In the last decade, the interest towards social media has been growing consistently both globally and in Russia. The popularity of social networks, constant introduction of new platforms and channels, and fast change of trends require a simple yet effective management solution from companies targeting various audiences through numerous networks. The market of social media management software (SMMS) is developing and growing, and therefore there is a need to implement market research in order to create a valuable solution.

The main aim of this thesis was to evaluate the current market of social media man- agement software and to identify services functions for a new tool. It seems that digi- tal solutions of that specialty are less developed in Russia, therefore this thesis looks into both global and country-specific markets of social media management platforms. Different methods were used in order to achieve the results: literature review, data analysis and eight interviews with industry specialists.

The result of the study shows that neither global nor Russian SMMS solutions are sufficient for social media marketing managers today. The global tools do not support Russian social networks, while Russian solutions are limited in functions. The new SMMS product has to combine communication, content creation, social monitoring, influencer management, targeting, and segmentation tools.

Social media marketing forecast, as well as the ideas for further research, are presented at the end of the study.