Why Social Media Analytics Tools Matter
We all know that social media marketing is an essential component of any company’s online marketing mix, but how do we know if we are doing it properly?
Social media marketing is tangible to an extent, and there are a number of ways we can determine the effectiveness of our social activities, for example tracking traffic and conversions that are driven from these platforms.
But what if we want a more in-depth look into our progress on the platform itself, to see how well we are fairing within the social media marketing landscape?
For that, we need social media analytics tools that are capable of capturing the metrics that are relevant to our social media growth and reach.
3 Types Of Social Media Analysis Tools
There are 3 main types of analytics tools out there:
- Free Analytics Tools – These are the barebones analytics tools that give personal users the ability to learn more about their social media activities and details about their audience.
- Essential Analytics Tools – These are the next step up from the basic free platforms, and are aimed at businesses, bloggers and influencers that are serious about their impact on social media.
- Premium Analytics Tools – These are the heavyweights of social media tracking tools, and they give big businesses and marketing agencies the power to manage the performance of lots of accounts.
While all social media tools do relatively similar things, their features and capabilities will ultimately determine which bracket they fall into.
We looked at a lot of different social media services, examining things like metrics, data volume, report frequency, value for money and more.
We have managed to whittle it down and pick our favourite from each category that we think give marketers and businesses the best understanding of their social media activities.
The Best Social Media Analysis Tools
The Short Version
#1 – Social Monitor – The Best All-Rounder For Statistics
#2 – Hype Auditor – The Best Premium Tool For Advanced Metrics
#3 – Instagram Insights – The Best Free Analytics Straight From The Source
The Long Version
Here are the reasons why we chose these platforms and what we like and dislike about each service.
#1 The Best Essential Social Media Analytics Tool – Social Monitor
If you are a business, blogger, influencer or just an Instagram user, Social Monitor has more than enough features for you to gain a deeper understanding of your social media account.
It gives you detailed insights into any account you have on the top 4 social media platforms:
- Youtube
Social Monitor lets you track your performance over time, and even gives you projections for where your account could be in the future if you maintain your current trajectory.
It shows you what posts are working, and which posts are getting the best engagement so that you can tweak your social media strategy as you go.
What We Like
- Nice charts and easy-to-read information that let you see quickly how your account is performing
- Reports are updated daily
- Track any account, not just your own
- Engagement calculator and comparison
- Individual post engagement metrics and comparison
- No credit card free trial available and $1 per report after that
What We Don’t Like
- Limited audience metrics
Price
- We rate this platform as very affordable, with 3 reports free when you sign up and $1 per report after that, it is a very cost-effective way to get your social media stats
Summary
- Overall usability and bang for your buck is why we think this analysis tool is the best all-rounder for casual users as well as business, bloggers, influencers and more
#2 The Best Premium Social Media Analysis Tool – Hype Auditor
Hype Auditor is by far our favourite analysis tool for getting deep into the nitty-gritty information that is often required by big businesses and influencers who a running multiple social media campaigns.
It focuses on three aspects of social media monitoring:
- Reports – Standard analysis reports that let you see how your account is performing
- Discovery – Useful tool to discover Influencers in any particular niche
- Tracking – Track the progress of your social media accounts and campaigns
Hype Auditor’s main focus is Instagram and YouTube accounts, and they have various price plans depending on how many accounts you are looking to analyse and what features you want.
One thing Hype Auditor does very well is audience analysis, and they are able to give you a breakdown of who your audience is made up of, and can even show you if you have suspicious accounts which may be fake followers.
It is great for understanding more about your audience demographic, enabling you to tailor your content and use a more data-driven approach to your posts and campaigns.
One thing we like is the ability to get an Account Quality Score or AQS, which tells you the quality of the account in question.
This single metric combines 3 things:
- Engagement Rate – How many followers are engaging with the content
- Authentic Engagement – The percentage of the ER score that are real people, not fake accounts
- Reachability – The percentage of the followers that actually see the post
What We Like
- Comprehensive data laid out in 3 simple channels
- In-depth audience statistics
- Audience Quality Score
- Platform is trusted by big brands like Unilever and Dior
- Several price plans to choose from
- Tracking feature is available on free trial
What We Don’t Like
- Individual reports only update once a month
- At $30 per report, it may not be accessible for the average user
Price
- Lots of price options up to $299 a month and beyond
Summary
- The free trial gets you some good metrics but you will have to shell out for the important ones
#3 – The Best Free Social Media Analytics Tool – Instagram Insights
What better place to get your analysis data than right from the place that it came from.
Instagram Insights is currently only available to business users on Instagram, but if you are a blogger or influencer you can easily apply for a business account on Instagram.
These sets of data are more focused on your audience and their behaviour, which is why we think it represents a perfect companion to be used alongside Social Monitor, which tracks growth statistics.
It tells you in real-time where your visitors are coming from, their demographics and even when they are engaging so that you can find out the best time to post.
We think that this should be the starting point for any analysis on Instagram activities, and remember that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms all offer similar metrics for their users.
What We Like
- Completely free for everyone
- Get data that you usually pay for on other platforms
- Regular updates
What We Don’t Like
- No desktop version
- No growth predictions
Price
- Always free!
Summary
- Reliable data straight from the horse’s mouth, a must for anyone serious about their social media activities
Conclusion
It is important to understand your needs before you go spending lots of money on subscription for an analytics platform.
All 3 of the services we have mentioned do very similar things, with each one being a gradual step up from the last in terms of the data you can track.
Unless you are managing 10 + accounts and managing multiple campaigns with a lot of money invested in them, you are unlikely to need the premium feature of Hype Auditor, and Social Monitor or even the free Instagram Insights will be more than enough to keep track of your growth on social media.
We recommend combining Instagram or Facebook Insights with Social Monitor for a comprehensive look at factors like engagement, post quality, growth predictions, audience demographic and more.