What Are Brand Mentions? How to Monitor, Analyze, and Act on Them

Ever searched your brand name just to see what people are saying?

Brand mentions are everywhere—from glowing tweets and casual TikTok shoutouts to meme-filled Reddit threads and even blurry product cameos in YouTube vlogs.

And here’s the thing: people don’t always tag you. They don’t have to. This is why you need social media monitoring tools that track untagged mentions.

In 2025, brand mentions have become one of the clearest windows into how the world actually sees your brand—no filters, no PR spin, just honest, raw, and incredibly useful feedback. The trick? Knowing how to catch them, read them, and act on what you learn.

Ready to master the game of brand mentions?

What are brand mentions?

Brand mentions are any instance where someone refers to your brand online, usually on social media, with or without tagging you. That might sound straightforward, but in practice, they come in many forms:

• A product shoutout in an Instagram story.

• A casual name-drop in a Reddit thread.

• A YouTube video with your logo blurred in the background.

• A blog comment saying, “Ugh, I had a horrible experience with [your brand].”

Source: Instagram

Some are direct, like tweets with your @handle or tagged TikToks. Others are indirect—using your brand name, product nickname, or even just an image of your packaging. And yes, visual mentions count too. In fact, they're often where the most honest (and viral) stuff happens.

Modern brand mentions live on social media channels and related platforms:

• Socials like Instagram, X (Twitter), TikTok, and LinkedIn

• Forums like Reddit and Discord

• News articles, review sites, and blogs

• Podcasts, videos, live streams, and YouTube comment sections

• Memes, screenshots, and UGC reels

In short, if it’s on the internet and someone’s referencing your brand, that’s a mention. And if you’re not tracking the full picture, you’re probably missing the most interesting conversations, which may or may not affect your brand reputation down the line.

Why brand mentions matter for modern brands

You might be tempted to treat brand mentions like a digital pat on the back—something to screenshot and maybe toss into a Slack channel for feel-good vibes. But here’s the truth: mentions are way more than that.

They are the tip of the iceberg of social listening. Breadcrumbs that lead you straight to the hearts and minds of your audience.

Brand awareness

Let’s start simple. The more people talk about you, the more visible you become. Even a casual name-drop in a podcast or an offhand tweet can introduce your brand to someone new. Every mention, tagged or not, is part of your brand’s footprint.

In 2024, Dior Sauvage generated over 48,500 TikTok posts under the hashtag #DiorSauvage. That kind of organic visibility helps keep the product top-of-mind, without any additional ad spend.

Source: TikTok

Brand reputation management

Negative mentions are often the first sign that something’s off. Maybe a shipping delay has sparked frustration across social media posts. Maybe there’s confusion about a product feature. When you’re listening in real time, you can catch these signals and fix your brand image before they turn into full-blown PR fires.

Instead of wasting money and time on fixing your reputation, why not prevent a disaster?

When Nestlé purchased a large amount of L’Oreal shares (which have been canceled since), YouScan detected early mentions of ingredient concerns in Reddit skincare threads before they gained traction elsewhere. This early insight allowed L’Oréal to prepare clarifying content that addressed concerns head-on, reinforcing trust.

Source: Reddit

Customer feedback

People don’t hold back online, which, honestly, is great for you. Brand mentions include unfiltered takes on what’s working and what isn’t. You’ll hear about confusing UX, favorite features, packaging frustrations, and moments of delight. Pure gold for your product and support teams.

Competitive intelligence

It’s not just about what people say about you—it’s also what they’re saying about your competitors. Monitoring social media brand mentions helps you understand how you stack up, spot emerging trends, and even find the gaps in their strategy that you could fill.

Influencer discovery

Some of your best advocates might already be posting about you. Tracking mentions helps you surface creators and voices who are organically engaging with your brand—the perfect starting point for building authentic brand partner relationships.

A rising beauty influencer on TikTok once posted an unboxing of a Maybelline mascara, without tagging the brand. It wasn't a direct brand mention, but it went viral. Smart monitoring helped the brand catch the moment and amplify it through its own social media accounts, turning a passive mention into a reach-booster.

Source: TikTok

Brand mentions are not just a vanity metric—they’re a strategic insight source.

Where brand mentions happen today

If you think brand mentions only live in tweets or tagged Instagram posts, think again. In 2025, conversations about your brand can pop up just about anywhere—and often in places you'd least expect.

You might expect to find mentions in places like Instagram or TikTok, where beauty tutorials thrive. But the surprises come from elsewhere. A customer might casually mention CeraVe in a Reddit comment about affordable skincare routines. Or post a blurry photo of their bathroom shelf on Pinterest, where your product shows up without a caption.

Source: Pinterest

In 2024, Shein was the most talked-about brand on TikTok, racking up mentions from over 20,000 influencers. Sephora and Rare Beauty followed close behind, showing just how central platforms like TikTok have become for influencer-driven buzz, often without a single @handle in sight.

More and more, users express themselves through images and video, often without typing a single word. A customer might wear your shirt in a TikTok. A meme could drag your brand into a trend you didn’t ask for. A blurry photo of your product might quietly go viral on Reddit. And none of these show up in keyword alerts. Then, how do you find brand mentions within images and memes?

That’s where AI-powered tools like YouScan step in.

Source: YouScan

With visual listening, YouScan doesn’t just scan for text—it actually recognizes your logo and your products. So even if no one types your name, you’ll still know when (and how) you’re being talked about.

In a visual society, brand mentions aren’t just written—they’re seen.

How to track brand mentions effectively

So, how do you actually keep up with what people are saying about you? It’s not as simple as setting a few Google Alerts and calling it a day. To monitor brand mentions and really get the full picture, across platforms, formats, and tones, you’ll need a smarter approach.

Let’s break it down.

Use a dedicated brand monitoring tool

Google Alerts might catch a news article or two, but it misses most of the action happening in real time on social media, forums, and visual platforms.

To stay on top of the conversation, you need a brand mention tool that’s built for real-time, cross-channel monitoring—and ideally, one that understands brand sentiment, not just keywords.

For example, YouScan is excellent at picking up both text and visual mentions, with powerful sentiment and emotion analysis baked in.

Set up smart keyword variations

People don’t always write your brand name the way you do. You'll need to watch out for indirect brand mentions as well.

Leverage social media monitoring tools to set up alerts and searches that include:

• Common misspellings of your brand

• Product names or nicknames

• Slogans, taglines, or catchphrases from your campaigns

• Branded hashtags (and common variants)

Think like your audience—casual and sometimes typo-prone.

Don’t forget visual mentions

Not everything gets written down. A surprising number of brand mentions happen in memes, TikTok B-rolls, unboxing videos, or screenshots shared in Discord servers.

If you’re relying on text-only tools, you’ll miss all of that.

A YouTube video comparing "high-end vs drugstore makeup" might include your product image without context, yet still shape perception.

Source: YouTube

This is where tools like YouScan stand out. Their image recognition engine can detect logos, branded products, and even brand sentiment (like if your product is being thrown in a trash can vs proudly displayed on a shelf). It’s like having an extra set of eyes watching the internet, so you don’t have to.

Prioritize sentiment and context

A mention on social media isn’t just a mention. Tone matters. So does context. Identify brand mentions as more than text—recognize the vibe that carries the online conversations surrounding it.

Was that post enthusiastic or sarcastic? Is it a complaint or a joke? Are people warning others about your brand, or hyping you up?

AI-powered sentiment analysis helps you sort that out—fast. Platforms like YouScan go beyond “positive” and “negative” by identifying emotion, intent, and patterns, so you can tell the difference between real praise and subtle shade.

Because knowing what was said is good, but knowing how and why it was said? That’s where the real power is.

How to act on brand mentions (and turn them into brand value)

Catching mentions is one thing. Knowing what to do with them? That’s where the magic happens.

Here’s how to move from passive social monitoring to active brand building.

Jump in when someone talks about you

Whether it’s praise, confusion, or a rant, acknowledgment goes a long way. Replying with a thank you, a clarification, or even just a like shows people you’re paying attention. You’re not just a faceless brand. You’re present.

Tip: Even untagged mentions deserve a response. Surprise engagement = instant brand points.

Train your social media managers to act on social media mentions and react to positive feedback as well as negative mentions. Moreover, by setting up real-time alerts, you'll make sure your online reputation is always taken care of.

Repost or feature positive UGC

When someone posts about your product in a way that feels natural and authentic, that’s gold.

Repost it (with credit). Add it to your “As Seen On” content. Share it in your next email campaign. These organic moments build trust faster than any polished ad ever could.

Source: Instagram

YouScan helps you surface high-quality user-generated content across platforms, even the online forums you’re not active on, so you never miss a great post.

Flag issues before they explode

Not all mentions are warm and fuzzy. And that’s okay—as long as you catch them early.

If you notice a wave of frustrated comments or a snarky TikTok gaining traction, loop in support or PR before it turns into something bigger. Early intervention is the key to crisis control.

Moreover, if you gain valuable insights about an aspect or a feature that the users are unhappy with, get your best men on the task of fixing it. Brand mention monitoring shouldn't be just an aim to a fire-extinguishing action, but reliable feedback for real improvement.

Learn from patterns and themes

Brand mentions are a live focus group. They are a gateway to industry trends you can get on top of.

Are people constantly talking about slow shipping? Confusing UX? A feature they love but never understood how to use?

Use that feedback to shape how you market, how you build, and how you position yourself. Mentions don’t just reflect your reputation—they help you reshape it.

Monitor campaign impact in real time

Launched something new? Keep an eye on how the conversation shifts.

Social media monitoring solution helps you track:

• Mention volume before, during, and after your campaign

• Sentiment swings (Did the tone get more positive? Mixed?)

• New keywords or hashtags that people associate with your brand

YouScan’s AI dashboards make this easy, grouping mentions by emotion, topic, platform, and even influencer impact. That means you can stop guessing and start responding with intention.

Measuring success: Which metrics to track

Tracking brand mentions is great, but how do you know if you’re actually making progress?

Here are a few key metrics that help you measure the impact of your brand monitoring efforts (and prove their value to the rest of your team).

The volume of mentions over time

Is buzz growing or fading? This metric tells you how often your brand is being talked about—and whether that conversation is picking up after campaigns, product launches, or viral moments.

Share of voice (vs competitors)

How much of the total conversation in your niche is about you? This shows whether your brand is leading, lagging, or catching up compared to others in your space.

Sentiment ratio

It’s not just about how much people talk—it’s about how they feel. Use social media analytics to track the balance of positive, neutral, and negative mentions to get a pulse on your reputation.

Source: YouScan

Key topic associations

What themes or ideas are people connecting to your brand? This helps you understand your current perception and steer future messaging.

Source/platform breakdown

Are most of your mentions coming from TikTok, Reddit, news sites, or YouTube? Knowing where the chatter lives helps you focus your engagement efforts in the right places.

Source: YouScan

Influencer or viral spike detection

A sudden mention surge could mean an influencer shouted you out… or a meme is taking off. Either way, you’ll want to know fast so you can amplify the good or brace for damage control.

Down the line, you might end up discovering brand ambassadors who have been silently helping you out this whole time.

Final thoughts: Treat brand mentions like a strategic signal, not just noise

Every mention, whether it’s a shoutout in a tweet, a logo in the background of a TikTok, or a sarcastic Reddit comment, reveals something deeper: how people actually feel about your brand.

When you start treating brand mentions as signals, not noise, everything changes. You start catching issues before they escalate. You find unexpected fans. You spot the cracks in your messaging and the valuable insights in your positioning.

The brands that win today aren’t just creating content. They’re listening.

If you're ready to go beyond the surface and actually understand what your audience is saying, in real time, across channels, in words and images, YouScan can help.

We track brand mentions across social media platforms, forums, news sites, and visual content using powerful AI that understands emotion, context, and trends.

Get a demo and see what your audience is really saying about you.

FAQs

What are brand mentions?

Brand mentions are any references to your brand across digital platforms—in text, images, or video. They can be tagged (e.g. @yourbrand) or untagged, and show up on social media, forums, news sites, podcasts, blogs, and more.

How to calculate brand mentions?

Use a brand monitoring tool like YouScan to track the total number of times your brand is mentioned over a specific time period. Most tools let you filter by source, sentiment, topic, and even visual mentions for more detailed analysis.

How to increase brand mentions?

Post consistently, run shareable campaigns and engage with your community. Encourage user-generated content, partner with influencers, and respond when people talk about you—even when you’re not tagged. The more active you are in the conversation, the more people will mention you.