Setting Up Smart Keyword Alerts with Context

Smart keyword alerts help you monitor podcast mentions with precision by combining traditional keyword matching with context-aware questions. This guide will help you create effective alerts that capture relevant mentions while minimizing noise.

Overview

Smart alerts in Podscan consist of three main components:

• Keywords and phrases to match
• Context-aware questions to verify relevance
• Notification preferences

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Creating a New Alert

1. Navigate to the Alerts section:
2. Click "ADD NEW ALERT":
3. Enable the alert using the toggle switch and give it a name. That's purely internal, so you can pick whatever you want.

2. Configuring Keywords

Add your keywords and phrases following these best practices:

• Use quotation marks for exact matches (e.g., "custom cabinet")
• Combine related terms (e.g., 'renovation', 'closet')
• Consider common misspellings or variations
• 

3. Adding Context-Aware Questions

Context-aware questions help filter out irrelevant mentions. This is particularly useful when you expect to get a lot of false positives due to overlapping brand names.

• Make questions specific and answerable with yes/no — only episodes where the answer is a clear "yes" will make it through the alert
• Focus on the context that matters for your use case. This can be about the content, the tone, of even the themes of the episode.

Examples:

• "Does this episode talk extensively about renovating a kitchen or installing custom cabinets?"
• "Do the guests talk about their personal experience with WMF Steak Knives?"
• "Does the episode focus mostly on anecdotes and personal viewpoints?"
• "Do people talk negatively about The New York Times in this episode?"
• "Is there a mention of future candidates for CEO at Acme Corp?"

4. Setting Alert Boundaries

Refine your alert by:

• Selecting specific podcast categories to monitor. This is really helpful to avoid whole industries that produce false positives.
• Setting up ignore lists for irrelevant podcasts (or your own!)
• 

5. Configuring Notifications

Finally, choose your preferred notification methods:

• Email notifications (immediately): recommended for alerts that you want to react to immediately
• Summary emails (daily/weekly): recommended for all long-term tracking
• Webhook integrations can integrate mentions into systems like Zapier, ITTT, and Make.
• CSV attachments can optionally be sent with every email

Best Practices

1. Start Specific : Begin with narrow, specific alerts and broaden them if needed
2. Test and Refine : Monitor initial results and adjust keywords/questions
3. Use Categories : Restrict alerts to relevant podcast categories
4. Regular Maintenance : Review and update alerts periodically

Advanced Features

• Sentiment Analysis : Enable sentiment analysis to understand the context of your mention.
• API Integration : Set up webhooks for real-time notifications

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

• Missing mentions: Broaden your keywords. Add related terms and make your context questions more lenient. It's always easier to refine a false positive than not getting mentions at all.
• Too many irrelevant results: Make your context questions more specific. Block podcasts and categories that reliably misfire.
• Not receiving notifications: Check email limits and spam folders. When in doubt, set your email frequency to daily.

Next Steps

• Review your alerts' performance in the Alerts dashboard
• Set up collections to organize important mentions
• Configure webhook integration for automated workflows

Need help? Contact the Podscan team for assistance with complex alert configurations.

Updated on: 05/11/2024