Monitoring Parameters

A scan in MentionFox is something you start, when you want it. There is no background or scheduled scanning — every scan runs because you clicked to run it. That keeps you in control of credits and means results are always tied to a deliberate search, not a background job firing on its own. This page covers how to start a scan, the parameters you set, and — most importantly — what to do with the results once they come back.

How a scan is started

Open New Scan (top-right of the dashboard). You enter a search term and choose your settings, then click to run it. Nothing scans until you do. You can run a scan against your own brand, or, on plans that support clients, contextualize the scan to a specific client so the results land in that client's workspace.

Two run options are offered: Quick Test — a cheap, fast preview so you can sanity-check your term and platforms before committing — and Start Scan, the full run. Use Quick Test to dial in the query, then Start Scan once it looks right. While a full scan runs, a live progress panel shows per-platform progress and an overall percentage; you can let it finish in the background and keep working.

Parameters you set

• Search term — the brand, name, product, or phrase to look for. Toggle Any order (match the words in any order) versus Exact phrase (match the phrase as written).
• Platforms — MentionFox covers 50+ public surfaces across social, Q&A and forums, review sites, video, news, blogs, and podcasts. Pick the ones where your buyers actually talk. A B2B SaaS brand usually wants Reddit, Hacker News, LinkedIn, and review sites; a consumer brand leans toward X/Twitter, YouTube, and reviews. Selecting fewer, more relevant platforms produces less noise and uses fewer credits.
• Refine results (optional) — comma-separated narrowing terms to keep the scan tight.
• Search powers (optional) — suggested competitor-complaint queries you can click to populate (for example, conversations from people frustrated with an incumbent tool).
• Contextualize to a client (optional) — attach the scan to a client/brand so the results, and any leads you act on, are scoped to that workspace.

What to do with scan results

This is where the value is. A finished scan opens to a grid of result cards — one per mention — with a relevance and intent summary at the top and platform tabs so you can filter. Each card shows the platform, the author, a snippet, an intent score, and a hover action bar. From a result you can:

• View — open the original post in context.
• Enrich — find a verified email and identity for the author. Enrichment runs in the background and only charges when it produces a verified email; with no email found, you are not charged. Email and pipeline actions stay disabled until a verified email exists, so you never send into the dark.
• Email — once enriched, draft a message that references the specific post, in your own voice, from the author's own words. Nothing sends automatically — every email is shown to you in full and only goes out on your click.
• Dealflow — push a contactable lead into your pipeline.
• Create Campaign — enroll one or more reachable people into a sequence; you review every foxified step, one lead at a time, before anything sends.
• Foxtrails — on threaded posts (Reddit, X, Quora), mine the people who replied to the original post as additional leads, then enrich and reach the best of them.
• Save or assign — keep a mention for Content Creator, mark it as a testimonial, generate a comparison card when a competitor complaint is detected, or assign the result to a client.

A scan is the start of a workflow — listen, qualify by intent, enrich the right people, then reach them with a message you control. The result cards are where you turn a mention into a conversation.

Credits

Each scan uses credits based on how many platforms you search and how many results come back. Quick Test is the cheap preview; Start Scan is the full run. Your remaining balance shows in the dashboard header, and you can review usage on the billing page. To stretch credits, narrow your platform selection and use Quick Test to validate a query before a full run. For current plan allowances and credit-pack details, see the pricing page.