A social media tracker is designed to help you follow online conversations in real time so you can make quick decisions and feed the insights back into your marketing strategy.

Marketing teams and social media managers use trackers all the time to better understand their brand positioning and reputation as well as how their social media campaigns are performing.

Sophisticated tracker software allows you to spot trends, watch competitors, respond to comments, identify influencers, and improve your ways of working across major social media platforms.

In effect, your tracker acts as your eyes and ears in the complex world of social media, giving you useful data whenever you need it.

A platform like Brandwatch tracks social media channels and gathers data in real time. Crunch the numbers and you'll soon acquire insightful social analytics data that can drive your brand forward.

This guide provides an introduction into social media monitoring and the types of tracking techniques you can use. See what social media monitoring tools are available, what metrics you should be looking out for, and how to tailor your tracking for each social media platform.

Key takeaways

  • Social media trackers monitor your brand's online presence across platforms
  • They help you engage with customers and respond quickly to comments
  • These tools provide data to improve your content strategy and posting times

In this guide

  • What is social media tracking?
  • Tools for social media monitoring
  • Benefits of using a social media tracker

What is social media tracking?

Social media tracking helps you keep tabs on your online presence, your rivals' activities, and your audience and customer interactions. It gives you useful insights that can help you improve your marketing and customer service.

How social media tracking works

Social media tracking works in a number of ways. It can include watching and measuring your brand's activity on social platforms, like seeing how many people like, share, and comment on your posts.

It also lets you spot trending topics and see what people are saying about you online, while monitoring what your competitors are doing.

Social media tracking isn't just for big companies. After all, small businesses and individuals also need to know what's working and what's not.

Importance of tracking social media

Tracking social media gives you valuable insights about your audience and the wider industry. You can learn what content customers like best and when they're most active online. This helps you post at the right times to get more engagement.

That's the easy bit but social media tracking tools go much deeper than this.

For example, they help you spot minor problems before they become big issues. If someone complains about your product, you can respond fast and can hopefully turn a bad situation into a good one.

Tracking also lets you see how you stack up against competitors. You can learn from what they do well and find ways to stand out from the crowd.

Finally, the data mined from a social media management tool helps you measure your return on investment. Was that social media marketing campaign worth it? What do you need to change for next time?

Tools for social media monitoring and tracking

Social media monitoring tools help you track brand mentions, analyze trends, and measure campaign performance across social platforms. They're really useful for giving you a clear picture of where your brand sits in relation to competitors, and where you need to focus your energy.

It's these valuable insights that guide your social media strategy.

Is a social media monitoring tool right for me?

A social media tracker usually sits within a broader monitoring or engagement tool. This software oversees your social media activity, allowing you to do everything from creating new content and assessing existing posts, to planning your future strategies.

When we talk about trackers, then, we mean the real-time alerts, data collection, visualization, and wider social listening capabilities that tools provide users.

The best also track your competitors, giving you a peek at what's working with their social media activity.

Use your tool correctly and you'll collect social media data on engagement, reach, and audience growth as well as deeper insights.

Is this what you need? As a marketer or business owner you might already use social tracker features attached to your individual platforms. For example, you might use Meta's software to get Facebook insights.

If you want to fully understand the success of your social media campaigns then you need a tracker tool to obtain full insight and see everything in one place. Below are some to consider:

Comparison of top monitoring tools

Below are four tools that provide a social media tracker as part of their package:

  • Brandwatch: Provides AI-powered insights, demographic and behavioral data, sentiment analysis, social media scheduling, and benchmarking tools
  • Hootsuite: Manages multiple accounts, schedules posts, and tracks mentions
  • Mention: Monitors multiple social media channels and helps with a number of marketing use cases
  • Agorapulse: Includes team collaboration features and social measurement

When choosing a tool, think about your needs and budget. Some tools work best for small businesses, while others suit large companies.

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Integrating monitoring tools with social platforms

If you're new to the world of monitoring tools and trackers then don't worry. It's easy to link your social media accounts to a platform like Brandwatch. Here's how:

  1. Sign up to your chosen tool
  2. Go to the settings or integrations section
  3. Select the platforms you want to monitor (eg, Facebook, X, Instagram)
  4. Log in to each platform and grant access

Once connected, the tool can track social media across your accounts and pull in data that can be turned into insight.

Benefits of using a social media tracker

Now we understand what a social media tracker does, it's time to look at the benefits of using one in closer detail.

Below are five core benefits social media managers can gain from using tracker software:

1) You get vastly improved analytics and metrics

Social media analytics give you powerful insights into your campaigns and audience. They help you make smarter decisions and improve your social media strategy.

Gathering social media insights

Social media analytics tools let you track your posts' performance. You can see likes, shares, comments, and reach for each update. Historic data shows which content resonates best with your followers.

Use these insights to refine your strategy. Post more of what works and less of what doesn't – simple, right? Use your data to find the perfect time to post on each platform. Remember, there should always be room for experimentation!

You might have used Facebook Insights before. But for more advanced data, try a tool that combines stats from multiple social media networks.

Key metrics for campaign tracking

To measure campaign success, focus on these important metrics:

  • Reach: How many people saw your content
  • Engagement: Likes, comments, shares, and clicks
  • Conversions: Sign-ups, sales, or other goals
  • Share of voice: How often people mention you vs. competitors
  • Sentiment: Listen to what users think about your brand, your products, and your marketing campaigns

Set clear goals before you launch a campaign and track these metrics to see if you're meeting them. Adjust your tactics based on what the numbers tell you.

Your tracker can guide you along and flag when you're not on course to hit your goals.

Understanding audience demographics

Your tracker also collects data on your audience, so you can build a clear picture of your customers.

You can then create content that aligns with your personas.

If there's a gap, adjust your strategy to attract the right people. You might need to change the content, tone, or platforms you use.

2) You can optimize your online brand presence

Social media trackers help you boost your brand's online image and reputation. They let you watch what people say, fix problems fast, and build a loyal fan base.

Monitoring brand reputation

It all starts with monitoring what's already out there. Brand monitoring tools scan social media for mentions of your company and its rivals. You can set up alerts for your brand name, products, and key people like your CEO.

These tools gather posts, comments, and reviews about your business. Good tools will also help you find trends in what folks are saying. Are they happy or upset? What do they like or dislike? Where does your brand sit compared to others?

This info helps you make smart choices for your brand.

A tool like Brandwatch lets you generate charts of your brand's online buzz over time. You can spot if there's a sudden spike in mentions – good or bad – and AI can help you make sense of the data even if there are thousands or millions of mentions.

Responding to negative mentions

Reacting to mentions on social media is never easy. When you find bad comments, don't panic. Take a deep breath and think before you type.

It's best to reply quickly, but not too fast that you make mistakes.

A tracker analyzes mentions so you can spot trends. If 90% of your social media mentions are complaints about your shipping process, then you need to escalate the problem and ensure you're communicating updates with the affected people.

For unique complaints, try to move chats to private messages. This keeps sensitive information off your public pages while showing others you're taking care of the issue.

Building brand advocacy

Your biggest fans can be your best marketers. A social media tracker helps you find people who love your brand and talk about it often.

These are your brand advocates.

Thank them for their support. Share their posts about your products. Engage with them positively.

You can also ask your advocates for feedback. Brands do this all the time and it's a great way to directly understand what loyal customers think about you. They might have great ideas for new products or ways to improve. When they feel heard, they'll be even more loyal to your brand.

3) You can find top influencers

Social media trackers help you find key influencers and gather market insights.

Identifying and tracking influencers

Influencers aren't always obvious. While some accounts market themselves as social media influencers, others generate follower growth almost by accident and become trusted voices in an industry.

Social listening tools help you find and follow relevant influencers in your field. Track their content and impact. See how their opinions affect those of others.

If they're a positive influencer, why not reach out to explore a partnership?

4) You can conduct real-time tracking and reporting

Of course, the big benefit of a social media tracker is the ability to conduct real-time tracking whenever you like so you can move at the speed of social.

Tools for real-time insights

We've already mentioned some social media monitoring tools in the above section of this guide, but when it comes to real-time tracking three really stand out.

All three tools show you trends, sentiment, and engagement rates. You'll see spikes in activity and can respond fast to any issues.

Effective reporting on social media activity

Clear, concise reports help you make sense of all the data. They track key metrics such as:

  • Engagement rate
  • Reach
  • Click-through rate
  • Conversions
  • Sentiment

Social media monitoring tools help you create clear and visually appealing charts and graphs to show trends over time, making it easier to share information and strategize.

5) You can perform platform-specific tracking

Finally, a tracking tool enables you to cover the unique features of all social media channels. For example, your tool could look at the reach of top influencers on Instagram, as well as the sentiment of users on X as they talk about your brand.

Tailoring strategies for major platforms

By focusing on each individual platform you can work out if you need different tactics.

Generally speaking, Facebook marketing thrives on engagement rates and reach. Instagram and TikTok marketing will focus on visual content metrics like saves and shares. LinkedIn is more about conversions.

Adapt your content strategy to each platform's strengths and remember to adjust your approach as new networks gain popularity.

Adapting to the dynamics of different social networks

Social networks change fast. You need to keep up with new features and shifts in user behavior.

The recent changes to X means users with paid-for subscriptions have a greater reach than those without a blue checkmark. Instagram has introduced the hugely popular Reels.

Your tracker can help you understand these changes to social media channels but it's important to actively stay informed about algorithm changes too. They can affect your content's visibility and reach.

Remember that user demographics vary across platforms. Tailor your tone and content to match each audience. What works on LinkedIn might not resonate on TikTok.