Have you ever wondered why your brand name is showing in the sponsored search when you are not paying for advertising? Because of brand bidding. A magical, quick, and powerful covenant process that can turn into a deadly curse when affiliates aggressively bid on your brand keywords, purely for traffic or competition bidding on your brand keyword to rob you of the spotlight your brand deserves.
What is brand bidding? Why is it a problem for Advertisers?
Brand bidding refers to a practice that falls under paid search marketing. It’s a digital marketing strategy where brands bid on their own brand keywords in search engine advertising platforms like Google Ads and when someone searches for your brand name, your company’s sponsored listing is more likely to appear at the top of the search results page.
But this turns into a brand reputation threat and leads when aggressive affiliate bids, potentially aiming to capture traffic and drive sales through affiliate programs or competition bids on your brand keywords.
Simply put, it’s the practice of bidding on your own brand keywords to pop up on the top.
Exploring The Dark Side of Brand Bidding: Affiliates and Competitors bid on Brand keywords
There is no questioning the effectiveness of brand bidding in increasing visibility and guarding the brand, but it too has its own problems. One of its major drawbacks is the situation whereby there’s excessive bidding from affiliates and rival brands.
- Revenue Hijacking: Affiliates may bid on your brand keywords with the intention of capturing traffic and driving sales through their own affiliate programs, potentially diverting revenue away from your website.
- Brand Hijacking: Competitors may bid on your brand keywords to confuse consumers and potentially drive traffic to their own websites.
- Market Share Erosion: This can lead to a loss of market share and brand reputation if customers are misled or confused.
The impact of brand bidding by Affiliate and Competiton
Aggressive bidding from affiliates and competitors can drive up the cost per click (CPC) for your brand keywords, leading to higher advertising expenses. This lead to
- Loss of Revenue: If affiliates or competitors successfully capture traffic through their ads, it can result in lost revenue for your brand.
- Damaged Brand Reputation: Confusion and frustration caused by misleading ads can tarnish your brand’s image and reputation.
It is important to identify who is bidding on your brand keywords. Are they authorized to bid on brand keyword or not?
Continuously monitor your brand’s search performance and report any instances of affiliate or competitor misconduct to the relevant advertising platforms. By proactively addressing these challenges, you can protect your brand, maintain control over your online presence, and ensure that the benefits of brand bidding outweigh the potential drawbacks.
A Case Study: Brand Bidding for a Popular Shoe Brand
mFilterIt analysis and insights into the effectiveness of brand bidding, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of a well-known shoe brand across major Indian cities.
- Keyword Tracking: We meticulously monitored 35 keywords related to the brand, including brand keyword variations across 35 cities. This allowed us to understand the search queries users were employing to find the brand.
- Search Volume: The brand garnered a significant search volume across time slots. This indicated strong interest in and demand for the brand.
- Google Ads Activity: A substantial 50% of the total searches were Google Ads for the brand’s keywords. This demonstrated the competitive landscape and the efforts of various entities to capture search traffic.
- Competitor Analysis: We identified 28% were competitors count which were actively bidding on the brand’s keywords. This highlighted the intense competition for visibility and market share.
- Affiliate Activity: 22% of the total came from affiliates and coupon websites who were also bidding on the bidding keywords. This revealed that affiliates were also using brand keywords and running ads.
Here are some key observation and Findings:
- Organic Poaching by aggressive Affiliate Bidding: Affiliates & coupon websites were particularly active in bidding on brand keywords, potentially aiming to capture traffic and drive sales. They were capturing organic users. This is called organic poaching. The brand was having to pay commissions to affiliates where the customer would have come organically.
- Competition on Brand Keywords: Competitors were actively bidding on the brand’s keywords, which meant that competition keyword strategies needed to be buit within the marketing approach.
Beyond Bidding: Value-Based Optimization for Competiton Bidding on Brand Keywords
Location-Based Campaign Optimization
Combine actionable insights and location-based campaign optimization, you can create more targeted and effective brand bidding campaigns. This approach can help you improve your return on investment, enhance customer engagement, and drive business growth.
- Target specific regions enable tailoring your campaigns to different geographic locations based on factors like demographics, search volume, and competitive landscape.
- Optimize bids to adjust bids for specific locations to maximize performance and ROI.
- Leverage geo-targeting features to target ads to users within specific geographic areas.
LOCOKS (Location-Based Campaign Optimization Keyword Strategy) with mFilterIt
Effectively implement LOCOKS, mFilterIt offers valuable tools for tracking and optimizing keyword usage. By monitoring how competitor keywords are used in different cities and at various times of the day, mFilterIt provides actionable insights that can be used to tailor campaigns for improved relevance and efficiency. This data-driven approach ensures that your brand bidding efforts are aligned with local search trends and maximize their impact.
Expanding the Scope of Brand Bidding
While traditional brand bidding focuses on protecting your brand and improving visibility, it’s essential to consider the broader implications of this strategy.
- Customer Experience: Brand bidding can significantly enhance the user experience by ensuring that customers are directed to your website seamlessly. This can lead to increased conversions and brand loyalty.
- Competitive Advantage: By effectively implementing brand bidding, you can gain a competitive edge over rivals who may not be as proactive in protecting their brand.
- Brand Protection: Preventing competitors from hijacking your brand can safeguard your reputation and prevent potential confusion among consumers.
Best Practices for Brand Bidding
Competitors or affiliates may bid on your brand keywords, potentially driving up costs and diluting your brand’s presence. Here are some best practices to ensure you maintain control and optimize your brand bidding strategy.
- Monitor Who is Bidding on Your Brand Keywords: Identify any unauthorized bidding leading to higher costs per click (CPC) and dilute your brand message.
- Review Affiliate Contracts: Ensure that your affiliate contracts clearly state the terms and conditions regarding the use of your brand keywords. Affiliates should not bid on these keywords without explicit authorization.
- Use ML-driven Tech Solutions: Leverage machine learning (ML) technologies to enhance your brand bidding strategy. ML-driven tools can provide insights into bidding patterns, optimal keyword usage, and competitive actions.
- Real-time Insights and Analysis: Utilize real-time data analysis to make informed decisions about your brand bidding strategy, adjust bids, optimize keywords, and manage your ad spend efficiently.
Conclusion
Is your brand taking full advantage of brand bidding? mFilterIt Valid8 can help enhance and automate the process with effective use of AI and ML-powered tech. It not only provides full protection, starting with ad fraud detection tool but also optimize brand performance by identifying and automate bidding on the keywords to boost brand visibility. Brand bidding is a powerful tool that can significantly impact your brand’s online presence and success. By understanding the strategies involved and implementing best practices, you can effectively protect your brand, enhance visibility, and drive customer engagement.
Let’s discuss how we can help you optimize your strategy and achieve your marketing goals.
Get in touch to know more about Brand Bidding.
