How to Track Brand Mentions on Social Media

Did you know other people write your brand’s story every minute? Every online mention, whether it’s an Instagram story or a TikTok review contributes to the narrative of your brand. These social media mentions play a vital role in shaping your public image and how people feel about your brand. In this article, we’ll cover what brand mentions are, why they matter, and how you can track them (even if your brand isn’t directly tagged). Let’s dive in.

What are brand mentions?

A brand mention occurs whenever your brand is named or referred to in any form of digital communication. This encompasses everything from social media posts and blog articles about your brand to discussions in online forums and features in news articles.

In a paid collaboration, you can provide creators and bloggers with a dedicated Influencer tracking link with dedicated UTM-tags to measure how many times the content was clicked.

Here is an example of Instagram user comparing different foundations she has tried, and mentioning the brands NARS, ITCosmetics, and HausLabs by LadyGaga:

Mentions can be either tagged or untagged, and it’s important to understand the difference.

Tagged mentions are direct. They occur where your brand is explicitly mentioned with a link to your website or a social media handle. It’s like being directly invited to a conversation. These are easier to track as they are clear and direct references to your brand.

Untagged mentions are indirect. They show what people are saying about your brand when they’re not speaking to you but about you. This could be an Instagrammer using your product in their story without tagging you, or a YouTuber doing an unpaid review without linking to your site. These mentions are powerful but can be trickier to track and analyze.

Types of brand mentions

There are many different types of brand mentions, depending on the source the mention comes from:

• Social media mentions: These are mentions on social networks such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X. They represent direct and immediate feedback from your audience.
• Forums and communities: Discussions in online communities and forums, like Reddit, are rich sources of in-depth and often candid conversations about brands.
• Reviews and testimonials: Mentions on review sites like Amazon, TripAdvisor, Yelp, and industry-specific platforms like Capterra or G2 offer valuable customer feedback and influence public perception.
• Blog post mentions: Various blogs across the internet can mention your brand, especially in niches like lifestyle, fashion, and parenting. Especially here it makes sense to provide partners with a dedicated utm tracking link to measure the performance.
• News articles: Mentions in online news articles, whether on global, national, or local news platforms, have a significant impact on your brand’s reputation and visibility.

For the purposes of this article, we will focus on social media brand mentions.

Why do brand mentions matter?

It’s essential to keep track of when, where, and how your brand is mentioned online. Here are a few of the key reasons:

• Measure brand health and customer perception: Brand mentions help you assess your brand’s reputation and give you direct insights into how customers perceive your brand. Keeping track of these mentions gives you a helpful indicator of public opinion, allowing you to manage your reputation proactively.

• Gain useful customer feedback: Brand mentions are a rich source of customer feedback that can help you improve your products and services. They highlight what’s working well and flag areas in need of improvement, ensuring that your offerings continue to keep your customers happy.

• Tap into social proof: Brand mentions in the form of reviews, testimonials, or user-generated content can help influence the decision-making process of potential customers. Tracking these kinds of brand mentions means you can use them to benefit your brand, like sharing reviews on your homepage or resharing social media posts.

• Engage with customers: When customers mention your brand, it’s a golden opportunity to interact with them. Responding to mentions, whether they are positive or negative, shows that you value customer input and care what they think. This engagement can enhance customer loyalty and improve brand perception.

• Identify brand ambassadors: Monitoring brand mentions can help you identify and reward your most loyal and enthusiastic customers. These individuals can be potential brand ambassadors or influencers, who can authentically promote your brand to a wider audience.

Brand mentions are much more than just casual references to your brand; they are a goldmine of information that can guide your marketing, PR, and overall business strategy. By understanding, analyzing, and responding to these mentions, you can make informed decisions to drive growth.

How to track brand mentions on social media

Let’s explore how you can track brand mentions on various different social media platforms.

How to track brand mentions on Instagram

The best way to track Instagram mentions for free is with Kolsquare’s influencer search tool.

To get started, open the tool and type in the name of your brand (or any brand whose mentions you want to track). And click “Search.”

You’ll find a list of influencers who mentioned the brand in the last 30 days. Like in this example from Nike:

For more detailed insights, you can use the full version of Kolsquare.

Log into the tool, open the “Brands” tab and search for your company (or the brand you want to track). In this example, you can see that Nike has received 66k brand mentions from 23k Instagram users in the last 12 months:

If you scroll down, you can take a look at the content, including reels and Instagram stories from the past year.

Instagram stories disappear from the platform within 24 hours, so it can be tricky to track them. Especially if they occur over the weekend, the holidays, or at times when your team isn’t working.

With Kolsquare, you can view Instagram stories that are up to a year old, so you’ll never miss a mention again.

You can find Instagram stories, posts, and reels where your brand has been directly tagged—and where it hasn’t. Kolsquare uses OCR technology to process words and text within images. So you can find social media content where users show your products and logo without actually tagging you directly.

Like in this Instagram story showing Nike sneakers without tagging the brand:

Read our full blog post to learn more about how to track Instagram stories.

How to track brand mentions on TikTok

You can easily track TikTok brand mentions using Kolsquare. To get started, open the “Brand” tab and search for the name of your brand, a competitor, or anyone else whose mentions you want to see. Ensure the TikTok icon is selected, and click “Search.”

In this example from Adidas, you’ll notice the brand received 1.1k mentions on TikTok from 661 creators in the past 12 months:

Want to do a deeper dive into the context and performance? Just click on the content to watch the video and check out KPIs such as views, like, reach, engagement rate, estimated media value, and more. For example, this TikTok from Kitkeenan (227k followers) drove 1.3M views and 58k likes:

As you can see, Kolsquare makes it easier to keep track of the total number of brand mentions, and zoom into the specific context.

Want to track your brand mentions?

Never miss a mention again! Kolsquare makes it easy to check who is talking about you (and your competitors) online. Learn more about Instagram monitoring and TikTok tracking, or book a demo to see Kolsquare in action.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are brand mentions?

Brand mentions occur whenever your brand is named or referred to in any form of digital communication, including social media posts, blog articles, and online discussions.

What is the difference between tagged and untagged mentions?

Tagged mentions are direct references to your brand with a link to your website or social media handle, while untagged mentions are indirect references where people talk about your brand without tagging you.

Why are brand mentions important?

Brand mentions help measure brand health, provide customer feedback, tap into social proof, engage with customers, and identify brand ambassadors.

What types of sources can brand mentions come from?

Brand mentions can come from social media, forums and communities, reviews and testimonials, blog posts, and news articles.

How can tracking brand mentions benefit a business?

Tracking brand mentions allows businesses to assess reputation, improve products and services, enhance customer engagement, and make informed marketing decisions.