brandwatch masterclass: basic query writing

Brandwatch Masterclass/Basic Query WritingAlyssa Edelman

[email protected] | Brandwatch Masterclass | May 2014

Agenda

© 2013 Brandwatch | www.brandwatch.com 2

•Introduction to Queries

•Introduction to Boolean Search

•“Home Base” Operators

•Other Useful Operators

•Query Writing Game!

3

The Brandwatch Query

© 2013 Brandwatch | www.brandwatch.com

What is a Query?


Queries are specialized Web searches. They rely on Boolean Operators to link together keywords.

Queries return mentions, which can be a Tweet, Facebook post, blog post, forum post, or any other Web-based post that matches your search.

These mentions, once pulled in to Brandwatch with a query, can be visualized on a dashboard.

Queries are always running in the background, bringing new data in to the app as new content is created and made public across the Web.


Defining Boolean

Operators

Boolean 101


“A type of search allowing users to combine keywords with operators such as AND, NOT, and OR to further produce more relevant results.”

Boolean operators help limit a search to help find the information that’s most meaningful. Think of them as conjunctions.

Did you know? You can use Boolean search terms on Google!


Basic Operators

What are your Go-To Operators?


These are your most basic operators: AND, OR, and NOT

These must be capitalized to work within a query.

To use these as an actual keyword in your search, they must be in quotes or you’ll receive an error message.


AND

AND


Linking search terms with an AND operator will look for mentions that include both the first term and the second term anywhere within the mention.

Always use the Test Query button to preview the results the query, as written, will return.


OR

OR


Linking search terms with an OR operator will look for mentions that include either the first term or the second term.


NOT

NOT


Linking search terms with a NOT operator will look for mentions that include the first term, but not the second term.


Using Quotes and

Parentheses

Quotes and Parentheses (Brackets)


Quotes are used to group together two or more words that should be searched for together as part of a phrase.

• “corgi puppies” will search for mentions of corgi puppies

• corgi puppies will be recognized as corgi AND puppies

Parentheses are used to group together search terms and operators to created more sophisticated, targeted queries.


Other Useful Operators


NEAR/x and NEAR/xf

NEAR/x and NEAR/xf


The NEAR operator is used to find keywords within x number of words of each other.

Adding a lowercase f at the end searches for the keywords in the order you’ve written them.

This leads to more targeted results than the AND operator.


raw:

raw:


The raw: operator is used in front of a keyword versus between keywords (as is any operator with a :).

Any search terms written after a raw: operator will be searched for exactly as written, so if symbols ($, %, !) or letter case (a versus A) are important to your search, use it!

You can use parentheses with an OR operator between keywords to link together keywords you’re searching for:

raw:(LOVE OR HATE OR FastPass OR iPhone)


hashtags:

hashtags:


This is one of the newest operators at Brandwatch!

The hashtags: operator will search for any keywords you put after it that are preceded by a # symbol.

You do not need to write the # symbol when using the hashtags: operator.

You can use parentheses with an OR operator between keywords to link together hashtags you’re searching for:

hashtags:(puppies OR corgis OR ilovepuppies)


Wildcards

Wildcards: * and ?


Adding a * to the end of a keyword will add any appropriate suffixes to the keyword when searching:

pupp* would search for puppy, puppies, puppying?

The ? wildcard is used within a word to account for spelling variations and common misspellings:

prioriti?e would search for prioritize and prioritise


Location

Location

Narrow down your results to continent, country, city, state, or county

Use the Locations drop-down to search for the abbreviation and copy/paste into your query


Recap


Key Takeaways

•Queries are elaborate Web searches

•AND, OR, and NOT are your go-to operators

•Use quotation marks around search terms that are more than one word, and parenthesis to group together search terms

•Clicking “List of Operators” will open a handy quick-reference guide



Query Writing Game!


Write a query that searches for both strawberries and Florida oranges.

Write a query that looks for strawberries and oranges, but not bananas.

Write a query that searches for people who HATE bananas.

Write a query that searches for people who are talking about picking strawberries (or strawberry picking) in Florida. (use location filter or keyword search)

Write a query that looks for #strawberry, #floridaorange, or #banana, but not #gross or #ew

Write a query that searches for both strawberries and Florida oranges.

strawberries AND “florida oranges”


Write a query that looks for strawberries and oranges, but not bananas.

(strawberries AND oranges) NOT bananas


Write a query that searches for people who HATE bananas.

bananas AND raw:HATE


Write a query that searches for people who are talking about picking strawberries (or

strawberry picking) in Florida.(“picking strawberries” OR “strawberry picking”) AND florida

(“picking strawberries” OR “strawberry picking”) AND state:flof

((strawberry OR strawberries) NEAR/0 picking) AND florida

((strawberry OR strawberries) NEAR/0 picking) AND state:flof

((strawberr*) NEAR/0 picking) AND (state:flof OR florida)


Write a query that looks for #strawberry, #floridaorange, and #banana, but not #gross

or #ew.

(hashtags:(strawberry OR floridaorange OR banana)) NOT hashtags:ew


brandwatch masterclass: basic query writing

Social Media

brandwatch query

boolean search terms

boolean operators

type of search

basic operators

newest operators

near operator

keywords youre