Businesses of all sizes use social media to connect with customers and promote their brands. It’s important to stay on top of what’s being said about your company on social media, and that’s where social media monitoring tools come in. In this blog post, we will discuss the best social media monitoring tools available and how they can help you keep tabs on your brand’s online reputation.
Top 9 Social Media Monitoring Tools
- Hootsuite – Best All-Round Social Media Monitoring Tool
- Sprout Social – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool for Detailed Analytics
- Buffer – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool for General Monitoring Practices
- Keyhole – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool for Automated Practices
- Mention – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool for Entry-Level Businesses
- Digimind – Best Social Media Monitoring Using Intelligent Software
- Cyfe – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool on a Budget
- SocialBakers – Best Social Media Monitoring for Large-Scale Projects
- Zoho Social – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool for Complete Business Management
1. Hootsuite – Best All-Round Social Media Monitoring Tool
Pricing: Four tiers, starting at £39/month for one user
Hootsuite is king when it comes to social media monitoring. The platform offers many features, like Hootsuite Insights, which provides users with detailed analytics about their social media activity. Hootsuite also offers a wide range of integrations, which makes it easy to connect the platform with other tools you’re using for your business.
Key Features:
- A wide variety of features and tools
- Detailed analytics and reporting
- Complete multi-post scheduling tools across platforms
Reasons to Buy:
- Offers a lot of features and customisation options
- Allows businesses to connect with customers and followers
- Easy to use platform with a variety of features
Reasons to Avoid:
- It can be expensive for businesses with limited budgets
- May require some training to get the most out of all the features
2. Sprout Social – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool for Detailed Analytics
Pricing: Three tiers, starting at $89/month for one user
Sprout Social is another great option for businesses that want to monitor their social media activity. The platform offers users a wide range of features, including Sprout Insights, which provides detailed analytics about social media activity. There are even features like incoming and outgoing message content tagging, optimal times for posting reports, and paid reporting on all major platforms.
Key Features:
- An incredibly wide variety of features and tools
- Supports between 5-10 social profiles (depending on account tier)
- Integrations with other business tools like Helpdesk, CRM, and Social Commerce
Reasons to Buy:
- Offers a lot of features and customisation options
- Allows businesses to connect with customers and followers
- Easy to use platform with a variety of features
Reasons to Avoid:
- Can be expensive for businesses with limited budgets
- May require some training to get the most out of all the features
3. Buffer – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool for General Monitoring Practices
Pricing: Four tiers, starting at $0/monthper social channel
Buffer is a great social media management tool for businesses of all sizes. The platform offers users a variety of features, including the ability to schedule posts, track analytics, and engage with followers. With this platform, you’re basically getting access to all those essential monitoring tools without any of the complicated extras.
Key Features:
- Ability to monitor multiple social media platforms (up to ten platforms)
- Detailed analytics and reporting
- Access to a ton of basic content publishing tools
- Landing page builder for campaigns
- Unlimited team members and client support
Reasons to Buy:
- Helps your business stay on top of their online reputation through easy reporting features
- Offers detailed insights into social media activity in real-time
- Allows businesses to connect with customers and followers
- Allows marketing businesses to offer comprehensive services to their clients
Reasons to Avoid:
- Limited in functionality and available features compared with other leading monitoring tools
- A few more integrations with certain APIs could boost functionality for many businesses
4. Keyhole – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool for Automated Practices
Pricing: Custom pricing frame only available through quoting (average $49 per month)
When it comes to monitoring your social media profiles and activity, yes, these are all tasks that you could do manually, but this will cost your business so much time and money. To make it worthwhile, you need to make the whole process as automatic as possible, and that’s where Keyhole comes in.
Keyhole is a social media monitoring tool that offers a free plan for up to three users, making it an excellent option for small businesses. The platform provides detailed insights into social media activity and also allows users to track competitor activity.
Key Features:
- Built-in influencer impact and ROI tracking tools
- Complete hashtag tracking and research functions
- Suitable for all kinds of businesses, including B2B and B2C
Reasons to Buy:
- Offers complete campaign and event tracking
- Incredibly user-friendly and initiative design and interface
Reasons to Avoid:
- Uncertainty with pricing structure until you’re able to get a quote
- Only supports English
5. Mention – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool for Entry-Level Businesses
Pricing: Starts at $29/month for one user (free plan available)
When it comes to social media monitoring, especially when you’re doing it for the first time, it can be confusing to know where to start and what to prioritise. There are so many avenues to go down and so many features to explore, it can all get very overwhelming, but this is where Mention comes in.
Mention is an entry-level social media monitoring tool that offers a variety of features to help businesses track their online reputation. It offers many powerful, premium-level features but provides them in an easy-to-understand way. The main focus here is making sure you have access to the most essential tools in the most productive way.
Key Features:
- Set custom alerts for social platforms and mentions
- Track up to 100,000+ mentions and analysis the data from each post automatically
- Allow unlimited users to work within your same account
- Offers cross-platform support
Reasons to Buy:
- Really simple design. If someone mentions your business, you’ll know about it.
- Incredibly affordable and ideal for content creators or small businesses
- Everything is automated and displayed in an intuitive report
Reasons to Avoid:
- Monitored networks can feel limited (can only track Facebook data on most expensive plan)
- Misses some mentions in certain places, and accuracy is debatable
6. Digimind – Best Social Media Monitoring Using Intelligent Software
Pricing: Available through quoting only
You’ve heard of AI and machine learning, and now you can use the power of technology in your social media monitoring practices, thanks to Digimind. The company has been around since 1998 and is hyperfocused when it comes to providing you with detailed analytical reports and insights when it comes to the buzz around your business.
If you’re looking for an insight and data-driven approach, then Digimind is for you. With all the data you could ask for, you can take action and make powerful decisions about the direction of your business and your marketing strategies with purpose and backed by information.
Key Features:
- Brand reputation and competition tracking
- Identify with influencers to work with using algorithm data
- Track trends in your industry in real-time
- Accurate and customisable campaign tracking
Reasons to Buy:
- Uses state-of-the-art AI Sense technology to carry out your processes and tasks
- Trusted by some of the world’s leading brands, including Fujifilm, Honda, and Lenovo
- All insights are displayed in a clear and easy-to-understand way
Reasons to Avoid:
- Pricing is only available through a scheduled meeting with the sales team
- Support can feel slow when compared with other services
7. Cyfe – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool on a Budget
Pricing: Starts at $19/month
Cyfe is an all-in-one business intelligence platform that offers a social media monitoring tool to help businesses track their online reputation. This is an incredibly visual platform that automates basically the entire data collection process and displays it all in a highly intuitive dashboard fashion where you can easily compare all your data in seconds.
Key Features:
- Create custom insight widgets, allowing you to assemble dashboards that work for you
- White-label functionality if you want to provide data to your clients
- Offers a ton of integration capabilities to over 30 services and platforms
Reasons to Buy:
- One of the highest-rated social media monitoring tools around, averaging 4.6 stars on major platforms
- Considered one of the best all-in-one monitoring solutions around, ideal for small businesses
- A free, no-commitment trial is available
Reasons to Avoid:
- Reporting can feel limited compared with other services in terms of customisable options
- The account cancellation process can be a little long-winded
8. SocialBakers – Best Social Media Monitoring for Large-Scale Projects
Pricing: Starts at $400/month (custom plans available)
If you’re looking to go all out and want a social media monitoring tool that pushes the boat out and gives you the most complete experience, SocialBakers is it. This platform literally takes data from anywhere and compiles it into one easily accessible place. This tool makes it incredibly easy to access everything and even provides tools to help you make valuable, actionable, and productive decisions.
In short, it’s considered by many to be the one-stop shop when it comes to making the most of your social media efforts.
Key Features:
- Powerful, AI-driven insight gathering across all platforms, automatically
- Get instant trend data and mentions from instant-speed social listening tools
- Provide outstanding service to your customers with built-in omnichannel support tools
Reasons to Buy:
- Trusted by some worldwide companies, such as Vodafone and Sony
- Track all paid and organic in one place
- Complete competitor tracking as standard
Reasons to Avoid:
- Expensive and not suitable for small businesses on a budget
9. Zoho Social – Best Social Media Monitoring Tool for Complete Business Management
Pricing: Starts at $15/month (free plan available)
Sometimes, it’s far easier to have one tool that allows you manage and monitor every single aspect of your business, putting everything in one place, so you only have to deal with one platform, one way of doing things, and everything is connected and runs smoothly, giving you more time and resources to focus on actually managing and growing your business.
This is exactly what Zoho Social does. A completely Cloud-based platform, this is an entire CRM platform that allows you to manage your mail, offer comprehensive customer support to your base, analyse absolutely all your business data (including social media data), and even recruit new talent to your team.
Key Features:
- A complete online workplace that allows remote working to happen effectively
- Allows up to 45+ integrations with top platforms in all areas of your business
- Offers over 100+ apps to carry out certain tasks, from creating landing pages to hosting online events
Reasons to Buy:
- A complete start-to-finish solution for running your business
- Very easy to learn with few complex practices
Reasons to Avoid:
- Doesn’t cover some social media platforms, like YouTube and TikTok
- Dashboard data only lasts for 30 days
Frequently Asked Questions
What is social media monitoring?
Social media monitoring is the process of tracking and analysing online conversations about a company or brand. This can be done manually, but there are also several software platforms that offer social media monitoring tools which are highly recommended because they will save your time through automation and will help you acquire your data simply and easily.
Do I need social media monitoring?
Social media monitoring is a good idea if you’re using social media for business purposes. It can help you stay on top of what’s being said about your brand online and take action if necessary. Other benefits include getting insights into what customers are saying about your products or services and understanding what competitors are doing on social media.
It’s having access to this kind of information will help you make better decisions about your social media strategy and how to adjust it over time. Ultimately, this will allow you to better connect with customers and promote your brand effectively.
How does social media monitoring work?
Social media monitoring tools work by tracking online conversations and mentions of your brand. This can be done via keywords, hashtags, or other search criteria. Once the platform finds a mention, it will alert you so you can take action if necessary.
Some social media monitoring tools also offer features like sentiment analysis, which can help you understand the emotions behind customer comments. This can be helpful in understanding how your brand is perceived online and what areas need improvement.
What are the benefits of social media monitoring?
There are several benefits of using social media monitoring tools, including:
- staying on top of what’s being said about your brand online
- getting insights into customer sentiment
- understanding what competitors are doing on social media
- taking action if necessary
- making better decisions about your social media strategy