Brand Reputation Rescue: Monitor Your Brand Online

and building a strong brand reputation

Expert interviews provide insights from industry leaders and seasoned executives, while news analysis and opinion pieces cover emerging trends and disruptions impacting market dynamics. In marketing, effectively managing and monitoring your brand’s online presence is paramount, but how do you cut through the noise and get actionable insights? We’re going to show you how. For more insights, see our recent post on actionable marketing insights.

Step 1: Setting Up Your First Project

First things first, head over to Brand24 and sign up for an account. They offer a free trial, so you can test the waters before committing. Once you’re logged in, you’ll land on the dashboard. To begin monitoring your brand, you need to create a project. Click the big, inviting “Create Project” button. You’ll be prompted to enter your project name – I suggest something clear and descriptive, like “Acme Corp Brand Monitoring”. Then, the crucial part: keywords.

Step 2: Defining Your Keywords

This is where the magic happens. Think about all the ways people might mention your brand online. Obvious ones are your brand name (“Acme Corp”), variations (“Acme”), and common misspellings (“Acme Corperation”). But don’t stop there! Include your key products or services (“widgets”, “widget repair”), relevant hashtags (“#widgets”, “#acmecorp”), and even the names of your key executives if they’re publicly visible. I had a client last year, a small bakery in Decatur, GA, who was surprised to find people were mentioning their head baker, Chef Pierre, more often than the bakery name itself!

In the “Keywords” field, enter each term, separated by commas. Brand24 also supports Boolean operators, which can be incredibly useful. For example, “Acme Corp AND widgets” will only show mentions that include both terms. Conversely, “Acme Corp OR widgets” will show mentions containing either. This allows for granular control. Don’t forget to add negative keywords to filter out irrelevant results. If you also sell “Acme Corp Insurance,” add “insurance” as a negative keyword to your “Acme Corp” project.

Pro Tip: Regularly review and update your keywords. As your business evolves and new products or services are introduced, your monitoring needs to adapt. I recommend setting a quarterly reminder to revisit your keyword list.

Step 3: Configuring Data Sources

Brand24 pulls data from a variety of online sources, including social media platforms, news sites, blogs, forums, and websites. By default, it monitors all available sources. However, you can customize this in the “Data Sources” section of your project settings. Maybe you’re primarily concerned with social media mentions – in that case, you can deselect other sources to focus your analysis.

You can also specify language filters. If your target audience is primarily English-speaking, select “English” to filter out mentions in other languages. This reduces noise and improves the accuracy of your sentiment analysis. Click “Save Changes” to finalize your project settings.

Common Mistake: Forgetting to set language filters! I’ve seen marketers waste hours sifting through irrelevant data simply because they didn’t configure this setting properly.

Step 4: Understanding the Dashboard

Once your project is set up, Brand24 starts collecting data. The dashboard provides a high-level overview of your brand’s online presence. You’ll see key metrics like:

• Mentions: The total number of times your keywords have been mentioned online.
• Sentiment: The overall sentiment (positive, negative, or neutral) associated with your brand mentions.
• Reach: The estimated number of people who have seen your brand mentions.
• Influence: A score that reflects the influence of the sources mentioning your brand.

Take some time to explore the different sections of the dashboard. The “Mentions Feed” shows a chronological list of all mentions, allowing you to read each one in context. The “Summary” tab provides a visual representation of your data, with charts and graphs illustrating trends over time.

Expected Outcome: After a few days, you should start seeing a steady stream of mentions related to your brand. The dashboard will provide a valuable snapshot of your online reputation.

Step 5: Analyzing Sentiment

Sentiment analysis is a powerful feature of Brand24. It automatically categorizes mentions as positive, negative, or neutral, providing insights into how people feel about your brand. In the “Sentiment Analysis” section, you’ll see a breakdown of the sentiment distribution. A high percentage of positive mentions indicates a strong brand reputation, while a high percentage of negative mentions suggests potential problems.

Don’t rely solely on the automated sentiment analysis. It’s essential to manually review a sample of mentions to ensure accuracy. Brand24’s algorithms are good, but they’re not perfect. Sarcasm, irony, and nuanced language can sometimes be misinterpreted. Click on individual mentions in the “Mentions Feed” to read the full context and verify the sentiment classification. You can also manually adjust the sentiment if you disagree with the automated analysis.

Pro Tip: Pay close attention to negative mentions. These are opportunities to address customer concerns, resolve issues, and improve your brand reputation. A quick, helpful response can turn a negative experience into a positive one. You may also need to consider if you’re in a brand crisis and how to rebuild.

Step 6: Generating Reports

Brand24 allows you to generate custom reports to track your brand reputation metrics over time. In the “Reports” section, you can specify the date range, metrics, and format of your report. I recommend creating weekly or monthly reports to monitor trends and identify any significant changes. We ran into this exact issue at my previous firm, a real estate brokerage in Buckhead. We set up weekly reports and noticed a sudden spike in negative mentions after a local news story about rising property taxes. We were able to quickly address the concerns by publishing blog content explaining the tax changes and offering financial planning advice.

Include key metrics like the number of mentions, sentiment distribution, reach, and influence in your reports. You can also segment your data by source, language, or keyword to gain deeper insights. Export your reports in various formats, such as PDF or CSV, for easy sharing and analysis. Remember, data is only valuable if you act on it. For more on that, see our article on how senior marketing teams win with data.

Step 7: Setting Up Alerts

Staying on top of your brand’s online reputation requires constant vigilance. Brand24’s alert system can help you do this. You can set up email or Slack alerts to notify you whenever your brand is mentioned online, or when there’s a significant change in sentiment. To configure alerts, go to “Settings” > “Alerts“. Specify the trigger conditions, such as a sudden spike in negative mentions or a mention from a high-influence source. Then, choose your preferred notification method and frequency. It’s better to know sooner rather than later, wouldn’t you agree?

Common Mistake: Setting up too many alerts! If you’re bombarded with notifications, you’re likely to ignore them. Focus on the most critical triggers, such as negative mentions from influential sources.

Step 8: Integrating with Other Tools

Brand24 integrates with a variety of other marketing and social media management tools, such as HubSpot, Buffer, and Hootsuite. These integrations allow you to streamline your workflow and manage your brand’s online presence from a single platform. For example, you can connect Brand24 to HubSpot to automatically create tickets for negative mentions, ensuring that your customer service team is promptly notified. Nobody tells you these integrations can save hours of manual work.

To set up integrations, go to “Settings” > “Integrations” and follow the instructions for each tool. The integrations vary based on the tool. For HubSpot, you’ll need to grant Brand24 access to your HubSpot account. For Buffer, you can use Brand24 to schedule social media posts directly from the platform.

Step 9: Staying Informed with Expert Interviews and News Analysis

While Brand24 is a powerful tool, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. To build a strong brand reputation, you also need to stay informed about emerging trends and disruptions impacting market dynamics. Regularly read news analysis and opinion pieces from reputable sources, and follow industry leaders on social media. Many organizations such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) publish reports that can help guide your marketing strategy.

Consider attending industry conferences or webinars to learn from experts and network with peers. Many of these events feature expert interviews with seasoned executives, providing valuable insights into best practices and emerging strategies. Also, you can find a lot of marketing data on Statista. For more, read our article on knowing when to hire marketing consultants.

Step 10: Putting It All Together: A Case Study

Let’s say you’re running a marketing campaign for a new line of organic dog treats called “Happy Paws” in the Atlanta metro area. You set up a Brand24 project with keywords like “Happy Paws dog treats”, “organic dog treats Atlanta”, “#happypaws”, and “dog bakery near me”. After two weeks, you notice a significant spike in negative mentions related to the price of your treats compared to competitors. You also see several mentions complaining about limited availability at local pet stores like Pet Paradise on Peachtree Road. Based on this feedback, you decide to:

1. Launch a targeted ad campaign on Meta offering a discount on the first purchase of Happy Paws treats.
2. Partner with additional pet stores in the Buckhead and Midtown areas to increase product availability.
3. Publish a blog post on your website explaining the higher cost of organic ingredients and highlighting the health benefits of Happy Paws treats.

Within a month, you see a significant improvement in sentiment and an increase in sales. This is the power of proactive brand monitoring.

Building a strong brand reputation is an ongoing process, but with the right tools and strategies, you can effectively manage your online presence and achieve your marketing goals. The key is to be proactive, responsive, and data-driven. If you want to dominate your market, you need a solid strategy.

Brand monitoring is no longer optional; it’s essential for modern marketing. By proactively tracking your brand mentions and responding to customer feedback, you’re not just protecting your reputation — you’re building stronger relationships and fostering loyalty. Start monitoring today and watch your brand thrive.