Social Media Monitoring

The process of tracking and analyzing mentions, conversations, and sentiment about a brand across social media platforms.

Published September 30, 2025
Intermediate
monitoringanalyticsreputation-management

Also known as:

social-media-trackingbrand-monitoringmention-tracking

Social Media Monitoring


Social media monitoring is the process of tracking and analyzing mentions, conversations, and sentiment about a brand, products, or industry across social media platforms. It helps businesses understand their online reputation and identify opportunities for engagement.


Key objectives

  • Brand reputation: Track what people are saying about your brand
  • Crisis management: Identify and respond to negative feedback quickly
  • Competitive intelligence: Monitor competitor activities and strategies
  • Customer service: Address customer questions and complaints
  • Market research: Understand customer needs and preferences
  • Influencer identification: Find potential brand advocates

  • What to monitor

  • Brand mentions: Direct mentions of your brand name
  • Product mentions: References to your products or services
  • Hashtag tracking: Monitor branded and industry hashtags
  • Competitor mentions: Track competitor brand mentions
  • Industry keywords: Monitor relevant industry terms
  • Sentiment analysis: Understand positive, negative, or neutral sentiment
  • Influencer activity: Track key influencers in your space

  • Popular monitoring tools

  • Free tools: Google Alerts, Twitter Advanced Search, Facebook Search
  • Paid tools: Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Brandwatch, Mention
  • Enterprise tools: Salesforce Social Studio, Sprinklr, Khoros
  • Specialized tools: Awario, Brand24, Talkwalker
  • Native analytics: Platform-specific insights and analytics

  • Key metrics to track

  • Mention volume: Number of times your brand is mentioned
  • Sentiment score: Positive, negative, or neutral sentiment
  • Reach: How many people saw the mentions
  • Engagement: Likes, comments, shares on mentions
  • Response time: How quickly you respond to mentions
  • Share of voice: Your brand's visibility compared to competitors
  • Trend analysis: Changes in mention volume over time

  • Best practices

  • Set up alerts: Use automated alerts for immediate notifications
  • Monitor regularly: Check mentions daily or multiple times per day
  • Respond quickly: Address mentions promptly, especially negative ones
  • Track sentiment: Monitor overall sentiment trends
  • Document insights: Keep records of important conversations
  • Engage authentically: Respond in a genuine, helpful manner
  • Learn from feedback: Use insights to improve products or services

  • Crisis management

  • Early detection: Identify potential issues before they escalate
  • Rapid response: Address negative feedback quickly and professionally
  • Transparency: Be honest and open about issues
  • Escalation procedures: Have clear processes for handling serious issues
  • Documentation: Keep records of all crisis communications
  • Post-crisis analysis: Learn from incidents to prevent future issues

  • Competitive monitoring

  • Competitor mentions: Track what people say about competitors
  • Content analysis: Monitor competitor content strategies
  • Engagement rates: Compare competitor engagement performance
  • Campaign tracking: Monitor competitor marketing campaigns
  • Pricing insights: Track competitor pricing discussions
  • Feature requests: Identify what customers want from competitors

  • Common challenges

  • Volume management: Handling large volumes of mentions
  • False positives: Filtering out irrelevant mentions
  • Platform limitations: Some platforms have limited monitoring capabilities
  • Sentiment accuracy: Automated sentiment analysis can be inaccurate
  • Resource constraints: Limited time and staff for monitoring
  • Privacy concerns: Balancing monitoring with user privacy
  • Ready to get started?

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    Quick Info

    Difficulty:Intermediate
    Categories:
    monitoringanalyticsreputation-management
    Authors:
    Crossly Team