Meltwater vs Brandwatch: This is The Wrong Comparison

If you want to compare Meltwater vs. Brandwatch, please look at these 5 Questions to Ask PR Software Vendors before doing anything else. Hopefully, you read the above post before signing any contracts.

Meltwater vs Brandwatch

Meltwater vs. Brandwatch

The biggest mistake is investing in a traditional media monitoring platform to listen to social media conversations. I have seen this happen before, and it’s not a good look. Sadly, some salespeople will try to sell customers a tool for a use case that doesn’t make sense.

The opposite is also true.

Investing in social media monitoring tools to monitor media coverage is not a smart decision either. It’s like trying to fit a square peg through a round hole. Regardless of what a salesperson tells you, you must research and ensure that whatever software you invest in makes the most sense for your business.

Now, in full transparency, I use Brandwatch to analyze media. This is a little different than “coverage monitoring,” though. With Brandwatch, it’s more about text analysis and uncovering hidden brand narratives.

The challenge is that many software providers have language on their websites that would lead some to believe they do it all. And while a portion of that might be true, most of the time, it’s only surface-level data and won’t provide the insights you need.

Traditional media monitoring is meant to uncover which media outlets are writing about your brand, product, or a topic you track against. In some cases, these platforms will also show how often each article or a set of articles is shared on various social media channels. They often also integrate SimilarWeb for tracking UVMs (Unique Monthly Visitors) and SEOMoz for tracking search rankings.

On the other hand, social listening tools are meant to track conversations on social networks, but they can also include news, blogs, and forums. Additional similarities exist, but these tools often provide deeper analysis and have a brand channel’s social media data. I wrote a more detailed summary of social media technology to see how these software providers are segmented and what they can be used for.


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Michael Brito

Michael Brito is a Digital OG. He’s been building brands online since Al Gore invented the Internet. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.