Use Of Boolean Search In Digital Marketing

Boolean search is a technique using operators like AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks, filters (restricting results by attributes  like language, region, time) to refine online search results. In digital marketing & social listening, it helps identify specific audiences, analyze competitors, optimize content strategies, etc. by uncovering precise insights through targeted data filtering.

Tips To Perform Boolean Searches To Find Relevant Conversations Associated With A Brand

• Identify Relevant Keywords: Start by identifying keywords related to the brand or the topics you’re interested in. These could include the brand name, product names, key features, or industry-specific terms.
• Use Boolean Operator: AND- Use AND to narrow down the search results to include only pages that contain all of the specified keywords. For example, if we’re searching for conversations related to the brand “ABC” and its product “XYZ”, we can use: “ABC AND XYZ”.
• Use Boolean Operator: OR- In order to broaden our search results (to include web pages that contain any of the keywords we specify), use OR. For example, “ABC OR XYZ” will return results related to either “ABC” or “XYZ”.
• Use Boolean Operator: NOT- We can exclude specific keywords (from our search results) using the NOT. For example, if we want to exclude results related to competitors, we can use: “ABC NOT competitor”. It is similar to how a negative keyword would work.
• Use Quotation Marks for Exact Phrases: If we’re looking for an exact specific phrase, enclose it in quotation marks. For example, “ABC product launch” will search for that same exact phrase. It is similar to how a phrase match keyword would work.
• Include Synonyms and Variations: To capture a broader range of relevant content, include synonyms or variations of your keywords. For instance, while we look for “customer service,” we could  also include “customer support”, etc.
• Utilize Parentheses for Grouping: We can use parentheses to group keywords and operators to control the order of operations in your search query (similar to how BODMAS would work). For example, “(ABC OR XYZ) AND customer reviews” will first search for pages related to “ABC” or “XYZ”, and then narrow down the results to those containing “customer reviews”.
• Use Filters for Language, Region, Time: We can use AND (lang:en) for restricting search results to English, and country:US would focus on specific regions (USA in this case). Using time filters such as SINCE:2024-01-01 ensures search results of specified time/date. Some other time filters could also be like – SINCE:2023-01-01 UNTIL:2023-06-30 , BEFORE:2023-01-01. Some relative time filters are- LAST:7d , PAST:24h. Some real-time and dynamic ones are- SINCE:NOW-1h (last hour).

By using such techniques, we can conduct a more precise Boolean search to find relevant issues and conversations associated with a brand while filtering out unrelated content.

Social Listening Tools That Have Boolean Search Query Features:

1. Brandwatch
2. Sprout Social
3. Hootsuite
4. Talkwalker
5. Meltwater
6. Sprinklr

To some extent, such Boolean searches can also be performed in Twitter and Google Advanced Search.

Some Examples Of Boolean Search Queries:

Search Query for black friday trends for last two weeks:

(“Black Friday” OR “Cyber Monday”)
AND (“discount” OR “sale” OR “deal”)
SINCE:2023-11-12 UNTIL:2023-11-26

Another example of boolean search for christmas/new year related queries for apps/companies like Blinkit, Zepto, etc. The query below is for last year’s christmas/new year:

(“Blinkit” OR “Zepto” OR “Instamart” OR “Dunzo”)
AND (“Christmas” OR “Xmas” OR “New Year” OR “holiday season” OR “festive season”)
AND (“offer” OR “discount” OR “deal” OR “sale” OR “coupon” OR “promo code”)
AND (“grocery” OR “cake” OR “plum cake” OR “gifts” OR “party essentials” OR “party supplies”)
AND (“delivery” OR “quick delivery” OR “30-minute delivery”)
NOT (“job opening” OR “recruitment”)
AND (lang:en)
AND (country:India)
SINCE:2023-12-01 UNTIL:2024-01-05

Another general search query example:

(“BrandName1” OR “BrandName2” OR “Competitor1” OR “Competitor2”)
AND (“new product” OR “launch” OR “sale” OR “discount” OR “innovation”)
AND (“social media” OR “marketing” OR “e-commerce” OR “online shopping”)
AND (“positive review” OR “negative review” OR “opinion” OR “feedback”)
NOT (“unrelated topic” OR “common false positive”)
AND (lang:en)
AND (country:US OR country:UK OR country:Canada)
SINCE:2023-01-01

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