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Businesses lose billions of dollars annually due to counterfeiting and brand infringement online. With bad actors online becoming more sophisticated, it becomes more challenging for companies to keep up with a brand protection strategy online. However, thanks to the popularity of AI, brand protection is no longer an option. It is a necessity to doing business on the internet.
Choosing a brand protection software solution is one of the most important tasks confronting brand managers and marketing leaders today.
The Main Factors to Consider
Here are a few guiding principles that can help inform you about which brand protection solution or software is right for you as you evaluate your options.
Look for Comprehensive Monitoring That Adapts To New Tactics
It's important to find a solution that has the ability to do comprehensive monitoring of brand abuse networks because not all brand reputation threats are created equal. Some threats are obvious, like a copied, fake website that uses your logo and products. Others are harder to identify, such as social media posts using your brand name to spread misinformation. Having a comprehensive brand protection monitor that can catch both is crucially important.
It's also important to note that new types of threats constantly arise.
Just like security guards have to stay updated on new theft techniques, your brand protection software needs to constantly look for new ways people might misuse your brand. The faster your software is able to identify a threat, the faster you can shut it down. This minimizes damage to your reputation and prevents lost sales from counterfeit goods, so look for a solution that updates often, adapting to the latest types of threats.
Look for Customization Options That Can Be Tailored to Your Brand
Every brand has different assets to protect online, on social media platforms and you need a tool that can be tailored to protect all of them. For example, a luxury watchmaker might care most about counterfeit products and trademark bidding, while a local restaurant might be more concerned about fake social media accounts spreading poor reviews. Having a tailored brand protection software solution can save you time. Customization allows you to set up alerts for specific things, like mentions with negative sentiment or suspicious websites. This helps you to continue focusing on what truly matters to your business.
Look for Real-Time Alerts
The longer a brand threat goes unchecked, the more damage it can do to your brand. Counterfeit products can flood the market, trademark-violating ads can dominate a search result for your brand, fake social media accounts can spread misinformation, and negative reviews can go viral. It's important to ensure the alerts you get about brand abuse from your brand protection software arrive in real time so you can take immediate corrective action. Additionally, the longer a threat exists, the more resources it takes to clean up. This ultimately saves you time, money, and manpower.
Look for Analytics and Data Analysis Capabilities:
Data analysis can uncover patterns you might miss on your own. For example, it might reveal a sudden spike in counterfeit activity on a specific website or a particular type of social media post that's more likely to be associated with brand misuse. By having a solution that can help you measure and interpret the trends, you can act faster.
Data analysis also allows you to track the effectiveness of your brand protection strategy over time. The data will show you KPIs, such as a decrease in the number of counterfeit listings over time and the negative sentiment associated with your brand trending down. Data offers a clear insight into how your brand protection strategy is working so you can learn which activities are worth doing and which are not. Lastly, your brand protection software should help you predict future threats to help you proactively stay ahead of them.
Look for the Ability to Integrate With Your Existing Tech Stack
Integrating your brand protection software with your existing security systems puts everything in one place for your various brand protection tools. You can monitor threats and complete your daily tasks, all from one unified platform. This saves you time, reduces confusion, and makes managing your brand protection a breeze.
In Conclusion
Your brand can suffer a significant financial loss by not catching a threat early enough. Having the right brand protection software can be the difference between your brand online success and failure online.
Want more brand protection tips?
Check out BrandVerity's comprehensive guide to Brand Protection Basics for Search Ad Hijacking here.
