22 Social Media Monitoring Tools for 2025 Tools to Monitor Brand Mentions

Google Analytics 4 is free and powerful for tracking how social drives website traffic, but it's a website analytics tool, not a social media analytics tool. A social media analytics tool is software that connects to your social media platforms, processes the data, and turns it into actionable insights. That's exactly the problem social media analytics tools solve. The best social media analytics tools do two things well – they save you time on the reporting and scheduling work you're doing manually right now, and they help you actually understand what your numbers mean. A social media analytics tool is a software platform designed to collect, measure, and analyse data from social media platforms.

Brandwatch is a consumer intelligence tool and social media management solution with analytics capabilities. Time-saving tools to help you prioritize your social interactions — so you can connect with the people who matter most. But no matter how great your social media content is or how many people follow your accounts, you won't be able to grow your audience, reach, and presence if you don't understand the data behind it all. These tools also provide insights into which types of content, such as video reviews or live shopping events, drive the most sales, enabling businesses to maximize their ROI. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest have shopping features that let users purchase products directly through social media. Newer tools, such as Brandwatch and Socialbakers, offer AI-powered capabilities for sentiment analysis, competitor benchmarking and campaign optimization.

The next metric is audience analytics, which helps you understand who your followers are and their demographics, such as age, gender, location, and interests. Well, there are several types of social media metrics, but we have defined them into 6 major categories that offer a granular look at what data you can look at. Basically, social media analysis gives you a holistic view of which parts of your strategy are working in your favor and which need to be changed. Deciphering all this social media data helps marketers and businesses understand how their social media campaigns perform and impact their business goals. In this guide, we will walk you through the complete process of doing social media analysis, the types of analytics you need to consider, and the right tools to measure these metrics.

Social media analytics tools:

• View insights for specific posts and stories you’ve created to see how each performed and how people engaged with them.
• You can mash together social metrics, web traffic, email data—whatever you want—and see it all live.
• A social media analysis report should cover the metrics that matter most for the specific brand and goal being analyzed — for some, that's engagement; for others, it's follower growth, sentiment, or demographic insights.
• Next, determine which social media analytics tools you’ll use — we covered some popular choices above, but you can always review other options through a simple Google search.

A high number can lead to better brand recognition, more followers, and higher engagement. Om Prakash is a seasoned content marketing professional with over 5 years of expertise in social media marketing and review management. Since referrer data is lost, Google Analytics categorizes it as direct traffic. Without UTMs, much of your social traffic may be grouped under generic sources.

What to look for in the best social media analytics tool

Tracking social media data isn’t just about collecting numbers; it’s about turning those figures into decisions that move the business forward. Your social media analytics tell you whether you’re actually heading there. A social media analysis tool works by using software algorithms to scan a wide range of social media platforms for mentions of specific keywords, topics, or brands. The goal of a social media analysis tool is to gain insights into audience sentiment, brand perception, and industry trends, which can inform your social media strategy and broader business decisions. Media sentiment is measured using natural language processing (NLP) and AI to analyze text from social media posts, comments and reviews. To see how Sprout Social’s powerful sentiment analysis tools can transform your strategy, request a demo to explore the platform’s features.

Grow your business with Talkwalker's social media analysis tool

One of the first social media management tools, Hootsuite consolidates data across social networks into a single view. Fine-tune your social media strategy for success with in-depth analytics and white-labeled reports. It combines powerful social media management and content management features with detailed performance tracking. The visual calendar is less polished than Later's, and pricing scales quickly with additional users.

Additionally, consider joining online communities or forums related to social media analytics to connect with professionals in the field. There are several excellent online courses available for those interested in social media analytics. Additionally, roles in content strategy and brand management also benefit from a strong foundation in social media analytics.‎

Can Google Analytics track social media?

The social media analytics best social media analytics tools should do more than just track numbers. To learn social media analytics, start by enrolling in introductory courses that cover the basics of data analysis and social media metrics. If you want to keep learning, earn a certificate in social media analytics, or unlock full course access after the preview or trial, you can upgrade or apply for financial aid.‎ Ultimately, choosing the right social media analytics tools for your business shouldn't be a stressful process. One of the most significant trends is the integration of AI and ML into social media analytics tools.

You can have thousands of mentions, but what are people actually saying? If you want a clearer read on how your brand is doing and how your team is functioning behind the scenes, it’s time to go deeper. Are your followers engaging more with quick tips or longer how-tos? The more people interact with your post right after it goes live, the more likely it is to get pushed to others. Ideally, you want more people talking about you, and for the right reasons. Brand mentions show how often people talk about you on social media, tagged or not.

To offer some clarity, here’s a side-by-side view of the different types of social media analytics, what they measure and how Sprout’s tools can support each type of analysis. Add UTM parameters to your links and monitor conversions through your site analytics to highlight the posts that drive web traffic, sign-ups and purchases. By effectively tracking your social media analytics, you can gather data and demonstrate social media statistics that further strengthen your case. Your social media analytics hold the key to proving impact and setting realistic, data-backed goals that align with business priorities. Keeping a close eye on your social media analytics can help you do just that.

As you look at how users interact with your brand and the types of content they prefer, you can retool your brand messaging for greater impact. Social media sentiment analysis helps you identify when and how to engage with your customers directly. The beauty of social media for sentiment analysis is that there’s so much data to gather.

You will understand the methodologies and tools used to perform sentiment analysis on social media content. In this module, you will delve into the intricacies of sentiment analysis, exploring its various types such as Sentiment 140 and Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis. You will be able to compare the effectiveness of various ML models like Decision Trees, understanding their role in operationalizing data and the importance of data normalization in achieving optimal results. You will also be able to define ML and learn to assess its performance. In this module, you will explore the fundamentals of machine learning (ML) from theory to application.

Instead of saying, “Increase website traffic from Instagram,” you can say, “Increase website traffic from Instagram by 25% within the next 3 months.” If you invest in paid social media campaigns on social media platforms, this is one critical area you should not overlook. Read this 6-step guide to learn more about how to do social media audience analysis.