The 20 Best Social Media Analytics Tools for Marketers in 2024
Businesses are doubling down on social media marketing, and with good reason. Over 4.6 billion people worldwide now use social media, with the average user spending nearly 2.5 hours per day across an average of 7.2 social media platforms. Global social media ad spend is expected to reach $226 billion by 2024.
But to get the most out of your social media marketing investment, you need to understand the data and insights behind your social performance. That‘s where social media analytics tools come in. Whether you‘re a small business just getting started with social media marketing or an enterprise managing a portfolio of brands across dozens of social channels, the right analytics tools are essential for measuring and optimizing your social media success.
What is Social Media Analytics?
Social media analytics is the process of tracking, collecting, and analyzing data from your brand‘s social media channels to measure performance, spot trends, and glean actionable insights to achieve your social media goals. A comprehensive social media analytics strategy looks at metrics like:
- Reach and impressions
- Audience growth rate
- Post and video views
- Average engagement rate
- Engagement by post type/format
- Engagement by day and time
- Top performing posts
- Social traffic and conversions
- Share of voice vs. competitors
- Brand sentiment
- Demographics and audience interests
The specific key performance indicators (KPIs) will vary based on your unique social media objectives, but having a robust social analytics tool is critical for proving ROI and informing your strategy.
Benefits of Social Media Analytics Tools
Manually pulling native analytics from individual social platforms is time-consuming and doesn‘t allow you to see the big picture. Here are a few of the top benefits of using a dedicated social media analytics platform:
- Save time with automated reporting
- Compare metrics across all channels in one dashboard
- Customize reports for different stakeholders
- Benchmark your performance against competitors
- Get audience insights for persona development
- Spot opportunities to refine your content strategy
- Optimize your social media ad targeting
- Identify your best days/times to post
- Monitor brand health and sentiment
With that in mind, let‘s dive into our picks for the 20 best social media analytics tools on the market in 2024: - HubSpot
HubSpot‘s social media software allows you to publish and monitor your social media content and ads alongside your marketing analytics. Unique features include:
- Manage and schedule content for all channels in one calendar
- Track post performance across platforms
- Monitor social mentions, replies, and tags in a unified inbox
- Analyze social media ROI and tie social interactions to your CRM
- Build custom reports for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more
Pricing: Starts free. Premium plans from $45/month.
- Sprout Social
Sprout Social is an all-in-one social management solution with robust social media analytics and reporting. Key features include:
- Automated reports for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- Audience demographics and psychographics
- Competitive benchmarking and share of voice data
- Employee advocacy reporting
- Tag and analyze inbound messages for sentiment
- Report on tag volume, usage, and performance
Pricing: Standard plan starts at $99/user/month billed annually.
- Khoros
Khoros provides enterprise-grade social media analytics across organic and paid social media with customizable dashboards. Top capabilities:
- Unified analytics across 15+ social networks
- Audience insights with persona reporting
- Paid and organic content performance tracking
- Competitive intelligence and benchmarking
- Image and video analysis
Pricing: Available upon request.
- Hootsuite Analytics
Hootsuite Analyze provides an overview of your social media performance for organic and paid content across all channels. Use it to:
- See metrics for each of your social profiles
- Get data on your published content and ads
- Create and share custom reports
- Measure team performance and response times
- Monitor mentions, replies, comments, and tags
Pricing: Professional plan starts at $49/month.
- Sprout Social
Sprout Social is an all-in-one social management solution with robust social media analytics and reporting. Key features include:
- Automated reports for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- Audience demographics and psychographics
- Competitive benchmarking and share of voice data
- Employee advocacy reporting
- Tag and analyze inbound messages for sentiment
- Report on tag volume, usage, and performance
Pricing: Standard plan starts at $99/user/month billed annually.
- Zoho Social
Zoho Social provides analytics and reporting for small to mid-sized businesses managing social media. Capabilities include:
- Unified dashboard for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn
- Summary reports for quick insights
- Detailed reports for individual networks
- Custom report builder
- Monitor keywords and hashtags
Pricing: Standard plan starts at $10/month billed annually.
- Agorapulse
Agorapulse is a social media management and CRM platform with analytics features like:
- Automated reports for all major networks
- Competitor benchmarks and leaderboard
- Community management and social CRM reports
- Hashtag and keyword monitoring
- Content performance by type, campaign, and label
Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $79/month.
- Union Metrics
Union Metrics specializes in Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook analytics. Use it to:
- Track hashtag and campaign performance
- Analyze competitor activity
- Monitor share of voice and sentiment
- Discover influential fans and followers
- Get content and posting time suggestions
Pricing: Plans start at $49/month.
- Quintly
Quintly provides customizable social media analytics dashboards and benchmarks for agencies and brands. Features include:
- Customize metrics, dashboards and reports
- Benchmark against competitors or market averages
- Track and analyze stories and videos
- Integrate data from Facebook Ads, Google Analytics, and more
Pricing: Plans start at $300/month.
- Rival IQ
Rival IQ is a social media analytics and competitive intelligence tool for digital marketers. Use it to:
- Get cross-channel analytics for major networks
- Identify engaging topics and post types
- Highlight top performing content
- Analyze competitor content and metrics
- Discover new competitors and industry benchmarks
Pricing: Plans start at $199/month.
- Brandwatch
Brandwatch provides AI-powered social media listening and analytics for enterprises. Capabilities include:
- Automated sentiment analysis across 50+ languages
- Competitive intelligence and benchmarking
- Influencer discovery and monitoring
- Paid and organic performance reporting
- Image and video analytics
- Audience insights and consumer research
Pricing: Available upon request.
- Keyhole
Keyhole is a hashtag analytics and social listening tool used to measure real-time performance and insights. Features include:
- Campaign and event monitoring
- Influencer marketing insights
- Social media and PR reporting
- Competitive benchmarking
- Hashtag and keyword analytics
Pricing: Plans start at $79/month.
- Sprout Social
Sprout Social is an all-in-one social management solution with robust social media analytics and reporting. Key features include:
- Automated reports for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- Audience demographics and psychographics
- Competitive benchmarking and share of voice data
- Tag and analyze inbound messages for sentiment
- Report on tag volume, usage, and performance
Pricing: Standard plan starts at $99/user/month billed annually.
- Emplifi
Emplifi (formerly Socialbakers) offers AI-powered social media marketing and analytics for enterprise brands. Use it to:
- Benchmark content performance vs competitors
- Analyze paid and organic post metrics
- Measure campaign results and ROI
- Get audience persona insights
- Identify trends and content opportunities
Pricing: Available upon request.
- Talkwalker
Talkwalker is a social listening and analytics platform that covers blogs, forums, videos, news sites, review sites and social networks. Capabilities include:
- AI-powered sentiment analysis
- Crisis management and PR measurement
- Competitive benchmarking and share of voice
- Visual insights for images and videos
- Influencer discovery and analytics
Pricing: Available upon request.
- Sendible
Sendible is a social media management tool with built-in analytics features. Use it to:
- Track key metrics for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn
- Get content performance analytics
- Monitor mentions, hashtags and sentiment
- Benchmark against competitors
- Generate PDF and PPT reports
Pricing: Plans start at $29/month.
- Iconosquare
Iconosquare specializes in Instagram and Facebook analytics and competitive benchmarking. Features include:
- Insights for feed posts, stories, ads, and hashtags
- Industry and competitor benchmarks
- Influencer campaign measurement
- Monitor tags, mentions and comments
- Follower growth and community insights
Pricing: Pro plan starts at $59/month billed annually.
- Mentionlytics
Mentionlytics is a social media and web monitoring tool with sentiment analysis. Use it to:
- Monitor mentions across social, news, blogs, forums
- Track sentiment in real-time
- Get location and language insights
- Identify influencers and detractors
- Analyze share of voice vs competitors
Pricing: Plans start at $59/month.
- Crowdfire
Crowdfire is a social media management tool with analytics and content curation features. Capabilities include:
- Basic analytics for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
- Monitor mentions and keywords
- Content recommendations based on analytics
- Automated publishing and scheduling
Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $7.48/month.
- SocialPilot
SocialPilot allows you to schedule and analyze social media posts across major networks. Features include:
- Analytics for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn
- Post performance metrics and charts
- Identify top posts by engagement
- Analyze audience insights
- Custom date range and exportable reports
Pricing: Professional plan starts at $30/month.
How to Choose a Social Media Analytics Tool
With so many great social media analytics tools available, how do you choose the best one for your business? Here are a few factors to consider:
- Supported social networks: Make sure the tool can track all of the social platforms you use.
- Metrics and KPIs: Ensure that the tool measures the metrics that matter most for your social media goals.
- Reporting capabilities: Look for a tool with customizable dashboards and reports that you can easily share with stakeholders.
- Ease of use: The tool should offer an intuitive interface so you can quickly find the insights you need.
- Integration: Consider how well the tool integrates with your other marketing software and workflows.
- Budget: Determine how much you‘re willing to spend and look for a tool that provides the features you need within your price range.
Many of the tools on this list offer free trials, so don‘t be afraid to test drive a few to find the best fit. Ultimately, the right social media analytics tool will save you time while providing the valuable insights you need to take your social media marketing to the next level.
