Whether you're looking to keep an eye on your brand, scrutinize your competitors, oversee campaigns, or stay abreast of industry topics, Explore for Media Intelligence has you cover.
This article will walk through:
Accessing Explore for Media Intelligence
You can access Explore for MI, follow these steps:
Navigate to the left-hand navigation bar
Click Explore
Search Options
Once in Explore, you can select the type of search you wish to run. You will have 4 options to create a search in Boolean:
Search Box: Create a Keyword or Company Entity Search using the search bar. This is ideal for simple, straightforward searches (i.e. search for your company name together with one or two other keywords). This is also a great place to start if you are new to Meltwater or Boolean searching.
Keyword Search: Enter terms or phrases into the input boxes. Our system will then create the search for you. This option is recommended for simple searches or for those new to the platform.
Advanced Search: Create a Boolean query using AND, OR, NOT, and other operators for more precise search results. (see our complete list of Boolean operators) This is best for advanced users familiar with Boolean syntax.
Combined Search: Combine two or more existing saved searches to create a new search. This is useful for managing multiple searches or for quickly combining topics with your brand's saved searches. Learn more about Combined Searches.
Once you select the type of search you want, you will be able to enter your keywords or Boolean to create your search. Let’s look at how to do this next.
Creating a Search
A Simple Company Search
There are two ways to create a simple Company search in Explore:
To create a simple Company search via the Search Bar
Click Explore in the left-hand navigation
Click on the Search Bar
Enter your company name
Click the magnifying glass
A new screen will pop up with your search results. This will show you anytime the company was mentioned in news and social sources in the last 7 days.
Add additional terms to the search boxes if applicable:
All of these - this will then only show results when the company AND ALL the keywords entered are mentioned in the media.
At least one - this will then show results where the company and at least one of the keywords entered are mentioned in the articles/posts.
None of these - This will remove any results that mention ANY of the terms entered. This is helpful if you notice a lot of irrelevant results (e.g. searching for Meltwater, we have to add "Iceberg" to this box to remove global warming results)
To create a simple Company search via a Keyword Search
Click Explore in the left-hand navigation
Navigate to the Keyword search section
Click Create
Enter the company name in the All of these or At least one textbox
Type the Company name in the Search box and a populated list of matching suggestions will appear.
We call this a Company Entity search. This is an automatically generated company suggestion based on the text you typed into the Explore search bar. The entity combines the company name, associated social media accounts, stock tickers, and visual content such as logos, to find all relevant matches of the company. Read How to Use Company Entity Search for more information.
Select your company
Click Search
Results will appear showing you anytime the company was mentioned in news and social sources in the last 7 days.
Add additional terms to the search boxes if applicable:
All of these - this will then only show results when the company AND ALL the keywords entered are mentioned in the media.
At least one - this will then show results where the company and at least one of the keywords entered are mentioned in the articles/posts.
None of these - This will remove any results that mention ANY of the terms entered. This is helpful if you notice a lot of irrelevant results (e.g. searching for Meltwater, we have to add "Iceberg" to this box to remove global warming results)
A Simple Keyword Search
Select Explore in the left-hand navigation bar
Navigate to the Keyword search section
Select Create
Use the three Keyword boxes to specify the words you want to include/exclude from your search (as described above).
Keyboard Navigation:
Tab on keyboard to move left to right between boxes
Shift+Tab to move right to left
Use arrow keys to shift through dropdown options (i.e. company search)
Delete inputs with backspace
Mouse Interaction:
Drag and drop inputs between boxes
Inputs have 'remove' as an immediate action
Response Behavior:
Narrow your screens or adjust to available space
Adjust the Date Range and Search Filters (further details below) to broaden or narrow your results.
Click Search to run the search so you can review the content returned by your keywords.
If there are irrelevant results, add keywords to the None of these box to further refine the results
Click Save in the top left-hand corner to save the search so you can use it again (e.g. to run it again in Explore, to create Alerts, etc.)
Enter a name for the search.
Click Save to finish saving your search.
An Advanced Search
To build an advanced search you will need to understand the Boolean search format. We offer Meltwater Academy courses and resources that will help you learn this. Think of Boolean as the grammar of your search. Just like sentences have structure, so should your queries. With Boolean, you can use terms like AND, OR, NOT to make your searches smart and (very) specific. There is a Get Started with Boolean Guide but we highly recommend taking one of the courses to learn this skill:
To create an Advanced Search, follow these steps:
Click Explore in the left-hand navigation bar
Navigate to the Advanced search section
Click Create
Add your Boolean string to the textbox
Click Search
Once you have created a search you are happy with, save your search by
Clicking Save in the left-hand corner
Give your search a name
Click Save
Switching Between Saved Searches
Once you have saved searches created - Explore allows you to easily switch between your searches, without needing to go back to your library. It's especially useful when working with multiple search types, as it supports all – Keyword, Advanced, and Combined searches – ensuring a smooth workflow.
Click Explore on the left-hand navigation bar
Click into any saved search
Once in your search, click on the top-left drop-down
All of your saved searches and labels will be displayed
3. Select one of your saved searches, and it will load results in Explore
Using Filters to Improve Search Results
When running a search, you might encounter an overwhelming number of results if only broad query terms are used. To avoid sifting through irrelevant results, it's essential to apply filters.
Filters help to narrow down search results, allowing you to focus on the most relevant documents and articles.
Filters are available directly under the search entry box.
Let’s break down each filter below:
Learn more about Using Filters in Explore.
Filter Sets
You can save commonly used filters for quick access. This could include filters for specific locations, languages, or editorial sources.
In order to apply filter sets, open a search and follow these steps:
Select the filters you wish to apply using the drop-downs next to each filter
Navigate to the Filter set drop-down
Select Save
Enter a name for your filter set
Click Save
The filter set will now be available in the Filter set dropdown list below the Quick Picks. Simply open the Filter set drop-down, click on the saved filter set and all its filters will automatically be selected.
Source Type
This filter allows you to restrict content to specific sources like News, Social, or Broadcast.
Learn more about Data Sources In Explore.
To apply a Source type filter, open a search and follow these steps:
Select Source Type drop-down
Check the box next to the source(s) you would like to include in your search.
Then, click Search
Source types like News, RSS and X (formerly Twitter) let you drill down further. You can find their corresponding sub filters by following these steps:
Select the arrow next to any source type
Type a source name or website into the search box
Click enter on your keyboard
A list of sources with checkboxes matching your entry will appear
Check the boxes for the sources you would like to include in your search results
Click Apply
To sub filter RSS, you check the boxes next to the individual RSS feed(s) that are set up in your account. To learn more about Adding an Incoming RSS Feed.
Language
Select one or more languages to narrow your results to content in just those languages.
To apply a Language filter, open a saved search and follow these steps:
Select Language drop-down
Check the box next to any language to include
Click Save
Location
Filter by country, state/province, or city for precise location-based results. You can also select “Unknown” to return results without specific location information, like blogs and forums.
To apply a Location filter, open a saved search and follow these steps:
Select Location drop-down
Check the boxes next to the specific country or set of countries you want to filter.
Click Search
The arrow to the right of the country item will open a list of provinces and states in that country. You may also drill a level deeper into the cities that are located in the selected state/province, again by clicking on the arrow to the right.
If you wish to retrieve content without location information, such as blogs and forums, select the “Unknown” location item, which appears in the list of countries.
Note: Location data is now available for Instagram content in Explore results. Location data is AI-based, using post-level data, such as hashtags, language, user bio, etc., to infer the country/location of the person/handle. Not all Instagram content will include location data. This is due to privacy settings and other limitations on Instagram.
Keyword
When you add a keyword or phrase to this filter, it gets included in your search. This is especially useful after loading a saved search. You can add more keywords to see how they affect the results without altering your original search. Feel free to repeat this process to include several keywords or phrases.
To apply Keyword filter, open a saved search and follow these steps:
Select Keyword drop-down
Enter the keyword
Click Enter on your keyboard
Click Search
Sentiment
Segment your results by Positive, Negative, Neutral, or Not Rated sentiments.
To apply a Sentiment filter, open a saved search and follow these steps:
Select Sentiment drop-down
Check one or more sentiment values you want to use to filter results.
Click Search
To learn more about How Sentiment is Assigned.
Author
Filter by specific X (formerly Twitter) handles or Reddit users to monitor content from certain influencers.
In order to use the Author filter for the first time you will first need to create an author list following the steps outlined in the How to Use Author Lists.
Now that you have an author list(s) to apply an Author Filter, open a saved search and follow these steps:
Select Author drop-down
Check the Author list(s) you would like to use to filter results
Click Search
Custom Categories
Custom Categories allow you to save searches that you frequently use to sub-filter other searches, saving you time and effort. You can use custom categories to exclude sources or terms that are irrelevant to your results or save a set of competitors you research, etc.
You will first need to set up and save a Custom Category filter to make it available for all searches. In order to set up a Custom Category filter - follow the steps outlined in the Custom Categories Article.
Now that you have at least one Custom Category created - in order to apply the filter, open a saved search and follow these steps:
Select Custom Categories drop-down
Check one or more categories you would like to use to filter results
Click Save
Note:
You must first save a Custom Category filter to make it available
Custom Categories can include any boolean operators
When applying multiple Custom Categories, they are joined as OR statements - in other words, you will get results that match ANY ONE of the custom categories you selected
Context
There are filters automatically applied to results in Explore called Context Filters. Context Filters work in the background to ensure you only see data relevant to what you're researching. The system sets up these filters, so you can't create or change them yourself. They help keep your data analysis accurate and focused on what's important. You are able to click on the results to further delve into the data.
Formatting the Explore Results Page
You are able to tailor the layout of your Explore page in 3 different ways:
Content and analytics
Content ONLY
Analytics ONLY
To change the layout of the page, open a saved search and follow these steps:
Select Layout View
Select one of the options
Exploring Further Insights in the Tab Section
Below the Filters set section you will notice a section containing an Overview tab and a Media Contacts tab (ONLY if you have access to Meltwater’s Media Relations tool). These tabs provide you with further insights into the media coverage for your search.
Let's break down each tab below:
Overview
This tab presents a general overview of your search results through a number of charts and tables.
Media Contacts
The Media Contacts tab in Explore helps you access profiles of journalists writing articles matching your query results! Easily identify, vet, organize and save lists of journalists that are most engaged about your topics. Learn more about How to use the Media Contacts tab in Explore.
Note: Only Meltwater Media Relations customers will see the Media Contacts tab in Explore.
Sharing
Now that your Explore search has returned the results you are looking for, there are a few ways to share this content with others.
Once you have selected one or more articles or posts, they can be shared via:
A: Email
B: Exporting the content to a CSV file (to open in Excel or Sheets) or to a PDF file. Learn more about How to Export Content.
Shareable Dashboards - create a Shareable Dashboard by clicking on the Share icon. Learn more about How to Share a Dashboard.
Saving Searches
Once you’ve created a new search, you can save it following these steps:
Select the Save button above the query entry box.
Enter a name for your search
Press Save
Your search is now saved and listed under "All Searches":
💡 Tip
Need more help? Feel free to reach out to us via Live Chat or check out our Customer Community.
Find answers and get help from Meltwater Support and Community Experts.