In the age of big data, brand managers have access to more information than ever. But the question is: how can such information be collected and analyzed in ways that allow managers to make a comprehensive diagnosis of their brand’s reputation?
That’s when brand monitoring software comes into play. For example: Useful tools like KeyMentions and Hootsuite can filter through the noise and focus only on the relevant volumes of data that apply to one’s brand, main competitors, and the overall market.
In this comparison, I have listed the 7 best brand monitoring tools of 2024, focusing on the main strengths offered by each one. Most of them are paid services, but they include free trial periods so you can test their services without paying.
What is Brand Monitoring Software?
Brand monitoring software is a tool used for tracking brand mentions and providing comprehensive features to deal with the collected information. Their main role is to analyze the web looking for content that relates to a specific brand’s reputation.
There are many ways of building a brand’s reputation, but it all starts with a thorough diagnosis of where such a brand is at the moment. While the end goal is to take proactive steps to enhance a brand’s rep, knowing as much as possible about the general sentiment toward it is adamant.
Before diving into the 7 best brand monitoring software tools in the world, let’s take a closer look at some of the products and features most commonly integrated into brand monitoring software:
- Social listening: The number-one feature of brand monitoring software is the ability to track brand mentions across the web, which effectively makes them social listening tools.
- Sentiment analysis: Some brand monitoring software reviews large volumes of data to make a summary of the overall sentiment toward a given brand.
- Competitor analysis: Usually through social listening, brand monitoring software permits conducting thorough competitor analysis, providing valuable insights into niche industries and top market contenders.
- Automatic alerts: Top brand monitoring software can also be used for setting automatic alerts based on brand mentions and keywords. KeyMentions, for example, lets you set instant email alerts for Reddit based on specific terms and the number of upvotes/comments.
For more valuable brand monitoring software that hasn’t made it into the top seven, please check out our guide on the best online reputation management tools.
The Top 7 Brand Monitoring Software Tools of 2024
- KeyMentions: Best for Reddit
- Hootsuite: Best for social media
- Brandwatch: Best for YouTube
- BuzzSumo: Best for competitor monitoring
- Awario: Best for localization
- Ahrefs: Best for backlinks
- Google Alerts: Best free monitoring software
1. KeyMentions: Best For Reddit
If you’re a brand manager and you’re still not using Reddit properly for brand monitoring, then it’s probably time for a change. The best brand monitoring software for the front page of the Internet? KeyMentions, of course!
KeyMentions is a simple-to-use app designed with bulletproof Reddit brand monitoring in mind. The app tracks all brand mentions and can also be used for setting up instant email alerts based on keywords and the number of upvotes/comments.
So, if you’re running a fitness business (for example), KeyMentions helps you monitor such a business by collecting all brand mentions, competitor mentions, and relevant keywords that may represent big selling opportunities on Reddit.
Compared to other brand monitoring software for Reddit, KeyMentions has the advantage of relying on up-to-date information, meaning you can identify trending threads quickly enough to actually intervene in them and make a difference.
2. Hootsuite: Best For Social Media
If KeyMentions is king for Reddit, then Hootsuite is social media’s monitoring queen. A super complete platform for brand managers and marketers, Hootsuite has everything from basic social listening to engagement tools and AI content creators.
A whopping 5.07 billion people worldwide use social media, so it’s hard to think of a better medium for monitoring brand mentions. In Hootsuite, no social network is excluded, from good-old Facebook to the image discovery platform Pinterest.
Hootsuite does brand monitoring right on social media, but the app’s greatest strength is the sheer number of additional features. It’s an ambitious type of brand monitoring software that pushes the envelope with its social media analytics and content schedulers.
The efficiency of Hootsuite is backed by several case studies and data showing that, in some cases, brands hit up to 500% growth on their social media channels—certainly an appetizing fact!
3. Brandwatch: Best For YouTube
YouTube videos can make or break a brand’s reputation. The world’s number-one video website is filled with in-depth product reviews that may reflect pleasantly (or poorly) in the overall sentiment toward one’s brand. But is there anything you can do?
By tracking mentions but going far beyond due to its extra features, Brandwatch stands tall as the ultimate brand monitoring software for YouTube. The app covers several other types of media, but it’s their YouTube services that got it a place on the list.
So, Brandwatch is a great tool not only for making an informed diagnosis of a brand’s reputation on YouTube but also for taking the necessary steps to boost your business’s image on the video-centric platform.
As for the YouTube services provided by Brandwatch, they are Consumer Research, Influence (for finding top video creators), Engage, Listen (for monitoring YouTube comments), and Benchmark (for instant market/competitor analysis).
4. BuzzSumo: Best For Competitor Monitoring
People always say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and that timeless piece of wisdom applies perfectly to competitor monitoring. After all, knowing what your adversaries are doing right and wrong is arguably as important as staying on top of your brand’s reputation.
Despite not being the cheapest brand monitoring software in the market, the all-encompassing BuzzSumo is a great tool for monitoring not only your brand mentions, but also all mentions related to relevant competitors. But why?
BuzzSumo’s biggest strength is perhaps its scope, as it monitors not only popular social media websites, Reddit communities, or Google and YouTube, but also news sources from all around the world. In sum, pretty much the whole Internet!
Due to its unparalleled monitoring scope, BuzzSumo is therefore the best brand monitoring tool to inform your competitor and market analysis.
5. Awario: Best For Localization
Localization is the process of adapting web content to specific cities and/or countries. The goal is to optimize landing pages in ways that attract organic traffic from given locations (such as, for example, a city where your brand has a physical store).
Localizing has become more and more of a digital marketing standard in recent years, but how can brand managers effectively monitor their reputation in specific geographic locations? The answer is Awario and its geo-based mentions tracker!
In addition to social listening and basic monitoring features, Awario lets you put a time and place in each mention, comment, and online review relating to your brand. This unique service is what makes Awario’s the best brand monitoring software for localization projects.
6. Ahrefs: Best For Backlinks
Backlinks have lost importance on Google in recent years, but they continue to be one of the best metrics for evaluating the authority and relevance of web pages. Unfortunately, backlinks are often ignored by brand monitoring tools.
Ahrefs isn’t your typical brand monitoring software (it’s mainly aimed at SEO), but it’s probably the best app for monitoring your brand’s backlinks and factoring them into your overall brand diagnosis.
Without you knowing, you may be losing tons of money on missed backlink opportunities. With Ahrefs, you can instantly review a complete list of your brand’s backlinks and make the necessary adjustments to put an end to those missed chances.
7. Google Alerts: Best Free Brand Monitoring Software
Make no mistake: Google Alerts is a tiny monitoring tool when compared with more complete alternatives such as KeyMentions or Hootsuite. However, the fact that it’s free (and backed by Google) makes it too good a tool to simply snub.
The original brand monitoring software, Google Alerts is as simple as it gets: you enter your email address, write one or more keywords, and receive email alerts once those keywords (they can be, for example, your brand’s name) show up in Google-indexed web sources.
No, Google Alerts won’t take you very far in your brand monitoring journey… However, it’s a handy complementary tool for all kinds of businesses, as well as the perfect introductory tool to brand-mention alerts (especially because it doesn’t cost a dime).
Summary
If you want something to get better, you need to keep an eye on it. And when it comes to monitoring the general sentiment of the public toward your brand, you should always keep both eyes open.
With the best brand monitoring software, you can do that and much more, collecting valuable insights regarding your brand’s reputation and rounding them off by driving engagement, increasing sales, and taking a proactive stance toward customer feedback.
Brand Monitoring Software (FAQ)
Brand monitoring software refers to tools that can be used for tracking brand mentions and other relevant keywords in multiple web channels.
KeyMentions is the best brand monitoring software for Reddit due to its revolutionary instant email alerts and traffic-based filters.
If you’re looking for a brand monitoring tool that covers virtually all social media platforms in one single place, Hootsuite is my top recommendation.
Due to its geo-tracked mentions and strong take on localized web marketing, Awario is the ideal brand monitoring tool for performing localization tasks.
Brand monitoring software tends to cost money, but you can find free trials for most of the top apps. For a 100% free alternative, consider Google Alerts.
