Top Social Monitoring Tools for Startups in 2024
Need to keep tabs on your startup's online presence? Here's a quick rundown of the best social monitoring tools for 2024:
- BillyBuzz: AI-powered, affordable, scans 25 million sources
- Brand24: Real-time tracking, sentiment analysis, influencer finder
- Awario: Boolean search, lead generation, covers 13 billion pages daily
- Hootsuite: All-in-one social management, AI-powered insights
- Sprout Social: Deep analytics, team collaboration, no limit on profiles
- Mention: Easy to use, budget-friendly, scans 1 billion sources daily
- Keyhole: Hashtag tracking, influencer discovery, used by big tech
- Talkwalker: AI-powered, image recognition, covers 150 million+ websites
- Buffer: Simple scheduling, AI content helper, affordable plans
- Audiense: Twitter-focused, audience segmentation, psychographic analysis
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Quick Comparison
| Tool | Best For | Starting Price | Free Trial | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awario | Budget-conscious | $41/month | 14 days | Boolean search |
| Hootsuite | Full management | $99/month | 30 days | All-in-one platform |
| Sprout Social | Analytics | $199/month | 30 days | Unlimited profiles |
| Brand24 | Real-time monitoring | $79/month | 14 days | Sentiment analysis |
| Mention | Ease of use | $41/month | 14 days | Competitor tracking |
These tools help startups:
- Track brand mentions
- Analyze customer sentiment
- Find industry influencers
- Monitor competitors
- Measure campaign impact
Choose based on your budget, needs, and preferred features. Most offer free trials to test before committing.
BillyBuzz
BillyBuzz is an AI-powered social listening tool for startups. It scans 25 million online sources in 108 languages, including social media, blogs, news sites, and forums.
What makes BillyBuzz special? It's affordable and easy to use. Perfect for small to medium-sized businesses.
Here's what you get:
- Real-time monitoring of brand mentions, keywords, and hashtags
- Sentiment analysis
- Instant alerts for new mentions
One user said:
"Brand24 helps us optimize our time spent with social listening. We don't have to collect mentions manually anymore."
With BillyBuzz, startups can measure brand awareness, spot PR issues early, analyze consumer sentiment, and track industry trends. It's all about saving time and staying on top of your online presence.
2. Brand24
Brand24 is a social monitoring tool that tracks your startup's online presence across platforms. It scans social media, blogs, news sites, and forums to show brand mentions and customer sentiment.
What can Brand24 do for you?
- Track brand mentions, keywords, and hashtags in real-time
- Analyze sentiment to understand public perception
- Find influencers who could be brand ambassadors
- Alert you immediately about important mentions
Brand24 offers different plans:
| Plan | Keywords | Mentions/Month | Users | Price/Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | 3 | 2,000 | 1 | $49 |
| Team | 7 | 5,000 | Unlimited | $99 |
| Pro | 12 | 25,000 | Unlimited | $149 |
| Enterprise | 25 | 100,000 | Unlimited | $249 |
All plans include sentiment analysis, engagement tracking, and daily reports. Higher-tier plans offer more keywords, mentions, and advanced features like AI insights.
Want to make data-driven decisions? Brand24's analytics can help. Their Discussion Volume Chart shows how often people mention your brand over time. This helps you spot trends and see if your marketing campaigns are working.
Brand24 also gives you a Presence Score. It's like a report card for your online visibility. Most brands score 20 or less, while big names might hit 80+. Use this to see how you stack up against competitors and track your growth.
Ready to try Brand24? Here's what to do:
1. Set up tracking for your brand name, products, and industry terms
2. Use filters to focus on important mentions from influential sources
3. Set alerts for negative mentions so you can address issues fast
4. Create regular reports to share insights with your team
Brand24 offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. It's a risk-free way to test the platform and see if it's right for your startup.
3. Awario
Awario scans the web for mentions of your startup's brand, products, or industry keywords. It covers social media, blogs, news sites, and forums - checking over 13 billion pages daily.
What can Awario do for you?
- Alert you to brand mentions in real-time
- Analyze sentiment around your brand
- Find influencers in your niche
- Let you create custom searches with Boolean logic
Here's what Awario costs:
| Plan | Monthly Price (Yearly Billing) | Topics | Mentions/Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $24 | 3 | 30,000 |
| Pro | $74 | 15 | 300,000 |
| Enterprise | $249 | 100 | 1,000,000 |
Awario's Leads module is a standout feature. It helps you find potential customers by tracking people looking for products like yours or complaining about competitors.
Want to try before you buy? Awario offers a free trial.
To get the most out of Awario:
- Set up alerts for your brand, products, and industry
- Use Boolean search to fine-tune your results
- Keep an eye on your competitors
- Engage with mentions directly from Awario
Awario's interface is simple and easy to use. As one user in the gambling industry put it:
"The incredibly clean UI makes this tool a breeze to use for daily social media monitoring."
Need to manage your online reputation? Awario lets you track and respond to negative mentions right in the app. It's a quick way to address customer concerns.
4. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a top social monitoring tool for startups in 2024. It's packed with features to track and analyze your social media activity.
What's cool about Hootsuite?
- Real-time social listening across platforms
- Custom streams for mentions, keywords, and hashtags
- Quick Search for trending topics
- Sentiment analysis
All Hootsuite plans include social listening. You can track brand mentions and keep an eye on competitors using two keywords over a week.
How much does it cost?
| Plan | Monthly $ | Social Profiles | Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional | $49 | 10 | 1 |
| Team | $129 | 20 | 3 |
| Business | $599 | 35 | 5 |
| Enterprise | Custom | 50+ | 5+ |
Get more from Hootsuite:
- Track your brand name, hashtags, and tags
- Find trending topics with Quick Search
- Keep tabs on competitors
- Use Hootsuite Inbox for customer service
Hootsuite's AI features, like Blue Silk AI™, save time by summarizing data and spotting brand mentions in different media.
"Hootsuite makes it easy to monitor keywords and conversations on social media, so you can focus on taking action on the insights available." - Laura Wong, Social Media Strategist
Managing multiple profiles? Hootsuite's team tools let you set different permission levels, making it easier to delegate and keep your brand message consistent.
Just a heads up: some users find other platforms easier to use. On G2, Hootsuite scored 8.4 for ease of use, while Sprout Social got 8.8.
5. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a powerhouse for startups looking to up their social media game in 2024. It's packed with features to help you manage your online presence like a pro.
What's cool about Sprout Social?
- Tracks keywords and locations in real-time
- Manages all your social accounts in one place
- Gives you deep insights with advanced analytics
- Tells you how people feel about your brand
- Makes team collaboration a breeze
With Sprout Social, you can keep tabs on brand mentions, spy on competitors, and jump on engagement opportunities across different platforms.
How much will it cost you?
| Plan | Monthly Price | Social Profiles | What You Get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $249 | 5 | Real-time monitoring, basic reporting |
| Professional | $399 | No limit | Competitor insights, trend analysis |
| Advanced | $499 | No limit | Sentiment analysis, spike alerts |
Sure, it's not the cheapest option out there. But for startups ready to level up, Sprout Social offers a ton of value.
What can you actually do with it?
- Keep an eye on what people are saying about you
- Figure out what content works (and what doesn't)
- Plan your posts across all platforms
- Step up your customer service game
Dan Moriarty, a Digital Director, says: "Sprout shows us what's working right now, so we can adjust on the fly."
With Sprout Social, you can fine-tune your content strategy and see if your efforts are paying off. And thanks to the Smart Inbox, you won't miss a single chance to engage with your audience.
Want to take it for a spin? Sprout Social offers a 30-day free trial. It's a great way to see how it fits into your workflow before you commit.
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6. Mention
Mention is a social monitoring tool that scans over a billion sources daily. It's perfect for startups wanting to track their online presence.
What can Mention do for you?
- Instant alerts when someone mentions your brand
- Analyze sentiment: positive, negative, or neutral
- Keep tabs on your competitors
- Find industry influencers
Startups love Mention because it's easy to use. Set up alerts, check analytics - no PhD required.
Here's what you'll pay:
| Plan | Monthly Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Solo | $49 | 2 alerts, 5,000 mentions, 5 social accounts |
| Pro | $99 | 5 alerts, 10,000 mentions, 10 social accounts, sentiment analysis |
| ProPlus | $179 | 7 alerts, 20,000 mentions, 15 social accounts, unlimited users |
| Company | Custom | Everything, tailored to you |
Mention is budget-friendly and simple. That's why over 750,000 customers use it.
Want to try before you buy? Mention offers a 14-day free trial. Perfect for seeing if it fits your startup's needs.
7. Keyhole
Keyhole helps startups track their social media presence and measure campaign impact. Since 2013, they've grown to serve over 150 customers in 10 countries.
What Keyhole offers:
- Track brand mentions and hashtags in real-time
- Analyze hashtag performance and trends
- Find and connect with industry influencers
- Gauge brand sentiment
- Compare your social media performance to competitors
Their dashboard simplifies report creation and sharing. Even big players like Google and Amazon use Keyhole, showing it can handle large-scale monitoring.
Keyhole's pricing:
| Plan | Monthly Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $49 | Social listening, hashtag tracking |
| Pro | $89 | Basic features + influencer discovery |
| Enterprise | Custom | All features + tailored solutions |
No free trial, but the entry-level plan is startup-friendly. Keyhole's user-friendly interface and comprehensive features make it a solid choice for boosting your social media strategy in 2024.
"Keyhole's dashboard is a real time-saver. We can quickly build and share reports without the hassle." - A satisfied startup user
Heads up: Some users have reported glitches and accuracy issues. Give it a thorough test to make sure it fits your startup's needs before you commit long-term.
8. Talkwalker
Talkwalker isn't your average social monitoring tool. It's an AI-powered beast that digs deep into consumer intelligence.
Here's what makes it stand out:
- Blue Silk™ GPT AI saves you 40% of your time
- Covers 150 million+ websites in 187 languages
- Spots your logo in images and videos across platforms
- Shows you real-time conversation spikes about your brand
Talkwalker's secret sauce? Two key technologies:
- Roger: A web crawler that filters out the noise
- Blue Silk AI: Crunches numbers for predictive modeling and sentiment analysis
What's in it for startups?
| Feature | Why You'll Love It |
|---|---|
| Conversation Clusters | Spot hot topics and potential fires quickly |
| Custom Alerts | Get only the info you need, when you need it |
| IQ Apps | Tailor-made solutions for brand smarts and crisis control |
Pricing:
- Basic: $9,600/year (10,000 monthly results)
- Need more? Corporate and Enterprise plans are available
"Talkwalker is a social listening powerhouse. It's easy to use and serves up listening data in a way that just makes sense." - User Review, May 2, 2024
Some users mentioned setup hiccups, but most rave about the user-friendly dashboard and customization options.
Bottom line: If you're a startup looking to dominate social monitoring in 2024, Talkwalker's mix of AI smarts and comprehensive coverage is hard to beat.
9. Buffer
Buffer is a social media management tool that's perfect for startups in 2024. It's easy to use and helps you manage your social presence, even if it's not mainly for social monitoring.
Here's what Buffer offers startups:
- Post scheduling for multiple platforms
- Performance analysis
- Comment management
- AI helper for content creation
Buffer's prices won't break the bank:
| Plan | Price | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts each |
| Essentials | $6/month per channel | No post limits, custom reports |
| Team | $12/month per channel | Team tools, approval process |
| Agency | $120/month for 10 channels | Advanced stats, white-label reports |
If you're all about growing on social media, Buffer's analytics tool is a gem. It works with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, showing you what's working and what's not.
The AI Assistant is available on all plans - even the free one. It's built for social media and knows how to create content that fits each platform.
"Analyze helps us work smarter, not harder. We get insight into what is working on social." - Ben Terry, Director of Marketing
But Buffer isn't perfect for everything:
- It can't do deep social listening
- No YouTube or Pinterest posting
- Basic sentiment analysis
If you just need to schedule posts and check basic stats, Buffer's great. But if you want in-depth social listening, you might need to use Buffer with another tool or look elsewhere.
10. Audiense
Audiense is a social monitoring tool that digs deep into audience insights and segmentation. It's great for Twitter analytics and understanding your followers.
Here's what Audiense offers:
- Audience segmentation
- AI-powered psychographic analysis
- Influencer finder
- Social listening
- Works with Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok
Audiense has two main products:
1. Audiense Connect
This Twitter tool lets you:
- Make chatbots
- Talk to your audience
- Manage your community
2. Audiense Insights
Gives you the lowdown on your audience:
- What jobs they have
- What they're into
- Who they are
Pricing:
| Plan | Price (Yearly) | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/month | Basic stuff, 3 audience segments |
| Twitter Marketing | $39/month | Better analytics, engagement tools |
| Audience Insights | $696/month | All the audience insights goodies |
Why startups might like Audiense:
- Saves time: Users say it cuts 3 days off audience research.
- Data-driven choices: Gives you solid data to work with.
- Cleans up your audience: Gets rid of junk followers.
"Audiense helped us ditch bad followers and keep our audience real. Easy to use and it works." - Craig McKenna, Managing Partner, Crowd Racing Limited
Just remember, Audiense is mostly about Twitter. If you need to watch other platforms too, keep that in mind.
Tool Feature Comparison
Let's break down the key features of top social monitoring tools for startups:
| Feature | BillyBuzz | Brand24 | Awario | Hootsuite | Sprout Social | Mention | Keyhole | Talkwalker | Buffer | Audiense |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price (monthly) | N/A | $79 | $41 | $99 | $199 | $41 | $89 | N/A | N/A | $39 |
| Free Trial | N/A | 14 days | 14 days | 30 days | 30 days | 14 days | 14 days | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Social Listening | N/A | Yes | Yes | Enterprise only | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Sentiment Analysis | N/A | Yes | Yes | Enterprise only | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Competitor Analysis | N/A | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | No |
| Reporting | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Post Scheduling | N/A | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Influencer Discovery | N/A | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes |
What does this mean for startups?
- Awario and Mention are the cheapest at $41/month. Good for tight budgets.
- Want a long test drive? Hootsuite and Sprout Social offer 30-day free trials.
- Social listening? All tools have it, except Hootsuite (only in Enterprise plan).
- Sentiment analysis is standard across the board.
- Most tools let you spy on competitors. Hootsuite doesn't.
- Not all tools let you schedule posts. Brand24, Awario, and Keyhole focus on monitoring and analytics.
Need an all-in-one solution? Sprout Social might be your best bet, but it'll cost you. As Sprout Social's President Ryan Barretto puts it:
"Our goal is to provide businesses of all sizes with the tools they need to understand their audience, engage effectively, and grow their brand presence across social media platforms."
On a budget and just need monitoring? Brand24 or Awario might do the trick.
Wrap-up
Social monitoring tools are key for startups in 2024. They help new businesses get their audience, watch competitors, and spot trends. Here's a quick look at the top tools:
| Tool | Best For | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Awario | Budget startups | $41/month |
| Hootsuite | Full social management | 30-day free trial |
| Sprout Social | All-in-one | Advanced analytics |
| Brand24 | Real-time monitoring | Sentiment analysis |
| Mention | Competitor tracking | Influencer finding |
These tools do more than track mentions. They're growth boosters. Here's how:
1. Market Insight
They help startups get what customers want. This is huge for new businesses.
2. Quick Problem Solving
Tools like Brand24 flag negative comments fast. This helps startups protect their image early on.
3. Finding Customers
By tracking talks, startups can spot potential buyers. It's like having a non-stop lead finder.
4. Better Content
These tools show what content clicks with your audience. This helps startups make stuff people want to see.
5. Staying Ahead
By watching competitors, startups can find gaps and grab chances faster.
These tools really work. Take Grammarly. They used influencer Cynthia Johnson to push their product. This move, likely based on social listening, boosted their brand.
Here's a scary fact: over 90% of new startups fail. 42% fail because of poor market research and marketing. Social monitoring tools can help avoid this by giving real-time market info.
In today's digital world, these tools aren't just nice to have. They're MUST-HAVES for startups aiming to win in 2024 and beyond.
FAQs
How much do social listening tools cost?
Social listening tools come with different price tags. Here's a quick look at two popular options:
| Tool | Platforms | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Keyhole | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube | $49-$199+/month |
| BuzzSumo | Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Amazon, Quora, Reddit | $99-$499+/month |
Prices can change, so check the official websites for the latest info. Good news: many tools offer free trials. You can test them out before spending a dime.
What's the best tool for social media monitoring?
"Best" depends on what you need. But Hootsuite is a solid all-rounder. Here's why:
- It tracks millions of online conversations in real-time
- Works with lots of social platforms
- Offers comprehensive social listening features
Hootsuite isn't just about monitoring. It's a full social media management toolkit. If you're a startup looking for an all-in-one solution, Hootsuite might be your best bet.