer social media packages. These are ready-made solutions designed for entrepreneurs who want to strengthen their online presence without reinventing the wheel.

With such a package, you get a combination of tools and services that allow you to easily create relevant content, schedule and publish posts, and increase your visibility on platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

A tool to stand out online faster

You no longer need to puzzle with separate tools or search for the right approach: everything you need to manage your social media professionally is bundled into one clear package.

This allows you to grow your brand, create a professional appearance and attract new customers without losing huge amounts of time. Social media packages help you stand out online, build trust with your audience and effortlessly share content on the right channels.

Whether you’re just starting out or want to optimise your existing approach, a well-chosen package makes managing, publishing and scheduling your posts much easier and more effective.

Pros and cons of packages

Opting for a social media package has its advantages. You often get a competitive price, can get started quickly and benefit from a wide range of useful features such as content planning, automatic publication and insightful statistics.

This is ideal if you, as an entrepreneur, want to optimise your online presence without getting lost in technical details. Packages are also often structured in such a way that you can easily manage messages on different channels, and your content strategy remains clear.

However, there are also disadvantages. Social media packages are usually standardised, which means they do not always perfectly match the specific needs or objectives of your business.

For example, do you have your own content planning, or do you want to set up unique campaigns that deviate from the standard? Then a package can sometimes feel a bit restrictive.

Customised solutions offer more flexibility: you can tailor everything to your company, target group and desired results. On the other hand, customisation is often more expensive and takes more time to implement.

In short: social media packages are ideal for entrepreneurs who want to optimise their management quickly and efficiently, while customisation is particularly interesting if you have unique requirements and are willing to invest in them.

When should you choose a package?

A social media package offered by a platform is a particularly smart choice if, as an entrepreneur, you want to get started quickly with managing your social media without first having to delve into all the details of social media marketing.

Do you have little experience, want to increase your online visibility, or simply don't have the time to figure everything out yourself? Then a package is the solution. You can start publishing content immediately, increase your visibility, and present your business professionally on the most important channels.

Packages are also ideal if you have a limited budget but still want to benefit from a structured approach and a professional image.

You don't have to learn everything yourself or invest in expensive customised solutions: with a package, you can get started quickly and efficiently, while focusing on other important aspects of your business. This allows you to keep your social media management organised, increase your reach and build a strong online presence step by step.

How to choose the right social media tool for your business

Ask yourself:

• How many channels do I want to manage?
• Do I mainly want to plan and post, or also need in-depth reporting and a social inbox?
• Am I working alone, or with a team or external agency?
• What is my monthly budget for tools?

Our advice

Take it easy. Start where you are now, not where you might be in five years. Make a well-considered choice.

Considering Metricool?

An interesting choice for entrepreneurs

For many self-employed professionals and SMEs, Metricool strikes an excellent balance between price, ease of use and functionality:

In short: if you currently post somewhat ad hoc and want to approach social media management more professionally, Metricool is a logical first step.

Get started: make social media management a habit

Practical tips to stick with it

• Schedule fixed moments in your calendar for social media management.
• Work with recurring formats (Tip of the week, Customer spotlight, Before & after…).
• Use your tool’s calendar as the single source of truth.
• Dare to reuse content: a strong LinkedIn post can be adapted for Instagram.

How your website, domain name and email marketing fit in

Social media is rarely the end point. Often, you guide people towards:

Managing social media doesn’t have to be a full-time job

With good planning and the right tool, social media management can be a real success; even if you’re an entrepreneur with a thousand things on your mind.

With a realistic content strategy, a simple workflow and a practical tool, you can manage your social media channels yourself - professionally and affordably.

See social media management as a fixed habit in your business, just like accounting or customer follow-up. The tools in this article (and especially Metricool) help you do that as efficiently as possible.

Frequently asked questions about managing social media