A social media mention is any instance where a brand, product, person, or hashtag is referenced on a social platform through a direct tag, hashtag, or written name. Mentions are a key part of social media listening and are used to measure engagement, brand visibility, and audience sentiment.
What is a social media mention?
A social media mention occurs when someone talks about your brand online. This can be in a post, comment, caption, reply, or story. Mentions can be direct (e.g., @yourbrand) or indirect (e.g., “We love this new coffee from [brand name]”).
Tracking these mentions is essential for understanding how often your brand is part of the conversation and what people say.
In EmbedSocial, social media mentions are collected automatically using platform-approved APIs and can be filtered by keyword, platform, hashtag tracking, or sentiment analysis.
Types of social media mentions
Mentions can be categorized into:
- Direct mentions: The user tags the brand account (e.g., @embedsocial)
- Hashtag mentions: The user uses a branded or campaign hashtag (e.g., #EmbedReviews)
- Keyword mentions: The brand or product is named in text but not tagged
Why are social media mentions important?
Mentions are the foundation of any social listening strategy. Here’s why they matter:
Brand monitoring
Stay on top of how often and where your brand is mentioned.
Real-time feedback
Use mentions to spot product issues, praise, or viral moments as they happen.
Customer engagement
Mentions are a great opportunity to reply, repost, or thank users.
Improve your share of voice (SOV)
Mentions directly contribute to your brand’s share of voice in the market.
How to track and manage mentions
Use a social listening tool like EmbedSocial
Automatically collect mentions across Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube, and more – even for multi-location brands.
Pair with sentiment filters
Apply sentiment analysis to understand the emotional tone of each mention.
Tag and categorize mentions
Organize mentions by campaign, product, or location to generate detailed insights.
Respond in real-time
Engage directly with mentions to improve brand loyalty and visibility.
