How to set up automated brand monitoring in Brandwatch step by step

Brand mentions pop up everywhere—news, blogs, social, random forums. If you’re tired of finding out about them days late (or from your boss), you’re not alone. This guide is for marketers, comms folks, or anyone who needs to know what’s being said about their brand without living on Twitter 24/7. We’ll walk through setting up automated brand monitoring in Brandwatch, step by step—no fluff, just what actually works.

Why bother automating brand monitoring?

Manual brand monitoring is a time sink. You’ll miss things, and your reactions will always be slower than they should be. Automated monitoring means:

  • You find out fast when your brand’s mentioned—good or bad.
  • You can track competitors, campaigns, and even spot crises early.
  • You don’t waste time digging around for stuff that software can collect for you.

But don’t expect magic. Automation finds the mentions; it can’t think for you. You’ll still need to review results, weed out junk, and act on what matters.

Step 1: Get your access and pick the right plan

Brandwatch isn’t free, and it’s not aimed at hobbyists. If you’re reading this, you probably already have access, but double-check:

  • Make sure you have a user account with permissions to create queries and dashboards.
  • If you’re at a big company, your admin may need to set you up.
  • Not all plans include all features—automated alerts, for example, might require a full Analytics license.

Pro tip: If you just want basic social listening, cheaper tools exist. Brandwatch shines when you need depth, scale, or complex queries.

Step 2: Define what you actually want to track

Before you dive into dashboards, figure out your scope. This will save you hours of cleanup later.

Ask yourself:

  • Brand names: Obvious, but don’t forget common misspellings (e.g., “Starbuks”).
  • Product names: Especially if your products have unique names.
  • Key people: CEOs, spokespeople, or anyone tied to your brand.
  • Competitors: Optional, but handy.
  • Campaign hashtags: For tracking specific events or launches.

What to skip: Industry buzzwords, generic terms, or anything that’ll bring in a tidal wave of irrelevant results. Brandwatch queries count toward your data limits, so keep it focused.

Step 3: Build your first query

This is where Brandwatch gets powerful—and picky.

  1. Navigate to Queries: In your Brandwatch dashboard, go to the “Queries” section.
  2. Create a new query: Hit “New Query” or similar. (Brandwatch loves to move buttons around, but it’s usually obvious.)
  3. Set up your keywords: Enter brand names, products, and variations. Use quotation marks for exact phrases (“Acme Corp”).
  4. Exclude junk: Add NOT operators to filter out common false positives (e.g., NOT “Acme Hardware” if that’s unrelated).
  5. Set language and location filters: Only want US English mentions? Set that here. This saves you from wading through irrelevant posts.
  6. Preview results: Always check the preview. If you’re drowning in spam, tweak your terms.
  7. Save and name your query: Be specific—“Acme Brand Monitoring 2024” is better than “Main Query.”

Honest take: Getting queries right is trial and error. Don’t expect perfection on the first try. The more specific you are, the less junk you’ll get—but don’t go so narrow that you miss important stuff.

Step 4: Set up rules for automation (optional but powerful)

Brandwatch has a “Rules” feature that can tag, categorize, or even auto-route mentions as they come in.

Use Rules to:

  • Auto-tag posts about specific products.
  • Flag high-risk mentions (e.g., if your CEO’s name appears with “scandal” or “lawsuit”).
  • Separate customer complaints from general chatter.

To set up Rules:

  1. Go to the “Rules” section.
  2. Create a new rule—pick the query or keyword triggers.
  3. Define what happens: Tag, categorize, or assign to a team member.
  4. Save and test it.

What to ignore: Don’t overdo it. Too many rules = chaos. Start simple, add more only if you actually need them.

Step 5: Build your dashboards

This is where you visualize the data. Dashboards are customizable, but you don’t need to make them pretty—just useful.

Start with:

  • Volume over time: See spikes in mentions.
  • Sentiment analysis: Take with a grain of salt; algorithms miss sarcasm and nuance.
  • Source breakdown: Where are people talking? Twitter, news, forums, etc.
  • Top mentions: See what’s getting shared or commented on the most.

How to set up:

  1. Go to “Dashboards.”
  2. Create a new dashboard and add widgets (charts, tables, etc.).
  3. Pull data from your saved query.
  4. Arrange widgets so the most important stuff’s at the top.

Reality check: Don’t spend hours tweaking colors and layouts. You want fast insights, not a work of art.

Step 6: Set up automated alerts

This is the real game-changer. You want to know about big spikes or critical mentions instantly—not in your Monday status meeting.

To set up alerts:

  1. Go to “Alerts” or “Notifications” (Brandwatch sometimes changes the menu names).
  2. Choose your trigger:
  3. Volume spikes (e.g., mentions double in an hour)
  4. Negative sentiment surges
  5. Specific keywords (e.g., “recall,” “boycott”)
  6. Influencer mentions
  7. Set who gets notified—yourself, your team, or a Slack/email channel.
  8. Save and test it.

What to avoid: Don’t set alerts for everything. You’ll tune them out. Start with the big stuff and add more only if you’re missing important moments.

Step 7: Regularly review and refine

Brand monitoring isn’t “set and forget.” You’ll need to:

  • Check for irrelevant mentions: Adjust queries to filter new spam or false positives.
  • Update keywords: Add new products, campaigns, or execs as needed.
  • Review alert fatigue: If you’re ignoring alerts, change the thresholds.

Pro tip: Schedule a monthly check-in to clean things up. Otherwise, your dashboards become cluttered and useless.

Step 8: Share insights, not just data

Don’t just hoard dashboards for yourself. Share the key findings with people who need them—PR, customer service, leadership.

  • Export summary reports.
  • Set up automated email digests (Brandwatch supports this).
  • Highlight actionable stuff, not just stats.

What works: A quick weekly summary gets read more than a 20-page PDF. Keep it punchy.

What to ignore (for now)

  • Advanced Boolean gymnastics: Unless you’re tracking a global brand with tons of false positives, keep queries simple at first.
  • Integrations and APIs: Useful for big orgs, but overkill for most teams just starting out.
  • Sentiment scores as gospel: They’re a directional signal, not a substitute for reading the actual posts.

Bottom line: Keep it simple, iterate often

Automated brand monitoring in Brandwatch is powerful, but only if you keep it focused and revisit your setup regularly. Start with the basics, see what you actually use, and improve from there. Don’t let “perfect” get in the way of “done.” When in doubt, make it easier on yourself—less data, more meaning. You’ll thank yourself later.