# **How Do I Set Up Brand Categories and Topics?**

Brand categories and topics help organize your content ecosystem inside the **Brand Control Center**. They allow brands to structure communities, improve content discovery, personalize recommendations, and ensure AI-powered curation aligns with brand objectives.

Properly configured categories and topics help brands:

- Organize content into clear interest areas
- Improve AI-driven content recommendations
- Personalize feeds and community experiences
- Enhance search and content discovery
- Support targeted campaigns and sponsorships
- Improve reporting and audience insights
- Enable scalable community growth strategies

Categories act as high-level content groupings, while topics provide deeper contextual tagging for specific interests, discussions, or themes.

**For example:**

| Category | Topics |
| --- | --- |
| Fitness | Yoga, Strength Training, Nutrition |
| Gaming | Esports, Console Gaming, Live Streaming |
| Beauty | Skincare, Makeup Tutorials, Product Reviews |

These structures help the **Commerce Media Network** deliver more relevant experiences across feeds, groups, embeds, and campaigns.

## **How to Set Up Brand Categories and Topics**

### **Step 1: Login to Brand Control Center**

Access your Brand Control Center account using your administrator credentials.

### **Step 2: Navigate to Brand Configuration**

Go to: **Build > Brand Elements > Categories & Topics**

This section allows brands to create, edit, and manage taxonomy structures used across the platform.

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/617645db2c4c0a8ed660c31086cf22b6605a9ca3-1875x909.jpg)

### **Step 3: Create a Brand Category**

Click **Add Category**.

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/e3ac6347a29998d91071ab5100ded703707c6217-1918x946.jpg)

Enter the following details:

| Field | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Category Name | Primary content grouping |
| Description | Internal explanation of the category |
| Category Image/Icon | Optional visual identifier |
| Visibility | Public or Internal |
| Status | Active or Draft |

**Example**

| Category Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Travel | Community discussions and content related to travel experiences |
| Technology | Content focused on gadgets, AI, software, and innovation |

Once completed, click **Save**.

### **Step 4: Add Topics Under the Category**

After creating a category:

1. Open the category
2. Click **Add Topic**
3. Enter topic details

**Topic Configuration Fields**

| Field | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Topic Name | Specific discussion or content area |
| Keywords | AI matching and discovery terms |
| Description | Internal topic definition |
| Parent Category | Associated category |
| Status | Active or Disabled |

**Example**

| Category | Topic |
| --- | --- |
| Technology | Artificial Intelligence |
| Technology | Mobile Devices |
| Travel | Solo Travel |

Topics help improve content tagging, recommendations, moderation, and audience segmentation.

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/90d2548b3a91972c2e52510fd44c5cf56e528f18-1918x945.jpg)

## **How Categories and Topics Are Used Across the Platform**

Once configured, categories and topics can be applied throughout the Commerce Media Network.

### **1. AI Content Curation**

The AI engine uses category and topic mappings to:

- Recommend relevant videos and posts
- Auto-group content into communities
- Improve feed personalization
- Surface trending discussions

### **2. Community and Group Organization**

Brands can create communities or groups aligned with specific categories.

**Example:**

| Community | Category |
| --- | --- |
| Fitness Creators Hub | Fitness |
| Gaming Discussions | Gaming |

This improves navigation and user participation.

### **3. Personalized User Experiences**

Categories and topics help power:

- Personalized feeds
- Topic-based recommendations
- Interest-based onboarding
- Dynamic content discovery

Users see more relevant content based on engagement behavior and interests.

### **4. Sponsorship and Monetization Opportunities**

Brands can activate contextual monetization strategies by targeting specific categories or topics.

Examples include:

- Sponsored travel content
- Fitness-focused brand campaigns
- Gaming creator sponsorships
- Topic-specific ad placements

This improves campaign relevance and engagement.

### **5. Analytics and Reporting**

Categories and topics enable deeper reporting insights such as:

- Top-performing interest areas
- Trending topics
- Engagement by category
- Community participation trends
- Content consumption patterns

These insights help brands refine their growth and editorial strategies.

## **Best Practices for Structuring Categories and Topics**

### **Keep Categories Broad**

Categories should represent major content pillars.

**Good Example**

- Sports
- Technology
- Beauty

**Avoid**

- “Football Training Tips for Beginners Under 18”

That level of detail belongs under topics.

## **Use Clear and Searchable Topic Names**

Choose topic names that users naturally search for or engage with.

**Examples:**

- Healthy Recipes
- AI Tools
- Street Fashion

## **Avoid Duplicate Topics**

Multiple similar topics can fragment engagement and reduce recommendation quality.

Instead of:

- Fitness Tips
- Workout Tips
- Exercise Advice

Use one standardized topic structure.

## **Continuously Refine Based on Engagement Data**

Review analytics regularly to identify:

- High-performing topics
- Emerging trends
- Underperforming categories
- New audience interests

Update taxonomy structures as communities evolve.

## **Example Use Cases**

### **Media Publishers**

Organize vertical video content into:

- Entertainment
- Sports
- Politics
- Lifestyle

### **Consumer Brands**

Create product-focused interest communities such as:

- Skincare
- Nutrition
- Wellness

### **Education Platforms**

Structure learning communities by:

- Subject
- Skill level
- Certification track

### **Creator Communities**

Allow creators to publish content under interest-driven topics for improved discovery.

**Specs & Limitations**

| Area | Details |
| --- | --- |
| Category Hierarchy | Supports parent categories with multiple topics |
| Topic Management | Topics can be edited or disabled anytime |
| AI Recommendations | Depends on accurate topic tagging |
| Reporting Support | Available across analytics dashboards |
| Content Mapping | Can be manual or AI-assisted |
| Community Assignment | Categories can be linked to communities and groups |
| Scalability | Recommended to maintain a clean taxonomy structure |
| Personalization | Requires engagement and interest signals for optimization |

## **Related Articles**

- [Why Is Creating Your Brand Profile the First Step in Launching a Commerce Media Network?](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/brand-control-center/why-is-creating-your-brand-profile-the-first-step-in-launching-a-commerce-media-network)
- [How Do I Set Up Brand Guidelines?](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/brand-control-center/how-do-i-set-up-brand-guidelines)
- [How Do I Establish and Integrate the Brand Persona?](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/brand-control-center/how-do-i-establish-and-integrate-the-brand-persona)