You need to be able to measure how well your brand is doing and make changes as needed. This is where brand intelligence software comes in. There are many different options available, so it can be hard to decide which one is right for you.
We discuss 7 of the best brand intelligence software programs available. We also provide information on what each program does, so that you can decide which one is best for your business.
What Is Brand Intelligence Software?
Brand intelligence software enables you to track and measure your brand’s performance using data from your business channels. This can include things like social media sentiment analysis, website traffic, and sales data. With this information, you can make better, data-based decisions for your business.
Common Features of Brand Intelligence Software
Most brand intelligence software programs have similar features. Here are some of the most common ones:
- Social media monitoring: This allows you to see what people are saying about your brand on social media, and track any changes over time.
- Web listening: beyond social media, some brand intelligence software monitors review sites, industry news sites and forums for mentions of your brand
- Competitor analysis: this lets you see how your brand stacks up against your competitors.
- Predictive analytics: some software programs can predict future trends based on past data.
- Market research: this helps you understand your target market, and identify any new opportunities.
- Intuitive reporting: all this data is useless unless you can understand it and present it in a way that is actionable. Look for brand intelligence software with intuitive reporting features.
Top Brand Intelligence Software Tools
Heap is ideal for SAAS providers or e-commerce websites. It focuses on behavioural data from your website or app to see where there is friction in the user experience and suggests improvements to positively impact your business.
Pros: Heap automatically analyses your complete dataset and users love that it doesn’t require a dedicated engineer.
Cons: Heap has received mixed reviews on its set-up process. Some claim it is relatively easy, but many users say that some specialised knowledge is required and that there is a steep learning curve before you can make the most of all its features.
Choose Heap if your aim is to improve customer service on your SAAS product or e-commerce website.
Symanto applies the most advanced natural language processing (NLP) technology to transform unstructured written data into actionable insights. Most brand intelligence tools focus on structured data (sales data, website usage, social media engagement statistics) but Symanto is different.
Symanto’s advanced text analysis technology takes full advantage of overlooked data generated by your customers on social media, in reviews and on forums.
With Symanto you get unique and specialised brand insights from the perspective of the people who matter most to your business: your customers.
Symanto provides high level and granular insights into all facets of your product or business from product features, customer service, usability, price and much more.
Symanto makes it easy to run like-for-like comparisons with your main competitors to benchmark your performance.
Pros: Symanto’s suite of technology is highly flexible, personalisable and suitable for almost any industry. Choose from a number of existing use cases or make the most of their free personalised demonstration to help connect you with the best technology for your needs. Pricing is scalable, and their technology is compatible with over 25 languages.
Cons: At the moment, Symanto doesn’t support real-time data.
Choose Symanto if you want deep and accurate insights into your brand from the perspective of your customers, beyond sentiment. Particularly ideal if you operate in non-English speaking territories.
Mixpanel is a brand intelligence software that’s popular with startups and tech companies for its ease of use and flexibility.
Pros: Mixpanel is quick to set up and easy to use. It offers a wide range of features out of the box, including support for A/B testing, retention analysis and push notifications. You can also add custom event tracking to measure anything you want.
Cons: Several users have reported slow loading times and bugs which can be frustrating
Choose Mixpanel if you’re looking for an all-in-one brand intelligence solution that’s easy to set up and use.
Klipfolio is an easy-to-use intuitive brand intelligence software suitable for businesses of all sizes. It is especially popular among small businesses and start-ups as it offers a free trial and then affordable monthly plans as you scale.
Klipfolio offers powerful integration to help you centralise your data from dispersed sources, and organise and segment your data for deeper analysis.
Pros: The drag-and-drop functionality and user-friendly interface make it easy to use, even for those without much technical knowledge. Free trial and affordable monthly plans make it a more viable option for small businesses than, say, Heap.
Cons: Some users have struggled to make full use of Klipfolio’s integrations, and a lack of readily available customer service adds to user frustration.
Choose Klipfolio if you’re a small business or startup looking to centralise your data. Some familiarity with API integrations may be necessary to avoid frustration.
Brand24 is a brand intelligence software that offers real-time monitoring of social media and the web. Brand24 offers a wide range of features, including social media monitoring, competitor analysis and brand reputation management. You can also use the platform to create custom reports and dashboards.
Pros: Brand24 provides instant alerts whenever your brand is mentioned online, so you can quickly respond to any negative sentiment. It also offers detailed analysis of your brand’s social media performance, including competitor comparisons.
Cons: Sentiment analysis can be inaccurate, and the interface can be difficult to navigate.
Choose Brand24 if you need instant alerts for negative sentiment.
Brandwatch is a popular brand intelligence platform that offers real-time monitoring of social media, the web, and news outlets.
Available in over 30 languages, Brandwatch offers a broad suite of tools to monitor not only your brand, but keywords associated with your industry so that you can keep up with changes and advancements in your market.
Pros: Brandwatch provides detailed analyses of your brand’s social media performance, including competitor comparisons. It also offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing your brand’s online presence.
Cons: Because it offers so many different features, the interface can be difficult to navigate. Some users have reported a lack of accuracy in their sentiment analysis.
Choose Brandwatch if you operate in non-English speaking territories and you can make the most of their wide suite of tools.
Mention is a simple brand monitoring tool that helps you track your brand’s online presence and measure your success over time.
Pros: Mention offers both real-time and historical data, allowing you to track your brand’s progress over time. It also has a very user-friendly interface.
Cons: Some users have reported issues with the accuracy of Mention’s sentiment analysis
Choose Mention if you want a simple tool for monitoring real-time and historical data.
Summary
Choosing the right brand intelligence software for your business depends on your needs and resources. Consider what you need to accomplish and whether the features and ease of use of each software is right for you.
Don’t forget to also consider price and whether the software integrates with other applications you use.
Get started with Symanto
Our technology is highly flexible and we create solutions for your business needs. To find out more about our technologies and what we offer, get in touch, or see for yourself by booking our free personalised demonstration.