Knowing how people talk about your brand on social media would help a lot in crafting an effective online marketing strategy. But it is not always easy to keep tabs on hundreds of online conversations on your own. This is where social media listening tools come in handy, as they can do all that stuff for you. Here are some of the best ones that you can grab and deploy.
Social media listening tool no. 1: Awario
For small businesses in need of affordable social listening tools, Awario is a good option. At just $28 a month, the tool lets you cover a good amount of social media ground for a low price. It is also on par with more expensive software.
Features
One of the best things about Awario is its versatile listening tools. The first feature that many businesses will find handy is its flexible Boolean search function. Aside from the basic functions, you can set up the set of words excluded from your search. The feature is handy if your brand name is similar to an unrelated company or has a common word in it.
You can also use the Boolean search to track mentions that are not yet linking back to your site. This ability gives you plenty of opportunities for link building. Additionally, you can use the feature to specify what other words should be in the text and how far they would be from your brand keyword. That is handy for monitoring specific topics surrounding your brand.
Leads is another great Awario feature. As the name says, you can use it to keep track of potential leads on social media. The function uses predictive insights software to narrow down the list of leads to the ones that would best fit your desired customers. You can also use it to keep track of competitors and what customers are saying about them.
Social media listening tool no. 2: AgoraPulse
AgporaPulse is one of the more popular social media management software available in the market. So, it isn’t surprising that it also works well for social media listening. The tool combines this aspect with easy scheduling, letting you quickly deploy your marketing based on the trends.
Features
One of the best things about this social media listening tool is that you can listen to different platforms at the same time. You add the relevant listening parameters for each, and the tool displays the results in one place. It works best for Twitter, but you can also use it for YouTube and Instagram. With the latter, you do need to go to the link first before engaging the post.
AgoraPulse also lets you tag important conversations online. This feature helps sort out the conversations and closely follow the ones that matter. Additionally, you can use it to identify influencers within your niche and engage with them. These influencers can help a lot in promoting your brand and increasing your reach on different platforms.
The tool also shines when used by social media teams. You can easily assign conversations to each member to better keep track of these. Additionally, you can create permissions and rules for each role in the team. This ability is handy, as you can better keep everyone to be on the same page when engaging on different platforms.
Social media listening tool no. 3: YouScan
One issue you might have with most social media listening tools is that you have a limited number of searches for low-tier plans. The problem is annoying if you can’t afford these pricier plans. YouScan solves that by giving you a consistent number of searches across all plans. Thus, smaller businesses will find it a handy tool without worrying about costs.
Features
Despite the fixed number of searches for all plans, YouScan provide great flexibility in the way you conduct these. Here, you can customize the search action in a variety of ways, such as adding or excluding keywords and hashtags. You can also apply other rules on them to further define your search.
The tool makes it easy to go through all the conversations that you are monitoring. You get a page displaying all of these conversations neatly categorized. You can then use several different filter schemes to narrow down the list and find the social media mentions most relevant to your brand.
Visual Insights is another unique feature of YouScan. This one lets you search for different images based on your preset requirements using artificial intelligence technology. The feature is useful for getting more in-depth information about your target market. By being able to spot your products on images, you know that your brand is getting more prominent.
Another feature worth noting is the Smart Alerts. It lets you keep track of influential social media users mentioning your brand. But it goes beyond there. You can have the feature notify you if it encounters negative comments about your brand. Integrating this feature to your helpdesk will let you respond to them faster.
Social media listening tool no. 4: Mention
If your company is aiming to reach out to different countries, knowing what people in these regions are saying would help a lot. This is where Mention can be a good tool to use. It lets you track content across 42 different languages, making it handy for both multinationals and start-ups just branching out.
Features
Mention comes with a Smart Folder feature that lets you quickly organize the conversations that you are listening to. With this, you can always follow the specific conversations you are interested in. You can then start analyzing the data whichever way you want through its Insights Center.
The tool also has robust publishing capabilities. You can quickly plan out and schedule your post for the day. The content calendar feature is also easily accessible for seeing what you have ready. Additionally, you can publish content directly based on the insights that you get.
One feature that is unique to Mention is a crisis management system. It quickly identifies any negative comment made against your brand and alerts you. The sentiments analysis function helps you further break down the comments that you receive and see the percentage of negative comments. You can then coordinate with your agents using the Teams section to launch a response. The tool even lets you track the progress of your communication plan.
Be on top of the social media conversations with these tools
Each of these social media listening tools has unique features that will help you keep tabs of the conversation that matter most to your brand. By integrating them into your social media marketing strategy, you get the most out of these tools. And you don’t even have to restrict yourself to one tool, as you can use them in conjunction with each other. Explore what these tools can do for you and keep in touch with what your customers are saying on social media.