Adam Sherk

  • About
  • SEO
  • Social Media
  • PR
  • Publishing

The Best Social Media Analytics Tools for Publishers

April 17, 2014 by Adam Sherk

Buzzsumo social media analyticsWhat are the best tools for publishers looking to track social media activity at the content level?

There are a lot of options for social monitoring, tracking and analytics, with prices ranging from free to very expensive. I thought I’d share some of my favorites that are well suited to editorial content sites.

The primary focus here is on social media analytics and share count tracking, along with identifying content and topics with the potential to go viral. I have intentionally left off most of the wider-ranging management platforms and enterprise suites to try to limit the scope.

Real-Time Analytics

These real-time analytics platforms are among the most popular with news and content sites. Having one is worth the investment.

  • Chartbeat Publishing
    Chartbeat Publishing was the first on the scene in this category and it continues to be the most popular. The functionality is broader than just social media but you can drill down on social referrers and activity. Check out their live demo.
  • SimpleReach
    SimpleReach is a newer option that is well respected and making good gains. It has a greater degree of social-specific reporting.
  • Parse.ly
    Parse.ly is another popular choice that has strong momentum. It also has a broader focus but the social data you need is covered.
  • Spike
    Spike from NewsWhip is well-suited to news sites with good functionality for both journalists and marketers.
  • HipDek
    HipDek is an up-and-comer; it hasn’t achieved the critical mass of the others yet but it offers good functionality specific to publishers.
  • Nuvi
    Nuvi offers some useful real-time dashboards and reporting options. I don’t have first-hand experience with this one but the functionality looks good.

Competitive Analysis

These tools are useful for pulling social data on your own site as well as the competition.

  • BuzzSumo
    I really like BuzzSumo; it has become my go-to resource for quick analysis of a specific site or topic. Currently the full functionality is free; there is also a Pro version in the works.
  • Social Crawlytics
    Social Crawlytics allows you to crawl a domain to drill down on social metrics by URL and author. It’s a good way to get some basic competitive insight.
  • Rival IQ
    Rival IQ is becoming popular for competitive analysis in social and other marketing channels.
  • Shareablee
    Shareablee provides social engagement data and competitive benchmarking for a variety of platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr and Vine.

Management Tools

As mentioned above I’ve left off most of the management tools to keep the size of this list reasonable. But here are a few that are a good fit for publishers. These shouldn’t be your only source of social analytics but they each provide useful data.

  • HootSuite
    HootSuite is popular with editorial teams because it offers good all-in-one functionality without being overly complicated.
  • Sprout Social
    Sprout Social is another popular choice that has strong features.
  • Engagor
    Engagor is a comprehensive all-in-one tool with a good analytics component.
  • Buffer
    Buffer has evolved from a nice choice for custom scheduling to a more comprehensive option. Buffer for Business is good for larger teams.

Other Analytics and Tracking Tools

Here are some other recommended options for social analytics and tracking. Most are not specifically tailored to publishers but they have good functionality.

  • Simply Measured
    Known for its clean reports with strong visuals, Simply Measured is a good option for overall social analytics. If budget is tight their free tools are nice too.
  • Moz Analytics
    Moz Analytics continues to incorporate more social data into its reporting, so this has become a worthwhile choice.
  • Trackur
    Trackur made its name as an affordable alternative to the larger social media monitoring tools. Monitoring is its primary function but the analytics component is good too.
  • Curalate
    Curalate is a great option for image-focused content on Pinterest, Instagram and now Tumblr.
  • Bottlenose
    Bottlenose is nice too. The primary focus is on trend analysis but it has a wide range of useful functionality.

Share Counts by URL

Some basic free tools that provide the social share counts for a specific URL.

  • SharedCount
    SharedCount is very basic, but it works and it’s free.
  • Share Tally
    Share Tally offers more visual reporting and it provides the option to click through to see the specific shares on some sites.
  • AudienceWise
    AudienceWise has a couple of handy tools that are free. The Social Shares by URL tool lets you pull the stats on up to 20 URLs at a time. The Social Shares by Sitemap tool lets you submit a Google News sitemap to get the tally for every article in it.
  • Topsy
    Topsy doesn’t exactly fit in this category since it’s largely focused on Twitter and has wider functionality. But it’s a nice option for checking the tweet count for a given URL, and more usefully who tweeted it and how influential they are.

What Else?

There are a lot of great tools out there and it is easy to miss some. What else are you using that I didn’t cover? Let me know and I’ll add any that are well matched to news and content sites.

Related posts:

  1. Beyond Facebook Insights: Useful Facebook Analytics Tools
  2. The Best Free Tools for Twitter Analytics
  3. The Most Popular Summer Blockbuster Movies in Social Media
  4. The Best Free (or Cheap) Tools for Blogger and Influencer Outreach
  5. Social Media News Releases Get 3x More Media Coverage

Comments

  1. Aaron Bradley says

    April 17, 2014 at 4:15 pm

    Great list Adam – thanks, bookmarked!

    It could fall under multiple categories, but I’d definitely add Bottlenose (http://bottlenose.com/) to your list.

  2. Adam Sherk says

    April 17, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Glad you liked it Aaron. Bottlenose is a good one; thanks. I’ve just added it.

  3. Cameron Joye says

    April 18, 2014 at 3:52 am

    Hi Adam! It’s always interesting for me to read articles such as this to gauge what people are saying about social media management tools. I notice Engagor isn’t in your list, and if you haven’t already heard of it I invite you to check us out! Engagor is a SMM tool that covers all the bases including monitoring, deep insights, and customer engagement. I’d be interested to hear what you think!

  4. Andy says

    April 18, 2014 at 9:09 am

    Thanks for recommending Trackur in your list!

  5. G.G. Silverman says

    April 18, 2014 at 12:42 pm

    This is a fantastic list. I am an author, not a publisher, but can see these tools as being very helpful.

  6. Adam Sherk says

    April 18, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    Thanks Cameron, I’ll check out Engagor.

    You’re welcome Andy.

    And thanks G.G., I’m glad you found it useful.

  7. Jade Furubayashi says

    April 18, 2014 at 1:19 pm

    Hey Adam,

    Appreciate the Simply Measured shoutout here! This is a solid list, keep up the good work.

    Cheers,

    Jade

  8. Lisa says

    April 20, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    Great list Adam! I’d also throw Shareablee into the mix for both your own brand analytics and a competitive deep dive!

  9. Adam Sherk says

    April 21, 2014 at 10:38 am

    You’re welcome Jade.

    Thanks Lisa, I added Shareablee to the list.

    And Cameron I added Engagor too.

  10. Cameron Joye says

    April 22, 2014 at 3:14 am

    Thanks Adam! Really appreciate you taking the time to check it out and include Engagor 🙂

  11. Conor Mulloy says

    April 25, 2014 at 11:02 am

    Don’t forget Spike from Newswhip!

  12. Adam Sherk says

    April 25, 2014 at 1:54 pm

    Spike is a good one that I forgot about, thanks Conor. I’ve added it to the list.

  13. vahe says

    May 15, 2014 at 3:57 am

    Hi Adam,

    Thanks for the post. I wish you post more often and hope things are well from your end!

    Cheers,

    Vahe

  14. Steve McMurray says

    July 14, 2014 at 6:03 pm

    You should really check out NUVI and then redo your rankings.

  15. Andy Detweiler says

    July 17, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    Hi Adam,

    A joint acquaintance of ours tipped me off to your list.

    Please consider checking out B2B Content Engine (www.b2bcontentengine.com): we are a social content marketing tool that encompasses all the necessary ingredients to achieve meaningful business results through social media: your content, curated content, calls-to-action, and analytics.

  16. Adam Sherk says

    July 21, 2014 at 9:42 am

    Steve – NUVI looks interesting; I’ve added it to the real-time analytics section. Also to clarify the tools in this post are not ranked.

    Andy – Thanks for sharing B2B Content Engine. It looks like an excellent option for start-ups and small businesses. I’m not sure it’s an ideal fit for large-scale news and editorial content sites however. But I’m happy to suggest to relevant businesses when appropriate.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please confirm you are a real person: * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

Subscribe and Connect

Follow @adamsherk

About Adam Sherk

Adam Sherk is an SEO and PR consultant helping publishers with digital strategy and audience development, including enterprise SEO, public relations and social media marketing.

Adam is VP SEO and Digital Strategy for Define Media Group.

Recent Posts

  • 8 Critical SEO and Digital Marketing Opportunities for Publishers
  • How Much Google News Traffic Do Publishers Get? Here’s Data on 80 News Sites.
  • 10 Things That Expose Good Sites to Google Panda
  • Mobile Visits Account for 40% of All Traffic for Publishers
  • The Best Tools for Keyword Research, Competitive Analysis and Trending Topics

Categories

  • Public Relations
  • Publishing
  • SEO
  • Social Media

Popular Posts

  • The Most Overused Buzzwords and Marketing Speak in Press Releases
  • 5 Ways that Social Media Impacts SEO
  • Media Relations Gone Wrong: How Not to Pitch a Journalist (Video)
  • The Most Common Google News Errors and How to Avoid Them
  • SEO Guidelines for Sponsored Content and Partner Links
  • 8 Social Media Questions Publishers Should Be Asking Themselves
  • Top Link Building Tactics for Publishers
  • The Best Free (or Cheap) Tools for Blogger and Influencer Outreach
  • A Simple Workflow for Keyword Research for Content Planning
  • Beyond Facebook Insights: Useful Facebook Analytics Tools
  • The Best Free Tools for Twitter Analytics
  • Editorial SEO Tactics for the Newsroom
  • SEO Metrics for Publishers: How are You Tracking and Measuring Success?
  • Free Tools for Monitoring Hot Search Trends
  • Google News Optimization Tips

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed on this blog are Adam Sherk's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his company or its clients.

Sitemap | RSS | © 2009-present AdamSherk.com