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Social Media Auditing is a diagnostic, periodic check-up (e.g., quarterly or annually) of your own accounts to evaluate follower growth, profile consistency, and alignment with overall business goals.

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What is a social media audit? | Brandwatch Social Media Glossary

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A social media audit reviews your brand’s presence across all platforms. Learn what it covers, key metrics to track, and how often to run one.

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Best social listening tools for your brand in 2026

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Social Listening

If strategic social media communication relies on an understanding of your audience over time, than Social Listening is crucial for success. What topics interest your audience? What are their pain points? What trends are they participating in?

This understanding, a.k.a. social listening, helps you craft and curate content and messages that will resonate with them and will help you adjust your strategy and goal setting.

Social listening IS the process of tracking and analyzing online conversations related to a specific brand, organization, industry, or topic across various digital channels. What is catching your audience's attention at this moment?

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Imagine being able to see into your customers' minds to get a sense of their values, interests and motivations. Wouldn't you be much better at crafting messages that resonate? Or sensing when your brand reputation is in trouble?

While it's not exactly possible to read people's minds, you can get pretty close by listening in on their social media conversations. That's why you need social listening tools to analyze what people are saying on social media and extract valuable insights. Social media listening tools let you monitor and track social media conversations related to a specific brand or topic. You can then analyze the data to uncover insights that will inform your marketing decisions.

But the quality of your insights greatly depends on your choice of tools. So let's narrow down 13 of the top social listening tools that you should consider for your brand.
Table of contents:
Best all-in-one social listening tool

Some tools provide deep listening for one specific platform. Meanwhile, some may specialize in certain functions. While one tool gives you an in-depth sentiment analysis, another may be much better at predicting trends.

To get the most out of your social listening efforts, however, you need a tool that does it all.

1. Sprout Social

Sprout Social's social listening tools give you a comprehensive look into conversations that are relevant to your brand. Track conversations related to your brand across all major social networks and other online sources. Sprout's tools automatically sift through millions of data points to uncover insights relevant to your brand.

You can learn about audience preferences and how they feel about specific products, campaigns or topics. This helps you stay on top of the latest industry trends and identify untapped business opportunities. Discover key influencers and thought leaders that are leading the conversation, so you know whom to engage.

Brand-specific conversations give you more visibility into customer experiences and brand sentiment. You can even set up custom alerts to anticipate an upcoming brand crisis, giving you ample time to fix it before it gets out of hand. Plus, with powerful social media management tools built in, you can easily manage these issues all in one place.

Sprout offers a 30-day free trial so you can test out its publishing and analytics capabilities. The social listening tools are part of a custom-built plan for enterprise users.
Start a free Sprout Social trial
General social listening tools

If your brand maintains a presence across a variety of social networks, you'd need a tool that's appropriate for all major platforms. Let's look at the top social listening tools that are suitable for general use.

2. Brandwatch

Brandwatch extracts valuable conversational insights from millions of sources. It analyzes both historical and real-time conversations to identify current trends and how they change over time. This gives you a better understanding of your market and audience, so you know what's trending and popular. You'll be able to see the top topics they're talking about and identify relevant brand mentions.

The pricing for Brandwatch's consumer intelligence solution is available on request.

3. Brand24

Brand24 is a powerful tool for measuring brand awareness and reach. It lets you track conversations from 25 million online sources to gather valuable consumer insights. This gives you a better understanding of what people like or dislike, especially when it comes to your brand. You can even measure brand sentiment and quickly identify reputational risks.

Individual plans for Brand24 start from $79/mo. This lets you track up to three keywords and 2,000 mentions each month.

4. BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is a comprehensive listening tool that specializes in content discovery and research. The platform lets you track trending topics and popular content to inspire you. You can use the monitoring features to track mentions and trends across leading social networks. It lets you set up alerts for brands, topics and keywords to help you stay on top of the latest conversations.

The basic plan for BuzzSumo starts at $119/mo. This provides access to one user to perform 80 searches and set up one alert.

5. Keyhole

Keyhole offers enterprise-grade social listening to gain a deeper understanding of your audience. It provides insights to identify who they are and get a better sense of what they like. You can use the platform to track specific hashtags and keywords as well as identify relevant influencers. The volume predictions feature lets you anticipate when your posts are going viral so you can come up with a game plan.

Users can gain access to Keyhole's social listening features with plans starting at $99/mo.

6. Meltwater

Meltwater helps you cut through the noise and uncover the conversational insights that matter to your brand. It provides you with a full picture by capturing historical data so you can research changes in trends over time. The platform gives you a better understanding of your audience and allows you to analyze their sentiment. You can use it to monitor brand mentions in real time and stay on top of upcoming crises to quell them on time.

Meltwater is available in four different plans with pricing on request.

7. YouScan

YouScan is one of the top social listening tools that come with image recognition capabilities. It gives you access to AI-powered visual insights to gain a better understanding of your buyer persona. The platform identifies upcoming trends so you can align your marketing strategy accordingly. It tracks brand sentiment and consumer perceptions to show you how people feel about your brand. It even detects possible threats to your brand reputation in real time.

The pricing for YouScan's social listening platform is available on request.

Social listening tools for Twitter

Twitter is a place where all the trending conversations take place. It's where people go when they want to complain about a brand or discuss a trending topic. As such, Twitter listening can uncover valuable insights into your target market.

So let's take a look at the social media listening tools that specifically focus on Twitter.

8. Twitter advanced search

Twitter's built-in advanced search tool is highly robust for listening in on relevant conversations. You can track conversations containing specific words, phrases and hashtags. It even lets you narrow your search by excluding certain words. To get even more specific, you can look for Tweets from specific accounts and to specific accounts. The tool gives you plenty of additional filters to help you narrow your search by engagement, date range and so on.

Twitter's advanced search is completely free to use and is accessible to every user.

9. TweetDeck

TweetDeck is a free interface from Twitter that helps you with organization and managing multiple accounts. You can pull up hundreds of conversations across Twitter and display them in several columns. This makes it easier to look out for Tweets around specific topics and news stories as they come in. TweetDeck even lets you pull up Tweets from the dedicated lists you've created. This makes it easier to narrow down conversations from Twitter accounts that are most interesting to you.

Like advanced search, TweetDeck is completely free to use and accessible to all users.

Social listening tools for TikTok

TikTok's reach and influence are rapidly expanding. Now it's the hub for all the latest social media trends and conversations. So being able to tap into the conversations happening on the platform can give you leverage to stand apart.

Let's take a look at a couple of TikTok tools that you can use to conduct social listening on the platform.

10. Exolyt

Exolyt gives you comprehensive insights into TikTok conversations and trends. You can use the tool to monitor what people are saying about your brand and how they feel about it. It lets you track specific TikTok accounts, hashtags and videos to gather granular insights. You can even use it to discover trending sounds, hashtags, effects and accounts to inform your content strategy.

The pricing for Exolyt starts at €199/mo. This gives access to an unlimited number of users and tracks up to 10 accounts and hashtags.

11. Analisa

Analisa is a powerful analytics tool with some listening capabilities. It analyzes TikTok profiles and hashtags to measure engagement and posting activity. You can use the tool to analyze content and influencers in real time. This helps you identify top posts, captions and hashtags as well as posting times to inform your strategy.

The free version of the tool only provides basic analytics for Instagram. Users can sign up for paid plans starting at $62.10/mo.

Free social listening tools

If you're not ready to invest in a paid tool just yet, there are a few free social listening tools that come with basic listening capabilities.

12. Answer the Public

Answer the Public pulls up search volumes and trends for a given topic, brand or product. It gives you a breakdown of the associated search terms. So you can use it to see what questions people are asking about it and what comparisons they're making. This gives you a better understanding of their needs and pain points as well as their interests.

The public version of the tool is free to access and comes with two free searches a day. Individual plans start at $9/mo. and lets you conduct up to 100 searches per day.

13. Google Alerts

Google Alerts is another free option that lets you set up alerts for conversations taking place across the web. You can choose to monitor specific keywords and topics or even brand names. The tool lets you filter your results based on sources, language and region. You can even customize the frequency of alerts and choose to show only the best results.

Maximize impact with the right social listening tools

The best social listening tool for your brand depends on your unique needs and expectations. Carefully assess each of the options we shared above to find the best one for you. But if you're looking for a well-rounded tool that does everything, Sprout's the answer you need. Try it free for 30 days to see if it's the right match for your brand.

Jacqueline Zote

Jacqueline Zote is a professional content writer and editor. Her interests range from pop culture and mythology to content development and social activism. In her free time, she goes on food adventures and writes unrhymed poetry. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies published by HarperCollins Publishers and Zubaan Books.

Read all articles by Jacqueline Zote

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13 social listening tools for your brand in 2023

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In search for the ideal tool to conduct social listening? Check out our list of 13 best social listening tools for your brand in 2023.

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Social Listening:

1. Definition:

Social listening is the process of monitoring online conversations about your brand, industry, or competitors to gain insights and understand sentiment.

2. Purpose:

To gather data about brand perception, customer needs, emerging trends, and competitive landscape.

3. Techniques:

Involves using software tools to track mentions, keywords, hashtags, and other relevant signals across various platforms. Other approaches could be Google alerts and or monitoring content natively.

4. Frequency:

Can be an ongoing process, with real-time monitoring and analysis.

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It's no secret that businesses today should have some sort of social media strategy.

But all too often we see companies improvising with little or no plan.

And hey, we totally understand why it happens.

Perhaps you inherited your social presence from someone who was "winging it." Maybe you haven't had the time to sit down and really dig into what's working and what's not.

Either way, conducting a quick audit can let you know whether or not your social strategy aligns with your business' goals.

In this guide and with the help of our totally free social media audit template, you'll have all the answers you need in no time flat.

What is a social media audit, anyway?
A social media audit is the process of reviewing your business' metrics to assess growth, opportunities and what can be done to improve your social presence.
Don't let the word "audit" freak you out, by the way. Social media audits aren't painstaking or tedious (or at least they don't have to be).

The good news is that our template does most of the heavy lifting in terms of what you need to measure: all you have to do is plug in the numbers.
Download Our Free Social Media Audit Template
And if you're using an analytics tool like Sprout, honing in on your most important metrics is a cinch.

Of course, we understand that different brands have different priorities. Feel free to customize your own social media audit template based on your needs, but be sure to include the following:

Profile information (name and URL)

Engagement metrics

Publishing metrics

Audience demographics

Referral traffic

Channel specific metrics

For any type of metric, you should include the percentage change from the previous month or year. Tracking year over year metrics is a good idea because it accounts for seasonal changes. For instance, retail stores usually see a big influx in social media activity during November and December, so it can skew the month over month comparison for January of the following year.

We also recommend conducting audits either monthly or quarterly for the sake of tracking big-picture trends while giving yourself an opportunity to make timely changes.

What do I need to do for my first social media audit?

Let's say you're conducting a social media audit for the first time. No sweat!

Below we've broken down the step-by-step process for your first audit, much of which can be rinsed and repeated next time you need to analyze your presence.

1. Wrangle all of your existing social media profiles

First thing's first: you're going to need to take inventory of your social profiles.

This might seem like a no-brainer, right? But also consider your social profiles beyond "big" networks like Facebook or Twitter. You know, like that YouTube account with two subscribers or the Pinterest profile you haven't touched in three years.

If there are networks you're no longer active on, you don't necessarily need to track them. Just make sure they're claimed and under your company's control. On the other hand, an audit might help you uncover opportunities that are a perfect fit for the unique features of networks you've been ignoring.

Our social media audit template has tabs for all the major networks, but it's simple to add a new tab for any additional platforms you use. We also included a section in the summary tab to list all of your brand's social profiles in one place.

Once you have all your current social profiles listed, the next step is deciding which platforms you want to focus on. Chances are you're aware of your priorities, but a proper social media audit can be an eye-opener in terms of which profiles are actually your top-performers.

As a quick aside, a tool like Sprout is helpful for keeping all of your social accounts and content consolidated.

2. Define specific goals for each network

To keep yourself from getting overwhelmed, it's important to zero in on your social media goals for each platform you're active on, including:

Increasing brand awareness

Generating more leads and sales

Increasing community engagement

Growing your audience (think: followers)

Increasing traffic to your site

For reference, here's an analysis of Instagram engagement in our social media audit template.

Not only will goal-setting help guide your presence, but also inform you of which metrics to track for each platform.

For example, you might be growing your Instagram followers faster than that of Facebook but the latter is resulting in more paying customers. When it comes to your metrics, the context of your goals matter.
Keep in mind that you don't have to fill in every single blank for your first social media audit!
Again, focus on the social media metrics that reflect your goals.
Download Our Free Social Media Audit Template
3. Make sure your branding, promotions and language are consistent

Consistent branding on social media is obviously important, but some details are easy to overlook.

As you audit your social presence, make a point to double-check that your profiles "match" when it comes to creatives, promotions and campaigns. This includes:

Bio and "About" language (when in doubt, refer to your style guide)

Profile and banner images

Destination URLs and landing pages

Hashtags

For example, brands like Skullcandy have consistent profiles from Twitter...

...to Facebook...

... and Instagram, alike.

See how that works?

If you don't run a ton of social-specific campaigns and are just trying to funnel traffic to your site, chances are not too much will change from audit to audit.

On the flip side, brands that run seasonal campaigns will need to regularly assess these details. For example, you should double-check that you aren't still running your holiday campaigns in mid-March.

4. Open up your social media analytics

Now that you know which profiles you're auditing and what metrics you're looking for, it's time to dig into the data.

Here is where you'll be able to identify whether you're hitting your targets or if there's room for improvement.

Note that a social media analytics tool like Sprout can really speed up the process of pulling your metrics, not to mention keep them all up-to-date in one place.

In our template, we outline the recommended metrics to look at to identify your profiles' performance. This includes engagement, link clicks, shares, referral traffic, impressions and more.

We've also included notes in the spreadsheet that tell you exactly where in Sprout to find each metric to make your social media audit a bit easier.
Start a free trial of Sprout Social
Once you start entering in the data, it should be pretty obvious which channels are outperforming others, especially if you've been measuring your efforts already.

5. Identify your top-performing social media posts

Drilling down to individual posts can highlight which types of content you should be creating.

For example, does your audience adore video? Photos? Question-based posts?

Your native analytics for each platform can help you understand what any given piece of content is receiving in terms of:

Impressions (or views)

Engagements (comments, "Likes," shares, etc)

Reach

If you find sorting your posts by engagement to be too tedious, remember that Sprout Social can highlight top-performing posts in a matter of seconds.

Additionally, our platform can quickly measure hashtag performance across your social profile to showcase which campaigns are resonating the most with followers.

Our template has sections to measure the performance of your publishing overall, as well as your individual top posts. If you want to go more granular, you can also categorize your top posts based on criteria including:

Videos

Promotional

Educational/information

Entertainment

Rich media (images and .gifs)

This will give you a clear picture of exactly which type of content is working on each channel. From there, it's just a matter of fitting more of that type of successful content into next month's social media calendar.

5. Figure out how you're funneling your social media traffic.

No surprises here: it's important to measure the relationship between your social media presence and your website.

This will not only help you understand which posts result in legitimate interest from your audience but also which channels are the most valuable for generating leads.

You can find traffic numbers in Google Analytics under "Acquisition" (and then filter by "Social"). Alternatively, you can use Sprout Social to further highlight the correlation between your social followers and web traffic.

6. Dig into your demographic data

From how you speak to your audience to prioritizing different content or platforms, demographic data matters.

For example, messaging for Gen Z and millennials versus Gen X and baby boomers is apples and oranges. As such, age and gender should be included as part of your social media audience.

Some networks such as Twitter and Facebook highlight this information, while Sprout's Audience Demographics provides a high-level breakdown for all of your profiles.

Ideally, your audience data should be similar across all your platforms. If not, you may want to reconsider your messaging and content strategy for outlying networks.

7. Assess opportunities from new social media platforms

Although not all of them necessarily stick around for the long-term, new social media platforms do pop up rather regularly.

For example, maybe you're not quite sold on TikTok but are still considering opportunities there. Good! Likewise, becoming an early adopter of new platforms can help you position yourself before your competitors.

In your social media audit spreadsheet, highlight new platforms you want to explore. If you're using our template, there's a section for this in the "Summary" tab.

Keep in mind that this isn't a necessity. If you're already focused on a few networks or don't find any new platforms that interest you at the moment, no worries.

That said, it's always a good idea to stay on top of new and emerging social media trends.

8. Come up with new objectives and action items

At this point, your spreadsheet should be mostly filled out. Now what?

Remember that the purpose of a social media audit is to give you a better understanding of where you are currently and to make plans for the future.

Whether it's growing your followers on a certain channel, getting more engagement or broadening your audience, you have everything you need to make more informed decisions.

In order to help make your social media assessment more actionable, we included a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis section for each network in the template. You can use this area to add some high-level analysis based on all the data you collect from your audit.

Or to go a step further, conduct a full-blown SWOT analysis after your social media audit to highlight your business' most pressing opportunities.

Ready to conduct your first social media audit?

If you want to improve your performance via social media, you need to get knee-deep in data.

And conducting a social audit is the perfect way to do exactly that. After reading our breakdown, hopefully you're inspired to dive into your numbers.

Download our free social media audit template to get started!

To get access to your social metrics all in one place and make every social media audit easier, test out Sprout's capabilities with a free trial.

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How to conduct a speedy social media audit

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It's no secret that businesses today should have some sort of social media strategy. But all too often we see companies improvising with little or no plan. And hey, we totally understand why it happens. Perhaps you inherited your social presence from someone who was "winging it."

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Here is SproutSocial's Audit Template via Google Sheets

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Here is SproutSocial's Audit Template via Google Sheets

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Copy of Sprout Social: Social Media Audit Template (make a copy to edit)

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Monitoring Example: An Instagram user posts a comment asking if she can get the same product in store. The social media manager replies within 10 minutes answering the question.

Listening Example: Analysis of chatter over a period of six months shows increased interest in "biodegradable" items among your demographic niche. Your product is biodegradable, so you may have an opportunity here.

Audit Example: Your overall engagement rate is down on Facebook during May, but going up on Instagram YOY. It's the same videos with the same captions posted to both.

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The difference between social media monitoring vs. social media listening

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Social media monitoring and social media listening may often be used interchangeably, but there is a difference. Find out how each one benefits your brand.

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Social Media Audit:

Definition:

A social media audit is a process of evaluating your brand's social media presence, including its profile about pages, content, and engagement, against SMART goals and benchmarks.

Purpose:

To understand what's working, what's not, and identify areas for improvement in your social media strategy and program.

Components:

Typically includes:

Reviewing profiles (for demographics, to refresh cover photos)

Updating bio pages

Checking "following accounts" and permissions

Analyzing content for engagement and sentiment analysis

Aligning audience demographics

Conducting a competitor analysis for the same period.

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The Expert’s Guide to Do Social Media Audit | Sprinklr

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Read our nine-step social media audit guide and boost your engagement and ROI before your competitors do.