Monitoring: How Brandwatchers Use Signals, from Football to Rocks

We recently launched our newest feature, Signals – real time automated intelligence-driven alerts that tip you off to emerging crises or trends as soon as they start.

We’ve already talked about the main use case for this – reputation and crisis monitoring – but there are a myriad of other things you can use it for.

To show just how versatile Signals can be, and to give you some ideas for using it yourself, here are just a few examples of how people right here inside Brandwatch are using the function – from keeping tabs on our industry to finding pictures of, er, rocks.

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Will McInnes, CMO

“I use signals for our brand, key competitors and an industry hashtag.

To me as a big kid gamer, it’s like I’ve scattered a load of movement sensors, trip wires, and I forget about them and walk away. Until they ping! And then I pay attention – figure out what’s going on.

Maybe four times out of five it’s useful and good to know but nothing I need to action. It’s the fifth one where 95% of the value is. When I get the jump on something important. And then I move :)”

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Glenn White, VP of Product Strategy

“I use Signals to keep up to date with Brandwatch news and marketing activities I might not otherwise know about – such as when we’re mentioned in the press or publish a successful blog post.

It keeps me in the loop with what’s going on. I also use it to keep up to date with my football team, Portsmouth FC, in case there is any news (we’ve had quite a rocky few years!)”

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Nathan Buckley, Technical Support Engineer

“I use Signals to find out about news about drones around the world.

Using Signals has been a huge advantage in staying up to date with all drone related news without having to be logged in to Analytics at all times. This has proven a powerful tool in staying engaged with the community on current affairs with ease.”

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Jasmine Jaume, Product Marketing Manager

“We do, of course, track Brandwatch and all of our competitors, so I have Signals set up for all of those Queries – so if a competitor announces some news or has a sudden crises, I know almost instantly and can then share it with everyone before anyone else does (often in Slack).

Not only does this mean I can keep up to date with what’s happening in our industry, it also makes me look good and in the know ;) It also means that if we have a crises or success of our own that needs action, the right people can be informed in good time so that we can get ahead of it.”

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Mike WIlliams, Data Scientist

“I live in New York, but I use Signals to follow Sheffield United, the terrible, unsuccessful English football team I am unlucky enough to support.

Because they are a bad team in a minor English league, most of what gets written about them is boring squad news and match reports, which I’m not terribly interested in beyond the scoreline. But using Signals, I quickly learn about the more interesting things that happen to them, and feel a little bit more connected to the UK.”

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Natalie Meehan, Marketing Insights Analyst

“I use Signals to get a picture of how well our articles on the blog do, so I can immediately let our Community Managers know when to promote a post that’s gaining traction on social.

I might also be guilty of setting up a Signal to let me know when Michael Fassbender is in the media, but I cannot confirm nor deny this at this time.”

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Rob Stanley, VP Engineering (Platform)

“I use Signals to get alerted to get pictures of the US National Park Canyonlands! Signals usually surfaces the most popular, and therefore usually best, ones. The below is my favourite so far (I liked it so much I sent it to my Dad).”

Image of the Day -> Green River #Winter | Hi-res: http://t.co/aL681qTCvp #photography #utah #canyonlands #landscape pic.twitter.com/K47P86TPIq

— Clint Losee (@ClintLosee) January 2, 2015

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James Lovejoy, Content Researcher

“I’ve been using Signals to track conversations around income inequality so I can get updated on the latest popular articles.

I’ve toggled the priority setting to ‘high’ so I only get the articles with substantial traction. I think it’s going to be a really effective way to stay on top of trends and stories.”

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So, what are you waiting for? Go and set up some Signals now, and never miss a story about the things you care about. Here’s our user guide if you need some help getting started.

If you’re not a Brandwatch user but want to get you hands on Signals, fill in this form to have a chat with us about what we can do for you and to see it in action.

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