Social listening tools are software that monitors online conversations for mentions of your brand, competitors, keywords, phrases or hashtags, then analyses them for sentiment, trends and competitive insight. In our 2024 review, the established options ranged from enterprise suites such as Brandwatch and Talkwalker to budget tools such as Awario, with social media management platforms like Sprout Social and Hootsuite adding listening on top. SOMONITOR, SOMIN's platform, adds competitor ad monitoring and performance prediction to that mix.
Key takeaways
- Social listening goes beyond counting mentions: it is about customer perceptions, potential leads and market trends.
- The 11 established tools in our 2024 review split into dedicated listening tools, management platforms with listening add-ons, and content or marketing suites.
- Coverage, languages, historical data and pricing differ widely, so the right tool depends on your needs and budget.
- SOMONITOR combines social listening with competitor ad monitoring, ad performance prediction and LLM analysis of competitors' communication.
- Tool features and platform coverage change often; the details below reflect our review as of 2024.
Staying informed about what people say about your brand and industry online is crucial in digital marketing, and social listening tools exist for exactly that. They let businesses monitor, track and analyse conversations across social media platforms, identify trends, track campaign success and understand competitive landscapes. By 2024 the range and capabilities of these tools had grown considerably. This guide covers the established options and takes a closer look at SOMONITOR.
What do social listening tools do?
Social listening tools are specialised software designed to monitor digital conversations. They scan social media platforms for mentions of specific brands, keywords, phrases or hashtags. The technology is not just about tracking mentions; it is about gaining insight into customer perceptions, identifying potential leads and understanding market trends.
It helps to separate two jobs that often share one tool. Social monitoring is reactive: it catches individual mentions so a team can reply, resolve a complaint or spot a crisis early. Social listening is analytical: it looks at the pattern across thousands of mentions over time to answer bigger questions, such as how sentiment towards a brand is shifting, which topics are rising in a category or what customers complain about most.
Most tools share a core feature set: keyword or Boolean queries that define what to track, sentiment analysis, alerts, dashboards and reports, share-of-voice comparisons with competitors and some way to find influential authors. Where they differ is in which sources they cover, how far back their data goes and how well their analysis handles local languages and slang.
How do you choose a social listening tool?
Start from the questions you need answered, then check each tool against them:
- Coverage: which social networks, news sites, forums, blogs and review sites it tracks. Access to some platforms depends on their APIs and changes over time.
- Languages and markets: for brands working across Asia, sentiment analysis has to cope with several languages and mixed-language posts.
- Historical data: whether you can look back before the day you set up the query, which matters for benchmarks and trend analysis.
- Organic and paid: most tools focus on organic conversation; few show what competitors are running as ads.
- Pricing model: plans are often priced by seats, queries or mention volume, so estimate your volume before comparing prices.
Which 11 established social listening tools did we review in 2024?
These were the 11 traditional social listening tools we suggested watching in 2024. Descriptions reflect each tool as of 2024.
Brand24: known for real-time monitoring and wide source coverage, Brand24 is a comprehensive tool for tracking online conversations. It features an intuitive dashboard, sentiment analysis and advanced analytics.
Brandwatch: this enterprise-level tool provides geolocation, image recognition, demographic data and a powerful data visualisation platform, Vizia.
XPro (TweetDeck): focused exclusively on Twitter (now X), XPro is excellent for managing multiple profiles and tracking Twitter-specific activity.
Awario: a budget-friendly option, Awario offers essential monitoring across multiple platforms, excluding Telegram and TikTok (as of 2024).
Buffer: primarily a social media management platform, Buffer requires an additional subscription for its listening feature, which was limited to Twitter (as of 2024).
Sprout Social: a combination of social media management and listening, Sprout Social is well suited to tracking brand mentions across various platforms.
Keyhole: notable for hashtag tracking, Keyhole provides in-depth analytics and monitoring across multiple social networks.
Talkwalker: offering access to historical data and real-time monitoring, Talkwalker is a robust tool for tapping into customer discussions.
Hootsuite: partnering with Brandwatch (as of 2024), Hootsuite focuses on trends, topics and profile monitoring, offering useful audience insights.
BuzzSumo: ideal for content marketers, BuzzSumo tracks keywords and alerts while giving a comprehensive view of content performance.
HubSpot: an all-in-one marketing platform, HubSpot excels at lead nurturing and offers keyword monitoring streams.
| Type of tool | Tools from our 2024 list | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated listening | Brand24, Brandwatch, Awario, Talkwalker, Keyhole | Teams whose main need is tracking and analysing conversation |
| Management platform with listening | Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Buffer, XPro | Teams that publish and engage, and want listening in the same place |
| Content or marketing suite | BuzzSumo, HubSpot | Content research, or listening as part of a wider marketing stack |
How is SOMONITOR different from traditional social listening tools?
SOMONITOR is a marketing intelligence tool that differs from traditional social listening platforms. Its distinctive capabilities include monitoring competitor ads and predicting their performance. Using large language models, SOMONITOR also monitors competitors' communication strategies, offering insight into their social media activity.
What are SOMONITOR's key features?
Ad monitoring: tracks competitor ads across platforms, providing insight into their strategies and performance.
Predictive analysis: uses advanced algorithms to forecast the success of competitors' ads.
Communication strategy analysis: uses large language models to analyse competitors' communication tactics.
Social listening: includes traditional social listening features, keeping tabs on brand mentions, customer sentiment and market trends.
Combining ad monitoring with social listening makes SOMONITOR a valuable asset for marketers looking for a competitive edge. For a side-by-side view against social media tools, see SOMIN vs Buffer, Sprout Social and Jasper.
Which social listening tool is right for you?
The landscape of social listening tools in 2024 was diverse, with options for businesses of every size. While tools like Brand24, Sprout Social and Hootsuite were leading the market at the time, platforms like SOMONITOR were pushing the boundaries of digital marketing intelligence. Choosing the right tool depends on your specific needs, budget and the features that matter most to your business. With the right social listening tool, you can turn the vast sea of social media chatter into actionable insight and drive your marketing strategy with precision.
Related reading
- What do social listening tools post about? A content analysis of 18 vendors
- Social listening vs audience research vs ad optimisation: which do you need?
- How do you turn a social listening insight into a campaign brief?
- Marketing intelligence glossary
FAQ
What is the difference between social listening and social monitoring?
Monitoring tracks individual mentions so you can respond to them. Listening analyses the patterns across many mentions over time to understand customer perceptions, trends and the competitive landscape.
Which social listening tool suits a small budget?
In our 2024 review, Awario was the budget-friendly option, offering essential monitoring across multiple platforms. Check current coverage before you buy, because it excluded Telegram and TikTok at the time.
Do social listening tools track competitor ads?
Most traditional tools focus on organic conversation. SOMONITOR tracks competitor ads across platforms and predicts their performance, alongside traditional social listening.
Are the tool details in this guide still current?
They reflect our review as of 2024. Features, partnerships and platform coverage change often, so confirm the details with each vendor before choosing.
