Every day, countless businesses invest time and resources in content creation, follower engagement, and online brand building — only to wonder if their efforts are making a difference. 

Without proper analytics, they might as well be operating blindly. They’re missing valuable opportunities to optimize their strategy and maximize ROI.

However, here’s the real challenge: sifting through the overwhelming amount of data available across multiple platforms and focusing on metrics that matter. The simple solution is choosing the right social media analytics tools to transform raw data into actionable insights. 

In this post, I’ll examine five of the best social media analytics tools every business should use to stay ahead of the competition. 

1. Social Status

Image via Social Status

Social Status is a comprehensive web-based social media analytics and reporting tool trusted by 60,000 social media managers worldwide. The platform excels in automated reporting, competitor tracking, and performance analysis, making it a perfect solution for businesses and marketing teams looking to streamline their social media efforts.

Key Features:

• Automated report generation with customizable templates
• White-label reporting for personalized presentation
• Competitor and influencer campaign tracking
• Ad performance and profile analytics
• Support for export in multiple formats, including PDF, PowerPoint, Google Slides, CSV, and XLSX
• Provides multi-channel performance insights in one dashboard

Pros: 

• Automates reporting, saving significant time
• Comprehensive multi-platform support for major social networks
• Highly customizable reporting templates
• Competitor benchmarking and influencer analytics

Cons:

• Analytics & reporting only, no features for publishing & scheduling
• Limited credits on lower pricing plans
• Limited features in the free plan

Pricing:

Social Status offers a free plan, with paid plans that include: 

• Micro: $9/month
• Starter: $29/month
• Pro: $49/month
• Business: $99/month
• Agency: $199/month

Image via Social Status

Usability:

With its ease of use and advanced reporting capabilities, Social Status is ideal for marketing teams and social media managers looking to enhance their social media analysis and reporting capabilities through an intuitive, automated tool.

 2. Sprout Social

Image via Sprout Social

Among the essential social media analytics tools every business should use, Sprout Social stands out. It’s an all-in-one social media platform trusted by over 25,000 organizations worldwide. It provides powerful analytics, social listening, and reporting tools to help you optimize your social media strategies.

Key Features:

• Cross-platform analytics for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and Pinterest
• Premianalyticsics with advanced filtering based on tags, content type, and message format
• Templated and customizable reports for detailed performance insights
• Internal team analytics to track response times and engagement efficiency
• Competitor analysis tools to benchmark performance
• Advanced social listening tool to track audience demographics, sentiment, and industry trends

Pros:

• Comprehensive analytics covering multiple platforms in one place
• Interactive charts and graphs to simplify data visualization
• Real-time data collection through an optimized API
• Customizable reporting to focus on relevant metrics

Cons:

• Additional fees apply when adding new team members
• The dashboard can feel complex and overwhelming for new users

Pricing:

Sprout Social offers a 30-day free trial for the following paid plans: 

• Standard: $199/month
• Professional: $299/month
• Advanced: $399/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Image via Sprout Social

Usability:

Sprout Social offers an intuitive interface, making it suitable for beginners to experts in social media analytics.

3. Bulkly

Image via Bulkly

Bulkly is designed to streamline the scheduling process for marketers, solopreneurs, and agencies. With over 1 million posts scheduled, Bulkly is a “set-and-forget” solution that automates content creation, recycling, and posting to help businesses maintain a consistent social media presence.

Key Features:

• Bulk content creation from RSS feeds, blog URLs, or CSV files
• Automated scheduling with drip-posting capabilities
• Content recycling to ensure your posts stay active and relevant
• Easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor to reorder and schedule posts
• Customizable settings for each content group, allowing total flexibility in posting schedules
• Import content from platforms like Buffer or Hootsuite for easy migration
• Supports a variety of content types, including text updates, images, and links

Pros: 

• Helps manage posting frequency with drip scheduling
• Mass scheduling with bulk uploads using CSV files or blog RSS feeds
• Customizable content groups for tailored posting strategies
• Time-saving automation for recurring content posting
• Easy management of multiple social media accounts

Cons: 

• Limited analytics and social performance tracking
• Lacks advanced insights into audience engagement or sentiment
• No built-in influencer or competitor tracking

Pricing:

• Pro: $29/month
• Pro Plus: $49/month
• Pro Plus Agency: $149/month

Image via Bulk.ly

Usability:

Bulkly is an excellent tool for marketers who want a set-and-forget scheduling solution, freeing up time for more impactful work.

4. Keyhole

Image via Keyhole

Keyhole is a monitoring tool that helps brands track performance across platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok. 

It’s one of the social media analytics tools every business should use, aside from the ones outlined in this Attrock post, because it offers detailed insights into brand mentions, competitor analysis, and hashtag performance.

Key Features:

• Quick trends to analyze competitor activity and market movements
• Real-time tracking for hashtags, keywords, and account metrics
• Machine learning-powered trend prediction to stay ahead of industry shifts
• Influencer tracking to measure campaign effectiveness
• Competitive analysis to benchmark performance against rivals

Pros:

• User-friendly dashboard for seamless navigation
• Comprehensive reporting tools for detailed social media insights
• Centralized analytics for multiple social media accounts

Cons:

• Can be more expensive compared to other top social media analytics tools
• Occasional data discrepancies when compared with native platform analytics
• Customer support can be slow to respond at times

Pricing:

Keyhole offers a 14-day free trial. Its paid plans include: 

• Start: $189/month
• Grow: $249/month
• Scale: $449/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Image via Keyhole

Usability:

Keyhole is best suited for intermediate to expert users due to its advanced analytics capabilities.

5. Tailwind

Image via Tailwind

Tailwind is a social media scheduling tool designed for Instagram and Pinterest. It provides in-depth insights into visual content performance, making it an ideal choice for small businesses and brands focused on these platforms.

Key Features:

• Pinterest analytics to measure engagement trends by pin, board, or category
• Instagram and Pinterest performance reports (daily, weekly, or monthly)
• Interest heatmaps to track audience engagement with different content types
• Post Inspector to highlight top-performing content
• Hashtags and scheduling tools for better reach and engagement

Pros:

• Tailored for small businesses with a focus on Instagram and Pinterest
• Affordable pricing compared to other analytics tools
• Customer support is proactive in assisting users

Cons:

• Limited to only to Instagram and Pinterest
• User interface could be improved for better navigation

Pricing:

• Tailwind provides a free forever plan with 5 AI credits per month. Here are its paid plans: 
• Pro: $24.99/month
• Advanced: $49.99/month
• Max: $99.99/month

Image via Tailwind

Usability:

Tailwind’s beginner-friendly interface makes it one of the easiest social media analytics tools every business should use.

Conclusion

From Sprout Social’s comprehensive cross-platform analysis to Tailwind’s specialized focus on visual content, each tool we’ve examined offers unique capabilities to match different business needs and budgets.

Your choice should align with your team’s expertise, analytical requirements, and marketing budget. While Sprout Social provides enterprise-level insights, Buffer offers an accessible entry point for smaller teams. BuzzSumo excels in content analysis, and Keyhole delivers real-time monitoring capabilities.

Investing in the right social media analytics tool equips your business with the data you need to achieve a higher return on your social media investment.