Social Listening Blog
Guides, workflows and customer stories from the Octolens team.
Latest
Reddit Lead Generation Tools: Read This Before You Buy One
Revenue from Reddit on autopilot is a tempting pitch. We tried a version of it ourselves. This is why it fails with technical audiences, and what the teams that get real pipeline from Reddit do differently.
Insights · Oct 5, 2026
The 13 Best MCP Servers for Brand Monitoring & Marketing in 2026
Your assistant is only as informed as its data sources. Here are the MCP servers worth connecting for monitoring and marketing work — with auth models, pricing, and the honest failure modes.
Insights · Sep 30, 2026
Brandwatch Pricing in 2026: What It Actually Costs (Real Contract Data)
Brandwatch won't publish prices, so we did the digging: real contract data from 40 tracked purchases, Brandwatch's own public government rate card, and the contract details worth checking before you sign.
Insights · Sep 15, 2026
What Is Media Monitoring? A Practical 2026 Guide
What it covers, what it actually costs, and how teams set it up in 2026 — with real numbers and real practitioner quotes.
Insights · Sep 2, 2026
The 15 Best AI Sentiment Analysis Tools in 2026 (By Use Case)
Sentiment analysis is a different product depending on where your text lives. Here are the best tools for each case — with verified prices, real user quotes, and the honest failure modes.
Insights · Sep 1, 2026
Sprout Social Pricing in 2026: What It Actually Costs Per Seat
The seat prices are public, the invoice isn't: both billing bases side by side, the Listening add-on nobody prices, and what 358 real contracts say teams actually pay.
Insights · Sep 1, 2026
Brand24 Review (2026): Hands-On Test, Pricing, and Verdict
We ran Brand24's free trial for our own B2B SaaS. This is what the coverage actually looked like, where the noise came from, what it really costs, and who should buy it.
Insights · Aug 13, 2026
Brand Reputation Monitoring in 2026: The Complete Guide
How to track what people — and AI models — actually say about your brand, measure it, and catch problems while you can still fix them.
Insights · Aug 5, 2026
Meltwater Pricing in 2026: What It Actually Costs (Real Contract Data)
Meltwater won't publish prices, so we did the digging: real contract data, a public government rate card, user-reported costs, and the contract terms that catch teams off guard.
Insights · Aug 4, 2026
23 Best Competitor Monitoring Tools in 2026 (By Category)
Competitor monitoring is seven different jobs, not one — from AI competitor analysis to competitor intelligence platforms. Here's the best tool for each, with G2 ratings, real prices, and real user quotes.
Insights · Jul 30, 2026