With the changing dynamics of the world of online business and entrepreneurship, there is an increased need to build your brand safety. Today, it can be considered an asset for you. It is important and is a factor of influence in your online business. After all, no one would want their brand’s reputation to be questioned by the masses online or on social media platforms.
In a 2023 Survey report by Gitnux, 70% of the advertisers responded that their business campaigns are affected by Brand safety issues. Around 65% of digital ad buyers in the US believe that there is a threat to brand safety from consumer-generated media that are on the platforms. And 48% of the brand representatives are worried about brand safety.
What is Brand safety?
Put simply, it is the protection of your brand image. Whether it is an offline platform or online, you control how, where, and in what way your brand will be represented. Whether it is through ads, on social media, the brand’s logo, trademark, website, as well as other social media platforms. It is the steps or guidelines to follow for protecting and safeguarding your brand’s reputation.
Why is brand safety important in Influencer Marketing?
Brand safety is crucial and becomes important when it comes to influencer marketing. It is a technique in which you hire professional influencers or influencer agencies to promote your brand or products. That is why it is necessary to present your brand in a positive way out there. More so through this technique to get the desired result of a boost in your business.
You need to make sure that your brand is not associated with any controversial and offensive content. With millions of influencers out there promoting huge amounts of brand collaborations today. The brand content out there is large and it is viewed as well and influences people daily.
Influences are professional in promoting a brand, but they might not be an expert in the overall control of the brand’s reputation and representation on the platforms.
Mistakes like going live before the product launch, incorrect brand tagging, posting pictures of the brand with harmful and banned substances, etc. Of course, this can look small but have a huge impact on the brand’s reputation, sales, and brand following. And this makes brand safety a necessity when it comes to influencer marketing. Before trying out influencer marketing, there should be a formulation of brand safety guidelines from your side so that you keep your brand promise to your customers.
6 ways to ensure brand safety while putting it out for influencer marketing
If you are concerned about how to ensure brand safety, then you don’t need brand to worry about it. With proper planning and the following ways, you can build your brand safety and safeguard its presence and reputation in the market:
1. Checking on the influencers
Before you finalize your influencers for brand promotions, you need to make sure that you have done an overall background check of the influencers that you have set your mind on. You can use influencer tools for the same. Do check their:
- Followers
- Age of their audience
- Rate of Engagement
- Images and snapshots of their content
- Interest and locations of the audience
Knowing the type of audience the influencer is connected with will help you to be sure that it is the same kind of audience whom you are targeting for your brand promotion. This will help your brand to directly reach the right audience and increase the chances of brand safety.
2. Clear briefs and brand safety guidelines
You need to set clear expectations and briefs for the influencer at the beginning only. Because they need to know the do’s, the don’ts, and your expectations from them. More so that they can be efficient in their work and you don’t have to worry about the process.
3. Brand safety advertising guidelines
Before you set out for influencer marketing, you need to not only have the basic knowledge of how it goes, but you should also know about the advertising guidelines and governing bodies of the country.
4. Contract
One of the most secure ways to influence marketing is to make the influencer sign a contract. This will help you and your brand in many ways. It is better to have legal backup and set procedures before you start any business, and what you are going to do with the influencer is business.
5. Content Approval
One of the ways to be sure to keep control of your brand appearance and image is content approval. You have to add this in the brief that you will provide to the influencer that they need to ask for your approval before they post any content online. This will help you in being sure about the brand content before it gets out in the world and front of the audience.
6. Transparency and trust In Brand Safety
Presenting your brand at a large scale could require you some professional help. For reaping the benefits of this move, you need to be sure that you are providing this chance to the trustworthy business. A way in which you can identify whether they are trustworthy or not is to check whether they have an OV SSL certificate. An Organizational Validated (OV) SSL certificate is like a verified proof that the organization is legitimate. This will assure you that you are doing business with a professional marketing agency. Additionally, you will also get a complete report about your brand’s advertisement display and performance tally.
Wrapping Up
In conclusion, your brand safety should be one of the main priorities during your affiliate marketing journey. Since it is about your brand image and representation, be sure that you regularly check for potential issues for brand safety. Be careful and only work with the agencies and influencers who offer transparency and have high-quality standards. Keep in mind that your brand safety is a long-term asset and the backbone of your business. Do not forget to take time for yourself so that you can plan for your influencer campaign. Be sure you know what is a brand. The better the campaign plan and design, the better the brand’s influence on your target audience.