In business, reputation is everything. It can decide whether someone gives you their attention or, even more significantly, their sale.<\/p>\n\n
However, with more than 5 billion people worldwide<\/a> using social media to produce a constant flow of information, interaction, and opinions across dozens of platforms, reputations are harder than ever to maintain. That\u2019s why free social listening tools are so important.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n In this article, we\u2019ll talk through why social media monitoring matters to marketers and test out five of the most popular social media listening tools out there.<\/p>\n Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n Free Social Media Monitoring Tools<\/a> <\/a> <\/p>\n Social media monitoring, sometimes referred to as social media \u201clistening,\u201d<\/a> is the practice of examining what social media users say about a specific topic.<\/p>\n For marketers, this topic is usually a brand, competitor, product, service, or even campaign.<\/p>\n With so many different platforms today, social media monitoring can take many forms. It could mean tracking specific:<\/p>\n Keywords (could be your industry, product type, the problem you solve) It can also take place directly on the platforms themselves or in third-party tools, which we\u2019ll discuss shortly. For instance, back in my agency heyday, I used to have about 25 streams I would track in HubSpot<\/a> with client competitors and handles.<\/p>\n Depending on your brand and goal, social media listening can also offer all kinds of different insights to shape your strategy.<\/p>\n It can help you navigate public relations crises, develop new products, evaluate your customer satisfaction, and even discover new markets or marketing trends.<\/p>\n What trends are we seeing when it comes to social media in general? Our 2024 Social Trends Report shares exclusive findings on how people engage across social personally and professionally. <\/span><\/span>Get it free now.<\/a><\/p>\n For example, let\u2019s say you\u2019re a software company and see people talk about how bad your customer service is on social media.<\/p>\n That lets you know you need to make improvements, which could mean introducing a live chat on your website or sharing more troubleshooting or educational content on your social media content calendar<\/a>, among other things.<\/p>\n Or what if you\u2019re a clothing brand that sees an influencer, and your audience loves talking about their favorite trends? Knowing this may help you identify similar styles in your catalog to highlight and promote or even inspire a new design.<\/p>\n The impact is pretty wide, but it all starts from the same place \u2014 keeping tabs on the market around you with social media listening. So, don\u2019t slack on making it a part of your social media strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dig deeper into social media listening specifically and how it works<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n As a business or brand, it’s critical to know what\u2019s happening around you at all times. I mean, this is the environment you\u2019re conducting business in, and all of these factors can affect your ultimate performance.<\/p>\n That means you need to keep track of not just what people (like your competitors, buyers, and the press) are saying about you but also their general feelings, interests, concerns, and activities.<\/p>\n Social media is one of the most effective ways to collect this value insight, unfiltered and usually free, and then act accordingly. In other words, it helps you know what\u2019s going on and being said so you can respond effectively.<\/p>\n With so many social media platforms today, monitoring and listening by manually checking a newsfeed or searching through posts is not scalable.<\/p>\n Thankfully, there are numerous social media monitoring and management tools available that can curate conversations for you and make it easier to engage with or analyze what to do.<\/p>\n I tested out five of the most popular for you.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Now, I have to be completely honest. I\u2019ve been in this space for over a decade, and a lot of my go-to free social media listening tools are no longer free or even in existence. Bummer, I know.<\/p>\n I guess many caught wind of just how important social media listening is to businesses and figured they shouldn\u2019t just be giving it away, while maybe others couldn\u2019t keep up with changing permission and API updates.<\/p>\n Lots of newer social media channels are also much harder to track. (Most tools can only pull from those using RSS feeds.) But, hey, all is not lost.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re strapped for cash or simply trying to cut costs, there are still a few small and mighty options you can combine to get started with social media listening for free.<\/p>\n I tested a few of them out for you, along with some tried-and-true paid options that offer free trials. Here\u2019s what I gathered.<\/p>\n BrandMentions, as the name implies, is purely dedicated to social listening. And, honestly, that\u2019s probably why it\u2019s so good.<\/p>\n While the full tool is subscription-based (with a 7-day trial), it does offer a host of free trackers you can use ad-hoc and get a ton of value:<\/p>\n Social Mentions<\/a> I tried each one, and they are all extremely easy and intuitive to use. Simply enter the hashtag, keyword, brand name, or handle you want to track, and BrandMentions works its magic.<\/p>\n Yes, the data is limited to the past week, and insights like \u201csentiment over time\u201d or \u201cTop influencers\u201d are only available with a paid plan, but the information you get is still impressive.<\/p>\n Check out what it gave me using HubSpot as an example.<\/p>\n Believe it or not, all of these examples are just what I could see above the fold in the reports I ran. There was way too much to show in this article. As I scrolled, BrandMentions went into specifics like:<\/p>\n Reach It even pulls a feed of existing media about the given keyword.<\/p>\n Truthfully, the results of each tool are pretty similar, so you can really just use one for all your needs. Nevertheless, I was super impressed and will be coming back to this one in the future.<\/p>\n What I like<\/strong>: BrandMentions is solely focused on social media listening. Because of that, all of the information shared is valuable and relevant. It\u2019s also an extremely easy-to-use and navigate tool. Plus, the interface is modern, bright, and engaging.<\/p>\n What can be improved: <\/strong>No complaints!<\/p>\n Tailwind<\/a> is a social media management tool designed specifically for Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook Pages. It allows users to schedule posts (Images, Videos, & Stories), send emails, and get useful insights from each platform.<\/p>\n Need help in these areas? Give these resources a read:<\/strong><\/p>\n How to Use Instagram: A Beginner’s Guide [Expert Insights + New Data]<\/a> While it doesn\u2019t track specific hashtags or accounts, it does track the performance of the posts you publish, their engagement, and direct mentions of your brand.<\/p>\n\n Upon testing, I saw it also let me monitor my overall profile growth for Instagram.<\/p>\n For Pinterest, I could see details like:<\/p>\n How often your content is pinned All of these are fairly basic insights, but if you\u2019re highly active on Instagram and Pinterest (like an ecommerce brand<\/a>, for instance), it is convenient to have all of that information in one place.<\/p>\n\n What I like<\/strong>: TailWind is convenient for businesses using Pinterest and Instagram. Not only do you get insights on the platforms, but also design graphics and schedule posts for them.<\/p>\n What can be improved: <\/strong>I consider myself pretty tech-savvy, but I still found the interface cluttered and confusing. For example, instinct told me \u201ccreate\u201d was where I would go to create a new post for my social accounts, but this was actually TailWind\u2019s design tool.<\/p>\n Because of this, the tool definitely comes with a learning curve.<\/p>\n Also, the tool doesn\u2019t focus on social media listening, which leaves a lot to be desired \u2014 especially compared to BrandMentions.<\/p>\n While it does offer basic information on post performance, it does not allow users to gather information on competitors or track keywords and hashtags.<\/p>\n Like BrandMentions, TalkWalker (by Hootsuite) is a typically paid platform that offers two free social media listening tools:<\/p>\n Alerts<\/a> According to the Social Intelligence Lab\u2019s State of Social Listening, it\u2019s also the third most widely used social media listening tool in 2024.<\/p>\n TalkWalker Alerts are similar to Google Alerts<\/a>. However, unlike Google Alerts, which require a Gmail account, TalkWalker can be sent to any email address. It can also send alerts for mentions of your topic or keyword on X (still listed as Twitter on the tool).<\/p>\n Google Alerts don\u2019t track social media.<\/p>\n\n In my test, I learned I could receive alerts instantly or once a week\/day and choose to receive all of the results or what the tool curates as the \u201cbest\u201d ones.<\/p>\n For brands that are active on X, this is an extremely useful tool to have in your arsenal. I mean, most of us check our email multiple times a day, right? With this, you can know exactly what\u2019s happening with your competitor, brand, partners, etc., without leaving your inbox.<\/p>\n What I like:<\/strong> You can use any email address. This makes the tool more accessible than Google Alerts. It\u2019s also great that it includes X.<\/p>\n What can be improved:<\/strong> I know this may be out of their hands, but to be truly valuable for social media listening, the tool needs to include more than just X.<\/p>\n But hey, what if you want to know what\u2019s happening on other platforms besides X? That\u2019s where TalkWalker\u2019s Free Social Search comes in.<\/p>\n Social Search claims to monitor \u201cevery conversation about your brand, hashtags, and competition on social media\u201d but doesn\u2019t specify what platforms that includes.<\/p>\n Right off the bat, I was a little skeptical. The website’s design was minimal and a bit dated, but Hootsuite is a trusted name in the marketing space, so I figured it had to be good.<\/p>\n That said, they didn\u2019t make getting started easy. First, I had to fill out a form on the website and wait for an email to arrive from the tool. From there, I had to create an account on the Talkwalker web app, which showed me the search when I logged in.<\/p>\n As frustrating as this was, when I finally got into the search, I have to say it was pretty robust. Once again, I used HubSpot as an example, and Talkwalker immediately showed me some essential brand reputation metrics, such as \u201cnet sentiment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n But it didn\u2019t stop there. As I clicked around, I discovered it also shared word clouds with \u201ctop themes\u201d including user handles, hashtags, and even emojis.<\/p>\n\n I can see this feature being really helpful when searching for more general topics like \u201cmarketing software.\u201d<\/p>\n\n When I popped that into a new search, TalkWalker showed me this cloud of users who mentioned the topic most. Then, I could click on each handle to see more details about them and see specific posts.<\/p>\n Pro tip: <\/strong>Make sure to filter by your target country and language. Otherwise, you\u2019ll be clouded with irrelevant results.<\/p>\n\n It also had tabs with insights on Influencers, audience demographics, location, and a feed of actual posts from social media.<\/p>\n What I like:<\/strong> For a free tool, social search offers a lot of interesting and intricate details for marketers to understand their performance and who\u2019s talking about their topic of interest.<\/p>\n What could be improved: <\/strong>Full disclosure \u2014 Many results look spammy. While the filters for language, country, media type, device, and demographic are helpful, it would be useful to be able to also add criteria for follower count.<\/p>\n Sprout Social is one of the most trusted social media management tools on the market and with good reason. It\u2019s easy to use and navigate and extremely robust.<\/p>\n Of course that means it covers social media listening, but you can only enjoy it for free for 30 days. After that, it starts at $199 a month<\/a>.<\/p>\n I gave the trial a go, which I was pleasantly surprised you could do without inputting a credit card, and I saw right away that it has a lot to offer marketers regarding social media listening.<\/p>\n Three main areas stuck out to me. The first was \u201csmart inbox.\u201d This shows you all the engagement on your brand\u2019s specific accounts, like comments, direct messages, reposts, and even your published posts. From here, you can:<\/p>\n Respond You can also filter all activity by platform, message type, tags, and even language.<\/p>\n The next section that caught my attention was \u201clistening.\u201d (Surprise, surprise.)<\/p>\n\n This is where you can find all the juicy social listening tools like:<\/p>\n Brand health I have to say once I clicked into a few of these options, I felt a little over my head. For example, when I clicked \u201ccompetitive analysis,\u201d I was taken to an intricate \u201cquery builder\u201d to tell the tool what I wanted to see. And what I mean exactly<\/em> what I wanted to see.<\/p>\n\n Don\u2019t get me wrong \u2014 the information it was asking for (e.g., source, alert type, etc.) wasn\u2019t out of the ordinary, but I just wasn\u2019t expecting it. This tool got more granular than any other tool I tested, and I wasn\u2019t prepared at the moment to dedicate so much time to setting up a query.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure that attention to detail is rewarded in the results, but that\u2019s certainly something to keep in mind.<\/p>\n The last section relevant to social media listening was \u201creports.\u201d This section offers some common reports on post, profile, and tag performance but also lets you explore content and strategy more deeply.<\/p>\n\n The competitor options even let you see how you stack up to your rivals on X, Facebook, and Instagram.<\/p>\n What I like: <\/strong>The tool is well-organized, easy to navigate, and intuitive. I also liked how detailed you could get with your targeting and tracking. While time-consuming, this was more specific than any other tool I tried, and I\u2019m sure it shows in the results.<\/p>\n What could be improved: <\/strong>With the volume of features in Sprout Social \u2014 even just for social media listening \u2013 there\u2019s a lot to learn and maneuver.<\/p>\n I imagine learning to use the platform successfully takes time, practice, and perhaps guidance. Also, at its premium price, it demands a lot of resources from a business. If you\u2019re only looking for social media listening, there\u2019s no need to spring for such a full suite.<\/p>\n While it is not free (it starts at $199 per month<\/a>), I\u2019d be remiss if I talked about social listening and didn\u2019t mention BuzzSumo<\/a>.<\/p>\n BuzzSumo is a content analysis tool that has a lot to offer marketers, in general. But where it shines for social media listening is in its ability to track and monitor your competitors, brand mentions, trends, and industry updates across Facebook, X, Pinterest, and Reddit.<\/p>\n In my agency days, it was one of my favorite tools for evaluating \u201cshareability,\u201d but it\u2019s been a while, so I gave their 7-day trial a go. (No credit card required.)<\/p>\n It\u2019s monitoring section is hugely valuable for social media listening.<\/p>\n\n Here, you can create an alert for things like brand names, your competitors, and specific keywords.<\/p>\n\n I really liked that I also had the ability to create an exclusion keyword list and send the alerts to a Slack channel as well as email. Once you create an alert, you\u2019ll also be able to track the keyword in the web app like I could with \u201cmarketing software.\u201d<\/p>\n\n What I like:<\/strong> Like Sprout Social, it has much to offer, but it\u2019s a much easier tool to jump right into.<\/p>\n What could be improved: <\/strong>I\u2019d love to see social media listening pulled out more distinctly so you can dive into each platform more specifically and gather insights about what\u2019s going on there. While there are social listening tools, it\u2019s clear that these tools are focused on helping marketers hone their content strategy.<\/p>\n
\n What is social media monitoring?<\/a>
\n Why use a social media monitoring tool?<\/a>
\n Pro Tip: Use Social Inbox Streams In HubSpot<\/a> <\/p>\nWhat is social media monitoring?<\/h2>\n
\n Hashtags
\n Users (think influencers, your loyal customers, or \u201cpower users\u201d)
\n Names (i.e., competitors, products, or even people), or
\n Mentions\/tags of a user <\/p>\nWhy use a social media monitoring tool?<\/h2>\n
1. BrandMentions<\/h3>\n
\n Hashtag Tracker<\/a>
\n Brand Tracker<\/a>
\n Social Media Tracker<\/a> <\/p>\nSocial Mentions<\/h4>\n\n
Hashtag Tracker<\/h4>\n\n
Brand Tracker<\/h4>\n\n
Social Media Tracker<\/h4>\n\n
\n Social Media Interactions
\n Mentions by Media Type
\n Best Time to Post <\/p>\n2. TailWind<\/h3>\n
\n The Ultimate Guide to Pinterest Marketing<\/a> <\/p>\n
\n Your reach
\n Recommended keywords
\n Brand mentions and comments
\n Your most pinned, most clicked, or most engaged content <\/p>\n3. TalkWalker<\/h3>\n
\n Free Social Search<\/a> <\/p>\nAlerts<\/h4>\n
Free Social Search<\/h4>\n
4. Sprout Social<\/h3>\n
\n Share the message with your team via email or a thread
\n Tag it to make it easier to find later
\n Export or save the message <\/p>\n
\n Industry insights
\n Competitive analysis
\n Campaign analysis
\n Event monitoring and
\n Keyword and topic tracking <\/p>\n5. BuzzSumo<\/h3>\n