Metricool Review, all in one social media management tool (and more)

Metricool started out as a Social Media Management tool, something very similar to Later.

However, over time it has evolved and is now a powerful online presence management tool.

It will not only help you with your social networks, but also analyze the status of your website (like a small Google Analytics), or your advertising campaigns on Google and Facebook.

Metricool has grown so much over the years, that this review has become indispensable to know its full potential.

What exactly is Metricool and what does it do?

Metricool is an online platform that will allow you to easily manage the online presence of any of your brands.

• Note: it also has an app for iPhone and Android, but generally you will manage everything from the web.

This management can be summarized as follows:

This management can be summarized as follows:

• Scheduling and automatic publication of content in different social networks (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok…).
• Creation and management of paid campaigns on Facebook and Google Ads.
• Analyze important metrics (social networks, advertising, and your own site) from a single place.
• Generate reports that you will receive yourself, or you can automatically send them to your clients if you have a marketing agency.

But, what is a Brand?

A brand is a set of “online presences” that a company, or you as a freelance entrepreneur, can/should have on the Internet, and therefore, want to manage efficiently.

This includes:

• Your own website: so you can view visits and other Google Analytics-style metrics.
• Different social networks: so you can plan the content in advance (auto-publishing) and analyze later your engagement and/or evolution. This includes:
  • Facebook Page
  • Facebook Group
  • Instagram Account
  • Twitter Account
  • LinkedIn Account
  • Pinterest Account
  • TikTok Account
  • YouTube Account
  • Twitch Account
• Ads platforms: so you can create campaigns and analyze them also from a single place. At the moment Pinterest Ads is not available, but it is possible to connect.
  • A Google Ads Account
  • A Facebook Ads Account
  • A TikTok Ads Account.
• Google My Business: in case you have a physical business
• And Data Studio: so you can create your own custom dashboards using all the information from your social media and ad platforms.

As you can see, quite powerful.

Personally, I only miss the management of advertising on Pinterest, but it is possible that it will end up coming since Metricool is constantly including new features.

Connecting these accounts is as simple as creating a new Brand, and then going to the Connections section to log in and give the necessary permissions to each of them.

Connecting your website is perhaps a bit more complex, since you have to install a piece of code on it.

Although if your website is made in WordPress, you can simply install the official Metricool plugin.

How many brands can you manage with Metricool?

As an online entrepreneur (where costs are lower) it’s likely that you are managing more than one project at a time and therefore want to be able to manage different brands from the same place.

Metricool has different plans that will easily adapt to your needs.

• For free, you will be able to manage a single brand, which includes all the connections you have seen so far, except for LinkedIn and Data Studio.
• From there you will find different plans to manage 5 brands, 10, 15, 25… depending on how many projects you have, you will have to choose one plan or another.

In addition to the number of brands, there are some more differences between the plans (especially between the free and the paid ones), you will see them throughout the review.

How to use Metricool, main features

So, you have already signed up on Metricool, connected your website, and the accounts of your social networks and other platforms you want to use.

What can you do now?

If you notice, in the upper area you will find direct access to Metricool’s main tools:

We are going to see them little by little, from the simplest to the most complex.

Inbox, review and reply to your comments and PM’s

The Inbox is the place where you can manage the comments and private messages you receive through:

• Facebook page
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Google My Business

Best of all, this Inbox is FREE.

Other competitors like Later or Buffer, limit this functionality to paid plans.

As you can see, you have a general filter to decide whether you want to view:

• Only private messages from (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) independently. You can uncheck these networks by clicking on their logo to narrow your search.
  • Note: Using this Inbox actually lets you read Instagram messages without being seen.
• Or also comments made on your Facebook and Instagram posts.

But it is also possible:

• Navigate between read, unread, or unresolved messages.
• Mark messages as resolved, individually, or all.
• Or use a searcher to find conversations quickly.

Pretty handy if you receive tons of feedback!

SmartLinks, your own link-in-bio page

This tool will allow you to create a classic Carrd-style microsite to add the link to the profile of social networks that do not allow you to add links to posts, and thus easily move traffic where you want it to go (your blog, your store, other social networks…)

This web builder is quite interesting, and allows you for example to:

• Add buttons to specific pages, or icons to your social networks.
• Add a header image and a description,
• Apply themes to change the visual style quickly,
• Upload your own photos/videos, or load them from Instagram with one click (to link them to content).
• Or analyze visits and clicks easily in the analytics section.

Apart from the link, which is of the type https://mtr.bio/javilink, there will be no visual references to Metricool or any other type of watermark, which is to be welcomed.

You can create one of these websites on the free plan, and many more on the paid plans.

This can be useful to, for example, simulate the Instagram Grid on the link you put on Instagram, and the TikTok Grid on the link you put on TikTok.

Manage your Ads from Metricool

The ads section in Metricool is really not difficult to understand, as it serves exactly what you are thinking of: creating Google and Facebook Ads campaigns.

However, if you have never created an advertisement before, using this section of Metricool will be complex.

Not because of the platform itself, but because you will need to have basic knowledge of advertising that you will have to apply here: campaign strategies, budgets, ad groups…

But if you already know these terms and mechanics, thanks to this Metricool tool you will be able to work more easily from a single place.

Analytics, your entire online presence at a glance

The analytics offered by Metricool is not that complex to explain or understand, since it is a section that is not even actionable.

However, depending on the social network connections you activate, you will see many different metrics here.

Just choose the social network/connection you want to analyze in the sidebar to see the content on the main screen.

• Web/blog analytics will show you (for the time period, or in real time): daily visits, article shares, published posts, comments, page views… You can download all this data as a CSV. Also it’s possible to see the location of the traffic (by country), the traffic source, or the visited pages.
• Social networks: the data will vary depending on the platform, but you can find growth graphs, impressions of your publications, demographics…
• Ad platforms: quick access to your campaigns, performance, results…

Competitor analysis

Something important to note here is that you can’t only analyze your own social profiles, but also those of your competitors.

• You can add up to 5 competitors (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Twitch) in the free plan.
• And up to 100 in any paid plan
• There is also competitor analysis on YouTube, but this is not available on the free plan, and is limited to 10 on the paid plans.

Automatic Reporting

If you notice, at the end of the sidebar you will find an icon called “reporting”.

From this section, you will be able to decide:

• The period you want to analyze.
• the language.
• The sections (social networks) you want to display, how they will be ordered, and how much information you want to display in them.

And generate a very professional PDF or PPT file with the content.

You can even customize this report with your logo!

But the most interesting option is at the end of the list, in a section called “Automatic monthly report”.

Here you can opt in to receive a monthly email with the report on the evolution of your Metricool account.

Automatically.

And you can add any email in this box, so it’s the perfect way to keep your customers informed of your progress.

Hashtag tracker

Just below the Reports button you will find the Hashtag Tracker section.

The Hashtag tracker is a paid add-on (it costs $9.99/day for each social network and hashtag, regardless of the plan you have signed up for)

This is useful for:

• Market research.
• Monitor events.
• Analyze your campaigns.
• Track campaigns with influencers
• And so on!

You can get detailed reports of this hashtag tracking, but another way of using this tool is with the Metricool social wall feature, which displays in real-time the content users are posting (using the hashtag provided)

Planning, schedule all your publications efficiently

Finally, we come to the Planning tab.

It is not the most complex, but it is certainly the one with the most options.

This is where you will schedule your publications on the different social networks.

One of the great advantages of Metricool is that it shows you (free of charge) the best time to publish your posts on the different social networks.

This is something that you can easily see by means of a color code in the calendar.

If you click on the “Create new post” button, you will be able to start creating content.

You can do this:

• Globally for all your connected social networks (which will partly limit the functionalities, for example, you can’t create a Twitter thread at the same time you post on Instagram)
• Or individually, which will give you some more freedom in content creation.

Schedule content on Twitter

If you only select Twitter, you’ll be able to:

• Save the content as a Draft.
• Tag People.
• Publish now, or schedule an auto-publish for the future.
• Create and Schedule Twitter Threads (if you don’t want to use Typefully, this is the tool I recommend you to use!)
• Use all the tools from the classic Twitter editor: gifs, pictures, video, emojis…

Schedule content on Facebook

If you select Facebook, you’ll be able to:

• Also save content as a Draft.
• Publish now, or schedule an auto-publish for the future.
• Add a location to your post.
• Use a very complete editor.
• And what is more interesting, boosting the publication through Facebook advertising.

Scheduling content on YouTube

Although in Metricool you can schedule videos and even shorts, it is one of the least recommended social networks.

After all, YouTube itself also allows you to schedule videos, and by using Metricool, you will lose access to more powerful tools, such as the end screens, playlists, monetization control…

Scheduling content on Instagram

If you use Metricool, you can schedule your Instagram posts, Reels, and Stories.

BUT, only posts in the Instagram feed are 100% automatic (auto-publish)

Reels and Stories cannot be auto-published automatically. (this is currently an Instagram limitation)

However, you will see that you can select them in the top menu.

This is because what will happen then, is that you will receive a notification on your smartphone at the time of publication, the content will already be previously uploaded, which will make your work much easier, but you will have to manually finalize the publication.

There is no problem in scheduling the auto-publication of Photo Carousels.

Schedule content on TikTok

You will face the same problem if you try to schedule posts on TikTok.

As of today, it is impossible to schedule self-publications on this social network.

Schedule content on LinkedIn

Scheduling posts on your LinkedIn profile or page is very simple, and it is not a problem at all.

Schedule content on Pinterest

Auto-publishing content on Pinterest is no mystery either, simply upload your content, choose a title and a board, and you’re done!

Decide when you want it to be published.

Schedule content on GoogleMyBusiness

Unfortunately, I do not have a Google My Business account so I have not been able to test this option.

If you do, contact me and send me a screenshot so I can add it here! You’ll get a link in exchange!

Metricool link shortener and smart links

Within the Global Sets of each publication, you will find an option related to Metricol’s link shortener, and SmartLinks.

When scheduling publications on Metricool, you will be able to:

• Share the links generated using Metricool’s link shortener (for example, if you link to your website, which will allow you to have a more detailed analytics).
• Link those posts to a specific URL, and add them to your personal SmartLinks page (read above in the review to refresh what this tool could offer you)

Autolist, autopublish feature!

In the sidebar of the publishing tab, in addition to a history-type section where you can view past publications, you can also access the Autolist feature.

As Metricool states:

An Autolist is a group of publications to be shared on different social networks.

Or to put it another way:

1. Choose the days and times of the week when you would like to publish.
2. Decide how you want to add content to your list, whether manually, from a csv file, or from an RSS feed (for example from your blog)
3. Select the social networks where you want them to be published.

After just a couple of setting steps:

You’ll be able to automate the publication of new content on your networks!

Team Members

Don’t forget that Metricool is prepared to work with teams.

Starting with the $35/month “Team 15” plan, you will be able to add unlimited members, even with different roles:

• Analyst
• Editor
• Manager

Metricool Pricing

You have already seen that Metricool offers a free plan for life.

The different payment plans basically differ in the number of brands you can manage.

Still, there are some additional features you should be aware of.

• In the free plan you cannot connect LinkedIn, Data Studio, or generate reports. In addition, it is only possible to schedule 50 articles per month and analyze 5 competitors (not being able to analyze Facebook competitors).
• Any paid plan basically unlocks the above limitations and allows you to manage more brands, analyze more competitors, and schedule up to 2,000 articles per month.
• Only Team plans allow you to add team members.

Pros and cons of using Metricool

The benefits of using Metricool

• Nice, clean, and easy-to-use interface.
• Having everything in one place will make you more productive.
• Almost all the social networks and connections you need will be available.
• Very generous free plan, and very affordable paid plans.
• Being able to manage all the messages and comments from the Inbox tab is really useful.
• You can not only analyze your own projects, but also those of your competitors.
• Automatic reporting will save you time, not only by reporting to your clients but also by analyzing your own sites each month.
• Although is a paid addon, having the social media aggregator (aka Metricol Social Wall) included in the suite, could be useful in some situations.
• Best time to publish included for free.
• Auto-publish on several social networks at the same time.
• The Autolist feature is fantastic, and will save you from having to perform more complex automations on other platforms such as Zapier or IF.

What Metricool should improve

There are not many disadvantages or bad things to highlight in Metricool, but here are some of my ideas about things they could improve:

• The ad manager is not as powerful as the original ones, it is a simplified version. If you are a big advertising professional, you may find it insufficient in terms of campaign creation.
• It would be nice to have a paid addon to use your own domain name in SmartLinks to preserve branding. Or at least unlock that option in the more expensive paid plans.
• It would be super-useful to double-click on the day and time on the calendar where you want to schedule a post.
• Scheduling videos on YouTube is a bit unfeasible, as professional tools are missing, you can’t for example add the video to a playlist.
• You can’t autopublish reels or Instagram stories (this is an Instagram limitation though) Same problem with TikTok videos.

Final thoughts, is Metricool Worth it?

Metricool is a really powerful tool and it’s getting better every month, it’s likely that by the time you read this review there will be more features!

Of all the options available on the market, for me, it’s one of the best, if not the best.

The free plan is more than enough for an average entrepreneur, so you lose nothing by starting to use it.