The threats to your online brand are growing with each passing day. With Counterfeiters, Phishers, Scammers, Squatters and the like, there is no shortage. Trust me. With the explosion in PPC advertising, online threats to your brand are becoming intense.
With regards to PPC violations, the threat to your reputation is at stake, everything you’ve spent time and money building is threatened by those who use branded keywords in their PPC ads. What’s worse, it will hurt your ranking on Google.
Unauthorized resellers and online counterfeiters are lurking and they very well might be harming your brand without your knowledge, causing unsuspecting consumers to click on these PPC ads and going to their phony sites.
Below are a few painless steps to follow to stop these violations to your brand in their tracks.
Plan
First, you should make a plan to protect your brand from these kinds of violations. Stay updated on all the PPC violations you’ve identified so far. Assess how much these violations have cost your brand, including the harm to your reputation. The ROI you achieve might be enough to think about using a Brand Protection tool.
Keep an Eye Out
In both the real world and the digital space, it’s important to keep an eye on what’s happening. In the fast-paced online environment, you have to be vigilant all the time. When it comes to PPC Abuse, you must regularly check the keywords that your competitors, both legitimate and otherwise, are using.
The Multiple Shades of Brand Abuse
Sure, scammers might be using your branded keywords, but you’ll be surprised (or maybe not) to see so many legitimate brands using the keywords of competitors.
Counterfeiters
Chances are high that you’ll find sites using branded keywords in their PPC ads in their bid to drive customers to their bogus sites, much of the time, it being a site that is selling something totally different.
Brand Protection
A Brand Protection tool can help you stop these PPC and other violations to your brand, in their tracks by monitoring the web round the clock. Legitimate and illegitimate competitors are out there, trying to steal your traffic, and in so doing driving consumers to purchase their products instead of yours, which much of the time can only cause your brand damage. No good can come of this for your brand.
You need a tool that is constantly monitoring the online world for violations. This should not be an afterthought anymore. You will stand to gain increased ROI and a healthier image of your brand.
Implementing some sort of Brand Protection is an outright imperative, no matter which tool you feel is the best fit and the one with the most flexible customization, including the ability to scan for keywords you provide. Choose a tool that provides you with visual reports that will present you with violations, according to severity. Most importantly, choose a tool that is best for you, based on the violations happening to your brand.
What are the biggest challenges you face with regards to protecting your brand? Please feel free to comment and share this post with anyone you feel may benefit.