An expanded matcher covering 11 use cases, 22 features, and 18 social listening platforms. Tick what you need; the maths surfaces a single tool — or a complementary pair when no single platform dominates your scope.
Tick everything you'd want a listening tool to handle. Each use case maps to a fixed bundle of features, defined once before any tool was scored.
Optional weighting boosts on top of your selected use cases.
These boost the weight of features that determine whether a vendor can deliver on the service. e.g. requiring a dedicated CSM puts more weight on customer support quality.
Region presence affects support availability, regional language coverage, and local channel integrations. Tools without a presence in your region get flagged in the ranking.
Add any capability that matters to you but isn't in the standard 22-feature matrix. These won't be auto-scored — they'll appear as a checklist of things to validate during the vendor demo or pilot.
Composite score = weighted average of feature scores across your selected use cases, services, and AI add-ons. When no single tool clears the bar on every front, a complementary pair is suggested instead.
Three layers, decided in order, never re-litigated:
(1) Use case → Feature weights were locked in advance using industry frameworks (AICI Buyer's Guide, Gartner Peer Insights pillars). Weights are 1 (nice-to-have), 2 (important), or 3 (critical). Each of the 11 use cases triggers a specific weight bundle; the bundle never changes once defined.
(2) Tool → Feature scores (0–5) are sourced from primary research, vendor documentation, G2 / Capterra peer reviews, and analyst commentary. The four tools your team has worked with directly (Brandwatch, Talkwalker, KI, Meltwater) carry the deepest research; the other 14 tools are scored from public reviews and product literature with appropriately wider error bars.
(3) The match is arithmetic. For each feature, we take the maximum weight it receives across all selected use cases, services, and add-ons. Tool score = Σ(score × weight) ÷ Σ(weight), scaled to 5. Region presence applies a small modifier (±0.3 max) so it nudges but doesn't dominate. The combination logic kicks in when the top tool's weakest weighted feature falls below 3.5 and a second tool can plug that gap by 0.4+ points.
Region presence ratings were verified via web research (May 2026): Sprinklr has Bangalore, Gurgaon, and Mumbai BKC offices; Talkwalker's APAC Director of Customer Success is India-based; Meltwater opened a new India office in 2024; Brandwatch serves India through its Singapore APAC hub; Locobuzz and Konnect Insights are India-headquartered. Tools with no verifiable India presence (YouScan, Awario, Brand24, Mention, Agorapulse) are flagged accordingly.
The weight matrix and tool scores both exist before the client clicks anything. That's the bit that makes this defensible.