Want to learn about social media analytics tools & software? Or just looking for free social media analytics tools or an overview of the best and most popular social media analytics tools? I’ve been searching and comparing these and have a bunch of exciting info, so I decided to put a list together.
There are a ton of social media management and analytics tools out there, each with their own pros and cons. So where do you even begin if all the information is a bit overwhelming? You start by reading this guide! By the time you’re done, you will know just about everything there is to know about these different platforms.
Zoho
Zoho stands out as an all-in-one tool consumers can use to run the social aspects of their business in one place while managing their email, projects, accounting, and webinars. Pros
- Zoho offers a CRM product that lets you manage your email, projects, accounting, and more under one umbrella
- You can integrate their social media management platform, which works with all major social media networks
- Social media planning for individuals starts at $10 per month
- A free edition with limited features is available with an option to upgrade
Cons
- Plans for agencies start at $230 per month, which is on the expensive side
- Plans for individuals and businesses only include one to three team members, with more users requiring an additional monthly spend
Zoho made our ranking as the best all-in-one tool based on the CRM product they offer in addition to social media management software. You can utilize Zoho to store and manage your email, create and oversee products, and take care of accounting all in one place. Zoho also offers comprehensive social media management software you can buy separately or integrate for full all-in-one management.
When it comes to their social media management software, Zoho offers three plans for businesses:
- Standard: $10 per month
- Professional: $30 per month
- Premium: $40 per month
Each plan lets you publish and schedule posts across multiple platforms, access summary reports and analytics, and access a Bitly integration & URL shortener. The Standard and Professional plans are limited to one brand and one team member, but both plans let you add additional team members or social channels for an additional cost.
A free plan with limited functionality is also available. With the free plan, you get access for one team member and brand and the ability to publish multiple posts in one place. Zoho also offers social media software for agencies that manage at least 10 different brands under their business umbrella.
Friends+Me
Friends+Me is another prime player in the social media management tools family. While Friends+Me puts the highest emphasis on Google Plus features, many other social platforms are supported. Friends+Me appears to get rave reviews from users, and has a beautifully designed website with plans available based on the size of your business. And yes, there is a free plan!
While the free plan is not super robust, it still allows for two queues (which is a destination to publish posts), the ability to schedule five posts per queue at one time, link shortening, browser extensions, an integration with Zapier, as well as standard support. The free plan can also be used for a variety of social platforms like Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Tumblr.
Pinterest and Instagram are supported as well, but you will need to upgrade. Plans range from $7.50 to $216 depending on if you decide to utilize monthly or annual billing.
Later
Later has a highly visual focus. Although it allows you to post to Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, its main emphasis is on Instagram.
Later does offer a free plan, with one social account per platform, one user, 30 Instagram posts, 50 Twitter posts, 30 Facebook posts, and 30 Pinterest posts per month. You can schedule photos and upload unlimited images to their Media Library, see your basic Instagram analytics, can search and repost user-generated content. The four paid plans (starting at just $9 per month) add to these capabilities.
Unlike all the rest of these social media managers that start with a social message and then allow you to add an image, Later requires you to start a post by uploading a picture. You then add suitable text to the image.
The heart of Later is its Media Library. You begin every post by either uploading new media to the library or reusing media you’ve already uploaded. You can add notes and labels to your media items and add a Star to any image you wish to highlight. You can filter your images by Label or Star, by media usage, type of media, and by the time frame in which you uploaded your media. You can store unlimited media, even on the free plan.
The free plan limits you to scheduling static images, but the higher plans add videos, Instagram Stories, and multi-photo posts.
Buffer
Buffer is also one of the best apps for managing your social media presence and scheduling your posts. The app also comes with analytics tools that enable you to track your audience’s activity and figure out when it is the best time to post in the future. We especially love its Chrome extension, which integrates itself seamlessly and never gets in the way, yet it is always there when you need it. It is a more straightforward and more effective way of managing your social media, and you are never more than a few clicks away from setting up anything you want. Buffer supports over 7 different platforms – you can add up to 4 on the free plan.
Iconosquare
Iconosquare is a popular social media analytics tool that can help you keep track of all your social media metrics in one place. Using Iconosquare, you can view analytics such as reach, engagement, follower evolution, and impression history for a variety of social accounts including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Iconosquare also offers Instagram story analytics, so you can measure the success of your story posts in the same way you do with feed posts. It also has a powerful social media listening feature, which allows you to keep track of how your brand is being mentioned across the Instagram platform.
And in a more recent update, Iconosquare has added TikTok analytics. A rare feature to find amongst social analytics platforms.
Iconosquare is very much an all-in-one social media tool, as it includes publishing and reporting features alongside its analytics tools. With the scheduling tool, you can schedule and publish posts to Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, all from one dashboard.
This can help you stay on top of your social media posting schedule in order to remain professional and consistent. You can also use Iconosquare to gain insights about your competitors and compile reports that can be useful for brand collaborations, and social media managers.
Pricing:
Pricing plans start at €49/month for the pro plan.
There is also a 14-day free trial available. No credit card required.
Agorapulse
Agorapulse is best known as an all-in-one social media management platform but it also includes a great social media analytics tool. This means you can create reports, publish content, and monitor your brand mentions. The tool currently integrates with the 5 major social media platforms: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
The main analytics function of Agorapulse is the reporting tool. Using this tool can help you to quickly compile reports that show you what’s working, and what isn’t when it comes to your social media.
Reports can help you gain insights like which platforms you should share posts on and at what time. They also provide vital information about how posts are performing across platforms in terms of engagement and reach.
Aside from the reporting feature, Agorapulse can also help you keep on top of your general social media maintenance. There is a useful scheduling feature to make regular uploading easy, as well as an inbox tool that helps you to manage your social media messages with ease.
In addition to all this, it also has a monitoring feature that can be used to track what people are saying about your brand and your competitors.
Pricing:
A limited free plan is available. Pricing plans start at $79/ month for the pro plan.
There is also a 30-day free trial available. No credit card required.
Pallyy
Pallyy is a feature-rich social media marketing tool that offers detailed Instagram analytics & reporting.
You can use this tool to understand what your followers want to see, and what they don’t. You can analyze your own profiles and competitors. You can also dig into hashtags and follower growth in specific locations.
You can set up automated reporting which sends your analytics directly to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly.
Although the analytics is solely focused on Instagram, you can schedule posts to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as add a team to schedule on your behalf.
Pallyy’s dashboard is simple and easy to use with tabs for scheduling, analytics, reading and replying to comments (Instagram only), crafting your bio link and lastly an explore tab where you can search for hashtags, users and tags.
Pricing:
A limited free plan is available. The premium plan is $15/month per social group. Pricing drops depending on how many social groups you need so it is surprisingly affordable for agencies and individuals alike.
There is also a 14-day free trial available for the premium plan.
Conclusion:
Keeping tabs on your social media performance is an essential task for any sized business. Knowing what’s working, who is talking about you, and where in the world it’s happening can all help you get a leg up on your competition.