Overview
Social media monitoring system is not only for marketing and brands but also for customer engagement, reputation management, and crisis response. Beyond than a system, many businesses are now choosing social media monitoring services.
According to industry experts in Malaysia, more than 70% businesses owners are relatively busy and buying social media monitoring systems or tools alone may not extract the best value from insightful data and actionable insights. It means the social media intelligence system used by most Malaysian companies today are less effective than we thought it should, as AI-enabled automated insights from social media tools does not offer the deep-dive analysis and critical actions required to manage complex reputation risks or anticipate new rising trends.
But what truly makes a monitoring system, tools or social media analytics services effective?
Here, we explore the top 10 features that determine the best social media monitoring system that adds the most value to businesses, backed by industry insights and expert analysis.
Social Media Monitoring: Key Features That Are Important to Business
Our assessment of the best social listening tools showed there are at least 11 key features that are considered a must-have behind most of the top social media monitoring tools and service providers in the market form today.
The best social media monitoring systems (regardless if you choose a tool or a service provider) must adhere to key specifications, functionalities or features that help you in your daily issue tracking, campaign monitoring and the effectiveness of your actions.
Depending on which department you belong to or the level of experience in your business functions, you may need to select the right social media system or services that are applicable to the business needs based on relative importance as shown in the table below.
| Feature | Importance to Reputation Risk, Issue Management and PR (Scale 1-10) | Importance to Brand, Marketing and Benchmarking (Scale 1-10) |
| Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts | 10 | 9 |
| Sentiment Accuracy | 10 | 10 |
| Multichannel Coverage Across Platforms | 8 | 9 |
| Historical Data Analysis and Trends Forecasting | 7 | 8 |
| Competitive Benchmarking and Analysis | 8 | 9 |
| Customizable Reports and Data Visualization | 7 | 8 |
| Influencer Tracking and Engagement Insights | 5 | 7 |
| Crisis Detection and Management Features | 10 | 10 |
| Advanced Filtering and Boolean Search Capabilities | 7 | 8 |
| Data Security and Compliance With Privacy Laws | 9 | 10 |
| Data Cleaning Capabilities (Services) | 9 | 8 |
1. Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts
Social media operates 24/7, and brands must be aware of conversations happening about them at all times. A high-quality social media monitoring system should provide real-time tracking of brand mentions, hashtags, and relevant keywords.
According to a study by Pew Research Center (2022), 69% of consumers expect real-time responses from brands when they raise concerns online. Therefore, systems with instant or automated alerts and push notifications are vital for businesses to act swiftly.
Whatsapp alerts are also a new feature offered by some niche social media monitoring companies in Malaysia such as Berkshire Media, which offers a highly curated social insights summary to the end users to improve work productivity.
What should I go for?
- Real-time social media monitoring system with email and whatsapp alerts.
- Real-time tracking with data export capabilities for data cleaning, data quality check and verification.
2. Sentiment Analysis in Multiple Language (including local slangs)
Understanding customer sentiment is key to effective brand management. The best social media monitoring tools utilize AI-driven sentiment analytics with human-verified sentiment tagging to verify the positive, negative, or neutral mentions.
According to Harvard Business Review, sentiment analysis can improve customer service response efficiency by 30%, leading to better consumer relationships. Locally, Malaysian businesses prefer sentiment analytics service providers that offer semi-automated AI-assisted sentiment detection systems that understand local Malay slang and dialects – which are often found in social media text data.
A system with advanced natural language processing (NLP) with Naive Baiyes machine learning algorithm may help businesses detect potential crises before they escalate due to higher sentiment accuracy.
What should I go for?
- Human-assisted AI-enabled social sentiment tracking system
- A social sentiment engine that can detect local slang or dialects in multiple languages.
3. Multichannel Coverage Across Platforms
A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always work in social media monitoring industry.
Brands must ensure their monitoring system covers major platforms like Facebook, Twitter (X), LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, as well as lesser-known industry-specific forums, news sites, and blogs.
Studies by Gartner (2023) highlight that businesses that track conversations beyond mainstream platforms experience 30% higher success rates in managing brand reputation.
Having a diverse set of data across multiple social and digital channels helps businesses to make better decision.
What should I go for?
- A social media monitoring system that enables manual data input from other social or digital channels when there is a substantial data gap in selected platforms.
4. Historical Data Analysis and Trends Forecasting
Looking at historical data can help businesses identify trends and predict future market behavior.
Systems that store and analyze past social media conversations enable brands to track progress, measure campaign performance, and detect recurring customer concerns.
A MIT Sloan report revealed that businesses that incorporate trend forecasting through historical data improve their decision-making accuracy by 40%.
What should I go for?
- A social media monitoring system that allows access to historical data of up to 3 years.
5. Competitive Benchmarking and Analysis
A great monitoring system doesn’t just track your brand—it also tracks your competitors. So make sure you know how to use your social media monitoring system, or at least partner with the right service provider that has adequate experience to perform competitor benchmarking.
Competitive benchmarking helps businesses understand where they stand in the industry, analyze competitor engagement strategies, and identify areas for improvement.
According to Forrester Research, brands that consistently monitor competitors’ social media activities gain a 15% edge in customer engagement and retention strategies.
What should I go for?
- A social media monitoring system that allows creation of multiple topics to monitor other brands (or competitor brands) with a set of dashboards and keywords.
6. Customizable Reports and Data Visualization
A robust monitoring system should provide customizable reports with clear and concise data visualization. Dashboards should be user-friendly, allowing businesses to extract insights effortlessly.
McKinsey & Company (2023) found that brands using data-driven reports experience 25% better decision-making outcomes compared to those relying on manual analysis.
What should I go for?
- A social media monitoring system that has cutomizable charts and reports in PowerPoint.
- Find a system that allows advance data visualization with a wide range of line charts, pie charts, waterfall charts and host of other visualization offered by Tableau or PowerBI.
7. Influencer Tracking and Engagement Insights
The impact of influencers and key opinion leaders (KOLs) on brand perception is undeniable.
A study by HubSpot (2023) found that 71% of consumers trust recommendations from influencers more than traditional advertising.
Social media monitoring tools should identify and analyze influencers, track engagement, and measure the impact of influencer partnerships on brand reputation.
What should I go for?
- A dashboard that can go deep into quantifying the impact of influencers (or Key Opinion Leaders) by using proven meaningful metrices such as Virality Score, Net Sentiment Score (NSS), or Total Post
- Avoid using vanity metrices to track influencer impact score such as reach or impression, as these metrices are deemed meaningless in recent years.
8. Crisis Detection and Management Features
Social media crises can escalate quickly if not handled properly. A well-designed monitoring system should detect early warning signs of a potential crisis, issue real-time alerts, and provide recommended actions to mitigate damage.
According to a report by Deloitte, companies with proactive crisis management systems (using social media monitoring system) reduce reputational damage by 47% compared to those that react late.
What should I go for?
- Predictive capability to anticipate recurring issues or anticipating one-off risks that impact the reputation.
- A dashboard or tool that can map out into a risk management matrix that complies to the risk management standards.
9. Advanced Filtering and Boolean Search Capabilities
With massive amounts of data generated on social media daily, businesses need advanced filtering options to focus on what matters most.
Boolean search capabilities allow brands to refine search parameters, helping to eliminate irrelevant data and increase monitoring efficiency.
A study by Stanford University emphasized that businesses using precision filtering mechanisms experience a 20% improvement in monitoring accuracy.
What should I go for?
- Unlimited keywords that can fit into the boolean search functionality of the social media monitoring system.
- An experienced company that has domain experience to update a list of dynamic keywords used to monitor the social media for any issues or risks associated with the brand (or topic).
10. Data Security and Compliance With Privacy Laws
Data security and compliance are critical when choosing a social media monitoring tool. Businesses must ensure their system adheres to GDPR, PDPA, and other data privacy regulations.
A 2022 report by PwC found that 87% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that handle their personal data responsibly. Thus, investing in a monitoring system with robust encryption, secure API integrations, and privacy compliance is non-negotiable.
What should I go for?
- A social media monitoring system that complies to the local (in this case Malaysian’ data privacy law)
- Avoid foreign non-Malaysian based entity which use illegal or unethical means, technology or system to scrape or source Facebook, Tiktok and other social media data.
Conclusion: Choosing the Best Social Media Monitoring System
When selecting the best social media monitoring system for your business, ensure it includes these key features to maximize its effectiveness.
Whether it’s real-time alerts, sentiment analysis, or competitive intelligence, the right platform can enhance brand reputation, improve customer engagement, and drive business success.
As social media continues to evolve, investing in a powerful, data-driven monitoring system will give your brand the competitive advantage it needs in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.
About the Author
Shahid Shayaa is the founder and managing director of Berkshire Media. He specializes in data-driven communication strategies and insights using social data analytics, social media monitoring tools and machine learning text algorithms for more than 13 years. As an expert in the field of media monitoring, issue management and reputation risks for companies, his deep involvement in various research studies in this field and published various scientific papers on social data analytics, sentiment analysis and back-end algorithms on consumer sentiment, emotions and behaviour for marketers and campaign managers.
