The five modules of social media management software

Why think in modules

Feature lists run to hundreds of lines and make every product look complete. Modules cut the list down to five jobs your team either does or does not do. Once a product is described module by module, you can see where it is deep, where it is thin and where it has nothing at all.

The five modules, one by one

For each module, the first sentence says what it is for. The second says what to check.

Publish

Publishing turns a plan into posts on several platforms from one calendar. Check the named platform list, which post formats each platform accepts through the product, how a post is changed for one platform without changing the others, and where approval sits before anything goes out.

Engage

Engagement gathers comments and direct messages into one inbox so nothing is answered twice or missed. Check which message types reach the inbox from each platform, how a conversation is handed to a colleague, and whether suggested or drafted replies are held for a person before sending.

Advertise

Advertising prepares and launches paid posts beside the organic ones. Check which ad platforms are covered, what a draft shows about cost before launch, and who must approve. Many teams leave detailed ad work in the ad platform's own tool and want only simple promotion here.

Analyze

Analytics shows what happened across accounts in one view. Check which measures are reported, how far back the history goes, and whether you can get from a number to the post that produced it.

Report

Reporting turns the numbers into a document for someone outside the team. Check who the report is written for, how it is delivered, how often, and how much assembly it needs. A report that takes an afternoon to build tends to stop being sent.

How the modules depend on each other

The modules are often sold separately but work together. A post published from the calendar draws the comments that land in the inbox. A post that does well in analytics is the natural candidate for a paid push.

That is the case for buying connected modules from one vendor. The case against is depth: a team with one heavy need, such as a very busy inbox, may prefer a specialist product for that module. Your requirements page should say which case is yours.

Which modules to buy first

Rank the modules by hours, not by interest. Ask each person on the team where their social time went last week and add it up.

• If most hours go to making and scheduling posts, weigh publish first.
• If most go to answering customers, weigh engage first.
• If the owner keeps asking what social is achieving, weigh report first and analyze with it.
• Add advertise when there is a budget and a person to approve it.

Where Link AI fits

Link AI by Linkme is our pick because Linkme's page names something in every module. Post to All publishes to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. A Social Inbox holds drafted replies to comments and DMs. Meta ad drafts show a daily budget and are marked 'Needs review'. Analytics covers profile views, link clicks, total interactions and engagement rate. Reports writes the owner report and sends it.

The depth questions above, such as formats per platform and message types per inbox, are not answered in this reference. Take the five checks with you and book a demo to try Link AI. Then turn what you learn into a requirements list.

Connected entries

Questions & answers