Social media collaboration tools make it easy to keep teams on the same page. Instead of endless email chains or juggling multiple apps, teams can get tasks, share updates, and communicate all in one place. The trick is choosing the right tool that will become the hub of your social media management.
When social media projects and scopes grow or move quickly, the biggest challenge usually isn’t the work itself. It’s how you manage the load. Keeping everyone aligned, meeting deadlines, and tracking deliverables can feel overwhelming. A social media collaboration tool helps cut through the noise and brings calm to the chaos.
Here’s a quick look at 10 of the top collaboration tools for social media teams and how they support a winning strategy.
Contents
What Are Social Media Collaboration Tools?
Why Your Team Needs Social Media Collaboration Tools
10 Best Social Media Collaboration Tools for Teams
How to Choose the Right Social Media Collaboration Tool
How Meltwater Supports Social Media Team Collaboration
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Explore Meltwater’s Social Media and Online Collaboration Tools
What Are Social Media Collaboration Tools?
Social media collaboration tools are software platforms that centralize all aspects of a team’s social media management. Features typically include a main inbox, task delegation, approval workflows, deadline management, and file sharing.
Social media and online collaboration tools work similarly to general project management tools. However, they’re unique in that they’re specific to social media tasks and priorities. For example, users can often post directly to social media once they gain approval on copy and creative, something that typical project management tools don’t enable.
Using social media collaboration tools, teams can keep track of all of their efforts in one place.
This means seeing what’s in the pipeline, getting approvals, scheduling content, tracking metrics, and even checking each team member’s workload to ensure they can meet critical deadlines.
Why Your Team Needs Social Media Collaboration Tools
If you have more than one person on a social media team, you could benefit from a dedicated social media and online collaboration tool.
Here’s when these tools make the most sense:
- Your social media campaigns are growing in size and complexity.
- You have remote team members or departments working on social content.
- You want a clear way to organize campaign content and steps.
Using a collaboration tool, teams gain faster approvals, commit fewer errors, improve the quality of their content, and ensure brand consistency. Everything is laid out in one place, giving you a bird’s eye view of what you’re working on and what’s coming up next.
10 Best Social Media Collaboration Tools for Teams
If you’re interested in using collaboration tools for social media teams, you have plenty of options. Here’s a closer look at 10 of the best social media tools with collaboration features for teams.
1. Meltwater
2. Hootsuite
3. Sprout Social
4. Buffer
5. Agorapulse
6. CoSchedule
7. Zoho Social
8. Planable
9. Trello
10. Slack
1. Meltwater
Meltwater offers a comprehensive social media management platform with built-in collaboration features. It handles social media campaigns from end to end, from launching new campaigns to managing the influx of DMs from followers.
Powered by AI, Meltwater creates visually rich pipelines of social content, showing you what’s in the works, what just went live, and real-time engagement across channels. You can invite multiple team members to collaborate, separate projects by brand or client, and get at-a-glance insights that matter.
Key collaboration features:
- Content scheduling
- Brand governance and approval workflows
- Unified inbox
- Task assignments
- Real-time metrics
- Done-for-you reporting templates
- Centralized asset library
Tip: Learn more about Mira Studio, Meltwater's AI assistnat
2. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media scheduling tool that lets you create, schedule, optimize, and track posts from a single place. It’s made for teams of one or more, enabling multiple contributors to work with the same content and data. Any changes are updated in real time, so teams always have access to the latest information.
Key collaboration features:
- Drag-and-drop interface
- Review and approval processes
- Canva integration for branded assets
3. Sprout Social
Sprout Social specializes in social media management, from creating and scheduling content to tracking metrics. Similar to other tools, Sprout Social allows for content creation and approval workflows so that nothing off-brand gets published.
Key collaboration features:
- Internal commenting tools
- Ability to invite external stakeholders to the platform
- Internal asset library and third-party integrations
- Message approval workflows
4. Buffer
Buffer is a social media platform for agencies and brands, offering flexibility in how you collaborate. You can invite collaborators to specific project boards, offering privacy and protection for creative assets. Contributors can drop comments on specific posts or reach out to teammates without the fear of their messages getting buried in catch-all message threads.
Key collaboration features:
- Smart, role-based permissions
- Content approval workflows
- Real-time notes and feedback
- Shared content calendars
5. Agorapulse
Agorapulse is among the more affordable social media management platforms, making it ideal for smaller teams and brands. It combines helpful features like a central inbox, social listening, and content creation tools to streamline every post from end to end. Collaborate with teams in real time to get posts approved faster and according to brand guidelines.
Key collaboration features:
- Shared calendars
- Central inbox management
- Account-specific communication features
6. CoSchedule
CoSchedule gives your team a shared marketing calendar so everyone stays in the loop. You can assign tasks, run discussion threads within projects, tag team members in comments, and create approval steps before publishing content.
Key collaboration features:
- Ability to create, track, and manage multiple projects as a group
- Shared social media calendars
7. Zoho Social
Zoho makes social media management a cross-team experience, thanks to integrations with its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
Key collaboration features:
- Organized content calendars with multiple views
- Role-based collaboration
- Tag team members in comments
- Shareable reports
8. Planable
Planable is built around feedback and approval. You can leave comments, annotate posts, invite external reviewers, and require multiple levels of approval. It organizes content in a visual calendar preview so you know exactly how posts will look once they’re live.
Key collaboration features:
- Internal notes and comments
- Shareable links for stakeholders
- Multi-level approvals
9. Trello
Trello isn’t specific to social media collaboration, but it is an immensely helpful tool in uniting teams for specific projects. Users can create custom workflows using Trello’s boards and cards: each board is a project milestone, and each card on a board is a task undergoing a milestone. Users can drag and drop cards to boards to show progress and visualize where each social post is in the process.
Key collaboration features:
- Add collaborators instantly
- Tag users on cards and in comments
- Customizable workflows
10. Slack
Slack is an instant messaging app used by teams to streamline communication. Rather than bouncing messages back and forth in the inbox, Slack units team members in a single message thread. You can get real-time notifications when there’s a new message, reply to specific messages, share files, and even branch out into one-on-one conversations, if needed.
Key collaboration features:
- Real-time updates
- Fast communication between users
- Ability to share files
How to Choose the Right Social Media Collaboration Tool
When exploring your options for a social media and online collaboration tool, take into account the features you need to improve what you’re already doing. Think about the bottlenecks you’re currently facing and what a better solution will look like, then find a tool that supports your needs.
Other factors to consider include:
- Your team size
- The platforms you’ll be posting on
- Integration needs
- Your ideal approval workflow
- Analytics and reporting
- Usability
- Tech support
- Budget
There’s a lot of overlap between the above social media collaboration tools, but they don’t all offer all the same features. If possible, take a guided demo or sign up for a free trial so you can properly evaluate them.
Pay close attention to customization options and user-friendliness, both of which will affect your ability to adopt and integrate the tool into daily processes.
How Meltwater Supports Social Media Team Collaboration
Meltwater is designed for teams handling multiple social media accounts and includes features to keep everyone informed and in their own lanes.
Our suite includes:
- Team permissions and roles
- Content approval workflows
- Shared content calendars
- Integration with analytics and social listening tools
Everyone on your team can stay ahead of the curve with visual data and intuitive controls.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Want to know more about collaboration tools for social media teams? Check out our FAQs for quick answers.
What features should a good social media collaboration tool have?
A strong tool will offer a unified content calendar, scheduling and publishing features, in-app commenting, review and approval workflows, version control, and real-time notifications. Ideally, it will also feature a shared asset library for images, files, and templates, the option to tag or assign tasks to team members, and reporting dashboards.
Can these tools integrate with project management platforms?
Yes. Many social media collaboration tools offer integrations or APIs that let them talk to the systems you’re already using (e.g., Asana, Trello, Jira). Integration lets you sync tasks, deadlines, and content plans across both tools so your social team and broader project teams stay aligned.
Are collaboration tools suitable for small teams?
Yes, collaboration tools are suitable for small teams. Small teams benefit from the same advantages as larger teams: less email clutter, clearer accountability, and fewer missed steps. Many tools offer tiered pricing, so even a 2- or 3-person team can use features like shared calendars and approval workflows.
How does Meltwater compare to other tools?
Meltwater is more enterprise-oriented than other social media collaboration tools. It’s built for teams and bundles features like publishing, social media monitoring, unified inboxes, analytics, and AI-powered insights into one platform.
Explore Meltwater’s Social Media and Online Collaboration Tools
Dedicated collaboration tools keep everything clean, streamlined, and organized, so teams can publish consistently and on brand. These tools improve efficiency to avoid the last-minute posting scramble, which can result in more thoughtful campaigns.
Explore Meltwater’s collaboration features and how they support a better social media strategy when you request a demo.
