Top 10 Social Listening Tools in 2024

Ever wonder what your customers are really saying about your brand on social media? A lively conversation is unfolding right now, where your brand is the hot topic. It’s happening in tweets, Instagram comments and Facebook groups. This chatter isn’t just noise — it’s a goldmine of unfiltered insights waiting to be tapped. 

What if you could eavesdrop on these conversations. What would you hear?  

💌 Compliments on your latest product?  

😣 Frustrations over a service glitch?  

💡 Ideas for new features?  

This is where social listening tools come in. They turn the overwhelming flood of online chatter into actionable insights, divulging exactly what your customers love, what irks them and what they wish you offered.  

According to The State of Social Media Marketing report, 61% of marketers in the US say they will invest in analyzing real-time data via social listening to improve brand reputation, manage crisis better and innovate on products and services. If you are behind the curve, understand that social listening is non-negotiable if you’re a brand that values customer-centricity.   

Contrary to popular opinion, social listening is not just about reacting to feedback; it’s about having the right tool, with which you can assess sentiment in conversations, respond to feedback in real-time and predict the outcome of your campaigns/events/updates with reasonable accuracy.  

If you’re able to grasp the sanctity of social listening, bear in mind that your insights are only as good as the tools you use to draw them. Insufficient tools yield skewed insights, throwing off your entire social media strategy. Sorting through all the social listening tools out there can feel like a full-time job. But don’t sweat it — we’ve got your back. This blog doesn't just list the top 10 tools, it deep dives into each one — covering pricing, features, testimonials and limitations — all vetted and verified. We've sifted through the noise to bring you the crème de la crème of social listening tools for 2024. 

Ready to discover what your audience is truly saying? Let’s explore the top social listening solutions that will not only keep you in the loop but place you ahead of the curve. 

What is a social listening tool? 

Social listening tools are technology products – apps and software – designed to proactively monitor social media channels for tagged and untageed brand mentions, competitor mentions and industry keywords. By tracking every relevant mention about your brand, competitors and niche, social listening software helps you with: 

• Sentiment analysis 
• Brand insights 
• Reputation and review management 
• Opinion mining about trending content and themes 
• Competitive analysis 

Smart brands and marketers use these deep, authentic insights to shape their product decisions, social media marketing strategies and customer service efforts. 

10 Social listening tools for businesses of all sizes 

So, you’ve got the lowdown on what a social listening tool is. These tools are like having an extra set of eyes and ears on social media conversations, helping you keep up with relevant users, competitors and trends without the hassle. Whether you’re managing a small business or a big brand, there's a social listening tool here for you.  

While this list isn't exhaustive, it’s a great starting point especially considering how much time and research went into its compilation. We consulted prevalent review platforms and spoke with paying customers to serve you fresh, honest and accurate tool assessments, giving you the freedom to choose the software that best aligns with your social media requirements, budgets and existing tech stack.   

Here's a brief preview of the 10 best social listening tools in 2024. 

1. Sprinklr

Sprinklr is a leading social listening tool that empowers brands to monitor and analyze conversations across a vast array of 30+ social and digital channels. With its advanced AI and Generative AI capabilities and extensive data coverage, Sprinklr is able to deliver faster, more accurate insights than traditional counterparts. Aside from text comments, posts and DMs, Sprinklr can analyze visual brand mentions on images, videos and more, which again sets it apart from the competition. Let’s delve into its standout features.  

🚀 Prominent features 

• Extensive data coverage: Sprinklr integrates with 30+ social and digital platforms, including 400,000+ media sources and more than 1 billion websites. This extensive reach ensures that you capture every relevant conversation and customer feedback, providing a holistic view of their online presence. 

• Advanced AI analysis: Sprinklr's social listening platform is enriched with Generative AI capable of delivering highly accurate insights with near-zero error rates. It excels in sentiment analysis, emotion detection, entity identification and text classification, yielding digestible insights from raw data. 

   Interesting Read: Generative AI in Social Media: Start with 5 Easy Tips  

• Trend & crisis monitoring: The tool provides real-time data capture and analysis, allowing brands to respond swiftly to emerging social media trends and potential crises. This is facilitated by firehose access to 10+ channels, which ensures lossless data capture. 
• Smart Themes and Listening Topics: This feature allows users to create customized Listening Topics and Smart Themes. The Themes feature groups similar conversations into themes using AI. It collects data, identifies key phrases and clusters them into themes and sub-themes. You can then analyze these themes to understand trends and sentiments about your brand.  
• Trending Topics: Sprinklr offers a Trending Topics feature that provides real-time insights into popular discussions sourced directly from the social channel. You can access both live trends and historical data, allowing you to stay updated on relevant conversations and capitalize on emerging topics. 
• Smart Alerts: The Smart Alerts feature proactively identifies potential crises by analyzing conversations and notifying teams of anomalies in key metrics. This early warning system helps respond swiftly to emerging issues, safeguarding your brand reputation. 

Overall verdict 

Sprinklr distinguishes itself in the social listening space through its extensive channel coverage and advanced AI capabilities. Its ability to provide detailed analytics and real-time insights makes it an excellent choice for large enterprises focused on proactive brand management and crisis response.  However, the platform's complexity and pricing may pose challenges for smaller businesses. Users should consider Sprinklr if they require comprehensive analytics, effective crisis management and trend monitoring, but they should also be prepared for a learning curve associated with its robust functionalities.  

Customer testimonial 

💪 Strengths 
“I can deep dive and slice huge amounts of data in under 5 minutes. I can deep dive by over 50 criteria. Language, country, region, sentiment, emotion, hashtags, phrases, channels, action words, writing style etc. This makes my role as a social media manager much easier to do. I can very quickly get to the data I need and download or export or schedule to people within my company or from our project partners. Built-in AI highlights the key insights as to why there are peaks or issues of concern.” Source 

💡 What could be better 
“The tool is very robust, which can make it challenging to learn all its capabilities and be able to utilize everything to its full potential. Implementation can be a big lift.” Source 

Trusted by: Diageo, Nasdaq, Superdry, Panasonic, Acer, Clarks and Honda  

Price: Custom Pricing. Get your quote now 

Demo: Free & personalized 

2. Meltwater

Meltwater is a global media intelligence and social listening brand that offers a comprehensive suite of tools for monitoring and analyzing your social media presence. It provides insights from social media, news sites, blogs, forums and other online sources, making it an invaluable resource for businesses looking to understand and manage their brand reputation. 

🚀 Prominent features 

• Extensive media monitoring: Tracks brand mentions, analyzes sentiment, identifies trends and generates insights from social conversations across a wide range of platforms, including social media, forums, podcasts, online news and review sites. 
• Real-time trends and historical data analysis: Provides real-time trends from social media and a 15-month archive of social data for year-on-year comparisons. 
• Unlimited keyword search: Offers unlimited ad-hoc searches, queries, mentions and dashboard analytics with no caps on result volumes. 
• Unified platform: Combines social media and PR management, saving time and money by eliminating the need for separate tools. 
• Visual analytics and enrichments: Uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR), logo, celebrity and emotion recognition to analyze non-verbal content on news, blogs and Reddit. 
• Influencer identification: Identifies authentic influencers based on their impact and audience, avoiding those with artificially inflated follower counts. 
• Comprehensive crisis management: Early warning systems and real-time alerts help manage brand reputation proactively. 

Overall verdict 

Meltwater stands out in the social listening market with its robust feature set and comprehensive data coverage, which combines social media and traditional media monitoring in one platform. Compared to competitors, Meltwater’s unlimited keyword searches and integrated news monitoring provide significant advantages. Additionally, its comprehensive crisis management features, including early warning systems and real-time alerts, help manage brand reputation proactively. This makes it particularly beneficial for agencies and large in-house teams needing extensive research and crisis detection capabilities. 

However, the pricing might be a drawback for smaller businesses or those with limited budgets. Users should consider Meltwater if they need a powerful, all-in-one social listening and monitoring tool, but be prepared for potentially higher costs. 

Customer testimonial 

💪 Strengths 
“It can be operated by users with all different levels of knowledge in social listening. There're a lot of features to help you make the best search for each of the cases. It's very robust and super quick, something essential when you're facing something big, like a brand crisis or anything out of normal. The integration between their other services works great. Meltwater is constantly evolving, going after new features, like image recognition or group topics of search.”  Source 

💡 What could be better 
“My company does not want to spend additional money for more social listening and media monitoring tools, so I wish these were more built in or a lower price.” Source  

Price: Available in 4 different plans (pricing on request) 

Trial: Contact vendor for information  

3. Brandwatch

Brandwatch is a powerful social listening tool that extracts valuable insights from millions of online sources. It analyzes both historical and real-time conversations to help you understand market trends and audience behavior. With continuous innovation, Brandwatch often introduces new features, such as AI-driven insights, to keep users at the forefront of social listening. 

🚀 Prominent features 

• Extensive data coverage: Access insights from over 100 million sources, offering a broad view of your online presence. 
• Geolocation and image recognition: Provides insights based on geographical location and visual content, enhancing your understanding of regional trends and visual brand mentions. 
• Boolean operators: Utilize 48 different Boolean operators to refine your searches and get precise results. 
• Historical data access: Access social data dating back to 2010 for trendspotting and consumer research. 
• Vizia data visualization: Use Vizia to visualize real-time data and turn complex information into easily understandable insights. 

Overall verdict 

Brandwatch excels with its extensive data coverage and AI-driven insights, making it a top contender for businesses needing deep and comprehensive social listening capabilities. It's particularly strong in data visualization and demographic analysis, setting it apart from competitors.  However, its extensive features and the complexity of its Boolean query builder may be overwhelming for beginners or smaller businesses. Brandwatch is best suited for enterprises and marketing agencies with diverse, global client bases. 

Customer testimonial 

💪 Strengths 
“Allows us to analyze brands to monitor online conversations effectively, and any changes in conversation. Customizable charting allows us to create tailored charts and analyze data in-depth. The flexibility of charting options sets Brandwatch apart.” Source 

💡 What could be better 
“At first it can be a bit intimidating to write the queries, but there are educational videos that can help, and you can also reach out to customer support. In some cases, I've seen that dashboards can take some time to update if you make changes to the queries. One limitation for us is that TikTok is not part of the media platforms included.” Source  

Pricing & trial information: Available on request 

4. Sprout Social

Sprout Social’s social listening tools provide a comprehensive view of conversations relevant to your brand across major social networks and other online sources. By automatically sifting through millions of data points, Sprout Social uncovers valuable insights that help you understand audience preferences, track industry trends and identify key influencers. 

Compare Now: Sprinklr vs. Sprout Social

🚀 Prominent features 

• User-friendly interface: Sprout Social’s tools are easy to use, even for those without technical expertise in Boolean queries. You can easily create queries to track millions of conversations around key topics. 
• Integrated social media management: Manage social media engagement across multiple networks in a unified inbox, integrating seamlessly with tools like HubSpot. 
• Trend identification and reporting: Generate word clouds to see common terms and trends, making it easy to identify and assess key insights. 
• Extensive data access: Use AI and automation to delve into insights and adjust filters instantly, providing a full scope of data. 

  Read More: How to Use AI in Marketing & Get Results (The Right Way) 

• Crisis management: Set up custom alerts and use granular sentiment analysis to stay prepared and manage potential crises. 
• Competitor comparison: Identify industry gaps, track share of voice and understand consumer attitudes toward competitors. 

Overall verdict 

Sprout Social is a fantastic choice for businesses looking for user-friendly, powerful social listening tools. It stands out with its easy query-building capabilities and comprehensive data access, making it accessible for users with varying levels of expertise. Its strong focus on competitor analysis and crisis management makes it a valuable tool for brands needing to stay ahead of industry trends and potential issues.  However, while it offers great features for small to medium businesses, larger enterprises might find it less comprehensive compared to some higher-end tools like Sprinklr or Brandwatch. Users should also be cautious of the pricing, which may be higher than some competitors, especially for advanced features. 

Customer testimonial 

💪 Strengths 
“I find Sprout incredibly user-friendly, especially when setting up listening and keywords. It's intuitive and straightforward, making it easy to navigate and manage social media interactions and analytics. With Sprout, I can quickly track conversations and trends, making my social media management tasks efficient and effective.” Source 

💡 What could be better 
“It would be really helpful to have more AI-driven tools within the software for tagging, building listening topics, and just generally aiding in the process of managing social media accounts. Listening tools are very expensive and hard to break through the noise to actionable insights if you are a small to mid-sized brand.” Source 

Price: USD 299/seat/month  

Trial: Part of a custom-built plan for enterprise users  

5. Netbase Quid

Quid, formerly known as NetBase, is a next-generation social listening tool that leverages generative AI to identify customer needs and anticipate future trends. By tracking millions of data points in real-time, Quid provides detailed insights into emerging trends and consumer behavior, helping businesses stay ahead of the curve. 

🚀 Prominent features 

• Comprehensive data visualization: The platform offers powerful dashboards that present data in an easily digestible format, facilitating cross-collaboration and informed decision-making. 
• Predictive analytics: Unlike many competitors, Quid focusses on forecasting future consumer needs and behaviors, providing brands with a strategic advantage. 
• Seamless integration: Combines data from a vast array of sources, including your internal data, for a holistic view. 
• Robust reporting tools: Users can generate insightful social media reports that use visualizations and analytics, making it easier to communicate findings and strategies to stakeholders. 
• Generative AI insights: Quid uses advanced GenAI algorithms to analyze conversations in real time, enabling brands to stay ahead of emerging trends and consumer expectations. 

Overall verdict 

Quid positions itself uniquely in the social listening landscape by focusing on predictive analytics and generative AI, setting it apart from traditional tools that primarily react to current conversations.  While it excels in providing foresight and comprehensive data visualization, potential users should consider that its pricing is available upon request, which may indicate a higher cost compared to other tools that offer transparent pricing structures. Additionally, brands that require immediate, real-time engagement capabilities might find Quid less suited for their needs as it leans more towards long-term strategic insights.  Overall, Quid is an excellent choice for organizations looking to not just listen but predict and shape consumer behavior. 

Customer testimonial 

💪 Strengths 
“Easy, super intuitive tool. Can be used for a wide variety of highly relevant and business critical use cases ranging from campaign/brand health monitoring, reputation management/crisis communication (messaging strategy), identification of brand ambassadors, etc.” Source 

💡 What could be better 
“Setting competitor keywords works best with separate topics and i wish that was easier to do in single topic query. The integration with Quid could be optimized better to pair with social listening data. The channel analytics could also be better integrated for pulling social media page metrics.” Source  

Pricing & trial information: Contact the vendor  

6. Talkwalker

Talkwalker (recently acquired by Hootsuite) is a comprehensive social listening tool designed to tap into online customer discussions across social media, forums, news sites and blogs. With access to up to five years of historical data, it offers a detailed and long-term view of trends and conversations that matter to your brand. 

🚀 Prominent features 

• Comprehensive coverage: Talkwalker monitors discussions in 187 languages across 150 million websites and 10+ social networks, ensuring you can capture a global view of conversations related to your products and services. 
• AI-powered sentiment analysis: The platform provides sentiment analysis in over 127 languages, allowing you to understand public opinion and respond proactively to potential issues. 
• Real-time monitoring: With a dedicated command center, it enables you to listen and react to social media conversations in real-time, enhancing customer engagement and crisis management. 
• Trend analysis tools: You can access historical data for up to two years and utilize features like the Virality Map, Conversation Clusters and automated theme-based trend detection to identify and capitalize on emerging trends. 
• Visual listening: Talkwalker’s image recognition technology tracks over 30,000 brand logos and can identify scenes and objects, giving brands a comprehensive view of their visual presence online. 

Overall verdict 

Talkwalker excels in providing a global perspective with its extensive language coverage and real-time capabilities. Its AI-powered sentiment analysis and visual listening features set it apart from competitors, making it ideal for brands needing comprehensive, real-time insights. While it may be complex and pricey for smaller businesses, it’s ideal for brands focused on comprehensive monitoring and strategic insights. 

Customer testimonial 

💪 Strengths 
“I have been using Talkwalker for more than 3 years now. I like the depth the tool can go into bringing results. Even when a nano influencer or small media website mentions your brand, Talkwalker's web crawlers don't disappoint you and show you the results. In almost real-time.” Source 

💡 What could be better 
“It's an expensive car, or a space shuttle, it has so many features, you can get overwhelmed. It allows you to be overwhelmed, and you need to take time and learn about each option. Talkwalker has best in class support and training if you need it.” Source 

Price: USD 800/month  

Trial: Contact the vendor for information  

7. Brand24

Brand24 is a robust and affordable AI-powered social listening and online media monitoring tool. It tracks conversations from 25 million online sources, providing valuable consumer insights to help you understand brand perception and sentiment in real-time. This tool is designed to measure brand awareness, identify reputational risks and analyze consumer sentiment. 

🚀 Prominent features 

• Extensive monitoring: Brand24 tracks mentions across 25 million online sources, including social media platforms, blogs, news sites and forums, supporting 108 languages, ensuring comprehensive coverage of conversations. 
• Real-time alerts: Users receive instant notifications for new mentions, allowing them to respond quickly to emerging issues or opportunities. This feature is crucial for effective crisis management. 
• AI-powered insights: The platform uses advanced AI capabilities for features like Anomaly Detection, Emotion Analysis, Topic Analysis and AI Brand Assistant (a chat you can use to discuss your monitoring projects), providing deeper insights into customer sentiment and brand perception. 
• Sentiment analysis: Brand24 offers sentiment analysis to gauge public opinion about a brand, product or campaign, helping you to understand how you’re perceived in the market. It also distills these brand mentions into an actionable and easily digestible word cloud. 

Overall verdict 

Brand24 positions itself as an affordable and powerful social listening solution, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses. Compared to competitors, it offers a straightforward interface and robust listening capabilities at a lower price point.  However, while it excels in real-time monitoring and sentiment analysis, users seeking advanced analytics or more comprehensive historical data may find it lacking compared to higher-end tools like Talkwalker or Sprinklr.  

Overall, Brand24 is an excellent choice for brands looking for an accessible entry into social listening without sacrificing essential features. 

Customer testimonial 

💪 Strengths 
“Brand24 helps us optimize our time spent with social listening. We don't have to collect mentions manually anymore. It also helps with organization. It has some pretty cool features for filtering and configuring the projects so the mentions collected will be the most accurate possible. It is easy to implement integrations and the customer support hasn't let me down yet.” Source 

💡 What could be better 
“It stores collected mentions for only about a year, so if you aim to save historical data, Brand24 is not it.” Source  

Price: USD 79/month (to track 3 keywords and 2,000 mentions each month) 

Trial: Available for 14 days 

8. Synthesio

Synthesio offers a comprehensive suite of social media intelligence tools, integrating advanced social listening capabilities with next-generation social media analytics. Trusted by the world’s leading brands, Synthesio excels in providing extensive customer data and intuitive tools to analyze and understand social conversations. 

🚀 Prominent features 

• Comprehensive social listening dashboards: Monitor and track KPIs across various social channels, filtering mentions by keyword, topic, media type, language, sentiment and more. 
• AI-powered insights: Uses AI for sentiment analysis, trend detection, topic clustering and image recognition, providing accurate and meaningful insights quickly. 
• High data quality and quantity: Captures a wide range of data types, including social-declarative data, digital-behavioral data and digital surveys, while automatically removing irrelevant mentions for cleaner data. 
• Market research integration: Synthesio's collaboration with Ipsos enables it to combine social listening with rigorous market research methodologies, providing deeper insights into consumer behavior and preferences. 
• BI-styled reporting: Integrates the best of Business Intelligence and Social Media Intelligence to create custom visualizations and apply KPI frameworks for data-driven decision-making. 
• Noise reduction technology: Synthesio's unique Noise Reducer filters out irrelevant mentions, ensuring that brands focus on genuine consumer expressions and actionable insights. 

Overall verdict 

Synthesio excels in providing high-quality, comprehensive data and advanced AI-powered insights, making it a strong contender in the social listening market. Its unique Noise Reducer feature and BI-styled reporting set it apart from competitors. 

However, potential users should be aware that Synthesio's pricing is typically higher than some other tools, which may limit accessibility for smaller businesses. Additionally, while its advanced features are powerful, they may require a steeper learning curve for users unfamiliar with sophisticated analytics. 

Customer testimonial 

💪 Strengths 
“The fact that Synthesio has broad coverage in terms of social media and web sources, geographies and provides a possibility to track data for the past periods. This is a big plus. The possibility to sort mentions by interactions, engagement rate etc. is also very helpful.” Source 

💡 What could be better 
“The system of setting queries for the dashboard is extremely complex, especially if we need to cover very broad scope and diversity of the topics we need to track on social media. Analytics should be connected directly with the Listening part, so you could do filtering and look for analytics directly. Instead, you need to build a report, where you need to create every widget, copy-paste your query multiple times, adjust the time period for every widget etc.” Source 

Pricing & trial information: Available on request 

9. Mention

Mention is a user-friendly social listening tool that allows brands to track and analyze conversations across a vast array of online sources. With the capability to monitor over a billion content sources in 44 languages, Mention helps businesses gain insights into brand sentiment, industry trends and competitive analysis. It's particularly well-suited for freelancers, small businesses and startups looking for an affordable yet effective way to manage their online presence. 

🚀 Prominent features 

• Comprehensive monitoring: Tracks mentions from over a billion sources in real-time, including social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and X, as well as blogs, news sites and forums. 
• Competitive analysis: Compare your brand against two or more competitors to ensure your content remains relevant and competitive. 
• Crisis management: Effectively manage social media crises with real-time alerts and tools to handle uproar or negative publicity. 
• Customizable alerts: Allows users to set up precise keyword-based and page-based monitoring alerts. 

Overall verdict 

Mention is ideal for small businesses, startups and freelancers seeking a reliable and affordable social listening tool. Its real-time monitoring, sentiment analysis, and competitive analysis provide valuable insights to help manage brand reputation and understand consumer sentiment.  While it may not have the advanced features of more expensive tools, its ease of use and comprehensive coverage make it a great choice for those looking to enhance their social media strategy without a significant investment. 

Customer testimonial 

💪 Strengths 
“Mention.com can easily pick up social chatters from multiple sources like social media, local forums, & blogs. The pricing is relatively cheap for the functionality of the tool.” Source 

💡 What could be better 
“Without proper configuration of searches, you can miss a lot of essential mentions.”  Source 

Price: USD 41/user/month  

Trial: Free trial for 14 days  

10. Digimind

Digimind is a comprehensive social listening and competitive intelligence platform that transforms online data into actionable insights for businesses. With its intuitive interface and powerful analytics capabilities, Digimind helps brands monitor their reputation, track industry trends and gain a competitive edge in the market. 

🚀 Prominent features 

• Extensive data coverage: Digimind collects data from over 850 million sources, including social media platforms, blogs, forums and offline sources, providing a holistic view of brand mentions and industry conversations. 
• Automated insights: The platform utilizes AI to analyze trends in mentions and sentiment, enabling users to quickly identify significant shifts in consumer perception and emerging topics. 
• Customizable dashboards: Digimind offers intuitive dashboards and charts that make it easy to visualize and interpret social data, allowing users to uncover insights and make informed strategic decisions. 
• Historical search: Users can access past data through the historical search feature, enabling them to analyze long-term trends and compare performance over time. 
• Multilingual support: The tool works in over 200 languages and features automatic translation, making it suitable for global brands and agencies with diverse audiences. 

Overall verdict 

Digimind stands out as a user-friendly social listening platform that caters to medium and small businesses. Compared to competitors, it offers a straightforward interface and essential features at a lower price point, making it accessible for organizations with limited budgets.  However, while Digimind excels in ease of use and affordability, it may lack the depth of data analysis and advanced features found in enterprise-level tools like Sprinklr or Synthesio. Users looking for more sophisticated competitive intelligence and predictive analytics might find its offerings somewhat limited.  

Customer testimonial 

💪 Strengths 
“Digimind Social presented quick and easy-to-understand data about audiences such as age, gender, and profession. The charts and word clouds allowed for quick overviews that we could use with clients to deliver valuable insights.” Source 

💡 What could be better 
“The depth of data available wasn't as significant as other platforms. Although the information was easy to process, Meltwater's Audience platform has way more additional depth about audience characteristics, personalities, etc.” Source 

Pricing & trial information: Available on request 

Why you need a social listening tool 

Social listening tools are like having a team of digital detectives working around the clock to keep your brand in top shape.  

Here’s why you need one in your marketing arsenal: 

🛡 Protect your brand: Control negative sentiment before it becomes a crisis. Social listening tools help you catch criticism early, allowing you to address issues promptly and maintain a positive reputation on social media. 

🎯 Understand your audience: Dive deep into what people are saying about your brand, even when they don’t tag you. These tools provide insights into customer conversations, helping you understand their interests, preferences and pain points. 

🚀 Identify trends early: Spot emerging social media trends and stay ahead of the competition. Social listening tools alert you to new opportunities based on real social conversations, so you can adapt your strategies quickly. 

💬 Engage authentically: Find opportunities for genuine engagement. Thank people who mention you, jump in with useful suggestions and deliver timely social customer care.  

💡 Gather valuable feedback: Collect feedback from customers to improve your products and services. Social listening tools help you understand what your customers love and what they’re asking for, giving you the chance to innovate based on their needs. 

📊 Analyze sentiment: Track social sentiment in real-time. If the conversation about your brand starts to turn negative, take action before things escalate. If things are going well, capitalize on the positive buzz with targeted campaigns.  

📈 Monitor metrics: Keep an eye on specific social media metrics like share of voice (SOV) and benchmark against competitors. Social listening tools provide valuable insights to inform your marketing strategy and optimize your campaigns. 

 🤝 Find influencers: Discover key influencers and brand advocates who can amplify your message. Partner with the right creators to reach a wider audience and build stronger relationships with your customers.  

🔍 Spot competitor moves: Stay informed about competitor campaigns as they launch. Analyze potential opportunities and threats as they emerge, giving you the chance to adjust your strategy accordingly.   

Adding a social listening tool to your marketing toolbox helps you stay informed, engaged and ready to tackle any challenge. It’s about being proactive, not just reactive and making data-driven decisions to keep your brand thriving.   

Top must-have features in a social listening tool 

When selecting a social listening tool, it's easy to get distracted by flashy features that you may never use. However, narrowing down your feature list to focus on what's truly important can make a significant difference for your brand. Prioritizing essential features ensures you get the most value for your investment and avoid paying for extravagant options that don't align with your needs. 

Here are the top features you should look for: 

• Wide channel coverage: Ensure the tool monitors all major social networks, news sites, blogs, forums and more. The broader the coverage, the better the insights. 
• AI-driven insights: Look for advanced features like sentiment analysis, visual brand monitoring and trend detection powered by AI. These insights are a product of intense number crunching and pattern detection at which AI excels and humans err.  
• Data access: Access to real-time and historical data is crucial. This allows you to track current conversations and analyze past trends to inform your strategies. Be mindful of any limits on searches and data retrieval. 
• User-friendly interface: The tool should be easy to navigate with intuitive dashboards and clear analytics. Good customer support and resources can also make a big difference. 
• Keyword and hashtag tracking: Track specific keywords and hashtags relevant to your brand. This helps you stay on top of industry trends, measure campaign success and find potential influencers. 
• Data analysis and visualization: Advanced analytics, like natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, can extract meaningful insights. Look for tools with a variety of social media dashboards, standard and curated. 
• Comprehensive reporting: The ability to generate customizable and visually appealing reports is essential. These reports should highlight key metrics and insights that can be shared with stakeholders. 
• Competitive benchmarking: Compare your brand’s performance against competitors. Metrics like share of voice, sentiment analysis and engagement levels can help you identify areas for improvement. 
• Integration capabilities: Ensure the tool can integrate with your existing systems like CRM, marketing automation platforms and customer support software. This provides a holistic view of your customer’s journey and helps deliver personalized experiences. Check out Sprinklr’s extensive integrations here. 
• Trendjacking: Spot and analyze trending topics to stay ahead of the curve. Features like trend prediction graphs and virality maps can help you capitalize on what’s hot in your industry. 

How to find the best social listening software for your business 

Finding the right social listening software for your business can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Here’s a straightforward process to help you make the best choice: 

Understand your needs

First, identify what you want to achieve with social listening.  Are you looking to:  

• Monitor brand mentions?  
• Track sentiment? 
• Find influencers? 
• Analyze competitors?  

Knowing your social media goals will help you choose the features that matter most. Then make a choice on the features that stand out and match your requirements. 

Evaluate pricing and plans

Consider your budget and compare pricing plans. Some tools charge based on the number of searches or data volume, while others offer unlimited access. Be sure to choose a plan that aligns with your needs and budget. 

Take advantage of free trials

Many social listening tools offer free trials and demos. Use this opportunity to test the software’s features, interface and support services. This hands-on experience can be invaluable in making your final decision. 

Read reviews and case studies

Look at user reviews and case studies to see how other businesses in your industry are using the tool. This can provide insights into the tool’s strengths and weaknesses and how it performs in real-world scenarios. A simpler way is to use articles like this one to get all tool reviews in one place for objective comparison. 

Consider customer support

Good customer support can make a big difference. Check if the tool offers comprehensive support options, including tutorials, live chat and dedicated account managers. Quick and effective support can help you resolve issues and maximize the tool’s potential. 

Involve your team

Get feedback from the team members who will be using the tool. Their input can provide valuable perspectives on usability and feature requirements. 

Make a decision

After evaluating all these factors, choose the tool that best fits your needs, budget and team preferences. Remember, the right social listening tool can significantly enhance your marketing strategy and prove to be a game-changer for you. 

Final thoughts 

Wrapping up our deep dive into the top social listening tools, it's clear that choosing the right one is a significant decision with long-term impact. As Ragy Thomas, CEO of Sprinklr, says “When you start listening, not just to conversations about you, but about what matters to you, it changes the game.” 

Social listening tools do more than just keep an ear out for brand mentions — they empower you to truly understand and engage with your audience. Whether it's spotting the next big trend, addressing a budding crisis or discovering your next brand advocate, these tools have got you covered. 

So, are you ready to tune into the chatter and turn insights into action? Dive into these tools, find the perfect match and watch your brand not just stay afloat, but surf the waves of social media with style and finesse.