Top 11 Social Listening Tools for 2024: Features, Benefits, and Pricing

In today’s digital landscape, social listening has become crucial for brands to understand their audience, track industry trends, and outpace competitors. Here’s an in-depth review of the top 11 social listening tools for 2024, including their features, benefits, and pricing to help you choose the best fit for your needs.

1. QuickMetrix

Features:

• Unified customer experience management

• Real-time social listening

• Sentiment analysis

• Omni-channel monitoring

• Competitor benchmarking

Benefits:
QuickMetrix provides a comprehensive platform that combines social listening with customer experience management. Its real-time monitoring across multiple channels ensures that brands can stay on top of customer conversations and feedback. The sentiment analysis and competitor benchmarking features allow for in-depth analysis and strategic planning.

Pricing: Custom pricing based on specific requirements.

Use Cases: Ideal for businesses focused on enhancing customer experience while also keeping a close eye on competitor activities and industry trends.

2. Brandwatch

Features:

• Advanced AI-driven analytics

• Customizable dashboards

• Influencer identification

• Competitive benchmarking

Benefits:
Brandwatch is renowned for its powerful analytics and AI capabilities, making it ideal for large enterprises requiring in-depth insights. The platform’s customizable dashboards enable tailored reporting to meet specific business objectives.

Pricing: Starts at $800 per month. Custom pricing available for enterprise solutions.

Use Cases: Best suited for large brands with complex social media needs, such as influencer tracking and detailed competitor analysis.

3. Hootsuite Insights

Features:

• Real-time data monitoring

• Sentiment analysis

• Trend tracking

• Seamless integration with Hootsuite’s social media management platform

Benefits:
Hootsuite Insights integrates smoothly with Hootsuite’s social media management tools, allowing for streamlined management and analysis of social data in one platform. Real-time monitoring and sentiment analysis make it particularly useful for managing brand reputation.

Pricing: Starts at $500 per month.

Use Cases: Ideal for businesses already using Hootsuite for social media management who want to add robust social listening capabilities.

4. Sprout Social

Features:

• Multi-platform monitoring

• Message tagging and categorization

• Advanced analytics and reporting

• Engagement tools

Benefits:
Sprout Social offers an intuitive interface with powerful analytics, making it easy to manage and analyze social conversations. The platform includes engagement tools that allow for direct response to mentions.

Pricing: Starts at $249 per month per user.

Use Cases: Suitable for small to medium-sized businesses seeking an all-in-one social media management and listening solution.

5. Mention

Features:

• Social media and web monitoring

• Competitive analysis

• Automated reports

• Collaboration tools

Benefits:
Mention offers comprehensive monitoring across social media platforms and the web, including blogs and forums. Its competitive analysis tools are valuable for tracking industry trends and competitors’ performance.

Pricing: Starts at $49 per month.

Use Cases: Ideal for small businesses and startups needing an affordable social listening tool with essential features.

6. Talkwalker

Features:

• Image and video recognition

• Customizable alerts

• Crisis management tools

• Multi-language support

Benefits:
Talkwalker excels in advanced image and video recognition, allowing brands to track visual mentions of their products or logos. Its crisis management tools help brands respond quickly to potential PR issues.

Pricing: Starts at $9,600 per year.

Use Cases: Ideal for global brands that need to monitor visual content and manage brand reputation across multiple regions.

7. Meltwater

Features:

• Media monitoring

• Social listening

• Influencer outreach

• Competitive benchmarking

Benefits:
Meltwater combines social listening with traditional media monitoring, offering a comprehensive view of brand mentions across all media channels. Its influencer outreach tools help brands identify and engage with key influencers.

Pricing: Custom pricing based on specific needs.

Use Cases: Best for brands looking to integrate social listening with broader media monitoring and PR efforts.

8. Awario

Features:

• Real-time social listening

• Sentiment analysis

• Boolean search

• Competitor tracking

Benefits:
Awario offers real-time monitoring with a focus on affordability and ease of use. Its Boolean search capabilities allow for precise tracking of specific keywords or phrases.

Pricing: Starts at $39 per month.

Use Cases: Ideal for small businesses and individuals needing a budget-friendly social listening tool with robust features.

9. NetBase Quid

Features:

• Deep social analytics

• AI-driven insights

• Customizable dashboards

• Crisis detection and management

Benefits:
NetBase Quid provides deep social analytics powered by AI, making it a powerful tool for brands seeking actionable insights from social data. Its crisis detection capabilities are particularly valuable for large enterprises.

Pricing: Custom pricing based on specific needs.

Use Cases: Best suited for large organizations requiring detailed social analytics and crisis management tools.

10. BuzzSumo

Features:

• Content discovery

• Influencer identification

• Trend tracking

• Competitor analysis

Benefits:
BuzzSumo is known for its content discovery features, helping brands identify trending topics and popular content. It’s also useful for influencer marketing, allowing brands to find and connect with influencers in their niche.

Pricing: Starts at $99 per month.

Use Cases: Ideal for content marketers and small businesses leveraging social listening for content strategy and influencer marketing.

11. Keyhole

Features:

• Hashtag tracking

• Social media analytics

• Influencer tracking

• Custom reports

Benefits:
Keyhole is a powerful tool for tracking specific hashtags and measuring the performance of social media campaigns. Its custom reports are easy to generate and share, making it a great tool for marketing teams.

Pricing: Starts at $79 per month.

Use Cases: Best for marketing teams needing detailed hashtag tracking and campaign performance analysis.

Conclusion

Choosing the right social listening tool depends on your specific business needs, budget, and goals. Whether you’re a small business looking for an affordable solution or a large enterprise in need of advanced analytics, there’s a tool on this list that can help you harness the power of social listening in 2024.