Open Source Social Media Analytics Tools List of free or affordable social media analytics software solutions. All are open source and have an active community that includes support for adding features and custom analysis. In some cases, the software is hosted on GitHub but more often there is a download available for direct installation.
Learn what the most important social media analytics tools are, how they differ, and which ones are the best fit for you. Our experts answer your questions on which tools to use, how to select them and future trends in social media analytics.
Sprout Social
Like many of the other social media tools on this list, Sprout Social allows you to schedule updates to your social media accounts.
However, there are a couple of unique features that set Sprout Social apart.
In addition to monitoring and managing multiple social networks, SproutSocial’s clean interface also delivers deeper analytics.
For example, the platform gives you calculated engagement and influence scores, and if you’re using social media for customer support, it also measures your response time.
You can even turn your messages into action items to create workflows or reminders around your social activity. This way, you can connect the points of conversations that happen online to real business.
Another perk is discovering new people to connect with and systematically remove bad connections, using the discovery tools.
Pricing:
- Standard: $99 per user/mo: manage up to 5 profiles, all-in-one social boxes, social content calendar, review management, asking and social CRM tools, plus other features;
- Professional: $149 per user/mo: 10 social profiles, everything in plus scheduling for optimal send times, custom workflows for multiple approvers and steps, response rate and time analysis reports, plus other features;
- Advanced: $249 per user/mo: everything in professional plus Message Spike Alerts for increased message activity, digital asset, and content library, chatbots with automation tools, plus other features.
Agorapulse
Like some other social media tools on this list, AgoraPulse has a robust scheduling tool, which is awesome for a social media guide.
Still, its strength lies in the inbox-like interface it uses to help you manage conversations on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
You can create filters to tag, flag, hide, or make assignments regarding content and followers.
This can be useful to segment (by customers vs. non-customers, for example), and make it easier to find existing conversations so you can build real relationships.
The app also includes a badging system that makes it easier to alert you when an influencer or advocate has posted, as well as clear analytics.
Pricing:
- Medium: $79/month: 2 users, 10 social profiles, plus advanced reporting and user profiling;
- Large: $159/month: 4 users, 25 social profiles, plus other advanced features;
- X-Large: $239/month: 8 users, 40 social profiles, plus other advanced features;
- Enterprise: $399/month: 20 users, 60 social profiles, plus other advanced features.
Buffer
Buffer is a simple and effective tool for sharing content through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
It’s particularly useful for small businesses that don’t have the time or resources to update their social media channels regularly but would still like to maintain a social presence.
With Buffer, you can schedule bulk posts ahead of time in a queue. It also offers many extensions through Chrome, Firefox, and Safari that make sharing what you find on the web much easier.
Buffer also includes an image editor that allows users to created perfect sizes and formats for each social platform.
Pricing:
- Pro: $15/mo: 8 social accounts, 100 scheduled posts and 1 user (free 14-day trial);
- Premium: $65/mo: 8 social accounts, 2.000 scheduled posts and 2 users (free 14-day trial);
- Business: $99/mo: 25 social accounts, 2.000 scheduled posts, and 6 users (free 14-day trial).
HubSpot’s Social Inbox Tool
Price: Starts at $800/month, included in the Marketing Hub Professional tier
HubSpot’s Social Inbox tool saves you valuable time while still optimizing your social efforts. Schedule your posts, integrate your social networks with your blog, and monitor messages and mentions so you can nurture new leads.
HubSpot also integrates all of your marketing with your CRM, so it’s easy to figure out how many leads and customers you’re receiving directly from social media. “HubSpot Marketing Hub … puts the potential of corporate marketing within everyone’s reach,” one customer says.
Kicksta
Price: Starts at $49/month for individual creatives
Kicksta is an Instagram growth service that helps you get more organic followers on your Instagram business account. Using your company account, the growth service “likes” around 30,000 photos a month on carefully-targeted accounts. Those users — real people, not spam bots or fake accounts — will begin to follow your account, increasing your brand awareness.
Kicksta is a good fit for any industry and provides a friendly, responsive, and helpful customer success team. “Kicksta helps introduce new audiences to our brand while providing consistent organic Instagram growth,” says Ryan Beltran, CEO of watch company Original Grain. “It’s great for social proof too!”
Lightroom
Price: Starts at $9.99/month
Adobe’s Lightroom product is a tool that lets you organize and edit photos. Since social media is all about visuals, it’s critical your business’s social media accounts showcase vibrant, on-brand photos.
Sliders, filters, and many other features make Lightroom a user-friendly tool to create beautiful photos even if you don’t have much editing experience. Lightroom is available for both mobile and desktop, and best of all, changes made on one device immediately apply to all devices.
Ann Handley, chief content officer, MarketingProfs
“Instagram is my favorite social network because of its social storytelling simplicity. From fun personal accounts – like Small Chalk and Adam Padilla – to corporate brands, it connects more immediately and deeply with people than any other platform. I still haven’t forgiven them for introducing an algorithm. (Chronological was so much more in line with the ethos of the platform.) But I can’t quit you, Insta.”
Joe Pulizzi, founder, Content Marketing Institute
“I use social media as almost a pure response vehicle. And I won’t start any new social media app, platform, or tool until I’m 100% committed to it. My goal with Twitter is to keep in touch and communicate my appreciation to those people that support me. Once I built an audience on those platforms, my goals and execution changed.”
BuzzSumo
Neil Patel, entrepreneur and influencer, NeilPatel.com
“With BuzzSumo you can see what is hot in your space on social media and what isn’t. From there you can craft ideas on the type of blog posts you should write to generate traffic and leads. The best part about BuzzSumo is it shows who has shared the content so you can reach out to those influencers and ask them to share your content as well.”
Conclusion
There are a number of great tools for doing social media analytics, but finding them can be difficult. We’ve collected some of the most popular and best open source social analytics tools from around the web. Take a look to ensure that you’re using top-notch social media analytics tools.