Want to know what people are saying about your competitors—without spending all day glued to your screen? This guide’s for marketing pros, comms teams, and founders who want real intel, not just vanity charts. We'll walk through how to actually track competitor mentions in Brandwatch, what to set up (and what to ignore), and how to turn all that chatter into something useful.
Why Even Track Competitor Mentions?
Let’s be honest: most competitors aren’t changing your world every day. But knowing when they’re getting press, launching products, or getting dragged online gives you an edge. You’ll spot PR wins or crises, see what’s resonating, and maybe even pick up a few ideas.
But heads up—tracking competitor mentions isn’t magic. It won’t tell you their secret sauce. It will help you keep your finger on the pulse and avoid getting blindsided.
Step 1: Get Your Brandwatch House in Order
First things first: you’ll need access to Brandwatch. If your company already has it, get admin access or at least the right permissions. If you’re just trialing it, know that some features (like advanced filters) might be limited.
Key setup tips: - Make sure your Brandwatch account covers the social platforms and web sources you care about. The standard plan covers a ton, but if you need niche forums or paywalled news, double-check. - Sort out user permissions now—nothing kills momentum like waiting three days for IT.
Step 2: Pick Your Competitors (Don’t Overthink It)
Don’t try to track everyone. You’ll drown in noise. Pick 2–5 real competitors—brands your audience could actually switch to, not just aspirational names.
Pro tip: If you’re in a crowded space, start with your closest direct competitors. You can always add more later.
Step 3: Build Smart Search Queries
This is where most people mess up. If your search is too broad, you’ll get junk. Too narrow, and you’ll miss the good stuff.
Start with the basics:
- Company name (including common misspellings)
- Product names
- Key execs or spokespeople (if they’re public-facing)
Example:
("Acme Widgets" OR "AcmeWidget" OR "Acmewidgets.com") OR ("Acme SuperDrill") OR ("Jane Smith" AND Acme)
Tweak Your Query:
- Exclude common words or phrases that cause false positives. (e.g., Acme is a Looney Tunes staple, not just your rival.)
- Add location or industry terms if the name is generic.
- Use AND/OR logic to get what you really want.
What to ignore:
Don’t waste time tracking every minor product or service—they’ll clog your feed. Focus on what actually moves the needle.
Step 4: Set Up Your Brandwatch Queries
Head over to the “Queries” section in Brandwatch and create a new query for each competitor.
- Paste in your search query.
- Use filters to narrow by language, location, or source (e.g., just Twitter, news, or forums).
- Test your query. Does it pull in relevant stuff? Tweak as needed. This is worth spending extra time on.
Pro tip:
Label your queries clearly—“Competitor X Mentions – Twitter” beats “Test Query 3”.
Step 5: Organize Results Using Dashboards
Once your queries are running, set up dashboards to visualize the data.
- Use Brandwatch’s built-in dashboards or create custom ones.
- Focus on:
- Volume of mentions (spikes are usually more interesting than day-to-day noise)
- Sentiment over time (but don’t obsess—sentiment analysis is still iffy for sarcasm or slang)
- Top sources (where’s the chatter actually happening?)
- Most-shared posts or articles
What works:
Alerts for big spikes or sentiment drops. You don’t need to watch everything in real-time—let software flag weird stuff.
What doesn’t:
Default dashboards often look fancy but don’t tell you much. Don’t be afraid to delete widgets you don’t use.
Step 6: Set Up Alerts (Without Overloading Yourself)
The dream: get notified when your competitor trends, not every time someone tweets a meme.
- Use Brandwatch alerts to ping you (email/Slack) for:
- Sudden increases in mentions
- High-engagement posts (e.g., a tweet going viral about your competitor)
- Specific phrases (e.g., “Competitor X hacked” or “Competitor X new launch”)
What to ignore:
Daily digest emails. They’re easy to ignore and pile up. Focus on meaningful events, not routine activity.
Step 7: Analyze, Don’t Just Collect
Now that you have data, look for patterns: - Did a product launch trigger a spike, or was it a customer service meltdown? - Where are most mentions coming from? Twitter? Reddit? Niche forums? - Are journalists or influencers talking about your competitor?
Don’t just stare at trend lines—click into spikes, read the actual posts, and look for context.
Pro tip:
Once a month, spend 30 minutes reviewing what mattered. Pull out a few interesting mentions to share with your team (or your boss).
Step 8: Share Insights (Keep It Short)
Nobody wants a 40-slide deck. Instead: - Drop a few key takeaways in Slack or email. - Flag anything urgent (like a competitor’s PR disaster or surprise product launch). - Use screenshots or links, not just numbers.
Remember, you’re not reporting for the sake of reporting—you want to help your team act smarter.
Step 9: Iterate and Refine
Every quarter or so, revisit your queries and dashboards: - Are you getting too much junk? Tighten your queries. - Missing stuff? Add new keywords or sources. - Is anyone actually using your reports? If not, ask what they’d find useful.
Social listening isn’t “set and forget.” But you don’t need to babysit it daily, either.
What Works, What Doesn’t
What works: - Tracking just a few real competitors, not everyone in your industry. - Using alerts for big changes, not every mention. - Actually reading the posts behind the numbers.
What doesn’t: - Relying on sentiment analysis alone—machines can’t pick up sarcasm or nuance. - Obsessing over vanity metrics (like raw mention volume). - Spending hours tweaking dashboards nobody reads.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Overcomplicating queries: Start simple. You can always add complexity later.
- Ignoring context: A spike in mentions might be good, bad, or neutral. Always dig in.
- Forgetting internal alignment: Make sure everyone knows why you’re tracking and what you’ll do with the info.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Keep It Useful
You don’t need a PhD in data science to track competitor mentions with Brandwatch. Focus on getting a handful of useful alerts, not a firehose of data. Share what matters, skip the fluff, and tweak as you go. Start small—you can always get fancier later.