5 Social Listening Tools Every Marketer Needs To Keep Their Eyes On

Social Listening Is The Name Of The Game

Despite the conditions plaguing the world, we do have a few things to be thankful for, none more important for marketing and insights professionals than the tool of Social Listening. In a nutshell, social listening allows marketers to derive data-driven insights from information gleaned from AI-supported software. Brands that implement social intelligence in their digital marketing strategies have a lot more to work with, like trend tracking, consumer sentiment analysis, and audience segmentation options, to name a few.

If you’re currently operating without social listening as a key element in your team’s research and strategizing efforts, then you’re only weakening your company’s positioning in its respective industry. The competition is fierce in this day and age of online communication and content sharing, and it’ll only be more prevalent and relentless as e-commerce makes up more and more of the retail revenues across the globe. Best you keep track of some of the best social listening tools on the market today, and make the tough, but necessary, decision regarding which platform to adopt. We’ll help make that process easier with our overview of 5 excellent tools that’ll sharpen your marketing efforts moving into 2021. 

1. Clarabridge

Founded: 2006

Company Size: 200-500

Customer Service: Yes

Pricing: Subscription

Services Offered: Keyword Search Analytics, Multi-Channel Listening & Integration, Consumer Insights Reports, Social Media Monitoring Courses & Training.

Clarabridge is one of the best social listening tools. Period. Awarded “Leader” status in the 2020 Forrester Review report for the categories of “Customer Feedback Management Platforms”, and “AI-Based Text Analytics Platforms (People Focused)”, this top-of-class company is one of the few prides of the marketing industry, and provides unrivaled social intelligence services for many world-renowned brands, such as Adobe, United Airlines, KitchenAid, Expedia.com, TD Bank, Capital One, and Crate&Barrel. With everything from healthcare, finance, consumer goods, retail, hospitality, and media under their belts, Clarabridge never fails to deliver strong performance results through professional customer care, social media feedback and management services, and direct advisory offerings.

Website: https://www.clarabridge.com/

2. Digimind

Founded: 1998

Company Size: 200+

Customer Service: Yes

Pricing: Subscription

Services Offered: Brand Reputation, Competitive Intelligence, Consumer Insights, Influencer Identification, Trend Tracking, Campaign Analysis

Digimind is a world-recognized social listening tool with over twenty years of experience assisting numerous blue-ribbon companies through a comprehensive suite of social media tracking services. Listed by The Forrester Report as a "Strong Performer" under their review of Social Listening Platforms for 2020, Digimind continues to lead the market in premium social intelligence software that’s assisted the likes of McDonald’s, L’Oreal, Canon, Audi, Nike, and many more. Whether it’s breaking down target audience groups into segmented demographics, discovering the strongest hashtags within a given time frame, or bolstering campaign efforts through competitive reports, Digimind shines as a strong example of what social media monitoring tools should strive to emulate, while continually growing as a platform with new features and integrations. Marketers are encouraged to work with a tool like Digimind if their goals encompass both broad consumer insights work, or focused brand trend tracking.

On top of all that, Digimind offers helpful 3rd-party platform integrations with it's partners, Hootsuite and Socialbakers, to bring marketing and insights professionals additional means to share data, analyze trends, and publish content.

Website: https://www.digimind.com/

3. Hootsuite

Founded: 2010

Company Size: 500 -1,000

Customer Service: Yes

Pricing: Subscription

Services Offered: Engagement Tracking, Campaign Monitoring, Brand Social Media Platform Analysis, Content Reports.

Hootsuite needs no introduction. It’s one of the stronger social listening tools on the market currently, and its cemented its place in social intelligence infamy by providing standout service to a host of Top 500 brands, like Marketo, SXSW, and Melia Hotels International. Marketers and insights professionals alike have taken advantage of Hootsuite’s impressive lineup of social listening services, with unbeatable network integrations across the board. This G2 Spring Leader 2020 for Marketers delivers useful social media integrations that make tracking and analyzing content a breeze for even the most novice of professionals. That accessibility, combined with their stellar customer care support, make Hootsuite a social listening tool that’s not to be overlooked.

Website: https://hootsuite.com/

4. Socialbakers

Founded: 2008

Company Size: 350

Customer Service: Yes

Pricing: Both Subscription (Monthly & Annually) & Fixed

Services Offered: Social Media Management, Audience Analysis, Influencer Identification, Platform Analytics, Community Management, Market Reporting.

Socialbakers, a social listening tool with some impressive awards under its belt, and over a decade of experience, truly shines as an example of a marketing support software that works. What can be said regarding Socialbakers that hasn’t already been demonstrated through their successful client stories, and ever-growing body of features? Though not largely known, as opposed to some of the bigger companies on this list, Socialbakers is certainly no small fry, having worked with the likes of Sony, Heineken, Samsung, National Geographic, and Nestle to name a few. Those that do partner with the Socialbakers tend to do so because of one of their more unique offerings: AI-based research for internal marketing persona discovery. This kind of Marketing Research is by no means revolutionary, but a great tool to have when building an internal review of a brand’s social media marketing profile.

Website: https://www.socialbakers.com/

5. Sprout Social

Founded: 2010

Company Size: 500 - 1,000

Customer Service: Yes

Pricing: Subscription

Services Offered: Content Publishing & Scheduling, Engagement Tracking, Social Data Analytics, Trend Tracking.

Sprout Social is a solid tool for social listening - among other helpful social media monitoring services - with a complex platform that’s been trusted in the social intelligence industry for a decade. Whether it’s Subaru, Edelman, Shopify.com, or Loews, Sprout Social continues to exemplify top-of-class social listening software. Part of what sets Sprout Social apart from their digital colleagues is their stronger emphasis on content publishing and scheduling, a helpful supplementary offering that allows social media and content managers to both analyze former posts’ engagement success, but also better curate their future videos, stories, and news, to help clients grow their consumer base.

Website: https://sproutsocial.com/