Top 6 Social Listening Tools

Social media platforms are at the forefront of communications, and where most of the leads are being generated. Whenever a small business or enterprise uses social media promotion, it is important for them to be armed with the most sophisticated social media listening services at their fingertips. SearchTarget defines social media listening, as the process of identifying and assessing what is being said about a company, individual, product or brand on the web.

Top Social Media Monitoring Tools at Your Disposal

Trying to collect these conversations from each channel is one time-consuming task, and that’s where social media monitoring tools come in. Here are the top six tools that will take your social listening to a whole new level.

#1. SentiOne

SentiOne is a user-friendly and effective social media monitoring resource. Not only does it keep tabs on good your brand management and mentions are, but you can interact in real-time with your audience. The tool is available in 24 languages, and includes key features from the 12 types of social media listeners. In addition, its capabilities for online reputation management provide comprehensive analytics which can be used to further understand what works, what doesn’t, why, and spot user behavior, patterns, and future trends. Here is the main problem of today’s Social Web: many brands are still passive. If you, as a consumer, have an urgent need, and wish to reach out to your favorite brand, you do it with the mindset that this present need will not be met right away. In a way, the consumer loses hope of getting an instant response even before sending a message, because most of the times, there is no real-time engagement. If you use the Facebook search graph to identify the pages of your favorite brands in your country, for example, most brand pages will display a response rate of under 75%, and “likely to respond in within a day”.  By offering a real-time engagement solution, tools such as SentiOne manage to create a space of connection for brands and consumers. This helps enterprises in staying connected with their audiences independent of region, country, industry – which is the basis of a functional, healthy community.

#2. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is another easy-to-use tool. You have important functions like integrated analytics. The ability to schedule and queue posts from the different social networks enables users to really target their message, and save time in the process. What could be added down the road to the software is being able to get a consolidated report.

#3. Falcon.io

When coordinating multiple teams (marketing, local marketing group, dealerships and supporting agencies), Falcon.io makes collaboration simple, and ensures a consistent brand message. It means the incorporated functionality allows the targeting of their messages to be similar across different locations.

#4. Oktopost

The social media monitoring tool options from Oktopost offer in-depth reporting. It is a fantastic data-driven marketing software since you can track conversions dollar-for-dollar. No need for previous experience, or a dedicated social media person or team. What some users have reported missing is the integrated customer service function within the tool. But the tool offers plenty of advantages in terms of ROI. This article explains more.

#5. Hootsuite

Hootsuite has been around for many years. The software allows you to monitor keywords, manage multiple social media accounts and schedule posts. You can view all your social networks within a single place. Aside from the comprehensive functionality and reporting, the cost compared to the rest of the competition makes one wonder why it is not more affordable. One issue to look out for though is the scheduling part: if not setup accordingly, you can wake up one morning to find your Twitter filled with “monologues” of text without any actual links or images. Happened to many!

#6. AgoraPulse

The AgoraPulse tool can be characterized as a social media marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) suite. A lot of ease in scheduling, managing, and publishing posts across different social media platforms. The only functionality to be addressed is you cannot group social media channels per brand along with the scheduled publications in a brand group.

Social Media Care and The Importance of Social Media Monitoring

The use of social media care, social media customer service, is the process of answering questions from users about your products and services in a specific time frame. According to Socialbakers, “Using social listening to generate leads means tracking conversation around your own company and your competition in order to discover interested prospects.” Another important aspect is it allows businesses and organizations to leverage their online reputation. Answering within a reasonable time frame to posts by users shows the brand is listening, and makes interactions more meaningful since you are responding to concerns.

Valuable Takeaways

Compiling these top social listening tools was the result of examining reviews and references via G2Crowd. All these tools stood out from tens of apps and software solutions available worldwide, each offering unique features to their respective markets. Beyond social media listening, it is clear just how much of an impact social media marketing has on our daily lives. Not just as brands, but also as consumers. Brands can no longer rely solely on pushing sales pitches. It’s time to upgrade: they must resort on effective story-telling, and addressing questions from potential customers. Just like Gary Vee said in one of his LinkedIn video stories, discussing why ToysRUs disappeared, “If you don’t upgrade, you die” – a bit harsh, but it’s the truth. If you’re not following the consumers and their path, you won’t ever meet them half way.    

The post Top 6 Social Listening Tools appeared first on SEO Chat.