ContentCal Becomes Adobe Express: Make the Switch to SocialBee

We’ve some good and bad news for you, and they both involve the Adobe-ContentCal takeover, a popular social media marketing startup turned social media management software. They say that all good things must come to an end, right? 

Don’t worry! In this article, we’ll introduce you to an alternative social media management tool that can help you up streamline your posting: SocialBee.

As you may already know, Adobe acquired ContentCal back in December 2021. The result of this big transition to a global platform? ContentCal will close down on the 31st of March 2023. It’s the end of an era, and we know very well just how uncomfortable change can be.

We’ll take a look at why ContentCal is closing down and why SocialBee is a matching alternative.

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ContentCal Becomes Adobe Express

It all started with a blog post that caused an online frenzy. It was a crystal clear announcement that the social media marketing startup ContentCal will soon close down. This marks a huge shift within the Creator Economy.

ContentCal’s story began back in 2014, when CEO and founder Alex Packham decided to quit his job and instead take on the brave task of launching his very own social media marketing agency. Then, ContentCal was launched, a solution that took automating social media publishing to the next level and revolutionized the Creator Economy.

For almost a decade, the social media marketing startup turned SaaS product helped its users create, schedule, publish, and analyze their posts. Its visual interface and social media capabilities took the Creator Economy by storm, and rightfully so. Since social media is a core marketing channel, businesses need a powerful tool by their side. 

From now on, some of ContentCal’s beloved features, including the social media calendar, will be brought into Adobe Express’ Content Scheduler for creators and small businesses within the Creator Economy. The global platform transition is guaranteed to impact those who are in the process of creating digital businesses. 

Their team is aware that this is not an easy transition. In fact, it’s far from it. For this reason, they are offering users a Content Migration Support guide that is meant to assist users as they download their images and export their existing content and analytics.

Adobe Express Social Media Planning Features

The Adobe team integrated only a few of ContentCal’s popular features for automating social media publishing into what is now known as the Content Scheduler feature in Adobe Express, a global platform that marks an important step within the Content Economy. 

This social media publishing solution caters to both small businesses and for the specific needs of a busy social media manager.

Also, keep in mind that Adobe Express is also integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud, a photo editing tool that is fit for small businesses that are a part of the Creator Economy.

Here are Adobe Express’ main social media planning features:

• Planning – You can create and refine your content by using tools to organize and plan your social media themes, topics, and campaigns. In addition, a single drag-and-drop calendar allows you to monitor and control the frequency of your social media posting.
• Scheduling – You can publish content at the best times to make sure that you’re reaching your followers and the maximum number of users possible.
• Previewing – You can preview your scheduled posts in advance so you know what they will look like once your post goes live.
• Publishing – You can efficiently publish your posts on various social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, all from a single location to save time. This simplified workflow can also save you money since you no longer need to subscribe to multiple services to complete your projects.

Which ContentCal Social Media Features Will Be Lost?

Unfortunately, joining Adobe came with the loss of many important social media capabilities that digital businesses will surely miss as well as with a new role within the Creator Economy. However, small business owners might find it just as useful.

Social media is a core marketing channel and so marketers require plenty of functionalities to make their work easier.

Here are the ContentCal social media features that will be lost:

• Pricing – From now on, there won’t be any free plan to give you a taste of what automating social media publishing feels like. You will only get 3 free scheduled posts per month and you’ll be offered a Premium plan of $9.99 per month.
• Integrations – Quite similarly, important integrations such as Canva, Dropbox, IFTTT, One Drive, and Google Photos will be gone starting the 31st of March 2023.
• Analytics – Perhaps the worst loss that will impact the Creator Economy the most will be the total lack of analytics. With Adobe Express, you won’t be able to track metrics about your favorite social channels and you won’t be able to leverage important insights via analytics and reporting.
• Engagement – From now on, you won’t be able to keep track of or respond to incoming comments, messages, and mentions directly from the Adobe Express app.
• Browser extension – Are you a fan of browser extensions that make your work easier? Unfortunately, Adobe Express won’t allow you to share articles, images, and videos like ContentCal used to. In this case, you might need other social media tools within the Creator Economy.
• Reports – If detailed reports are your thing, you should know that this won’t be one of Adobe Express’ social media capabilities. If you’re curious about your engagement or reach, you should look for other social marketing solutions.
• Team Collaboration – In today’s Creator Economy, having an efficient social media workflow in place is more than necessary. Sadly, you won’t be able to collaborate with your team in real-time on tasks such as content creation or content planning any longer. 
• Channels – If you’re busy creating digital businesses, you should know that Adobe Express will not help you with social media publishing across multiple social channels, such as TikTok, Google Business Profile, or Mastodon.

Why Is SocialBee the Best Social Media Management Tool Alternative?

Now that you know what the transition from ContenCal to Adobe Express implies for the Content Economy and the features that will get lost in the process, it’s time to find a new solution that will alleviate the outcomes of this takeover for both small business owners and more seasoned marketers.

SocialBee: ContentCal Alternative

The time has come to compare ContentCal and SocialBee. Who has the best features? We’ll let you be the judge of that!

Here are the features SocialBee has over ContentCal:

• AI social media post generation
• Visual content creation integrations
• Hashtag generator
• More social networks supported
• RSS feed posting
• Bulk editor
• Content categories
• Post variations

AI Social Media Post Generation

If you’re looking to promote your products and services online, SocialBee’s got the solution for you. Accelerate your content creation process by utilizing SocialBee’s post assistant to produce superior posts with the aid of AI technology.

Generate social media posts with the help of AI technology directly from SocialBee!

Try out our 14-day free trial! 

SocialBee’s AI post editor assistant helps you generate quick captions, depending on the type of copy you’re looking for. For example, you can generate posts based on detailed prompts, summarize complex concepts, and create promotional posts from your existing product descriptions with ease.

Visual Content Creation Integrations

Unfortunately, ContentCal only provided its users with one integration that could streamline the content creation process, which was Canva. Fortunately, SocialBee provides users with three powerful integrations, namely Canva, GIPHY, and Unsplash.

Design visuals from scratch or use eye-catching templates from Canva directly from SocialBee.

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If you’re spending a lot of time designing content, small business owners, creators, and agencies will now be able to create or select them directly from SocialBee’s post editor. GIFs, stock photos, or pre-made Canva templates, the choice is all yours!

Hashtag Generator

Another feature that ContentCal did not have is a hashtag generator. As we all know, using the right hashtags is important, especially on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

For this reason, SocialBee decided to step up and allow you to generate relevant hashtags based on your visual and copy, making your job a whole lot easier.

More Social Networks Supported

As you probably know by now, ContentCal used to support posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. There are many social marketing channels missing and this can be frustrating as you’re trying to manage all your accounts from one place.

SocialBee, on the other hand, allows you to create, schedule, and publish content on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Pinterest, Bluesky, Google Business Profile, TikTok, and YouTube.

RSS Feed Posting

Not being able to import RSS feeds to your social media management platform can be a dealbreaker for businesses that also run a blog. Unlike ContentCal, SocialBee lets you add RSS feeds from any blog or site that has such a functionality.

This will allow SocialBee to generate new posts automatically whenever a new article is posted on your blog. All you have to do is define your RSS, create and import a multitude of articles, and play with their publishing settings as you see fit.

Bulk Editor

Yet another social marketing feature that was never available on ContentCal was bulk editing. We all know how tedious it can be to manually edit tens, if not hundreds of posts before they get published.

With SocialBee’s easy-to-use bulk editor, you can now save time and either approve multiple posts at once, delete them, draft them, or even move them to another content category. This is what it means to finally get organized!

Content Categories

Let’s face it, it’s really tough to get organized when your memes and educational posts are all mixed up. What if you end up posting a joke on LinkedIn? That’s surely an awkward situation. With SocialBee, this won’t be an issue.

Organize your next social media posts into separate categories with SocialBee.

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Perhaps one of the most essential things ContentCal did not feature was simple content categories to make everyone’s lives easier. Content categories allow users to store their social media posts in folders based on various topics and other criteria they might find relevant.

Get all your posts in a row for a stress-free content strategy with SocialBee. By categorizing your content, you can better organize it and mix it up. It’s a necessary practice used by all top social media specialists.

Post Variations

You could say we saved the best for last. Did you know that ContentCal did not allow users to edit their social media posts according to the channels they targeted? Like shortening the copy of a Facebook post for Twitter, or adding hashtags for Instagram from the same post editor.

Customize your content according to the requirements of each social media channel with SocialBee.

Start our 14-day free trial now!

SocialBee to the rescue! Our post variations feature allow small business owners and creators to tailor your content for each channel from the same post editor. Add or remove hashtags, write a longer copy, and adjust the size of your visuals without even opening a second tab.