The only way to learn what people think of you is to figure out what they’re saying when they think you’re not listening. The same goes for a business; you need to use the right web and social media monitoring tools to listen to conversations about your brand online.
In this field, Mention is one of the fastest-growing names on the market, but some people prefer using tools with slightly bigger name values in the industry. With that in mind, here’s how this platform fares against its three biggest Mention alternatives:
- Sprout Social
- Brand 24
- Hootsuite
Here’s a brief rundown of some of the most important criteria.
Mention vs. Sprout Social
A Sprout Social is an all-in-one social media management tool that a lot of enterprises use to listen to social media. This is what makes it an alternative to Mention and why some people are in a dilemma on which of the two tools to use.
Social media integrations of Mention alternatives
In terms of social media integrations, Sprout Social seems to have a slight edge. The tool is built for social media, but if you want a more generalist tool that will offer more when you try to apply it to a broader network, you might find that Mention is a better choice.
Now, the main reason why this is important is that you will likely need to look past social networks. This means that you’ll have to look for two tools (one for the web and one for social media) or settle for the fact that you have a specialist tool with limited generalist capabilities.
In other words, while Facebook might be the first thing that comes to your mind as a place where people discuss your brand, it’s as likely that this conversation will take place on Reddit. You have to aim for a tool that can capture them all.
Mention is in no way bad for social media integrations; it’s just that Sprout Social has so many features to help you enhance your content. The tool can also be integrated with so many content creation apps, from a speech to text app for capturing notes to advanced graphic design tools.
Scheduled posts vs real-time monitoring
The strongest feature of Mention (which we’ll address repeatedly on this list) is its real-time capacity for tracking mentions. Mention is more immediate and responsive, while Sprout Social emphasizes automation.
Sprout Social is there for you to program to schedule posts through an elaborate AI-powered chatbot system and even respond to comments and mentions.
Now, this is ideal for massive brands that get thousands of mentions on social media daily; however, for a small business that receives an odd mention here and there, it’s better to get a real-time alert and a chance to respond yourself.
With Mention, you can capture a brand mention as it happens and create an impression that you’re always listening and that you’re always there to respond.
It all comes down to what you value more: proactivity or automation. For small businesses, having reminders so that you can tend to the entirety of your PR on your own sounds like a better deal. Moreover, it’s important to mention that Mention does have automation capacities. In other words, your needs won’t be out-scaled.
Collaboration features
Another thing you need to consider is team collaboration features, and this is where Sprout Social has no equal. You see, Sprout Social shines when it comes to team collaboration. It offers features like task assignments and message approval workflows. Mention, while not as feature-rich in this area, still allows multiple users to monitor and respond to mentions.
You cannot go wrong with Mention if your team focuses on monitoring and quick responses rather than social media management. On the other hand, collaboration and social media activity still favor Sprout Social as one of the best Mention alternatives.
Just imagine a small team managing the online presence for a local event. With Mention, the entire team can stay updated online. However, if your team is a tad bigger, the collaboration features of Sprout Special might be a better choice.
Also, you should never downplay the significance of personal preference. There’s enough material on both Sprout Social and Mention out there, which means that you can make a presentation or even hold a referendum on which of the tools will be used by your team. This might even end up boosting your overall employee experience.
Mention vs. Brand 24
Both Brand 24 and Mention are amazing monitoring tools that will help you figure out who’s talking about your brand and even allow you to monitor public sentiment. Here’s how these tools fare against one another and why Brand 24 is one of the most popular Mention alternatives.
Ease of Use
Both platforms are designed to be user-friendly, even for employees who aren’t considered tech-savvy. You see, these are the tools designed to be used by marketers and PR specialists, not technicians or people from IT.
If you’re running a local bakery, chances are that people aren’t talking about you too much. Apple, Microsoft, McDonald’s, etc., are getting mentioned regularly online, but each mention is an occurrence for a small enterprise. So, if someone tweets about you or a local blog mentions you, you need to know about it.
These tools can allow you to set up an alert whenever someone mentions you with little to no technical prowess. A small bakery owner is, most likely, a baker, not someone with a background in digital marketing. This is why the fact that Mention is more straightforward to set up is a massive advantage.
The dashboards of both platforms are intuitive, which is important because, even though they’re customizable, many people are shy about using extra features of software they’re unfamiliar with. It’s like with Microsoft Office, where people pay for a full suite and only use Word and Excel.
The bottom line is that both tools are pretty simple; it’s just that Mention is a bit simpler to set up, which gives it a slight edge.
Monitoring capabilities
There’s a slight discrepancy between the two in terms of monitoring capabilities. While Brand 24 offers slightly better daily and weekly summaries, Mention is superior regarding real-life updates.
It all depends on what you’re looking for. On the one hand, Brand 24 can allow you to compile all the reports to develop a long-term brand sentiment improvement strategy.
At the same time, if you want to know immediately when someone mentions your brand, you should go with Mention. This way, you can respond immediately, regardless of whether you use your real profile or a burner.
If someone tweets at you, you’re expected to respond rather quickly. If you’re a major business, it will feel impressive if you do, but, at the same time, even a small business has some responsiveness requirements to meet.
Interacting with your customers when they aren’t addressing you directly is like buying someone a present when it’s not their birthday or anniversary. It’s nicer because it’s unexpected.
Analytics and Reporting
If you aim to understand how your brand is perceived online, you need a bit broader look. As we’ve already mentioned, Brand 24’s long-term analytics are slightly superior, but there’s one area of reporting in which Mention performs a bit better. Namely, Mention’s analytics are slightly more customizable. This means that if you find a metric uninteresting or irrelevant, you can just filter it out of the equation.
When it comes to reporting, a lot of emphasis is put on volume, and aptitude for detail and simplicity is not valued nearly enough. The key thing to remember is that web monitoring tools are not used only by seasoned marketers but also by AI-enhanced BI (business intelligence) software. Instead, they’re also utilized by small businesses with marketers who may not have as much experience in the field.
Either way, having the right metrics is the key to improving your strategy on any platform.
Mention vs. Hootsuite
You could describe Hootsuite as a social media management software; however, this tool is so much more. It helps you create better content, get more followers, and even turn your social media account into your brand’s biggest asset. Here’s how it compares against Mention as a social media monitoring tool and why it’s considered one of the top Mention alternatives.
User experience
Hootsuite is one of the tools with the largest and most dedicated following. The secret behind its success is a heavy emphasis on user experience. The user interface (UI) was made incredibly intuitive in its default state and highly customizable.
Mention, on the other hand, is a slightly simpler tool, which is advantageous in a way. How? Well, have you ever tried using a multitool? When you have limited space for packing, it can replace many tools, and if you encounter a task that requires one of those niche activities, it will be life-saving. However, a hammer-screwdriver will never be as good at being a hammer as an ordinary hammer, nor will it be as good at being a screwdriver as an ordinary screwdriver would.
The same logic applies here. Mention is there to help you focus primarily on web monitoring. It’s a specialist tool that can provide a holistic approach, but when you use it for its core features, it really shines.
Monitoring scope
Another thing to remember is that monitoring scope all comes down to what you’re looking at. Mention provides a more comprehensive monitoring experience across the web. If you need to find mentions on social media, blog posts, and subreddits, Mention is the right tool for the job.
On the other hand, Hootsuite might be more suitable for monitoring social media.
It’s important to remember that most brands now create content for cross-platform distribution. They make a YouTube video they post on Facebook or clip for Instagram. They take a TikTok video and upload it to YouTube as a short video. This gets shared on various subreddits, inserted into blog posts, and more.
In other words, it’s a good idea to monitor various channels; otherwise, you risk missing an important message and, with it, an opportunity to adapt, respond, or even fix mistakes. With mistakes, it’s not just about fixing them; it’s about noticing and fixing them in time.
Response and engagement
The biggest strength of Hootsuite is the ability to manage and schedule posts across multiple social media accounts and platforms. You would be surprised at how many social media platforms an average business needs to be present at to cover all bases.
We’ve already mentioned that there’s a lot of content compatible with multiple platforms. For instance, a YouTube video can be uploaded on Facebook, and a YouTube clip can easily be uploaded as an Instagram Reel.
The problem is that a lot of content is unique to the platform in question, and you need to find a way to upload it and respond to it in real time. Whenever it comes to social media, you won’t find anything better than Hootsuite.
The most important question to answer is: what are you looking for?
Choosing a platform for social media mentions is like choosing a carpentry tool—it depends on your current activities.
If you want to see what Mention can offer and compare it in more detail with other software on the market, start your free trial or get a demo with one of our social listening experts!
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