Social media can help you reach new customers and build your brand online. However, you need to do more than just create and share great posts. You also have to know what happens after each post goes live. Social media analytics tools gather all this important data in one area. They allow you to track your audience’s interaction habits and handle numerous profiles easily.
The right solution makes it easier to see which strategies deliver actual results. So, we want to tell you about the top analytics platforms and their main characteristics!
Why Do You Need Professional Social Media Analytics Tools
Social media generates a lot of information about every user and their activities. You might see their likes and many other engagement metrics. Yet, it’s not that simple to track all these numbers on several profiles.
Professional social media analytics tools let you collect and organize this information so you can see how well you are working.
They also help you move beyond guesswork. You can identify which posts attract the most attention and when your followers are most active. As Stephanie Sammons said,
“Random social media tactics lead to random results. You need a strategy.”
A quality toolset can provide you with the data you’ll need to build and improve that strategy.
These platforms can also help you save a lot of time when managing several accounts. Many instruments combine analytics with
- Reporting;
- Content marketing;
- Social listening;
- Team collaboration.
Plus, we want to highlight that you can make much better judgments with the insights from these tools. Alongside platform data, a survey maker can help you collect direct audience feedback to explain why certain posts or campaigns perform better. You can adjust your approach based on what your results show.
5 Social Media Analytics Tools
The right analytics platform can help you make more intelligent decisions and improve your strategy. Top tools bring data from different networks together and provide useful reporting.
We’ve chosen five social media analytics tools to consider.
| Tool | Suitable For | Main Features |
|---|---|---|
| Hootsuite | Businesses and marketing units | Analytics, social listening, time planning, collaboration tools |
| Sprout Social | Mid-sized and large companies | Social intelligence, reporting, engagement management, AI |
| Buffer | Creators and smaller businesses | Scheduling, content creation, community management, AI assistants |
| Publer | Creators and marketing teams | Performance control, audience insights, opponent analysis, hashtag tracking |
| Brandwatch | Big companies and enterprises | Consumer study, social listening, influencer marketing, trend analysis, community management |
Hootsuite
Hootsuite offers management and advanced analytics features. It has a dashboard you can use to see all the performance data in one place. So, you can track results without constantly swapping between individual platforms.
This solution supports all the popular major networks we use today. You can measure several metrics, like
- Reach;
- Views;
- Clicks;
- Engagement rates;
- New followers;
- Post reactions.
So, your team can spot its strongest content and identify gaps in your current plan.
Hootsuite provides deeper reporting than many native social media dashboards. You can analyze results at different levels and develop reports with ready-to-use templates.
You can see these reports in different formats and share results with clients or internal teams. Another helpful feature is competitive benchmarking. You can use it to compare your performance with your opponents.
It also offers features for working with mentions and hashtags. So, your teams can track conversations connected to your brand and market.
Plus, this platform provides recommendations for better posting times, content repurposing, and monitoring tools. We also want to highlight that Hootsuite has various plans, starting at $99.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is famous for its analytics and management features. It lets you scan dialogues and content performance across your social channels.
One of its fundamental strengths is real-time social intelligence. You can track changes in conversations and see what sparks engagement. You can also use its AI capabilities to quickly summarize discussions and actions.
Sprout Social allows you to incorporate analytics into publishing and engagement work. So, your units can use data on content performance to adapt their publishing strategy.
You can use its Smart Inbox to manage social interactions in a single space. Plus, you can use reporting solutions to evaluate how your social activity is functioning overall.
This platform supports integrations with many services and platforms, like
- Instagram;
- TikTok;
- Threads;
- WhatsApp;
- Salesforce;
- Slack;
- Shopify.
These integrations can help you adjust your social media actions to your other processes.
Sprout Social offers a standard price of $199 per person.
Buffer
Buffer is a social media workspace that combines publishing and analytics in one place. It supports multiple social networks as well as Google Business Profile.
You might use their marketing toolset to evaluate how your posts are performing on diverse channels. You can review key effects and identify your strongest posts. This info will help you see what content you might have to create more frequently.
Buffer simplifies many processes, like
- Scheduling posts;
- Systematizing ideas;
- Reusing content;
- Adapting posts for different platforms.
Its intelligent assistant can help with brainstorming and creating posts for specific media.
This platform also includes a dedicated dashboard for managing your community. Rather than switching between platforms to check comments, you can get all exchanges in one place and respond faster.
Plus, Buffer includes collaboration and approval tools. So, your team members can create and edit posts, while managers approve their publication.
This app is usually free, with a more advanced version available for $5-10.
Publer
Publer is a social media analytics and management platform that allows you to work with performance data from different profiles. You can track your results and use those details to enhance your strategy.
Its analytics cover important metrics, including
- Reach;
- Engagement;
- Clicks;
- Profile activity;
- Audience development.
You can also evaluate personal posts to see which content performs best.
Publer also recommends the most suitable times to post depending on your audience. It evaluates your past results and opponent behavior to help you choose when to publish content.
You might also use Publer for competitor analysis. It allows you to monitor your competitors on different platforms. You can study their growth and posting patterns to spot opportunities you may have missed.
Their hashtag research tool is worth trying, too. You can see which hashtags contribute to reach and engagement. Plus, Publer supports team performance tracking.
Brandwatch
Brandwatch is an advanced social media intelligence platform. It’s suitable for businesses that need more than basic performance reports. It combines
- Social analytics;
- Consumer research;
- Social media management;
- Influencer marketing;
- Monitoring tools.
One spot where it particularly stands out is customer analysis. You can use this solution to check conversations around your brand, customers, and the wider market.
Brandwatch also includes social media management features for publishing and approvals. You can manage multiple channels through a shared calendar and use collaboration tools.
Not to mention its social listening abilities, which you can utilize for checking potential risks and changes in opinions.
Plus, Brandwatch can provide a more comprehensive view of social performance and consumer behaviour than a basic analytics tool.
How to Find the Best Tool for Your Needs
The appropriate social media analytics tool for your brand mostly depends on your goals and budget.
So, first you have to decide which metrics are more important for your strategy. These might include
- Engagement;
- Reach;
- Clicks;
- Follower growth;
- Content performance.
Next, you have to inspect which networks your potential tool supports.
You should also consider whether you need features beyond analytics. You might also benefit from scheduling and competitor tracking. Plus, make sure to evaluate the reporting features.
Finally, you have to match the fees with the features you will truly use. A feature-rich platform might not justify the cost if you just need basic functionalities. You need a tool that meets your current requirements to gather more relevant data.
Conclusion
Social media analytics tools make it easier to understand what is working in your social media strategy and the essential steps to enhance it. These platforms can
- Bring performance data together;
- Accentuate successful content;
- Track audience development;
- Turn social activity into useful data.
So, the correct choice of a tool will depend on your goals and the level of reporting you need.
You should compare all the features to choose the perfect alternative. You need an instrument that helps you measure results and make better decisions.
