9 Best Google Trends Alternatives for PPC Agencies

Hootsuite is a widely recognized social media management platform that enables PPC agencies to schedule, monitor, and analyze content across multiple platforms from a single dashboard. According to their website, Hootsuite supports over 35 social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, making it a robust tool for managing client campaigns at scale. It offers advanced analytics that track engagement, follower growth, and post performance, helping agencies prove ROI to clients. The platform includes a content calendar with drag-and-drop scheduling, team collaboration tools, and social listening features that monitor brand mentions and industry keywords. Hootsuite’s App Directory allows integration with third-party tools like Google Analytics, Canva, and Salesforce, extending its functionality for data-driven marketing teams. While it doesn’t generate content automatically, its strength lies in centralizing distribution and performance tracking—critical for agencies managing dozens of client accounts across varied platforms. Its interface is polished and enterprise-ready, making it a trusted choice for large marketing teams that prioritize workflow organization and reporting.

Buffer is a user-friendly social media management tool designed for simplicity and ease of use, making it popular among smaller PPC agencies and in-house marketing teams. According to their website, Buffer allows users to schedule posts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and TikTok with a clean, intuitive interface. It includes analytics that track engagement rates, optimal posting times, and follower growth, helping agencies refine their content strategy over time. Buffer’s 'Analytics' dashboard provides performance comparisons across platforms and content types, while its 'Recommend' feature suggests optimal posting times based on historical data. The platform also offers team collaboration tools, content approval workflows, and a browser extension for quick sharing. While Buffer doesn’t offer AI-generated content or trend forecasting, its strength lies in its reliability and minimal learning curve. It’s ideal for agencies focused on consistent publishing and performance review rather than content creation or deep research.

Sprout Social is a premium social media management platform tailored for mid-to-large-sized agencies and enterprises that require deep analytics and robust team workflows. According to their website, Sprout Social offers advanced reporting features, including custom report builders, competitor benchmarking, and sentiment analysis to gauge audience perception. It supports scheduling across major platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, and includes a unified inbox for managing direct messages and comments. The platform’s Smart Inbox consolidates all social interactions into one feed, streamlining customer engagement. Sprout Social also provides a content calendar with drag-and-drop functionality and team collaboration tools, allowing multiple users to assign, review, and approve content before publishing. While it doesn’t generate content or perform AI-driven trend research, its strength lies in its ability to connect social performance to broader business goals through detailed metrics and integrations with CRM and analytics tools. It’s a powerful solution for agencies that prioritize client reporting and social listening over content automation.

Keyhole is a social media analytics and hashtag tracking platform that helps PPC agencies monitor campaign performance, track brand mentions, and identify trending topics across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. According to their website, Keyhole provides real-time dashboards that show hashtag performance, audience demographics, influencer reach, and engagement trends. It allows users to track up to 100 hashtags simultaneously and provides historical data to analyze campaign growth over time. The platform’s influencer identification tool helps agencies discover high-performing accounts relevant to their niche, which can be useful for partnership outreach. Keyhole also offers competitor tracking, enabling agencies to benchmark their performance against rivals. While it doesn’t generate content or automate publishing, its strength lies in uncovering viral patterns and measuring the impact of social campaigns through data. It’s particularly valuable for agencies running hashtag-driven campaigns or influencer collaborations where understanding reach and resonance is critical.

TrendTok is a specialized platform designed to identify viral TikTok trends before they peak, helping PPC agencies capitalize on emerging content patterns. According to their website, TrendTok analyzes TikTok’s algorithm to surface videos with rapidly increasing engagement, providing users with real-time trend alerts and hook templates. It categorizes trends by category (e.g., comedy, education, product reviews) and offers editable video templates based on proven viral structures. The platform also provides insights into audio usage, caption styles, and popular challenges, allowing agencies to replicate successful formats. While it focuses exclusively on TikTok, its depth of insight into platform-specific mechanics makes it invaluable for agencies targeting Gen Z audiences. TrendTok doesn’t generate content for other platforms or manage publishing, but its predictive power gives agencies a critical edge in staying ahead of the curve on the world’s fastest-growing social platform.

BuzzSumo is a content intelligence platform that helps PPC agencies discover what content performs best across the web, including social media, blogs, and news sites. According to their website, BuzzSumo analyzes billions of pieces of content to identify top-performing articles, videos, and infographics by topic, domain, or keyword. It provides metrics like shares, backlinks, and engagement rates, allowing agencies to reverse-engineer successful content strategies. The platform also offers competitor analysis, showing which content types and topics outperform rivals in specific niches. BuzzSumo’s content alerts notify users when new content is published on tracked topics, helping agencies stay ahead of industry conversations. While it doesn’t automate publishing or generate content, its strength lies in uncovering high-performing content patterns—making it ideal for agencies looking to inform blog and social campaigns with data-driven inspiration. It’s particularly useful for content marketers seeking to replicate success in their own verticals.

AnswerThePublic is a search intelligence tool that visualizes real questions people ask on Google and YouTube, helping PPC agencies uncover high-intent content opportunities. According to their website, the platform aggregates search suggestions and organizes them into visual maps categorized by question, preposition, and comparison. This reveals the exact phrasing and concerns of potential customers—critical for crafting TOFU and MOFU content that resonates. Agencies can use these insights to build blog outlines, video scripts, and social media posts that directly address audience pain points. AnswerThePublic supports multiple languages and provides data on search volume trends, helping prioritize topics with the highest potential. While it doesn’t generate content or automate publishing, its unique ability to surface authentic customer language makes it invaluable for creating empathetic, search-optimized campaigns. It’s especially useful for agencies targeting long-tail keywords or local service niches where user intent is nuanced.

Rival IQ is a competitive intelligence platform designed to help PPC agencies benchmark their social media and SEO performance against competitors. According to their website, Rival IQ tracks competitor activity across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, providing metrics on posting frequency, engagement rates, follower growth, and content types. It includes a content library that archives competitor posts, allowing agencies to analyze what works in their niche. The platform also offers SEO tracking, including keyword rankings and backlink analysis, making it a hybrid tool for both social and search performance. Rival IQ’s benchmarking reports compare your performance against industry averages, helping agencies identify gaps and opportunities. While it doesn’t generate content or automate publishing, its strength lies in its ability to turn competitor behavior into actionable strategy—ideal for agencies needing to prove market differentiation and strategic positioning to clients.