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Not all social media analytics tools can provide all the insights you need to inform your social media strategy. I know this because I push out a lot of content for my agency and have tried all the available tools, much to my disappointment.
You’ll find a few good options with the needed features, but not without pricey subscription plans. And some budget-friendly options are just not user-friendly, so you’ll spend more time navigating menus than extracting key data.
I tested all the popular options, cutting through the noise to select the top social media analytics tools. Sprout Social was the best overall, thanks to its user-friendly interface and comprehensive reporting capabilities. I also found five tools with the handiest analytics and reporting features that can help you run successful social media campaigns.
What We Look For in the Top Social Media Analytics Tools
During my tests, I focused on a few key features that all top social media analytics tools share. These include:
Comprehensive analytics. I looked for tools that offer various analytics features, such as audience demographics, engagement rates, best posting times, content performance, and competitor analysis.
Integration capabilities. I chose the tools that seamlessly integrate with various social media platforms (like Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn) and other marketing tools or customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
Real-time monitoring and alerts. I selected tools that monitor social media platforms in real time, sending alerts for specific triggers like brand mentions, sentiment changes, or viral content.
Ease of use. All my picks have an intuitive and easy-to-use interface or a mobile app for on-the-go monitoring and management.
Value for money. I gave a boost to tools that have all of the above but can also help you get a good ROI with great deals and affordable plans.
Sprout Social lets you generate reports for individual, selected, or all social accountsSprout Social offers many tools for advanced reporting across all social media channels. You can choose from over 100 report widgets or build your own widget with added details and text to create reports specific to your business needs. However, some widgets, like Report Builder, are only available in Premium Analytics as an add-on feature.
Sprout Social provides analytics for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest analytics. In addition, you can integrate Sprout Social with Google Analytics and Bit.ly and get detailed insights into how your social media content drives traffic to links that you share.
You can try Sprout Social for free1 with the 30-day trial. The Advanced plan lets you create reports for individual, selected, or all social media accounts and connect an unlimited number of social profiles. Plus, it lets you track the links you create for your campaigns to measure their success.
Features
Paid performance reporting. This feature allows you to monitor your social advertising across different channels and audiences, helping you identify which campaigns are most effective and how to optimize future ad spend.
Hashtag tracking. This tracker allows you to discover which hashtags your audience is following. You can then use that information to increase your reach and grow your following.
Post performance report. This feature enables you to analyze cross-channel performance at the post level to understand what content resonates with your audience and why.
Competitor reports. Track and compare your social media performance against your competitors. This can help benchmark your organization’s performance and identify new opportunities.
eClincher lets you easily monitor multiple social media accounts at onceeClincher offers flexible solutions that allow you to scale your social media management efforts. You don’t have to switch platforms as your social media strategy evolves – you can simply start with a basic plan and effortlessly upgrade to more advanced features.
I appreciate how simple and well-arranged eClincher’s dashboard is. This significantly reduces the learning curve, allowing you to focus more on interpreting data than figuring out the tool. In the analytics dashboard, you can quickly schedule reports for your social media pages and posts on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram Business, LinkedIn, and more.
eClincher supports up to 6 users and 40 social profiles. That’s more than what you’ll get on most social media analytics tools out there. Plus, it offers a 14-day free trial to get started. For marketers or medium-sized businesses managing multiple accounts, I recommend eClincher’s Agency plan1.
Features
Real-time widget reports. You can customize your dashboard to get quick insights into your key performance metrics.
Built-in template reports. Instantly create a comprehensive overview of your social media and website performance.
Social listening. Track mentions related to your brand, competitor activities, and prevailing trends within your industry in real time.
Google Analytics integration. This feature lets you view Google Analytics data without leaving the eClincher dashboard. It also provides insights into the relationship between your social media posts and web traffic.
SocialPilot provides post performance analytics for major social media platformsSocialPilot offers decent analytics tools and super cheap plans – ideal for those on a budget. I like that it provides in-depth analytics for all your social media content, even if it wasn’t posted through SocialPilot. However, unlike Sprout Social, which offers insights for more platforms like Reddit and YouTube, SocialPilot only provides analytics for Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, and Instagram accounts.
That said, with SocialPilot, you can know when your audience is most active and engaged on social media in different time zones. This will let you know when to schedule posts and get the best performance. Additionally, SocialPilot displays dates in your local time zone, eliminating the need to manually convert from PST or any other time zone.
SocialPilot has multiple affordable plans for all business sizes. While it doesn’t have a free plan, SocialPilot offers a 14-day free trial1 across all plans, no credit card required. I recommend the Agency+ plan because it lets you combine reports for all social media accounts, and you can customize your PDF report to match your brand identity.
Features
Audience demographics. SocialPilot lets you know your audience’s location, gender distribution, age, and behavior.
White Label reports. You can create and present reports to clients with custom branding.
Social inbox. This feature provides real-time monitoring of all comments, messages, and posts from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google Business Profile in one place.
Automated report generation. You can generate and deliver detailed reports regularly, such as daily, weekly, or monthly.
Sendible helps you learn how your topics perform against those of top influencers in your nicheSendible’s dashboard allows you to get acquainted with its reporting tools quickly. In the Reports hub, you can easily generate presentation-ready reports from the left sidebar. Even better, the dashboard includes a Resource Centre, accessible via the help button, where you can find many tutorials, guides, and tips to help you explore new features within the platform.
Also, Sendible’s sentiment analysis tool offers precise insights into audience reactions, allowing you to adjust your strategy as needed. Its social listening tool lets you monitor brand mentions across platforms, so you know the broader impact of your social media presence, identify trends in real time, and engage with your audience more effectively.
Sendible doesn’t have a free plan and is not the cheapest option on the market, but it comes with a 14-day free trial on the Creator and Traction plans. For large teams, Sendible’s White Label and White Label+ plans provide advanced features such as custom branding and automated client reporting. But if you’re a small team, you can make do with the Traction plan, which supports 24 social profiles.
Features
Engagement report. Get insight into key metrics such as daily audience growth, content habits, demographics, most engaged posts and pictures, and more.
Comprehensive platform integration. Sendible supports various social media platforms, including Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, and YouTube.
Topic & Influencers report. You can gauge your performance on key topics versus influencers and identify highly engaged audience members for targeted influencer marketing efforts.
Google Analytics integration. You can track web data alongside social media performance and get insights into the correlation between social content and web traffic.
Hootsuite gives you a detailed overview of your social media post performance over timeHootsuite’s TikTok analytics offer unique features that can make your content stand out. It features tools like an automated caption writer, a hashtag generator, and an ideas engine that saves you hours each week. It also works with other popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. However, the low-tier plan allows you to connect only 10 social accounts.
Hootsuite allows you to review your posts’ performance and determine the best times to post for optimal engagement. You can also create reports using pre-designed templates or fully customize them to track the performance metrics and social media platforms that matter most.
It’s a shame Hootsuite has discontinued its free plan, but the paid plans come with a 30-day free trial. You can start with the Professional plan, which allows you to create unlimited custom reports and easily share them with a single click in PowerPoint, PDF, Excel, and CSV formats.
Features
Paid ROI reporting. Monitor the performance of paid social media posts to track return on investment.
Cross-network comparison. Hootsuite lets you assess performance and engagement across different social networks.
Report sharing and scheduling. Share insights with teams or schedule automatic report deliveries via email.
Track brand mentions. Get real-time monitoring of social media for any mentions of your brand.
See the overall performance of each social media profile through Buffer’s Overview ReportsBuffer has one of the best free plans on the market. However, it does not offer analytics features. If you upgrade to the paid plan, you’ll receive in-depth insights for many social media platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Mastodon, and Pinterest.
Buffer’s Overview Reports are highly visual, offering tables and graphs that simplify client reporting for social media managers. And there’s a user-friendly mobile app for Android and iOS to view these reports and get easy-to-read analytics on the go. I appreciate that Buffer’s support is available via Facebook, Twitter, and email. So, you can get all the assistance you need without leaving social media.
If you’re a creator with a small budget, you can get started with Buffer’s Essentials plan. All the paid plans come with detailed analytics reports and a 14-day free trial to test the service. One drawback is that for certain platforms, like Pinterest and TikTok, Buffer only displays analytics for content posted directly through Buffer.
Features
Tag analysis. Get insights and detailed analytics for the content of every campaign category you’ve created.
Shopify performance. Integrate sales data, top referral sources, and best-selling products with social media insights and concise performance reports.
Historical data access. Retrieve and update data from the previous six months across all platforms except Twitter (28 days) and Instagram (30 days).
Machine learning insights. Get recommendations on your posts’ content, timing, and frequency to improve your social media strategy.
Improve Your Social Media Strategy With the Best Analytics Tool
All social media analytics tools that made it to my list provide detailed insights into your social media strategy, allowing you to track post performance and competitor activity across all major platforms. The best tool for you will depend on your specific priorities, business size, and budget.
Sprout Social is your best bet1 if you want the best social media analytics tool for your business or agency. It’s the most user-friendly option with the most advanced analytics tools.
As a small business interested in real-time monitoring of your social media campaigns, I recommend eClincher1. It also offers customizable reports to brand for your business and clients. It’ll provide detailed insights to help you improve your social media strategy.
But if you’re a creator starting out in business and looking for a budget-friendly option, SocialPilot is the affordable analytics option1. While it doesn’t have advanced features like Sprout Social, it gives you a general overview of your social media strategy.
If you’re still deciding on which tool to choose, here’s a brief overview of what we’ve covered to help guide your decision:
Free Plan
Best Feature
Best For
Starting Price
Sprout Social
✘
Advanced analytics tools and user-friendly interface
Larger enterprises or agencies that need to monitor trends and brand mentions beyond social media
What is the best social media analytics tool for marketers?
For marketers, Sprout Social is the best social media analytics tool due to its many tools that help you monitor and create reports on trends, competitor activity, customer feedback, your brand’s responsiveness on social media, and more. It also integrates with various key platforms like Zendesk, HubSpot, Canva, Salesforce, and Shopify.
What can social media analytics tools help you measure?
Social media analytics tools help measure audience engagement, track follower growth, analyze content performance, identify trends, and monitor brand mentions. With these insights, you can optimize your social media strategy, improve content relevance, and better understand your audience’s preferences and behaviors.
How do I check my social media analytics?
To check your social media analytics, get a tool like Sprout Social or eClincher. After signing up and linking your accounts, navigate to the analytics section on the dashboard. Here, you’ll be able to create custom reports for all your social media accounts with metrics like engagement rates, audience demographics, and content effectiveness.
What is the best free social media analytics tool?
Buffer is the best free social media analytics tool due to its advanced features. It employs machine learning to provide actionable recommendations on your posts’ content, timing, and frequency. Additionally, Buffer offers tag analysis, which delivers in-depth insights and analytics for every campaign category you’ve created.
You can also take a look at our selection of top social media management tools to discover the perfect fit for your budget.
Nathaniel is a freelance writer and tech reviewer at Website Planet, where his expertise in social media automation tools shines through. He has over 5 years of experience reviewing tools focused on helping businesses grow. Nathaniel thoroughly tests every tool he writes about to ensure it delivers on its promises. Apart from his work at Website Planet, he enjoys hiking and traveling.
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