Best Social Media Analytics Tools

What is Social Media Analytics Tools?

Social media analytics tools are web application analysis software that assesses, monitors, and constantly improves social channel analytics performance. Social media analytics report tools are a subset of web analytics tools designed to make sense of web performance data that social media platforms produce.

Social media analytics is analyzing and interpreting data gathered from social channels. Using social media tools helps support business decisions and measure the effectiveness of actions based on those decisions.

What are the Key Features of Social Analytics Tools?

Social media analytics reports can help in understanding and making data analysis more accessible. Some of the features of social media analytics tools include:

Data Aggregation

It pools together data from several social media sites to provide a base for large-scale social media data analysis.

Social Media Monitoring

It monitors social media platforms for any mention of your company and tracks interactions on your accounts.

Platform Analysis

Social media metrics tools help focus on your performance and presence on a specific social media platform, like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

Reporting

It generates usable and easy-to-understand reports, like visuals, spreadsheets, statistics, and other valuable data. With these reports, users can make informed decisions about your company and social media presence.

Overall Analysis

It provides a top-down analysis of your company's social media presence to view your strengths and weaknesses and make future decisions accordingly.

Campaign Analysis

It focuses the social media analytics tools on individual campaigns across various social media platforms.

Key Considerations While Purchasing Social Media Analytics Tools

There are some other key considerations that companies must keep in mind while buying social networking analytics tools. Some of the key considerations are:

Integration with Other Systems

The reports and analysis generated by analytics tools are indeed helpful. However, you may want to integrate the reports with other marketing software. Such integrations can facilitate easy responses to events on social media.

Analyze Competitor Social Media

Many social media analytics tools allow companies to track their performance and their competitors' social media accounts. It is helpful for social media managers who want to increase interactions or followers concerning their competitors. You can tap into the competitors' audience to grow engagement and followers.

Stand-alone software vs. a Software Suite

You can purchase stand-alone social media analytics tools, but they are offered as a larger suite of social media management software. You can add software suite tools to improve and increase your social media presence. Then you may look into a more extensive system that includes extra functionality in addition to analytics.

Cloud-based software vs. On-Premise Software

Traditionally, most software was hosted on-premise, where a business had to house and maintain the hardware on which the software was installed. Now, the software distribution process has become much more straightforward. Cloud-based systems don't require any hardware or IT maintenance. Though it is evident how your social media analytics tool would be distributed to you, clarification with the vendor is always a good option.

Types of Social Media Analytics Tools

Social media analytics can be divided into four types:

Descriptive Analytics

It focuses on the past and present happenings on social media in the form of visualizations and reports that help businesses make better-informed decisions.

Diagnostic Analytics

It goes beyond the happenings and tries to understand the reason behind it using advanced statistics to distill data into a single top view that lets you see what has and hasn’t worked in the previous campaigns.

Predictive Analytics

It is a form of analytics that tries to predict future events based on past and present data from social media. It links specific customers to the typical past outcomes of the customers, like questions leading to a particular purchase. 

Prescriptive Analytics

It provides the best action to take when handling a situation based on the data accumulated from the outcome of similar cases in past events.

Who Uses Social Media Analytics Tools?

Social media analytics tools are used mainly by social media managers of various companies. The global social media analytics market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 24.0%, from USD 3.2 billion in 2021 to 9.3 billion in 2026.

Social Media Managers

Many businesses, especially enterprise and midsize market companies, have dedicated social media managers on their marketing team to run all the social media accounts.

Analyzing social media data analytics are fantastic tools for social media managers to track their metrics and goals. Social channel analytics and social media metrics tools help build and inform the strategies and decisions of social media managers.

Marketing Directors/Marketing Managers

Marketing directors, chief marketing officers, or managers can use social media statistics tools to check their social media presence on several outlets. Social media analytics reports can ensure whether the marketing campaigns are hitting the goals and driving leads and traffic.

Small businesses may not have the resources to hire social media managers. In that case, a multi-tasker general manager can do the job!

Social media analytics analysis tools are an easy, straightforward, and fast way to track social media marketing campaigns for marketers who don’t have the time to delve deep into performance. Owing to social video analytics, it becomes easy for marketers to track metrics.

Industry Thought Leaders/ Influencers

Moreover, industry thought leaders and brand influencers might also use social media analytics tools to track their interactions and engagements. Influencers always try to grow their followers and can utilize social media analytics for performance tracking. Brand advocates also sponsor content for companies with the help of social media analytics tools.

Customer Service Manager

A customer service manager can also take advantage of social media analytics tools. Numerous customers connect with companies on social media channels when they have issues with a product or service.

And at times, it is faster to tweet or direct message a company to explain your problems rather than connecting with a call center and waiting for the representative to assist you. With social media analytics tools, customer service teams can track complaints that come in through social media and ensure that issues are adequately addressed.