You want to know if the online conversations about your brand are positive or negative, don’t you? You can search all over the internet or install free social listening tools.
It feels amazing when people are actively talking about your business. But you are extremely lucky if all the posts and comments about your business are positive. So, from all the fired-up discussions about your brand, how do you figure out whether the hype is positive? The answer is simple; get a social listening tool.
Social listening tools will find out posts and comments about your brand. Then they analyze all the information to tell you if you are famous or infamous. This entire process sounds pretty simple, but finding the right tool is the main challenge.
Hey, if you are feeling lost, you can always start from the 7 free social listening tools 2023 list below.
What Is A Social Listening Tool?
So, what in the world is a social listening tool? Stop scratching your poor head and pay attention, my friend.
A social listening tool is a special analytical software that monitors, analyzes, and helps understand social media discussions regarding your brand. This type of software can sense your name mentions and analyze them automatically. This process helps you understand what people think about your products or services. You can learn your plus points and faults from the customers’ perspective.
Social media listening tools are like nosey neighbours with access to gossip and discussions. But instead of stirring up controversies, they help you get better.
How Does A Social Listening Tool Work?
The concept of building tools for social listening is genius! The developers of these listening tools need a round of applause. But what about the users of social listening tools? Of course, things won’t be easy for you if you have zero idea of how these tools work.
Different types of social media monitoring tools can have different functionality. But the basic work process of these tools is the same.
- Keyword: First, you have to input the keyword relevant to your business.
- Track: The software’s tracking feature will sense every public mention of the keyword online.
- Data Collection: The software shows you the posts mentioning the keyword and collects essential data for further analysis.
- Analyze and Show Results: Your social listening tool presents various analytical information. The type and amount of information can vary depending on the type of tool.
So, this is how a listening tool primarily works. Whether paid or free social listening tools, all conduct almost the same work process.
Why Is Social Listening Important?
To understand the importance of social listening, you have to come out of the virtual world for a moment. Now, look at all the big physical companies of the world. They have been doing market research like a ritual even before the internet came into the picture.
There are two types of market research; one is for understanding the market demand for a product before launching it, other is for understanding public reaction after launching the product. Social listening is important for the second type of market research in a virtual setup. This type of market research helps you understand your brand’s popularity and how to improve.
Social listening helps you see things from the consumer’s point of view. So you get a better grasp of what to do to make your customer happier. Plus, finding positive reviews from consumers works like a motivation.
7 Best Free Social Listening Tools In 2023
Social listening is very similar to physical market research or survey. But the work process of these two activities can be different. So finding the proper tool for listening to social media can be quite tricky.
So I am here to lend you a hand with a catalog of free social listening tools.
1. Mention
First, on the list, we have a software named Mention. This software is everything you can ever ask for social listening. The work process of this software is textbook level.
Set up this tool to get alerts on specific keyword mentions across the internet. Aside from the tracking part, it also gathers information, analyzes them, and helps you get leads. You can also set it up to get only relevant and trendy content.
Pros:
- A simple email alert system and the preview feature can redirect you to the original post.
- Cleverly catches onto references of your brand.
- You can set up filters for more accurate and relevant results.
- Full-time monitoring helps you understand the social media standing of your brand.
Cons:
- A little bit slow in loading the previews.
2. Followerwonk
The free social listening tools 2023 list has a bunch of Twitter-based tools. Here is the first Twitter-based tool among them.
Meet Followerwonk, a specially-built analytical tool for finding out and analyzing Twitter mentions of your brand.
Twitter is a social media for elite and trendy people. Discussions on this platform matter like any top newspaper’s front page article. Followerwonk collects multiple variables from this platform to provide you with leads, optimize post reach, and help your brand become even more popular.
Pros:
- Optimize your Tweets for higher reach.
- Easily identify and segment your Twitter Followers.
- Set up benchmarks to earn followers.
- Enjoy information and analytics through graphical presentations.
Cons:
- The interface looks a little boring and old-fashioned.
3. Answer the Public
If you build your website according to the relevant popular google inquiries, you are bound to get more reach. But how do you know what your target customers want to know? You simply learn it via a website called Answer the Public.
Answer the Public is a keyword research platform useful for SEO or social listening. Just input your brand name or any other relevant topic as the keyword to find a list of related questions on Google. These questions are mostly from your targeted customers. So, it is super-easy to know what they are saying or asking about your brand.
Pros:
- Easy to collect insights and ideas.
- The result display comes in a very organized disk formation.
- Quick work process even for hundreds of results.
Cons:
- Answer the Public has limited functions compared to other free social listening tools.
- The free search facility has a limitation of only three searches per day.
4. TweetDeck
Here comes another social media listening tool for Twitter, and its name is TweetDeck. TweetDeck used to be an independent software. Later, Twitter added this app to its own interface. So now you can use TweetDeck directly from Twitter.
TweetDeck can rigorously monitor Twitter accounts and help you understand your followers better. It can find tweets related to your brand even if the tweet does not have your Twitter handle.
Pros:
- TweetDeck works like a Twitter account manager.
- Can monitor multiple Twitter accounts at the same time.
- You can schedule your tweets for publishing later.
Cons:
- It cannot work with Twitter cards.
5. Social Mention
I have already talked about “Mention.” But did I talk about “Social Mention”? The name “Social Mention” may sound like a gossip community, but it is much more than that.
Social Mention catches all your brand-related discussions and analyzes them in real-time. This software is one of the most organized tools I have mentioned so far. It presents all the gathered information in one simple stream of information. This way, the information is easily understandable, even if the amount is overwhelming.
Pros:
- Well-managed and organized data presentation.
- Real-time data tracking and monitoring of your brand mentions.
- Can predict future campaign performances.
- Shows analytics to help create a future activity list for business growth.
Cons:
- Tracking old data may lead to faulty analysis.
6. Google Alerts
Google has served us with countless features and tools throughout the years. Google Alerts is one of them. So what does Google Alerts do? When you set up an alert for any activity, Google Alerts sends you notifications upon detecting that activity.
Simply saying, Google will send you an email for every new mention, post, or comment related to the input of your alert. You can set up how many times a day, week, or month it will alert you.
Pros:
- Quick and easy process to set up alerts.
- Get all the information directly via email.
- Intelligent enough to understand your interest.
- This tool can notify you of specific articles.
Cons:
- Sometimes sends incomplete data.
7. Twilert
Twilert is simply the twin brother of Google Alerts. Calling it the twin brother of Google Alerts may sound like I’m underestimating this tool. In reality, I highly respect Twilert’s resourcefulness. I am calling it such because of the striking similarities between the two tools.
Google Alerts is for all over the web, and Twilert is only for Twitter. Twilert is a Twitter-based social media monitoring tool. This tool can send you alerts every time someone mentions your brand on Twitter. Set up an alert using relevant keywords or hashtags, and you are good to go.
Pros:
- All day long continuous monitoring.
- The software is older than a decade, so it’s experienced and reliable.
- Automatic detection and monitoring of specified keywords, hashtags, or topics.
- You have control over search results.
Cons:
- Only available for Twitter, so it alienates other social media users.
FAQs: Social Listening Tools
How do you measure social listening?
Usually, you can calculate social listening depending on factors like the number of leads, the share of voice, conversion rate, and customer feedback.
Does social media listening relate to qualitative or quantitative research?
Social media listening is for quantitative research.
Can I consider social media listening tools as marketing software?
Social media listening tools are market research tools.
Are paid social listening tools worth it?
Paid versions definitely have more features, but the free social listening tools are also great for starters.
Final Thoughts
Do not take social listening lightly. It can help you turn your small business into an empire. You have to choose the right tool and use it properly.
A poor choice of tool can turn social listening into a complicated and boring activity. But if you choose wisely, social listening can be the easiest job ever! Find social listening tools on AppSumo for lifetime deals.
You can find out your strengths and shortcomings, develop your products accordingly, and grow your business like a pro. If you are not ready to pay for social listening, start with the free social listening tools.
So, this is the end of the social listening tools 2023 list. Do your research properly and find a good tool for your business growth.
