1. Refine your Outbound settings
Start by updating your Outbound settings so BrandBastion surfaces videos that are relevant to your brand.
Select your industry
Choose the industry that best matches your brand from the dropdown.
If the results are still too broad, refine them using:
Contains these hashtags
Does not contain these hashtags
For example, a makeup brand may select Beauty as its industry but have no interest in nail content. In that case, exclude hashtags such as:
#nails#nailart#nailtech#nailinspo
You may also want to exclude hashtags that signal conversations your brand does not want to join, such as #deinfluencing.
💡 Tip: Treat your exclusion list as a living filter. Any time you notice a hashtag repeatedly surfacing content that is not relevant to your brand, add it to Does not contain these hashtags.
Use Trending to identify hashtags to exclude
Go to Analyze > Trending and filter by the same industry you selected for Outbound.
Review the top trending hashtags and flag anything that does not fit your brand, products, or engagement strategy.
For example, a makeup brand within Beauty may want to exclude hashtags related to:
Nails
Waxing
Hair care
Tanning
Perfume
Negative or off-strategy conversations such as
#deinfluencing
This gives you a faster way to spot irrelevant themes and continuously tighten your Outbound feed.
Use specific hashtags for tighter targeting
If you want to focus exclusively on a specific part of your industry, use Contains these hashtags instead of relying on the broader industry filter.
For a makeup brand, relevant hashtags could include:
#makeuptok, #beautytok, #beautymakeup, #makeupinspo, #makeuplook, #grwm, #makeuptutorial, #makeuproutine, #makeuptransformation, #softglam, #makeupreview, #beautyreview, #makeuprecommendations, #beautyfinds, #newmakeup, #makeupmusthaves, #makeupfavorites, #sephorahaul, #ultahaul, #tiktokmademebuyit, #makeupartist, #mua, #makeupcreator, #beautycreator, #smallbeautybusiness, #douyinmakeup, #cleanlookmakeup, #glowmakeup, #fullglam, #everydaymakeup
Use this approach when relevance matters more than maximizing the number of available videos. The downside with this approach that you may miss videos from new trending hashtags.
2. Refine by location and brand mentions
Choose a location
Select the market where you want to discover and engage with trending content.
Mention these brands
Use Mention these brands to only surface posts that mention the brands you specify.
Does not mention these brands
Use Does not mention these brands to exclude posts mentioning specific brands.
For example, you can use this to remove videos centered on competitors when those conversations are not relevant to your outbound strategy.
Important: Post analysis availability
BrandBastion currently supports post analysis for:
Apparel and Accessories
Beauty
Post analysis is currently available in the US and UK.
Subcategory support for these main categories is coming soon. For other markets or categories, reach out to your BrandBastion contact to submit a feature request.
📌 Note: Post analysis provides important context for AI-generated comment suggestions. Without it, suggestions may be less relevant to the content of the video.
3. Create an AI prompt specifically for Outbound comments
Create a dedicated AI prompt for comments generated on trending videos.
Your prompt should clearly define:
Who the AI is writing for
The purpose of the comment
Your desired tone of voice
Comment length
What the AI should avoid
For example:
Additional details
You are writing outbound social media comments on behalf of [brand name].
Your goal is to join relevant conversations naturally with comments that feel short, funny, witty, playful, and human.
The comment should feel like something a clever social media manager would genuinely leave in the comments section, not like marketing copy.
Do
Keep comments very short, ideally 2 to 10 words
Match the tone and context of the video
Sound natural and conversational
Prioritize wit and personality over promotion
Don't
Do not force a connection between the post and the brand
Do not turn the comment into marketing copy
Do not over-explain
Do not mention the brand unless it fits naturally
💡 Tip: Add examples of comments that sound exactly like your brand. The more clearly you define your voice, the easier it is to keep suggestions consistent.
4. Apply the prompt automatically to Trending videos
Once your outbound prompt is ready:
Open Advanced Default Settings.
Select Trending Videos.
Assign your outbound-specific AI prompt to this message type.
Save your settings.
This ensures the correct prompt is automatically used whenever AI suggestions are generated for Trending Outbound content.
5. Review, refine, and start engaging
Once your targeting and AI prompt are configured, start generating comment suggestions.
Review the first set of results for two things:
Video relevance: Are these conversations your brand should genuinely participate in?
Comment quality: Do the suggestions sound like your social team?
If the videos are too broad, tighten your hashtags, brand filters, or location settings.
If you repeatedly see irrelevant hashtags, add them to your exclusions. This is especially useful for adjacent topics that technically fall within your industry but do not fit your brand.
If the videos are right but the comments are off-brand, refine the AI prompt with clearer tone instructions, stronger do's and don'ts, and examples that represent your brand voice.
The goal is a repeatable outbound system where the right videos are surfaced and the suggested comments already sound close to publish-ready.