Brand protection online is the action taken by businesses to ensure that individuals and other companies are not tarnishing your name. You want your target demographic to see your brand in the best light possible, so there are several steps you can take to ensure your brand is protected on every digital platform. Consider the following six steps provided by Southeast Digital to protecting your brand online:

1.Monitor Your Mentions

When your brand name gets a mention online it might seem like a positive thing; people are talking about your products or services of their own free will. But are they painting an accurate picture of your brand? Keep a close eye out for mentions online and make sure they are doing your business justice.

2. Use Automation

You might be missing the majority of mentions online due to spelling mistakes or missing ‘@’ handles. Consider using a service such as Awario to watch out for broader mentions of your brand. Searching for mentions manually will allow some to slip through the cracks, so this is the best way to keep a birds eye view over all digital activity.

3. Do You Respond?

You can do as much monitoring as you like, but what action do you need to take? Do you respond to negative comments? Would you prefer to ignore messages that are irrelevant to you? Your business needs a consistent strategy when it comes to dealing with mentions that are both positive and negative. In general, it is always best to respond publicly so that other online users can see that you are going out of your way to respond or rectify a problem reasonably.

4. Protect Your Business

Make sure you are adding positive reviews and customer testimonials to your site and social media. When a customer works with you or makes a sale try to encourage them to leave their feedback. This will ensure that any negative feedback is overshadowed by the praise.

5. Make the Most of SEO

Use tried and tested SEO methods to dominate search results of your brand name. If you are the leader in the market, other competitors could be using your name to grow their own business. Use blog and content marketing to keep your top spot safe, so that search results are filled with your brand name.

6. Paid Search Advertising Helps

Investing in paid search advertising will help you to keep your brand name at the very top of search results. Content marketing and blogging will get you so far, but eventually you might need to explore paid options to give your brand the extra boost it needs.

If you’re looking for assistance with your brand, then contact Southeast Digital for more information. Our trained professionals will be able to guide you through all of your digital marketing needs, so that you can always make the most out of your online presence. Brand protection is a big deal to both small and large businesses, so make sure you are always doing everything you can to maintain your reputation.