Brand -hijacking is a common and malicious practice that affects both small and large businesses. Large enterprises will invest in full-fledged online reputation management (ORM) teams that are always on the lookout for brand mentions and have proper protocols in place in case of brand-hijacking.
What is brand-hijacking?
A portmanteau derived from the words “brand” and “hijack”, brand-hijacking is when another individual or group entity assumes your brand’s online identity in a way that is indiscernible to others.
In doing so, that entity takes control over your online activity, communicating with others while pretending to be you through fake social media accounts, email addresses and websites. Brand hijacking can harm your online reputation and can damage the trust and confidence of your customers. That can lead to financial losses and expenses incurred through damage control.
Some of the most common brand hi-jacking methods are:
Squatting: When an entity registers domain names similar to those of the main brand to create fake websites.
Social media: When an entity creates fake social media accounts and posts content pretending to be you.
AdWord: When an entity places higher bids on keywords relevant to your brand and eats into your organic traffic.
However, there are several preventive and curative measures that small businesses can take to combat brand-hijacking.
1- Register Your Trademark
These days, it is easy for anyone to download or create an image identical to your company’s logo and use it to impersonate your brand online.
Register a trademark for any such property that is prone to be stolen, such as your logo, tagline, brand name and domain name. Conduct thorough research on global and country-specific trademark laws to understand your rights and responsibilities. If the budget permits, hire a legal team to help you out. First and foremost, your brand needs a protective legal layer that allows you to sue another party that tries to infringe on its identity.
2- Invest in Brand-Related Domains
For instance, if you log on to www.apple.store, it will redirect you to Apple’s commercial website. Or, www.googel.com redirects to www.google.com. Another trick is to register your domain name on relevant domain extensions.
One of the best ways to protect your brand against brand-hijacking is to buy key domain names that are similar to your existing domain. This will prevent hackers from buying and using them with the wrong intent. Start by investing in website names that sound or are spelt like yours.
3- Invest in Social Listening Tools
Almost everyone has access to social media these days, which is great news for brands trying to reach a wider audience.
To prevent any unwanted activity, you need to have eyes and ears everywhere in cyberspace. Virtual omnipresence is possible by using social listening tools that track every online mention of your brand name. You can set up alerts for whenever your brand name is mentioned and take action if you find that they are maligning your online reputation.
Lastly,
You need a secure system, with-in management at data processing levels. For that, MAKIN Technology brings the best solutions that concrete secure management and data automation systems with state-of-the-art technology. That means a relaxed and error-free business and brand management. So what’s your plan this year?