Explore: Using Custom Categories to Target Your Top Publications

Staying on top of relevant media coverage is essential for shaping your brand strategy, monitoring public perception, and understanding the impact of your communication efforts. However, with the sheer volume of daily content, finding the most critical insights can feel overwhelming. This is where creating a list of your top publications and leveraging custom categories in Explore becomes invaluable.

By identifying and prioritizing the publications most relevant to your brand, you can focus on high-value insights and avoid being distracted by noise. Combining this approach with Explore's filtering capabilities ensures your analysis is efficient, targeted, and actionable. Whether tracking industry trends, monitoring competitors, or measuring your campaign performance, this method lets you zero in on the information that matters most.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Identify Your Top Publications

Here are some things to consider when creating your list of top publications:

• Relevance to Your Industry
  • Look for publications consistently covering topics, trends, or developments in your industry or niche.
  • Prioritize outlets that align with your target audience and business goals.
•  Audience Influence and Reach
  • Evaluate the publication’s readership demographics and geographic reach.
  • Consider publications that influence your target audience's opinions, behaviors, or purchasing decisions.
• Frequency of Mentions
  • Focus on publications where your brand is frequently mentioned, as they are likely influential in shaping your brand perception.
  • Exclude outlets with sporadic or low-quality mentions that add little value to your monitoring efforts.

At the end of the day, you’re the PR pro - you know your brand better than anyone and what outlets you care most about. There is no right or wrong when creating a top publications list!

Step 2: Use the AI Search Assistant to Create Your Custom Category

The hard part is over; it’s time to let our AI Search Assistant help you out. Copy and paste or type the list you created in Step 1 into the AI Search Assistant to create your boolean string.

1. Click Explore in the left-hand navigation bar
2. Select AI Search Assistant

3. In the search bar, type “Create a Boolean string using these publications:” followed by each publication you added to your list in Step 1.
4. The AI Search Assistant will then populate something like this:

5. Hover over the results and select Copy Search.

6. Click the back arrow at the top of your screen
7. Select the Custom Categories tab
8. Click Create Custom Category
9. Name your category
10. Paste the copied result from the AI Search Assistant into the largest textbox.
11. Click Save

Watch how to Create a Custom Category

Step 3: Apply Your Custom Category

Now, apply your custom category to a search.

Note: You must have an existing search created before applying your custom category.

1. Click Explore in the left-hand navigation bar
2. Open an existing search
3. Select the Custom Categories drop-down
4. Click the checkbox to the left of your top publication's custom category
5. Select Search

Watch how to Apply a Custom Category

Step 4: Save Your New Search

After applying your custom category, you'll see updated search results—this happens because you've essentially applied a new filter. To save these filtered results as a new search:

1. Click the Save drop-down in the top right-hand corner
2. Select Save As
3. Give your new search a name
4. Click Save

This way, you won’t need to apply the custom category every time you run the search. Additionally, you can use this new search for any reports or daily digests with the filter set applied.

Watch how to Save your New Search.

Learn more about Custom Categories in Explore.