As your business grows and becomes more social, you’ll want to keep an eye on all of your social media channels. But how do you do it? It can be difficult to know where to start, let alone track everything. That’s where social media monitoring comes in. By understanding the right tools and settings, you can curate and monitor your social media channels in a way that’s efficient and effective for your business.
Best Social Media Monitoring App
How do you know if your customers (and potential customers) are talking about you on social media?
Social media monitoring tools are the best way to find out what people are saying about your brand. And also what they’re saying about your product, your competitors, your industry, your Super Bowl ad, your pandemic response, your customer service wait times, your new mascot — basically, anything your audience could possibly have an opinion on.
What is social media monitoring?
Social media monitoring is the process of listening out for social media conversations that are relevant to your brand. Businesses engage in social media monitoring for several reasons, such as to connect with their customers, to provide customer support, to measure their social media reach, or to understand social media trends.
To “listen”, businesses use social media monitoring tools to collect social mentions and track keywords, hashtags, and URLs that they are interested in.
Social media monitoring is also sometimes known as social listening.
Best Social Media Monitoring App
1. Hootsuite
What does it monitor? All major social media platforms
Paid or free: Free tool with paid options
Arguably the easiest social monitoring tool to use on this list, Hootsuite’s customizable search streams will monitor any social platform you like so that you can see what’s going on at a glance. Zero in on essential topics, trends, and social mentions based on keywords, hashtags, locations, and specific users.
Streams are included in Hootsuite’s free plan, but if you want access to detailed custom analytics, try Hootsuite’s professional plan free for 30 days.
If you really want to dive deep on social listening, you can also try Hootsuite Insights, powered by Brandwatch.
This paid tool is powerful enough to qualify more as a social listening tool than a social monitoring app, but Hootsuite Insights can give you an instant overview of millions of online conversations in real time.
Search for any topic or keyword, and filter by date, demographics, location, and more. You’ll be able to identify thought leaders or brand advocates, understand the perception of your brand in the market, and get immediate alerts if and when your mentions spike (for good or for bad.)
Hootsuite Insights can tell you a lot about your audience — and how they feel about you. It’s only available to enterprise users, but if you’re serious about social listening, Insights is the only tool you’ll need.
2. Agora Pulse
Discover what people are really saying about your business
Description: Agora Pulse is also an all-in-one social media management tool, which comes with scheduling, monitoring, engagement, and analytics features.
Its inbox collects all your social media mentions while its listening feature allows you to search for keywords, URL, and handle on Twitter. Agora Pulse also allows you to monitor comments on your Facebook and Instagram ads.
Platforms supported: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
Prices: Free, $79 per month, $159 per month, plus enterprise options
3. Keyhole
Keyhole helps you monitor your Twitter and Instagram accounts – you can look at keywords, hashtags, URLs, and usernames. You can both see data in real-time and historical information, while you can also view heat maps that show you activity levels in certain parts of the world.
4. Nexalogy
What does it monitor? Most major platforms + broader web
Paid or free? Free tool
Nexalogy’s top-tier data visualizations set it apart: interactive timelines, geolocation-based heat maps, lexical cluster maps that show common patterns of topic. Plus the “basic” stuff that would take a human being weeks to figure out, like popular keywords and most active accounts.
5. Sprout Social
Intelligent, real-time social media monitoring with Sprout
Description: Similar to Hootsuite, Sprout Social’s monitoring and engagement tools are part of its social media management software. Sprout Social has two separate features for social monitoring and engagement.
In the Smart Inbox, you’ll get all your social media mentions and messages. With the discovery feature, you can search for particular keywords on Twitter or Instagram (for example when someone mentions your brand without tagging your social media profile).
Platforms supported: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google+
Prices (per user): $99 per month, $149 per month, and $249 per month
6. Twitter Counter
Twitter Counter is a tool used to track your Twitter stats. You can track millions of Twitter users and stats, and there are also buttons and widgets that can be added to websites, blogs, and social media profiles to show the number of followers and the most recent Twitter visitors. You can also see retweets, mentions, and historical data, you can add multiple accounts so you can keep track of them all in one place and you can create custom reports and graphs, and download .pdf reports.
7. Reputology
What does it monitor? Yelp, Google, Facebook reviews + other review sites
Paid or free? Free tool
For customer-facing businesses, a bad review can be a real blow if it isn’t dealt with correctly and quickly. Reputology lets you monitor major review sites such as Yelp, Google, and Facebook reviews from one dashboard.
You can track activity across multiple storefronts and locations, and respond using quick links.
8. Zoho Social
Social media management software for growing businesses
Description: Zoho Social is a social media management dashboard where you can publish and schedule posts, monitor social activities, analyze your social media performance.
In the Zoho Social dashboard, you’ll get real-time updates of how people are interacting with your brands. I find this great for events, where I might want to monitor related social media posts and engage with the attendees.
Platforms supported: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google+
Prices: Free, $10 per month, $50 per month, $1,000 per year, and $1,500 per year
9. TweetReach
If you want to see how many people your tweets reach, TweetReach is a great monitoring tool. You can measure the impact that social media discussions have, and you can also learn about your most influential followers, which points you toward the right people. Target those people, and you’re most likely to see better results.
10. Reddit Keyword Monitor Pro
What does it monitor? Reddit
Paid or free? Paid tool
With 430 million average monthly active users, Reddit is an often-overlooked social platform where conversation is often in-depth and honest. This tool allows you to monitor the site’s 138,000 active communities for the conversations you care about.
11. Brand24
Smart social media monitoring for businesses of all sizes
Description: Brand24 is a powerful yet affordable tool for those who want to dive deep into social media monitoring. Besides the major social media platforms, Brand24 also monitors blogs, forums, and other sites for mentions of your brand.
Apart from collecting your mentions and allowing you to reply, Brand24 analyzes your social media reach, interactions, sentiment, and more.
Platforms supported: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, blogs, forums, and more
Prices: $49 per month, $99 per month, and $399 per month
12. Klout
Klout is slightly controversial – there are people that don’t like it and there are others who swear by it. Klout’s influence scoring system has a reputation for being inaccurate, but it can be used to fine-tune posts in order to achieve optimum engagement. Overall, Klout is a worthy Twitter tool for measuring influence through engagement. It gives you information on how people feel about your brand and what influences them.
13. Mentionlytics
What does it monitor? All social platforms + broader web
Paid or free? Free tool
Mentionlytics is a professional-grade social media monitoring app that tracks mentions, keywords, and sentiment across multiple languages.
14. Mention
Media monitoring made simple
Description: Mention is more than just a monitoring tool for social media; it also monitors mentions of your brand across the web such as on Yelp, Booking.com, Tripadvisor, and Amazon. On its custom company plan, you can get in-depth insights and reports of your brand mentions.
If you connect your social media profiles to Mention, you can reply mentions directly within Mention. (You can even add a Buffer account and schedule your social media posts.)
Platforms supported: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, blogs, forums, and more
Prices: $29 per month, $99 per month, and enterprise pricing
15. Buzzlogix
Buzzlogix is all about ‘catching the buzz’ about your products and services so you know what the public is saying in real time. You can also see what people are saying about your competitors and manage all of your social media channels all in one product. If you or a certain keyword is mentioned, you can reply directly from the dashboard, making it a great tool for managing your interaction with the community. The social media analytics and reports are also helpful. You can get started by signing up for the free version.
Best Social Media Monitoring Apps For Parents
1. Fenced.ai
Fenced.ai is by far the most effective parental control software for keeping kids safe online. It monitors your kids’ online activities, restricts inappropriate content, limits the use of apps, and much more. This parental control is not only for parents but also for schools and businesses.
Additionally, parents can track calls, messages, contacts, location, media, and so on. With so many monitoring packages, parents no longer have to fear their children’s online activities.
Features
- Track call history, SMS, e-mail, and browsing history.
- Monitor social media apps like WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook, Instagram, and Skype.
- Track contacts, devices, and SIMs.
- Browse photos, videos, and apps.
- Log keystrokes.
- A variety of alerts on location, keywords, and Wi-Fi/uninstall changes.
- Monitor your children’s wifi usage with a free Wi-Fi logger.
Pros
The User Interface (UI) of Fenced.ai is attractive and is loaded with all the features necessary, and good customer support service accompanies this software. Fenced.ai also has better and more flexible pricing than most of its competitors. As a whole, it is a good solution for parents, schools, and businesses.
Cons
This app supports only SMS tracking and calls tracking in its free version. Depending on which version you purchase, you can either use the basic features or access the premium features. You may also need root access for some features.
Pricing
Fenced.ai offers three different packages: free, basic, and premium. There is no charge for the free plan. However, the basic and premium versions are priced at $5.83 and $8.33, respectively, with no hidden fees.
2. Norton family
Norton family is another best choice for parents. It lets you configure rules and observe your child’s movement from a web console. The application is available on Android as well as iOS.
It’s developer NortonLifeLock is a profoundly known and trusted company that started with antivirus software development. You can try the Norton family for free for 30 days and finally subscribe to it if you like the application.
Features
- Can track browsing history and blocking unwanted sites.
- Can Monitor your child’s search.
- Can set screen time limits.
- It has an instant lock feature.
Instructions On How To Use Norton Family
- Visit Norton Family’s official webpage.
- Click on Get 30 -days free trial now and create an account using your credentials.
- And then install the Norton family app on your child’s device.
- After successful implementation, Visit the dashboard and start monitoring.
- For complete installation information, visit the website link.
Pros
Norton’s family is cheaper when compared to its opponents. It has a simple User Interface(UI) and contains all the essential online supervision features.
Cons
Norton’s family lacks some of the advanced features. It comes with only one variant, which is not suitable for businesses and schools. And the application has a 30-day trial version but is not entirely free. There is no free version for Norton family premier.
Pricing
It is only available in one version. And it will cost you $49.99/year.
3. Bark.us
Bark.us is the second recommended social media monitoring app for parents. It proactively monitors text messages, Youtube, emails, and 30+ social media accounts — keeping your kids safe online.
What’s more interesting is, Bark.us claims to have prevented over 31 thousand self-harm threats and 16 school shootings with the help of their AI Technology.
Features
- Monitors texts, emails, YouTube, and more than 30 apps.
- Get alerts for issues such as cyberbullying, online predators, and suicidal ideation.
- Manages screen time.
- Filters sites your kids can access.
- Keeps track of kids with location check-ins.
Pros
- Every plan includes parental controls and screen time
- Monitors over 30 apps
- Text and email alerts
- Compatible with most devices, including Android and iPhone
- Tips for starting honest conversations with children
Cons
- Numerous alerts
- IOS installation is tricky
Pricing
The Bark Premium plan is $14 a month or $99 a year. However, the Bark Jr. plan costs $5.00 monthly or $49 annually.
4. Qustodio
Qustodio can be a great selection if you are looking for a complete free parental control application. This application can help parents, schools, and businesses as well. Qustodio supports a broad range of OS such as Android, iOS, Kindle, Chromebook, Windows, and Mac OS X. Because of its high compatibility; most users choose this monitoring app.
Features
- Can monitor and control web filtering and search activities.
- You can set the time limit also.
- It Keeps tracks of social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
- It tracks the location of your child.
Instructions On How To Use Qustodio
- Visit the Qustodio official website and click on Get Started Free.
- Next, Signup using your credentials and sign in.
- Thenceforth, create your profile by adding your kids and their devices.
- For a more detailed installation guide, visit the official website.
- In the end, visit the dashboard and start monitoring.
Pros
The free version of Qustodio gives you various beneficial features that its opponents lack. The application has an easy-to-use and attention-grabbing User Interface. It is probably the best free app out of other control apps available online.
Cons
It does not provide a simple call and SMS tracking feature like its rival fenced.ai. And by using a VPN extension, children/ users can effortlessly bypass web monitoring.
Pricing
Qustodio free will not cost you a cent, whereas Its premium versions come in three separate variants. The cost of the three variants is listed below.
- Small plan: $54.95/ year.
- Medium plan: $96.95/ year.
- Large plan: $137.95/year.
How to Use Social Media for Your Business.
The first step in growing your business is using social media to improve your visibility. Use social media to connect with potential and current customers, build relationships, and promote your business.
Use Social Media to Reach Your Customer Base
Social media can be used to reach a wider audience than just your target market. By targeting specific demographics through content, you can increase the chances of success for your online presence.
Use Social Media to COMMUNICATE With Your Customers
Make sure that you use social media as a platform for communication instead of a place where you hide behind anonymity or silence. Write clear, concise messages that are interesting and relevant to your target audience. Use hashtags and other #hashtags to help engage followers on Twitter and Instagram, and make sure that all your posts are tagged with keywords so people can find them easily when searching for information about your business online.
Use Social Media to Promote Your Business
By promoting events, products, or services through social media, you can bring attention to your company and drive traffic back into your website or ecommerce store. Make sure that all of your marketing materials are appropriate for the digital age – including blog posts, tweets, Facebook ads, and LinkedIn profiles – and that they’re updated regularly so that people can see the latest news and developments about your business.
Use Social Media to Increase Sales
One of the best ways to increase sales for your business is by using social media to sell products or services. By using social media to market new products or services, you can create a demand for them that could lead to increased sales.
For example, if you sell software, make sure to use social media to market new features and updates that might be helpful for businesses of all sizes. Additionally, use social media platforms to advertise special deals or discounts that would be beneficial for customers who purchase your product.
Use Social Media to Increase Customer Loyalty
In order for customers to remain loyal towards your business, it’s important that you provide them with high-quality service andoddy support when needed. By providing excellent customer support throughsocial media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you help keep customers happy and engaged with your company – which leads to more referrals and longer term relationships with clients/customers).
Use Social Media to Increase Brand Name awareness
By using social media to post positive reviews of your company or products, you can help increase brand name awareness and encourage other people to consider your company for their next purchase. By doing this, you can create a positive perception of your business and increase the likelihood that potential customers will contact you about its products or services.
Conclusion
Social media can be a great way to grow your business, reach your customer base, and communicate with your customers. However, it’s important to take some time to preparation before using social media for your business. By using an effective promotional strategy and curating and monitoring your social media, you can ensure that your business is successful in the long run.