Monitoring generic brand names or generic keywords (like Orange, Apple, or Brand Mentions) can be challenging because these words are commonly used in everyday language. However, with the right setup in BrandMentions, you can still get highly relevant, accurate results.
Why generic brands are difficult to monitor
Some brands share their name with common words, industries, or objects. For example:
Orange – a telecommunications corporation, but also a fruit and a color
Apple – a technology company, but also a fruit
Brand Mentions – a brand name, but also a common marketing term
Our own brand, BrandMentions, is a perfect example. People may write it as:
Brand Mentions
BrandMentions
brand mentions
BM
Because these are generic words or phrases, monitoring them as-is can bring in a lot of irrelevant mentions. That’s why fine-tuning is crucial.
Step 1: Fine-tune your keywords in Project Settings
To improve monitoring for generic brands:
Go to Project Settings in BrandMentions.
Open the Keywords to track section.
Carefully define how you want to track your brand name and related terms.
The more precise and intentional your keywords are, the better your results will be.
Step 2: Use case-sensitive exact keywords
One effective strategy is to track your brand using case-sensitive, exact keywords.
Example (BrandMentions):
Add
"Brand Mentions"as a case-sensitive tracked keyword.
Why this helps:
People typically write the brand as “Brand Mentions” with capital letters when referring to the company.
When someone writes “brand mentions” in lowercase, they’re often talking about the general concept, not the specific brand.
This approach helps you focus on real brand mentions and reduce noise from generic usage.
Step 3: Add brand variants and acronyms
Most brands are referred to in several ways online. To make your tracking more complete, add:
Spacing variations:
"Brand Mentions""BrandMentions"
Common abbreviations or acronyms:
"BM"(if this makes sense in your context and doesn’t create too much noise)
For your brand, you might track:
"Orange Telecom""Apple Inc"or"Apple"+ related context (e.g., "iPhone", "MacBook")"Brand Mentions""BrandMentions""BM"(if relevant)
The goal is to capture real brand mentions, not every generic use of the word.
Step 4: Use exclusions and context to reduce noise (optional)
If your brand name is very generic, you may also:
Use excluded keywords, so mentions including certain unrelated terms are filtered out.
Use Boolean search (if enabled) to build more advanced expressions that include or exclude specific contexts.
For example:
Include
"Apple"AND words like"iPhone","Mac","iPad"Exclude
"apple pie","juice","orchard", etc., if they’re irrelevant
This helps BrandMentions better understand which “Apple” you actually care about.
With the right configuration, even very generic brand names can be monitored effectively, helping you focus on the mentions that truly matter to your brand.