The concept of brand safety is quickly becoming the focus for digital marketers and brand strategists alike. As online advertising grows more and more complicated, you’ll want to feel confident that your brand’s reputation is protected, no matter where your ads run or how your ads are interpreted. But what does brand safety entail, and how can you safeguard your brand online?
In this post, we’re going to dig into what brand safety is, what to be aware of, and how you can protect your brand in marketing.
Introduction to Brand Safety
At its essence, brand safety is the steps taken by brands to prevent their advertising from appearing alongside content that runs contrary to their values or harms their reputation. Try to imagine your company’s ad showing up on a website that promotes hate speech or adjacent to fake news articles.
The brand association, unintended although it may be, can leave a sour taste in your audience’s mouths and trust can be lost.When it comes to programmatic advertising and the enormous amount of content online, it’s no easy task to keep brands safe and it’s never been a bigger priority.
As digital ads eat up more of marketing budgets, that number is climbing, eMarketer found, with more than 60% of marketers expressing great concern about brand safety in a recent survey.When you place ads in more suitable environments for your brand, you protect user trust, and you offer your audience a safer, more enjoyable experience.
Understanding the Risks
Before taking steps to protect your brand, you need to understand the specific risks that can compromise brand safety. Here are the most common scenarios to watch out for:
1. Ad Placement in Harmful Content
Programmatic ad bidding allows ads to appear on a multitude of platforms. However, it increases the risk of your ads being displayed on sites containing inappropriate, offensive, or harmful content, such as:
- Hate speech
- Violence
- Explicit material
- Fake news or misinformation
2. Association with Political or Controversial Topics
Brand neutrality is often key to maintaining broad customer appeal. When ads appear next to politically or socially divisive content, whether intentionally or not, it may provoke backlash and alienate a segment of your audience.
3. Brand Imitation or Fraud
Cybercriminals can imitate your brand through fraudulent ads on suspicious websites. This not only erodes your reputation but may also harm consumers who fall prey to scams associated with your name.
4. Contextual Mismatches
Sometimes, the wrong placement can lead to unintended irony or offense. For example, if a safety footwear ad appears on a story about workplace accidents, it could create negative connotations.
Understanding these risks allows you to develop a targeted approach to protect your brand in the competitive digital ecosystem.
Key Elements of a Brand Safety Strategy
To establish brand safety, digital marketers should build a comprehensive strategy that addresses key areas of risk management and protection.
Define Your Brand Values and Boundaries
Start by clearly defining what your brand stands for. Which environments or topics do you want to avoid? For example, a family-focused company may wish to steer clear of explicit content, while a health brand might want to avoid platforms spreading pseudoscience.
Set Up Blacklists and Whitelists
- Blacklists: A list of sites, domains, or types of content where you do not want your ads to appear.
- Whitelists: A pre-approved list of websites or publishers aligned with your brand values ensures ads are placed in trusted environments.
Implement Contextual Targeting
Instead of relying solely on demographic targeting, use contextual targeting powered by AI-driven tools to place ads in content-relevant environments. For example, a fitness apparel brand might target healthy living blogs or workout tutorial videos.
Create a Monitoring and Review System
Brand safety is not a set-it-and-forget-it process. Regularly audit your ad placements and partner with platforms that prioritize transparency. Monitoring your strategies ensures that ads stay clear from problematic content.
Tools and Technologies for Brand Safety
Fortunately, digital marketers have access to a wealth of tools and technology to maintain brand safety. Here are some of the most effective platforms and solutions:
Ad Verification Tools
Ad verification tools like DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science (IAS) analyze where your ads are running to ensure they don’t appear next to risky content.
Programmatic Exclusions
Platforms like Google Ads and Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) allow advertisers to exclude specific categories or websites to avoid irrelevant or inappropriate placements.
Content Monitoring Tools
Tools like NewsGuard or Zefr can detect fake news or unsuitable content, ensuring your brand doesn’t become associated with misinformation.
Social Media AI Filters
Social platforms such as Facebook and YouTube employ AI-powered filters to flag inappropriate content. Staying up to date with their safety policies ensures your social ads remain protected.
Best Practices for Maintaining Brand Safety
To create a truly safe advertising environment, follow these industry best practices:
- Work with Trusted Publishers and Partners: Vet your media-buying partners to ensure they prioritize brand safety and offer transparency in ad placements.
- Stay Proactive with Training: Regularly train your team to stay informed about emerging risks, new tools, and updates in brand safety practices.
- Use Dynamic Exclusion Lists: Continuously update blacklists and whitelists based on new developments or discoveries in your industry.
- Engage in Pre-Bid Targeting: Use pre-bid targeting methods, offered by platforms like The Trade Desk, to block harmful content before the ad auction takes place.
- Monitor Campaign Performance: Keep track of metrics like click-through rates and bounce rates to ensure alignment with the intended audience and content context.
The Future of Brand Safety in Digital Marketing
Brand safety is a dynamic industry. As AI, machine learning and content analysis tools continue to advance, we will likely see an increase in technology that simplifies the control of ad placement. New trends, such as brand suitability which transcends safeguards to concentrate on whether ad placements are aligned with complex brand values — will transform how marketers think about risk.
Furthermore, continued shifts in consumer behavior and increasing data-privacy regulations will bring new hurdles, as well. Smart and agile marketers will need to adjust on the fly to these changes whilst maintaining a focus on brand safety in their digital strategy.
Prioritize Your Brand’s Integrity
You can no longer turn a blind eye to brand safety in digital marketing. And with the dangers of associating a brand with damaging or mis-judged advertising, a strong brand safety plan is a must to assure that your business keeps the trust and credibility of customers.
If you want something reliable to help you improve brand safety efforts, double down on a tool such as DoubleVerify or Integral Ad Science. Get started now by analyzing your existing campaigns to find the best areas needing improvement. Your brand should be preserved, now and in the digital revolution to come.
