Best-Rated Social Media Analytics Tools for Marketers

Tremendously improve your performance with the powerful Social Media Analytics tools that deliver actionable insights. Find the perfect platform to analyze audience behavior across all major social networks:

In today’s fast-evolving digital landscape, social media can easily be a valuable asset or a tough riddle to crack. With millions of engagements occurring across multiple platforms regularly, how do you transform all those distractions into useful insights?

The best free social media analytics tools can highlight unseen trends, monitor patterns, and analyze your viewer’s nature in-depth. But, with the availability of some social media analytics tools, which one can truly help you understand how to attain success on social media platforms?

Tools for Social Media Analytics: Top Picks for Your Brand

In this article, we will discover the best social media analytics tools that not only examine the statistics but also enable you to make reliable data-based decisions.

But before digging into the best social media analytics tools, it is also crucial to understand what social media analytics tools exactly are and what the importance of social media analytics is.

What are Social Media Analytics Tools?

Social media analytics and reporting tools are software solutions created to gather, assess, and document information from digital media platforms.

They assist enterprises and individuals in monitoring performance statistics such as interaction level, viewership, and viewers’ characteristics. These findings update marketing plans, content production, and comprehensive social media performance.

Here is the video that explains all about Social Media Analytics:

Importance of Social Media Analytics:

Social Media Analytics is of great importance because of the following reasons:

• Performance comparison: Examines the effectiveness of social media strategies and posts.
• Audience analysis: Helps in understanding viewers’ characteristics, interests, and preferences.
• Insightful decision-making: Provides data that can be utilized in making strategic advertising decisions.
• Trend insights: Offers insights to track growing trends and content appropriate for your viewers.
• Content management: Assists in observing which type of posts resonate with your audience the most.

Here is the video that explains the importance of Social Media Analytics:

Who is it for?

Social media research tools are of great significance for a wide variety of users. For digital promoters and social media strategists, these platforms help monitor engagement, enhance digital plans, and compare Return on Investment (ROI).

Small-scale business operators can utilize these tools to understand their audience’s dynamics, allowing them to produce more tailored content. Social media figures and content developers can benefit from these services to track viewed expansion and interactions, optimizing their digital visibility.

Analytics professionals and advertising teams within larger enterprises can take advantage of these findings to make better marketing plans. Even Freelance workers and creative firms handling several accounts will find these services extremely beneficial for managing different clients efficiently.

How Did We Select These Tools?

The top factors considered for selecting these websites are:

• The tool should have an intuitive interface, allowing both amateurs and experts to handle the platform effectively.
• We prefer services that provide in-depth insights into major metrics, such as interaction, viewership, audience expansion, etc.
• The capability to work with various social media networks and third-party tools, all was important.
• The platform enables its users to modify reports and interfaces, as per their specific business requirements.
• Accessibility and cost-effectiveness of different premium plans, along with free trials, for small enterprises and firms were major considerations.

List of the Best Social Media Analytics Tools

Here is the popular list to consider:

• Sprout Social
• Sprinklr
• Later
• Socialinsider
• Semrush
• Hootsuite
• Keyhole
• Buffer
• HubSpot
• BuzzSumo
• Brandwatch
• Rival IQ
• Tailwind
• Talkwalker

Comparing the Top Platforms for Social Media Analytics

Detailed reviews:

Sprout Social

Best for presenting detailed cross-platform analysis.

Sprout Social is an extensive social media analytics tool that provides robust analysis to assist enterprises in tracking, measuring, and enhancing their social media effectiveness.

It offers detailed insights across various social media networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The platform comes with features such as engagement statistics, viewers’ characteristics, post-performance monitoring, and market trend recognition.

Clients can create modifiable reports, observe the competition, and assess the effectiveness of social media strategies. The tool’s simple interface streamlines visual analytics, assisting teams in making data-based decisions to improve their digital plans.

How to perform social media analytics using Sprout Social?

To perform analytics through Sprout Social, follow the steps:

1. Sign up for your Sprout Social account.
2. Integrate your profiles for data collection.
3. From the interface, select the ‘Analytics’ tab.
4. Select the particular social profile and type of analytics to be performed.
5. Choose the time for the data you want to assess.
6. Examine key performance indicators.
7. Modify the final report as per your preference.
8. Regularly monitor performance to analyze trends.

Features:

• All-in-one analytics interface: Offers a centralized dashboard where users can monitor performance across various social media networks.
• Personalized Report Generator: This enables users to produce modifiable reports customized to specific preferences, allowing users to select from a variety of metrics.
• Competitive Insights: Assists in comparing performance with rival firms by observing their interactions, posting frequency, and quality of content.
• Engagement Analysis: Simplifies viewers’ engagement, highlighting in-depth insights into communications like shares, comments, likes, and responses.
• Target Audience Profile: Provides accessibility to demographic information like age, gender, and location of your audience, helping users to tailor their content according to the specific needs and demands of the followers.

Pros:

• In-depth post-performance insights.
• Easy comparison of performance metrics across platforms.
• Enables sentiment analysis for measuring audience response to content.
• Helps to monitor viral hashtags.
• Delivers a visual post planner.

Cons:

• Can be costly for small enterprises.

Our Review: Sprout Social is highly appreciated for its straightforward interface, detailed analytics, and extraordinary reporting features. It assists enterprises in automating their social media planning while offering advanced insights into viewers’ engagement and content effectiveness.

Pricing:

The price structure is as follows:

Plan	Monthly(per month charges- billed monthly)	Yearly(per month charges- billed annually)-(25% Discount
Standard	$249 (5 Social profiles+ 10 Brand keywords + upto 2,00,000 audience size)	$199 (Same as monthly plan)
Professional	$399 (Unlimited Social Profiles + 10 Brand keywords + upto 5,00,000 audience size)	$299 (Same as monthly plan)
Advanced	$499 (Unlimited Social profiles + 20 Brand keywords + unlimited audience size)	$399 (Same as monthly plan)
Enterprise	Contact for pricing	Contact for pricing

Website: https://sproutsocial.com/features/social-media-analytics/

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Sprinklr

Best for its centralized customer service management.

Sprinklr is a refined social media scheduling tool that enables businesses to monitor and improve their online visibility across several social media platforms. It provides a diverse range of data collection and evaluation tools, assisting users in tracking brand achievements and interaction with the viewers simultaneously.

The platform facilitates the management of multiple social media platforms as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. With the tool, enterprises can monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) like viewership, and engagement, along with customer opinion assessment assisted by artificial intelligence.

It assists companies in handling customer engagements, tracking brand performance, and developing analyses to enhance their social media strategies.

The website also supports personalized dashboards and competitive analysis, making it a go-to destination for large businesses looking to improve customer satisfaction and optimize social media Return on Investment (ROI).

How to perform social media analytics using Sprinklr?

To perform analytics using Sprinklr, follow the given steps:

1. Open your Sprinklr account.
2. Link your social profiles with the tool.
3. From the menu, click on the ‘Analytics’ tab.
4. Select or customize a dashboard for a particular platform.
5. Choose the time duration for the data you need.
6. Select the major performance metrics.
7. Utilize Sprinklr’s modifiable dashboard to customize data.
8. Customize reports according to your goals and share them with your contributors.
9. Regularly track effectiveness and modify digital plans accordingly.

Features:

• Instant Insights: Offers real-time analysis to monitor the recent engagement, viewership, and performance metrics, allowing users to make quick decisions.
• Market Analysis: Allows comparison of your social media effectiveness with the market standards and competitors to let you know where you stand in the market.
• Audience Demographics: Helps in examining viewers’ preferences, tastes, and basic details, so that the users can modify the content accordingly.
• Campaign Monitoring: Tracks the performance of social media strategies with in-depth statistics on viewership, interactions, and trends.
• Trend Recognition: Identifies growing trends and viral content within your niche, helping you gain a competitive edge in the market and plan accordingly.

Pros:

• Facilitates multi-platform management.
• AI-based insights for detailed analysis.
• Provides high-level data security.
• Worldwide customer support.
• Adaptable to large businesses.

Cons:

• Beginners may struggle with advanced features.

Our Review: Sprinklr is acknowledged for its in-depth social media insights, providing instant analysis across various platforms. It offers robust AI-based analytics, assisting businesses in tracking brand mentions, and interactions with the audience, and improvising their digital plans efficiently.

Pricing:

The pricing is as follows:

Plans	Monthly(Billed Monthly)- per month charges	Yearly(Billed annually)-per month charges
Social Media Management Solution	$249	$199
SMM and Customer Service Solution	$359	$299
Custom Social Media Management Solution	Contact for details.	Contact for details.

Website: https://www.sprinklr.com/products/social-media-management/

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Later

Best for its effortless content planning.

Later is a social media analytics tool created to assist clients in handling and improving their digital presence. It enables users to organize, arrange, and post content across several platforms as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

The tool offers a visual post planner that streamlines content management with click-and-move functionality. The platform’s in-depth analysis provides detailed information about post effectiveness, and monitoring indicators like engagement statistics, fanbase increase, and top-ranking posts.

Clients can also manage hashtag efficiency and receive recommendations for appropriate publishing times based on viewer engagement.

In addition, Later’s features comprise content storage, user-produced content selection, and collaborative features for teams, making it a go-to option for enterprises, content creators, and advertisers looking to improve their digital plans.

Features:

• The All-in-one Interface: Provides a unified dashboard for all social media channels, showcasing instant information, including follower expansion, viral content, etc.
• Viewer Insights: Offers analysis of gender, place, age, and preferences of the viewers, allowing users to modify content strategies accordingly.
• Engagement Monitoring: Tracks the interaction with viewers as shares, likes, and comments across multiple social media networks.
• Post-performance Analysis: Examines the influence of individual posts on the viewers and highlights the most trending posts.
• Modifiable Alerts: Delivers immediate updates for required changes in engagement or brand appearances, making sure of a timely response to emerging trends.

Pros:

• Maximizes hashtag use.
• Recognizes major influencers for collaborations.
• AI-driven reporting for effective analysis.
• Offers insights into competitors.
• Delivers unified social media information.

Cons:

• Needs frequent updates to stay active.

Our Review: Later provides an intuitive platform to plan content, monitor social media effectiveness, and examine engagement statistics across multiple social profiles. Its visual content calendar and detailed insights make it perfect for enhancing social media plans and optimizing post-performance.

Pricing:

The price structure is as follows:

Plan	Monthly- per month charges	Yearly- per month charges ( 4 months free)-
Small	$25 (30 posts per social account + 1 user + analytics for 3 months of data +5credits for AI features)	$16.67 (same as monthly plan)
Growth	$45 (150 posts per social account + 3 users + analytics for 1 year of data + 30 credits for AI features)	$30 (same as monthly plan)
Advanced	$80 (Unlimited posts+ 6 users + analytics for 1 year of data + 50 credits for AI features)	$53.33 (same as monthly plan)
Agencies	$200 (Unlimited posts + 10 users + analytics for 1 year of data + 100 credits for AI features)	$133.33 (same as monthly plan)
Enterprises	Contact for details.	Contact for details.

Website: https://later.com/try/analytics/

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Socialinsider

Best for its advanced social media comparison.

Socialinsider is a robust social media reporting tool created to offer detailed insights to advertisers and companies. It supports several platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more, enabling users to monitor and assess their effectiveness.

With its easy-to-use interface, clients can observe competitor activities and identify trending content. The platform provides in-depth reports on engagement level, follower expansion, and post effectiveness, allowing informed decisions.

Its access to records optimizes comprehensive future planning. The tool’s personalized reports are perfect for client briefings. Its simple dashboard makes it suitable for amateurs as well as professionals in digital marketing.

Features:

• Extensive Digital Analytics: Provides detailed insights for various social media channels including Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc.
• Industry Competition Evaluation: Monitors and assesses the social media effectiveness against competitors, identifying the weaknesses and making strategies accordingly.
• Post Performance Tracking: Analyze the performance of your content including the most viral posts, highlighting what kind of content suits the audience the most.
• Personalized Reports: Allows users to develop comprehensive reports by letting them choose modifiable metrics, visuals, and timeframes.
• Hashtag Suggestions: Helps the clients in assessing the performance of particular hashtags to analyze which hashtags will gain the maximum engagement.

Pros:

• Offers effective audience demographics.
• Recognize popular influencers in your niche.
• Comes with multi-platform compatibility.
• Facilitates team collaboration.
• Provides a user-friendly interface.

Cons:

• Team collaboration features are locked behind premium plans.

Our Review: Social Insider is an all-in-one social media monitoring platform that comes with advanced performance monitoring across multiple social media services. Its easy-to-use dashboard, competitive insights, and in-depth reporting make it an ideal choice for businesses looking to improve their digital marketing strategies.

Pricing:

The price structure is as follows:

Plan	Monthly	Yearly (Save upto 16%)
Adapt	$99(20Social Accounts + Past performance records upto 3months + 1 team member)	$82 (Same as monthly plan)
Optimize	$149(30 Social Accounts + Past performance records upto 6months + 2 team members)	$124 (Same as monthly plan)
Predict	$239( 40 Social Accounts + Past performance records upto 12 months + 5 team members)	$199 (Same as monthly plan)
Enterprise	Contact sales for pricing.	Contact sales for pricing.

The platform offers 2 months off on yearly plans.

Website: https://www.socialinsider.io/

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Semrush

Best for its robust SEO and advertising tools.

Semrush is one of the best social media analytics tools that delivers an all-in-one solution for monitoring and improving social media effectiveness. It enables users to understand statistics of various social media networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

With this platform, enterprises can track interaction with the viewers, monitor audience expansion, and observe their competitors. It provides an in-depth insight into the best-performing posts, including data on engagement, reach, etc.

The tool also promotes programming features, allowing clients to schedule and post content straight from the platform. By providing instant analysis, Semrush enables clients to make informed decisions to optimize their digital strategies.

Features:

• Digital Tracking: Monitors performance across various social media channels, offering analysis of audience expansion, engagement levels, and post viewership.
• Content Management: Examines the effectiveness of your posts and recommends changes for your content such as the best time to post, type of content, and viral hashtags.
• Engagement Statistics: Delivers in-depth engagement research including likes, shares, comments, etc to assess your viewers’ reactions.
• Modifiable Reports: Produces flexible reports that can be customized according to specific digital key performing indicators.
• Influencer Recognition: Recognizes major influencers in your niche by assessing engagement and viewership, enabling you to engage in collaborations and partnerships.

Pros:

• In-depth competitive analysis.
• Automates content scheduling.
• Tracks brand references.
• Increases ROI on digital strategies.
• Provides implementable suggestions.

Cons:

• High-level features may require a costly subscription fee.

Our Review: Semrush is a robust social media insights software that offers extensive information about viewers’ dynamics, interactions, and competitor metrics. Its simple interface and advanced reports make it useful for improving digital strategies and optimizing returns on investment.

Further Reading => Most Popular Semrush Alternatives to Look For

Pricing:

The price structure is as follows:

Monthly plans:

Yearly plans:

Website: https://www.semrush.com/features/social-media-marketing/

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Hootsuite

Best for its intuitive social media handling.

Hootsuite is a popular social media scheduling platform developed to assist clients in tracking, handling, and assessing their online presence. It comes with a centralized dashboard that combines various social media profiles, enabling users to plan content, interact with viewers, and observe performance across multiple channels, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

The tool offers analytic features that help in monitoring post-performance, comprising information on fanbase growth, interaction with the audience, etc.

Users can also produce modifiable reports to analyze campaign performance and recognize trends. Furthermore, the platform’s statistical tools assist in observing audience dynamics and improving content plans.

Features:

• Flexible Reporting: Users can create personalized reports based on specific performance metrics to analyze their social media strategies.
• Viewers Demographics: Offers details about the majority of the viewers regarding their tastes, preferences, gender, age, etc, to help refine content strategies.
• Competitor Insights: Showcases features that help monitor the social media performance of competitors, including their follower expansion, engagement posts, etc.
• Prompt Tracking: Helps in tracking viral content and digital activities in no time, enabling timely responses to emerging opportunities.
• Collaborative Features: Facilitates team collaboration by providing features for task delegation, content review processes, and immediate feedback.

Pros:

• Comes with a unified dashboard.
• Recommends ideal posting times.
• Tracks brand mentions effectively.
• Delivers in-depth performance insights.
• Supports instant tracking of popular trends.

Cons:

• The free version offers limited features.

Our Review: Hootsuite stands out as a social media reporting tool with its powerful features for monitoring and handling several platforms from a centralized interface. Its simple interface and thorough analysis make it a useful asset for enhancing social media plans and improving engagement.

Pricing:

The platform comes with three pricing plans:

• Professional: $99/month (1 user + 10 Social accounts + 30 days free trials)
• Team: $249/month (3 users + 20 Social accounts + 30 days free trials)
• Enterprise: Contact sales for detailed information.

Website: https://www.hootsuite.com/

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Keyhole

Best for providing instant social media monitoring.

Keyhole is a detailed social media analytics and tracking tool created to monitor, examine, and determine social media effectiveness across several networks. It offers instant insights into brand notifications, hashtags, and influencer reach, helping enterprises and marketers analyze audience reactions and engagement.

The tool provides an in-depth analysis of statistics like interaction rates, visibility, and influence, allowing clients to examine the performance of their social media strategies.

Its high-level features comprise trend evaluations, competitor analysis, and modifiable interfaces. With the platform, clients can make data-based decisions to improve their digital plans and optimize their social media presence.

Features:

• All-in-one Dashboard: Offers a unified view of key performance indicators across several social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
• Comprehensive Reporting: Creates in-depth reporting with graphical representations of social media information, enabling users to generate modifiable reports.
• Previous Data Access: Enables access to archived social media information for trend insights and competitor analytics.
• Hashtag Monitoring: Observes the effectiveness and viewership of certain hashtags, which can later be helpful while formulating social media strategies.
• Competitor Insights: Allows monitoring and comparison of performance with that of competitors, highlighting their plans and areas for improvement.

Pros:

• Provides instant analytics.
• Comes with an intuitive dashboard.
• Supports multi-platform compatibility.
• Exports data for detailed analysis.
• Offers sentiment insights to gauge public opinion.

Cons:

• May not work with all social media networks.

Our Review: Keyhole comes with advanced social media analytics with instant data monitoring and detailed reports, making it an amazing tool for analyzing interactions and improving digital plans. Its user-friendly dashboard and advanced features assist enterprises in making data-based decisions effectively.

Pricing: Contact sales for pricing details.

Website: https://keyhole.co/social-media-profile-analytics/

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Buffer

Best for its easy social media planning.

Buffer is a powerful social media analytics tool created to simplify and optimize your social media visibility. It showcases a diverse range of features that enable clients to plan content, examine performance, and interact with their viewers across several platforms from a unified dashboard.

With the platform, you can schedule and automate your social media posts, making sure persistent publishing frequency and optimizing engagement. The reporting features of the tool offer detailed insights into your digital effectiveness, including engagement statistics, viewer dynamics, and reach.

This information helps clients improve their plans and post-performance. The tool also promotes team collaboration with its intuitive dashboard and modifiable user privileges, making it ideal for independent clients and enterprises.

Features:

• Content Analysis: Monitors major performance metrics such as likes, shares, comments, etc on particular posts to measure their effectiveness.
• Multi-platform Compatibility: Offers in-depth insights across various social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
• Modifiable Reports: Helps users develop and export customizable reports to visualize information and share analysis with teams or clients.
• Engagement Statistics: Allows clients to examine engagement dynamics as comments, mentions, and retweets.
• Ideal Publishing Times: Enables users to discover the most appropriate time to post the content, ensuring that the content goes viral.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface.
• Comprehensive content analysis.
• Help recognize top-rated posts.
• Includes collaborative features.
• Provides affordable pricing for small enterprises.

Cons:

• Offers limited customization in reports.

Our Review: Buffer is an exceptional social media insights software that streamlines tracking and maximizing your social media effectiveness. The easy-to-use dashboard and in-depth analysis offer valuable information to enhance your strategies and elevate engagement levels.

Pricing:

Buffer offers a no-cost plan that comes with basic features like:

• Connects up to 3 channels.
• AI assistance.
• Landing page builder.
• Planning and publishing tools.

It also provides 3 premium plans:

1. Essentials ($5/month or $60/year)

• Free plan plus engagement tools and analytic features.
• Free trial for 14 days.

2. Team ($10/month or $120/year)

• Essentials features plus unlimited team members and users plus collaboration tools.
• Free trial for 14 days.

3. Agency ($100/month or $1200/year

• Team features + Custom Access Permissions agency-friendly pricing
• Free trial for 14 days.

Website: https://buffer.com/analyze

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HubSpot

Best for delivering a comprehensive promotional platform.

HubSpot is a social media analytics software created to assist enterprises evaluate the influence of their digital marketing initiatives. It provides an in-depth analysis of key performance indicators (KPIs) such as content effectiveness, reach, follower expansion, engagement, etc across several platforms.

With the tool, clients can monitor the involvement of viewers on the posts in the form of comments, shares, and likes as well as examine audience dynamics and characteristics.

The service allows for automated scheduling and publishing, making it convenient to handle and maximize social media strategies. In addition, it delivers personalized reports allowing businesses to modify their plans based on factual insights.

Features:

• Content Comparison: Helps in measuring the performance of particular posts against one another to identify which posts are the most popular among the audience and adjust strategies accordingly.
• Followers Analysis: Offers in-depth insights into viewers’ demographics and behavioral patterns on their preferences and tastes in content.
• Competitor Insights: Allows users to examine and compare their digital performance with that of competitors, highlighting where your brand stands to make plans accordingly.
• Performance Monitoring: Assists in monitoring key performance indicators such as likes, comments, and shares across multiple social media channels.
• Personalized Reporting: Users can create modifiable reports that work on the major performance metrics and schedule them at fixed times for effortless tracking.

Pros:

• Detailed audience analysis.
• Integration with top-performing platforms.
• Measures content effectiveness.
• Recognizes ideal posting times.
• Recommends content adjustments.

Cons:

• Detailed reporting is only available with premium plans.

Our Review: HubSpot’s social media analytics platform provides an intuitive interface with an in-depth analysis of campaign effectiveness, viewers’ interaction, and Return on Investment. Its incorporation with other HubSpot advertising tools makes it suitable for simplifying and optimizing social plans.

Pricing:

HubSpot comes with a free plan that offers basic features like CRM, email, and contact management. For advanced features, it offers plans in two categories namely:

For businesses and enterprises:

Plans	Professional (Per month charges)	Enterprise (Per month charges)
Marketing	$800-billed annually $890-billed monthly	$3600
Sales	$90-billed annually $100-billed monthly	$150
Service	$90-billed annually $100-billed monthly	$150
Content	$450-billed annually $500-billed monthly	$1500
Operations	$720-billed annually $800-billed monthly	$2000

For individuals and small teams:

Plans	Monthly	Annually
Marketing	Marketing Hub Starter – $20 Starter Customer Platform – $20 Marketing Hub Professional – $890	Marketing Hub Starter -$15 Starter Customer Platform – $15 Marketing Hub Professional – $800
Sales	Sales Hub Starter- $20 Starter Customer Platform – $20 Sales Hub Professional- $100	Sales Hub Starter – $15 Starter Customer Platform – $15 Sales Hub Professional – $90
Service	Service Hub Starter- $20 Starter Customer Platform – $20 Sale Hub Professional – $100	Service Hub Starter – $15 Starter Customer Platform – $15 Service Hub Professional – $90
Content	Content Hub Starter – $20 Starter Customer Platform – $20 Content Hub Professional – $500	Content Hub Starter – $15 Starter Customer Platform – $15 Content Hub Professional – $450
Operations	Operations Hub Starter-$20 Starter Customer Platform- $20 Operations Hub Professional-$800	Operations Hub Starter- $15 Starter Customer Platform- $15 Operations Hub Professional- $720

Website: https://www.hubspot.com/products/marketing/social-inbox

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BuzzSumo

Best for assisting in content exploration and analytics tools.

BuzzSumo is a robust social media analytics platform created to help enterprises, advertisers and content producers assess and improve their post-performance. It offers analysis of the most viral and shared content across several networks, enabling users to recognize what grabs their target audience’s attention.

The tool comes with features such as content exploration, influencer profiling, and analysis of the competitors. Clients can look for trendy topics, monitor their post-engagement statistics, and track mentions of their brand.

The platform also assists in identifying major influencers in particular fields, offering opportunities for collaboration and content exposure.

Features:

• Content Discovery: Helps in exploring the most trending content across social media services and examining the reach and impressions of individual posts.
• Competitor Benchmarking: Assists in tracking the social media performance against the competitors to assess your position in the industry.
• Influencer Analysis: Identifies the popular influencers in your niche based on their social media engagement and reach for further potential collaborations.
• Post Notifications: Users can set up alerts for fresh content and mentions related to particular topics and keywords.
• Search Optimization Insights: Allows clients to assess the performance of particular keywords in improving engagement and reach.

Pros:

• Monitors key performance indicators.
• Offers past performance records.
• Creates personalized reports.
• Tracks market trends.
• Supports graphical data representations.

Cons:

• Can be costly for small businesses.

Our Review: BuzzSumo is a comprehensive social media research tool that stands out in content exploration and performance monitoring. Its capability to recognize viral content, examine competitors, and produce customizable reports makes it an ideal option for advertisers looking for data-driven plans.

Pricing:

BuzzSumo comes with 4 premium plans:

• Content Creation
• PR and Comms
• Suite
• Enterprise

The details of each plan have been mentioned below:

Plans	Monthly (per month charges)	Annually (per month charges)
Content Creation	$199	$159
PR and Comms	$299	$239
Suite	$499	$399
Enterprise	$999	$999

Contact them for more pricing details.

Website: https://buzzsumo.com/

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Brandwatch

Best for providing effective audience demographics.

Brandwatch is a popular social media analytics tool developed to help businesses and companies comprehend and improve their social media visibility. It provides detailed features for monitoring brand appearances, analyzing audience sentiments, and tracking market trends across multiple social media services.

With its robust data representation and reporting skills, Brandwatch allows clients to learn implementable insights from digital communications and user engagements. The tool utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver an in-depth analysis of consumer habits and tastes, enabling more niche-specific marketing techniques.

Features:

• Detailed Social Listening: Tracks social media profiles for brand mentions and important conversations, offering analysis of trendy topics, sentiments, and trends.
• In-depth Research: Provides a comprehensive analysis of information on digital performance comprising engagement statistics, audience preferences, characteristics, and content performance.
• Personalized Interface: Allows users to create flexible dashboards to monitor major performance indicators and patterns.
• Competitive Benchmarking: Enables users to identify the engagement rates, plans, and posts of the competitors to analyze strengths and weaknesses.
• Trend Insights: Helps clients in identifying growing trends in digital conversations to let the users utilize this information to adapt according to the changes taking place in the market.

Pros:

• Modifiable reporting features.
• Integrates with major social media platforms.
• Measures content effectiveness.
• Suggest ideal posting times.
• Safeguard past performance records.

Cons:

• The basic plan offers limited features.

Our Review: Brandwatch is well regarded for its robust social media insights, allowing clients to track top-rated posts and observe competition. It provides significant findings into ongoing trends, assisting enterprises in improving their post-planning and enhancing interaction across platforms.

Pricing: Contact sales for pricing details.

Website: https://www.brandwatch.com/

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Rival IQ

Best for its powerful competitive analysis.

Rival IQ is a robust social media analytics platform created to facilitate enterprises and marketers to monitor, examine, and compare the effectiveness of their social media profiles with competitors.

It provides in-depth reports across several platforms including LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. The tool also offers research on major indicators, such as interaction rates, audience expansion, content, and hashtag performance.

The website also incorporates an analysis of competitors, enabling clients to track market trends and identify opportunities to enhance their social media campaigns.

Features:

• Detailed Reporting: Offers advanced reporting on digital performance comprising engagement levels, follower expansion, and content effectiveness.
• Competitor Analysis: Enables users to monitor and measure their social media effectiveness with that of competitors, top performers, etc to identify both opportunities and threats.
• Keywords and Hashtags Tracking: Allows clients to track the performance of particular keywords and hashtags, offering insights into viewership, interactions, trends, etc.
• Modifiable Interfaces and Reports: Clients can develop personalized dashboards that present the most relevant metrics and can produce professional reports for stakeholders or clients.
• Social Media Reviews: Assists in organizing performance evaluations of your social media channels, recognizing opportunities and threats in post planning, and content regularity.

Pros:

• Monitors SEO keywords.
• Easy-to-use dashboard.
• Supports multi-platform integration.
• Determines top-rated content.
• Offers viewer’s demographics.

Cons:

• Provides limited access to records.

Our Review: Rival IQ is a popular social media analytics tool, known for its advanced competitor insights, user-friendly dashboard, and comprehensive analysis of digital performance metrics. It helps companies monitor key performance indicators, improve plans, and maintain a competitive edge with actionable insights.

Pricing:

The price structure is as follows:

Plans	Monthly(per month charges)	Annually (per month charges)
Drive	$239	$199
Engage	$349	$299
Engage Pro	$559	$469

Contact them for more pricing details.

Website: https://www.rivaliq.com/

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Tailwind

Best for its convenient images and clip scheduling.

Tailwind is a comprehensive social media management tool specifically designed for Instagram and Pinterest. It helps clients schedule, design, and improvise content for these social media networks by offering advanced analytics of engagement statistics, follower growth, and post effectiveness.

The tool’s major features comprise post programming, hashtag recommendations, and automatic reposting of trending posts. It also comes with a visual click-and-move calendar for simplified content scheduling.

In addition, the service also delivers in-depth insights on the best times to publish, follower dynamics, and post-effective trends, allowing clients to polish their social media plans for optimal results.

Features:

• Automated Scheduling: Instantly schedules your digital content for the ideal times, optimizing engagement based on peak audience activity.
• Hashtag Suggestions: Recommends the most effective hashtags to increase your viewership and enhance your presence on different platforms.
• Content Calendar: The click-and-drag calendar allows you to conceptually schedule and plan your content, providing an automated content strategy experience.
• Advanced Analytics: In-depth key performance indicators highlight your content’s performance in terms of retweets, mentions, likes, and more.
• Collaborative Features: Provides multiple user compatibility, making it convenient for team members to work together on social media strategies.

Pros:

• Automatically republishes top-performing posts.
• Integrates effortlessly with Instagram and Pinterest.
• Delivers effective post-performance analytics.
• Offers features for competitive benchmarking.
• Comes with a straightforward interface.

Cons:

• Limited to particular social media networks.

Our Review: Tailwind is an outstanding social media analytics platform, that provides detailed findings for Instagram and Pinterest. It streamlines content scheduling, monitors performance statistics, and delivers implementable suggestions, making it highly effective at increasing engagement and enhancing content planning.

Pricing:

Tailwind includes a free version with the basic features. Along with that, the platform offers 3 premium plans, namely:

• Pro
• Advanced
• Max

The price structure of each plan has been mentioned below:

Plans	Annually (per month charges)	Monthly (per month charges)
Pro	$14.99	$24.99
Advanced	$24.99	$49.99
Max	$49.99	$99.99

Contact them for more detailed pricing.

Website: https://www.tailwindapp.com/

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Talkwalker

Best for its robust audience sentiment analysis.

Talkwalker is a highly acknowledged social media scheduling and analytics tool designed to assist promoters and enterprises in monitoring, examining, and maximizing their online visibility.

It comes with instant tracking across several social media services. With the tool, clients can observe brand appearances, customer sentiment and preferences, viral topics, and competitive benchmarking thereby making it suitable for enhancing digital plans.

Its feature comprises AI-based opinion analysis, image identification, and modifiable dashboards. The platform also includes detailed information regarding viewer demographics, interaction statistics, and campaign effectiveness.

Features:

• Detailed Analytics: Offers advanced insights into digital performance, including a behavioral analysis of viewers, engagement rates, and follower demographics.
• Instant Tracking: Monitors digital effectiveness across multiple social media channels instantly, making users aware of growing trends, potential threats, and more.
• Social Monitoring: Tracks communications and informs about brands, market trends, and competitors, assisting users in identifying possible opportunities.
• Multi-platform Compatibility: Collects information from various social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
• Scheduled Reporting: Creates automated reports with major statistics and analysis, conserving time and making sure persistent reporting to collaborators.

Pros:

• Modifiable graphical dashboard.
• Advanced competitor analysis.
• Presents past performance records.
• Improves content planning with implementable findings.
• Comprehensive audience profiling.

Cons:

• May not be affordable for small enterprises.

Our Review: Talkwalker is a robust social media reporting tool, popular for its instant feedback, powerful analytics features, and AI-based insights. It helps organizations monitor brand effectiveness, analyze trends, and interact with followers efficiently across several social media networks.

Pricing:

Talkwalker includes 4 premium plans:

• Listen
• Analyze
• Business
• Premium

For pricing details, contact sales.

Website: https://www.talkwalker.com/

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Conclusion

Opting for the best free social media analytics tools is important for gathering crucial data and maximizing your digital presence. By taking into consideration factors like the user-friendly interface, detailed insights, compatibility options, and affordable pricing, you can look for the tool that best fits your requirements.

Whether you are a small entrepreneur, digital planner, or freelance worker, investing in the appropriate tool will assist you in keeping a check on effectiveness, optimizing engagement, and ultimately achieving better outcomes for your online marketing initiatives.

Our Review Process:

• Time taken to research this article: We spent 28 hours researching and writing this article so you can get a useful summarized list of the best free social media analytics tools with a comparison of each for a quick review.
• Total platforms researched online: 38
• Total software shortlisted for review: 14