Keeping track of social media interaction is tiring, especially since users migrate in and out of new platforms every other day.
Still, keeping track of social media mentions is important, as a recent study by Sprout Social Index found that 69% of the customers want brands to respond within 24 hours. Of these folk, 16% want a response within minutes, yikes.
Fortunately, there are social media monitoring tools that can help you track this engagement in real time.
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In this article, we’ll cover every aspect of social media monitoring, including what it is, why it matters, and some of the best tools in the market that can help you keep track of your customers likes, dislikes, and changing needs.
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Social media monitoring is all about tracking and analysing what people are saying on social media—whether it’s conversations, mentions, or trending topics.
It helps you understand how the public feels, keep an eye on your brand’s reputation, and gather valuable insights to make informed decisions.
Social media monitoring tools are great for keeping an eye on your online presence, but they do come with their fair share of pros and cons. Let’s break them down so you can decide if they’re right for you:
If you've decided to invest in a social media monitoring tool, it’s important to know what features really matter ahead of time. Here’s what to look for.
Cross-platform monitoring allows you to track mentions, hashtags, and keywords across multiple social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.Â
Check if the tool integrates with a variety of social networks and provides consolidated reports from different platforms in one dashboard.
This will save you time as you can manage multiple platforms in one place and get a holistic view of your brand's online presence.
Keyword tracking lets you keep an eye on specific words, phrases, or hashtags across social media.Â
When choosing a tool, make sure it can track your custom keywords in real-time and send you notifications or alerts whenever they show up in posts or comments.
Analytics and reporting help in measuring the effectiveness of your social media efforts.
Ensure the tool provides customisable reports, graphs, and key metrics that can be scheduled or downloaded for in-depth analysis.
Look for a tool that lets you set custom alerts for mentions or big shifts in the industry and sends notifications straight to your email or phone.
Automated alerts are great because they help you spot trends early and let you handle issues right away.
Here are some of the best social media monitoring tools that can help you track customer interaction, stay on top of trends, and make data-driven decisions.
Mevrik is a powerful all-in-one marketing platform, and its social media monitoring tools are perfect for businesses looking to integrate their social media strategy with other marketing efforts.
It’s ideal for medium to large businesses that want to manage everything from social media monitoring to customer relationship management (CRM) all in one place.
Within the platform, you have a unified inbox feature that helps you respond to mentions, comments, and messages all in one place. This is beneficial as it helps you respond to customer enquiries quickly and engage better—without getting overwhelmed by juggling multiple social platforms.
Another standout feature of Mevrik is its incorporation of sentiment analysis, which helps businesses understand how their audience feels about a particular topic or product.
Pricing: Starts at $37/user/month.
Agorapulse is an intuitive social media management platform that stands out for its ease of use and robust set of features, making it a favourite among small to medium-sized businesses and agencies.
One of Agorapulse's standout features is its Social Inbox. This feature consolidates all social media interactions—such as comments, messages, and mentions—into one unified inbox, helping you manage conversations without the chaos of switching between platforms.Â
Another valuable feature of Agorapulse is its ROI (Return on Investment) Reporting feature. This feature allows you to track key metrics like engagement, conversions, and click-through rates and directly link these actions to the performance of specific campaigns. In turn, you can easily identify which posts or strategies are driving results and adjust your approach accordingly.
Pricing: Starts at $79/user/month.
If you're in a competitive industry and need to understand what your competitors are doing on social media, Rival IQ is a solid choice.Â
It’ll give you insights into how your brand stacks up against others, so you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
One of Rivaliq's standout features is Share of Voice. This can help you benchmark your performance against competitors. You can also dig into influencer performance, which is really helpful if you’re running influencer campaigns.
Pricing: Starts at $239/month.
Keyhole is a go-to if you’re running specific social media campaigns. It can track how hashtags or keywords are performing in real time, so you can create more impactful campaigns.
Keyhole also offers influencer analytics, helping brands identify key influencers and measure the impact of their campaigns. It tracks the performance of influencer content and provides valuable insights into the reach and engagement of those partnerships.
Pricing: Offers a campaign-based pricing structure that involves requesting a quote.
Mention is best for startups and mid-sized businesses that need to stay on top of their brand reputation.
Mention is all about helping you monitor your brand's reputation across social media and the web. If you need real-time alerts whenever your brand is mentioned, this is the tool for you. It’s perfect for businesses that want to be proactive in managing both positive and negative mentions.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $41/month.
Zoho Social is a great choice for companies that need an affordable solution but don't want to compromise on essential features. Plus, if you're already using Zoho’s other tools, like CRM or email marketing, it integrates seamlessly, which will help you give a complete view of digital marketing.
Zoho Social allows you to track brand mentions, monitor keywords, and analyse your audience’s sentiment across various social platforms.
One standout feature of Zoho Social is its SmartQ scheduling tool. This feature helps businesses schedule posts at optimal times based on audience engagement patterns, ensuring content reaches the right people when they're most active.Â
Pricing:Â
Awario is best for businesses that really want to drill down into the specifics of conversations or topics. The Boolean search feature helps you filter and refine your search queries to capture highly targeted mentions.Â
Another notable feature of Awario is its real-time alerts option. This feature notifies you immediately whenever your brand, keywords, or competitors are mentioned online. This helps you respond quickly to both positive and negative mentions and divert any reputation crisis beforehand.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $29/month.
Social media monitoring goes beyond tracking mentions; it’s about understanding your audience, managing your brand’s reputation, and staying ahead of the competition.Â
The tools we’ve covered in this article are packed with features that help you track key metrics, stay on top of social conversations, and respond to customer needs in real time.
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