Like we talked about in our previous (Wizard Mode) blog post, the key to getting the most out of Viralheat is setting up strong profiles. To set up your profiles you can choose to use either the Wizard Mode or the Advanced Mode. For more advanced users or if you find yourself typing in repetitive search terms, this mode might be a good option.
IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that once you create a profile in one mode, you can only edit in that same mode moving forward. If a profile is created with the Wizard, you will have to add a new profile in Advanced Mode if you decide that’s the best option.
So let’s take a look at using Advanced Mode…
After logging in to your account, click on “Add a profile” in the top navigation bar.
This brings you to the “Add a Profile Wizard” page where you’ll see a link in the top right corner to “Switch to advanced mode.”
After switching modes, you’ll see the same major entry fields in a compacted format and a single entry field for search and exclusion terms. At the bottom of the page, you will see a “Help & FAQ” section to help you understand the use of certain characters to symbolize the OR, AND and NOT expressions.
REMINDER: The option to choose between Wizard and Advanced Mode is NOT available in the edit mode — only when adding a profile — so keep this in mind when setting things up.
Step 1: Enter your expression. In Advanced Mode, the OR and NOT fields are combined into a single field.
To execute the AND function to search for mentions that include more than one keyword, simply separate each term or phrase with a [SPACE]. This will search for X AND Y.
- Example: If you wanted to search for mentions that include “Apple” AND “iPhone” you would type in the sequence: Apple iPhone. This will only pull in posts that include both “Apple” AND “iPhone” (no “and” indicator necessary).
- Example: If you’re searching for Mercedes Benz mentions, you’ll want to keep the entire phrase together within quotation marks: “mercedes benz”
To run an OR search, you use the | operator. This is used to search for mentions that include any of a number of keywords. In other words, it will search for mentions that include either X, Y OR Z.
- Example: If you wanted to search for mentions that include “iPod” OR “iPhone” OR “iPad” your type sequence would be: ipod | iphone | ipad — This will pull in any posts that include “iPod” OR “iPhone” OR “iPad”
- You can also search for a keyword OR exact phrases like this: iPhone | “macbook pro” — This expression will pull in any mentions that include either iPhone OR “macbook pro”
- If you’re searching for terms that have a descriptor that you want applied to multiple keywords, this can easily be done in Advanced Mode. For example, to find mentions of Apple products, with “Apple” included, you can enter a string like this: apple (ipod | iphone | ipad) — This will pull mentions that have Apple AND iPod in it, OR Apple AND iPhone, OR Apple AND iPad.
A difference in the Advanced Mode is that you include any keywords or phrases you’d like to exclude (NOT search for) in the same entry field as your search terms. To do this, simply include the – operator in front of each term to exclude.
- Example: If you wanted to search for mentions that include “iPhone” or “iPad” but NOT “iPod” you will need to group the OR search within brackets (think back to those old algebra days…) and your search expression would look like this: (iphone | ipad) -ipod — This will pull in all mentions that include either iPhone or iPad, but remove any that also include iPod.
Again, we’ll remind you of some helpful tips…
TIPS:
- Keep it simple and targeted. You may feel the urge to fill this search field with anything and everything you can think of pertaining to your brand… but don’t! By keeping your key terms and phrases targeted, you will get the most accurate results–without unnecessary clutter.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: A common error that users see is “Profile Error : Search terms in the OR and NOT box included must be between 3 to 140 characters.” If this message is being displayed, you have exceeded the limit of allowable keywords/characters. In Advanced Mode you may enter as many keywords and exclusions as you’d like, up to 140 total characters. (In Wizard Mode [link], you may include up to 7 keywords in each of the OR and NOT fields, as long as you don’t exceed 140 total characters.)
- You can enter simple keywords, phrases, URLs, Twitter handles, hashtags as search terms.
- To search for an exact Twitter handle: “@viralheat”
- To search for an exact Twitter hashtag: “#viralheat”
- To search for a URL: “viralheat.com”
- Searches are not case-sensitive.
Step 2: Location Information. This field is an optional one and comes with a note of caution.
This feature allows you to track mentions *that are geo-tagged* within a chosen radius of a specific city. This can be helpful if you’re tracking a targeted campaign, for example, that you’re running in the Bay Area. The CAUTION with this filter is that the number of mentions posted that actually have a geo-tag attached is very, very low, so adding a location filter will significantly restrict your results. The low percentage is due to so few users enabling geo-tagging capabilities… Essentially, if users don’t choose to geo-tag their posts, there’s no way for us to track where the messages are coming from! By limiting results to only geo-tagged mentions within a radius of a specific city, you’re potentially excluding a huge number of relevant mentions.
Step 3: Email Reporting. This is where you can customize your email preferences — whether you want to receive email reports individually per profile, or all together in a single email called a “Daily Digest.” You can also choose not to receive email reports, by selecting, “No.”
Step 4: Sharing. This section allows you to choose whether you want a ‘lite’ version of your profile data to be visible in Viralheat’s Social Trends. By allowing the sharing of your profile, you can easily share this lite version of your data with clients or colleagues, etc.
And there you have it…how to create an effective profile in Advanced Mode. This mode is not for all users, but can be useful for some. It also may seem complicated, but as long as you have a clear idea of what you’re searching for and make sure to keep each profile search focused and simple, your results will be as accurate as possible.
Related: How to: Create effective profiles (Wizard)
Do you prefer the Wizard or Advanced Mode? What are some best practices you’ve found in your profile creation experiences?
