Brandwatch vs Closely
Brandwatch
- Platform: Multi-platform social listening and management
- Best For: Consumer intelligence and enterprise social programs
- Strength: Deep AI-powered analytics on 1.4T+ posts
- Users: Enterprise brands and agencies
Starting at Custom (no public pricing; all plans via sales)
Closely
- Platform: LinkedIn and email
- Best For: B2B sales prospecting and automation
- Strength: Safe AI personalization and CRM syncing
- Users: Sales teams and agencies
Starting at $29/month
Table of Contents
At a Glance
Platform Support
| Feature | Brandwatch | Closely |
|---|---|---|
| ✓ Listening and management across social networks including LinkedIn | ✓ Deep automation and outreach specialization | |
| Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram | ✓ Full multi-platform listening and management | ✗ LinkedIn and email only |
| Email Outreach | ✗ Not supported | ✓ Multichannel campaigns with AI personalization |
| Influencer Platforms | ✓ 30M+ creator database | ✗ Not available |
Social Listening & Intelligence
| Feature | Brandwatch | Closely |
|---|---|---|
| Historical Data Archive | ✓ 1.4T+ posts, 496M daily | ✗ Not available |
| AI-Powered Search & Insights | ✓ Iris AI assistant, custom classifiers | ✗ AI for personalization, not listening |
| Image & Sentiment Analysis | ✓ Neural networks and deep learning | ✗ Not supported |
| Brand Monitoring & Alerts | ✓ Custom dashboards and real-time alerts | ✗ Not available |
Management & Automation
| Feature | Brandwatch | Closely |
|---|---|---|
| Content Calendar & Scheduling | ✓ Collaborative calendar for organic/paid posts | ✗ Sequences for outreach, not content |
| Unified Inbox | ✓ Social inbox for community management | ✓ For LinkedIn DMs, InMails, emails |
| Automation Sequences | ✗ Workflows for monitoring, not outreach | ✓ Safe LinkedIn/email sequences with limits |
| AI Personalization | ✗ AI for insights, not personalization | ✓ For DMs, InMails, emails |
Sales & Prospecting
| Feature | Brandwatch | Closely |
|---|---|---|
| Lead Research & Enrichment | ✗ Consumer insights, not leads | ✓ Sales AI agents, data enrichment |
| Multichannel Campaigns | ✗ Social management only | ✓ LinkedIn + email sequences |
| Lead Scoring & Qualification | ✗ Not supported | ✓ AI-powered scoring |
Integrations & Reporting
| Feature | Brandwatch | Closely |
|---|---|---|
| CRM Integrations | ✓ Enterprise tools including major CRMs | ✓ Deep with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive |
| APIs & Custom Integrations | ✓ Full APIs for enterprise | ✓ Webhooks and CRM syncing |
| Custom Dashboards & Reporting | ✓ Fully customizable with alerts | ✓ Outreach analytics across campaigns |
| White-Label Options | ✗ Enterprise services, not white-label | ✓ For agencies with custom branding |
Pricing Comparison
Brandwatch uses custom enterprise pricing with no public tiers, requiring sales contact, while Closely offers transparent starting at $29/month annually, scaling to $999/month for white-label unlimited. Brandwatch suits large budgets for deep intelligence, Closely provides value for sales teams.
Brandwatch
Consumer Intelligence (Brandwatch Consumer Research)
Custom
Teams needing deep social data analysis
- Access to the world’s largest archive of consumer opinions
- AI-powered search and Iris AI assistant
- Image analysis and custom classifiers
- Customizable dashboards, alerts, and reporting
- Support for first-party data uploads and integration
Social Media Management
Custom
Enterprise social teams
- All-in-one social media management platform
- Collaborative content calendar for organic and paid posts
- Unified social inbox and social CRM
- Brand monitoring and benchmarking dashboards
Influencer Marketing (Influence)
Custom
Influencer program managers
- Influencer discovery across 30M+ creators
- Relationship and workflow management
- Multichannel campaign tracking and reporting
Media Intelligence & Insights
Custom
PR and crisis teams
- Access to expert analysts and consultants
- Custom research projects and strategic reporting
- Support for crisis monitoring and stakeholder management
Closely
Starter Annual
$29/month
Solo users or small teams starting outreach
- 1 LinkedIn account
- Unlimited email accounts
- 1 sender equals 1 LinkedIn account plus 1 email inbox
- White-label included
- Access to outreach automation and multichannel campaigns
Growth Annual
$87/month
Growing teams with multiple accounts
- 3 LinkedIn accounts
- Unlimited email accounts
- 1 sender equals 1 LinkedIn account plus 1 email inbox
- White-label included
- Bonus 3,000 credits per month
- Credits usable for approximately 750 emails, 150 phones, or 1,500 AI personalizations
Essential Annual
$145/month
Mid-sized teams scaling campaigns
- 5 LinkedIn accounts
- Unlimited email accounts
- 1 sender equals 1 LinkedIn account plus 1 email inbox
- White-label included
- Bonus 5,000 credits per month
- Credits usable for approximately 1,250 emails, 250 phones, or 2,500 AI personalizations
Custom
Custom
Large teams with specific needs
- Custom number of LinkedIn accounts
- Unlimited email accounts
- Custom monthly bonus credits
- Unlimited campaigns across LinkedIn and email
- Conditional sequence builder and multichannel campaigns
- Smart Inbox, team management, and advanced analytics
- CRM integrations and webhooks
- White-label with custom domain, colors, and logo
White-label Unlimited
$999/month
Agencies with high-volume clients
- Unlimited seats for agency clients
- Complete platform customization with logo, colors, and custom domain
- Client portal access and branded reporting
- Admin dashboard and team management
- White-label support under your brand
- No per-seat fees, no usage caps, no setup costs
Feature Deep Dive
Social Listening & Consumer Intelligence
Brandwatch
Strengths
- Access to 1.4T+ historical posts and 496M daily
- Iris AI for narrative insights and AI-powered search
- Image analysis with neural networks
- Custom ML classifiers for data categorization
- Real-time alerts and customizable dashboards
Workflow
Set up queries → AI analyzes data → Generate insights → Report and alert
Closely
Strengths
- No native social listening
- Focus on outbound rather than inbound monitoring
Workflow
Not applicable
Brandwatch dominates social listening with unparalleled data depth and AI tools for enterprise intelligence. Closely lacks listening features, focusing instead on proactive outreach. Choose Brandwatch for monitoring and insights; Closely for targeted prospecting.
Social Management & Automation
Brandwatch
Strengths
- Unified social inbox for community and customer care
- Collaborative content calendar for planning
- Brand monitoring integrated with management
- Workflows for governance and multi-region support
Limitations
- Less emphasis on automation sequences
- Enterprise complexity in setup
Closely
Strengths
- Multichannel LinkedIn/email automation with safe limits
- AI personalization for messages
- Unified inbox for replies across channels
- Sales AI agents for research and qualification
Limitations
- No broad social content scheduling
- LinkedIn/email focus only
Brandwatch offers robust social management for enterprises, including inboxes and calendars, but with less automation flair. Closely shines in sales-specific automation for LinkedIn/email. Brandwatch for holistic management; Closely for outreach efficiency.
Integrations & Reporting
Brandwatch
Strengths
- APIs and integrations with major social networks and enterprise tools
- Fully customizable dashboards and alerts
- Expert analyst support for strategic reporting
- Support for first-party data uploads
Limitations
- CRM integrations exist but less 'deep' than sales tools
- Custom reporting requires setup
Closely
Strengths
- Deep CRM integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, GoHighLevel
- Advanced outreach analytics for campaigns and teams
- Webhooks for custom workflows
- White-label reporting for agencies
Limitations
- Limited to sales-focused integrations
- No broad enterprise API depth
Both offer strong integrations, but Brandwatch excels in enterprise APIs and customizable reporting for intelligence. Closely provides deeper CRM syncing for sales attribution. Brandwatch for broad enterprise needs; Closely for sales pipeline integration.
Influencer Marketing & Sales Tools
Brandwatch
Strengths
- Influence product with 30M+ creator database
- Campaign tracking and relationship management
- Integrated with social intelligence for discovery
Workflow
Search creators → Manage relationships → Track campaigns → Report ROI
Closely
Strengths
- Data enrichment and lead scoring for sales
- AI agents for qualification and web research
- Exports from Sales Navigator and events
Limitations
- No influencer marketing features
- Sales-focused, not marketing campaigns
Brandwatch leads in influencer marketing with a vast database and tools. Closely is superior for B2B sales prospecting with enrichment and scoring. Use Brandwatch for marketing campaigns; Closely for direct sales leads.
Use Case Comparison
Enterprise Social Media Team
Brandwatch 🏆
Excellent
Deep listening, management, and governance for large-scale operations.
Best Plan: Custom Consumer Intelligence + Social Management
Score: 10/10
Closely
Poor
Limited to LinkedIn/email, no broad social features.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 2/10
B2B Sales Outreach Team
Brandwatch
Fair
Consumer insights can inform sales, but no direct automation.
Best Plan: Custom Consumer Intelligence
Score: 5/10
Closely 🏆
Excellent
AI automation, personalization, and CRM integration for prospecting.
Best Plan: Growth Annual ($87/month)
Score: 10/10
Marketing Agency Managing Social
Brandwatch 🏆
Excellent
Suite for listening, management, and influencers across clients.
Best Plan: Custom full suite
Score: 9/10
Closely
Good
White-label for LinkedIn outreach, but limited scope.
Best Plan: White-label Unlimited ($999/month)
Score: 7/10
Agency Offering LinkedIn Lead Gen
Brandwatch
Poor
No sales automation focus.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 3/10
Closely 🏆
Excellent
White-label, multi-account, CRM for client campaigns.
Best Plan: White-label Unlimited ($999/month)
Score: 10/10
PR Team for Crisis Monitoring
Brandwatch 🏆
Excellent
Real-time alerts, sentiment analysis, expert support.
Best Plan: Custom Media Intelligence
Score: 10/10
Closely
Poor
No monitoring capabilities.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 1/10
Startup Founder Prospecting
Brandwatch
Fair
Insights useful but overkill and costly.
Best Plan: Custom (may not fit budget)
Score: 4/10
Closely 🏆
Excellent
Affordable automation for scaling outbound without SDRs.
Best Plan: Starter Annual ($29/month)
Score: 9/10
Influencer Campaign Manager
Brandwatch 🏆
Excellent
30M+ database, workflow, reporting.
Best Plan: Custom Influence
Score: 10/10
Closely
Poor
No influencer tools.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 1/10
Market Research Team
Brandwatch 🏆
Excellent
Vast data, AI insights for consumer research.
Best Plan: Custom Consumer Intelligence
Score: 10/10
Closely
Fair
Lead research but not broad market intel.
Best Plan: Growth Annual ($87/month)
Score: 5/10
Small Business Social Management
Brandwatch
Poor
Too complex and expensive for small needs.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 2/10
Closely 🏆
Good
Useful for LinkedIn outreach if sales-focused.
Best Plan: Starter Annual ($29/month)
Score: 7/10
Global Brand Reputation Management
Brandwatch 🏆
Excellent
Multi-region support, crisis monitoring.
Best Plan: Custom full suite
Score: 10/10
Closely
Poor
No reputation tools.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 2/10
Sales Leader Needing Outreach Analytics
Brandwatch
Fair
Social analytics but not sales-specific.
Best Plan: Custom Social Management
Score: 6/10
Closely 🏆
Excellent
Campaign analytics, CRM attribution.
Best Plan: Essential Annual ($145/month)
Score: 9/10
Agency Managing Multiple Clients
Brandwatch
Good
Enterprise workflows but no white-label.
Best Plan: Custom
Score: 7/10
Closely 🏆
Excellent
White-label unlimited for client portals.
Best Plan: White-label Unlimited ($999/month)
Score: 9/10
Pros and Cons
Brandwatch
Pros
- Extremely deep data coverage with 1.4T+ historical posts
- Powerful AI like Iris, image analysis, custom classifiers
- Integrated suite for intelligence, management, influencers
- Enterprise-ready with global support and APIs
- Customizable dashboards for advanced reporting
- Strong for crisis monitoring and reputation management
Cons
- No public pricing, sales-led process
- Steep learning curve for complexity
- Overkill for simple needs or small teams
- Heavier implementation requirements
- No self-serve trials or instant access
- Less focus on sales automation
Closely
Pros
- Comprehensive LinkedIn/email automation with AI
- Safe human-like behavior and limits
- Deep CRM integrations for sales attribution
- Unified inbox simplifies multichannel replies
- Flexible pricing with annual discounts
- White-label for agencies, scalable credits
Cons
- Limited to LinkedIn/email, no broad social
- Complex interface for basic users
- Pricing high for solo non-sales use
- Credit system for AI/enrichment adds costs
- No social listening or influencer tools
- Onboarding needed for advanced features
Final Verdict
Brandwatch and Closely target different ends of social and sales tools. Brandwatch is an enterprise powerhouse for intelligence, management, and influencers with deep AI. Closely is a nimble sales automation tool for LinkedIn/email prospecting with CRM focus. They complement rather than compete directly.
Select Brandwatch for comprehensive social intelligence and enterprise management. Opt for Closely if your priority is efficient B2B sales automation via LinkedIn/email. For hybrid needs, integrate Brandwatch insights with Closely outreach.
Overall Scores
Brandwatch
Value: 6/10
Closely
Value: 9/10
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