If you’ve ever tried to make sense of the firehose of opinions about your brand online, you know it’s not as easy as people make it sound. Sure, tracking “sentiment” sounds cool, but getting real, actionable insights out of the noise is another story. This guide is for marketers, analysts, and anyone who actually wants to use customer sentiment in real time—without getting buried in dashboards or fooled by shiny charts.
We'll walk through the nuts and bolts of using Brandwatch to analyze customer sentiment, what’s worth your time, what’s mostly fluff, and how to avoid the classic traps.
Why Bother With Real-Time Sentiment Analysis?
Before we get into the how-to, let's get real about the why. Real-time sentiment analysis means you can:
- Catch PR issues as they bubble up, instead of after the fire’s started
- See how campaigns or announcements are actually landing, not just how you hope they’re landing
- Spot trends or shifts—good or bad—before your competitors do
But don’t expect magic. Sentiment analysis isn’t mind reading. It’s a way to spot signals faster, not to replace human judgment.
Step 1: Get Your Brandwatch Environment Ready
1. Set Up Your Account and Permissions
Obvious, but worth checking: do you have the right Brandwatch access? If you’re not the admin, talk to whoever runs the show to make sure you can create projects, view dashboards, and (crucially) set up alerts.
Pro Tip: Start with a dedicated test project if you’re new—don’t mess with the “real” reporting until you know what you’re doing.
2. Define What You’re Actually Tracking
Brandwatch can track pretty much anything, but more isn’t always better. Here’s what you actually want:
- Brand names (including misspellings and abbreviations)
- Product names
- Key executives or spokespeople
- Relevant hashtags or campaign keywords
Skip generic terms unless you want a flood of unrelated noise.
Watch out for: Brandwatch will happily show you tons of irrelevant mentions if your queries are too broad. “Apple” pulls in a lot more than tech chatter.
Step 2: Build Smart Queries (Don’t Trust Defaults)
This is where most people mess up. Brandwatch’s sentiment analysis is only as good as your Boolean queries. Take the time to:
- Use Boolean logic to filter out junk (e.g., “Apple AND NOT pie”)
- Exclude obvious spam or off-topic chatter
- Include variations and common misspellings
- Set up test queries, then manually review sample results
Pro Tip: Always check the “irrelevant” mentions. If your feed is full of bots, job postings, or unrelated news, tighten your query.
What to ignore: Don’t just accept Brandwatch’s default “quick start” templates. They’re built for demos, not real life.
Step 3: Understand Sentiment Scoring (It’s Not Psychic)
Brandwatch automatically assigns “positive,” “negative,” or “neutral” sentiment to mentions. Here’s what’s useful—and what isn’t:
What Works:
- Spotting big mood swings: If your usual sentiment mix flips after a product launch, pay attention.
- Flagging spikes in negativity: Useful for crisis alerts.
What Doesn’t:
- Nuanced emotion: Sarcasm and context trip up every tool.
- Assuming accuracy: Automated sentiment is only about 65-80% right, depending on language and context.
How to make it better:
- Use Brandwatch’s manual sentiment correction to train the system if you care about accuracy.
- Focus on trends, not single mentions. Outliers happen.
Pro Tip: Don’t build a KPI around “sentiment score” without a human sanity check.
Step 4: Set Up Real-Time Dashboards and Alerts
The magic of real-time is being able to act fast. Here’s how to avoid dashboard overwhelm:
1. Build a Focused Dashboard
- Use widgets for sentiment over time, topic breakdowns, and key influencers.
- Limit yourself to what you’ll actually look at. Five widgets you use beat 20 you ignore.
2. Set Up Alerts You’ll Actually Read
- Trigger alerts on sudden spikes in negative sentiment, not every mention.
- Route alerts to the right people—don’t spam the whole team.
Pro Tip: Use thresholds: “Alert me if negative sentiment doubles in an hour,” not “Alert me every time someone’s mad.”
What to ignore: Vanity metrics like “share of voice” unless you have a real benchmark.
Step 5: Dig Deeper with Filters and Segmentation
Real-time is cool, but raw volume doesn’t tell the whole story. Use Brandwatch’s filters to break things down:
- By platform: Twitter, Reddit, forums, whatever matters to your audience
- By location: Spot if a region is blowing up
- By topic or hashtag: Get context, not just mood
Pro Tip: Use the “compare” feature to see how sentiment shifts by channel or campaign.
Don’t Get Fooled by Outliers
A handful of angry tweets can look like the world’s ending if you’re not careful. Always check the volume and source of sentiment shifts before you escalate.
Step 6: Take Action (Don’t Just Admire the Data)
Sentiment analysis is only useful if you do something with it. Here’s what that looks like:
- Share quick summaries, not raw dashboards, with your team
- Escalate real crises fast—don’t wait for a full report
- Feed learnings back to marketing, support, or product teams
Pro Tip: Keep a simple “What We Learned” log after each major event. Over time, you’ll spot patterns and get better at separating signal from noise.
Step 7: Review, Adjust, and Don’t Get Lazy
Your first setup won’t be perfect. Plan to:
- Review your queries monthly—language and slang change fast
- Check sentiment accuracy by spot-checking real posts
- Kill dashboards and alerts nobody’s using
What to ignore: Don’t chase every new feature Brandwatch rolls out—stick to what actually helps you move faster or smarter.
Honest Takes: What Works, What Doesn’t
Here’s the straight talk:
What Works: - Fast detection of issues as they emerge - Trend spotting across multiple channels - Automated reporting (if you keep it simple)
What’s Overhyped: - “Precision” sentiment scoring—don’t bet your reputation on it - AI-driven insights that claim to spot everything for you
What to Ignore: - Generic competitor benchmarks (unless you know how they built their queries) - Overly broad dashboards—focus on what matters to your brand and team
Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Don’t let the tech impress you into inaction. The real value in Brandwatch comes from clear queries, focused dashboards, and actually responding to what you see. Start small, keep your setup lean, and tweak as you learn what matters for your team.
Sentiment analysis isn’t magic—it’s a tool. Use it to move faster, spot problems, and stay ahead. Then get back to work.