Digital marketing is a critical aspect of any modern business, and a successful digital marketing strategy requires a variety of different tactics to achieve success. One of these tactics is brand bidding. While it can be an effective digital marketing strategy in promoting a brand, it also comes with its share of risks. In this article, we will explore what trademark bidding is, the potential risks, and strategies for brand protection.
How Trademark Bidding Can Help Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Trademark bidding is a paid advertising tactic that involves bidding on keywords related to your brand name or trademark. When someone searches for those keywords, your ad will appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). This can help increase brand visibility, drive more traffic to your website, and ultimately increase sales. The most common form of trademark bidding is bidding on the company's trademarked terms. For instance, if an imaginary “Brand Shoes” company wanted to bid on trademarked keywords, they would bid on S-related keywords such as “Nike shoes”, “Nike sneakers”, etc.
Here are a few ways that brand bidding can benefit your digital marketing strategy:
1. Increased Brand Visibility
Trademark bidding can help increase brand visibility by ensuring that your ad appears at the top of the SERP when someone searches for your brand name or trademark. This can help increase awareness of your brand and make it easier for potential customers to find your website.
2. More Targeted Traffic
Since trademark bidding involves bidding on keywords related to your brand name or trademark, you can be sure that the traffic you receive from this tactic is highly targeted. This means that the people who click on your ad are more likely to be interested in your products or services, which can lead to higher conversion rates.
3. Competitive Advantage
Brand bidding can give you a competitive advantage over other companies in your industry. By bidding on your brand name or trademark, you can ensure that your ad appears at the top of the search engines when someone searches for your brand. This can make it more difficult for your competitors to attract customers searching for your brand.
4. Protect Your Brand
By bidding on trademark keywords, a company can ensure that its competitors don’t use those keywords to drive traffic to their own websites. This can help protect the brand and prevent confusion among customers.
Risks of Trademark Bidding
It's important to note that trademark bidding can also be a controversial strategypotentially leading to trademark Infringement. Some companies may view it as an infringement of their intellectual property, and there have been lawsuits over the use of trademarked keywords in PPC advertising. It's essential for companies to understand the legal implications of trademark bidding and ensure that they are not violating any laws or regulations.
Some of the often frequently occurring risks associated with trademark bidding include:
Trademark Infringement. If a company bids on a competitor's trademarked terms, it can be seen as trademark infringement, which can result in legal action.
Increased Cost-Per-Click (CPC). Bidding on trademarked terms can lead to an increase in CPC, which means that companies will have to pay more per click than they would if they weren't bidding on trademarked terms.
Wasted Ad Spend. Bidding on trademarked terms can result in wasted ad spend if the company's ads are being clicked on by people who are not interested in their products or services.
Brand Protection Strategies
To minimize the risks associated with brand bidding, companies can implement certain strategies to help protect their brand. Some of these strategies include
Proactively monitor trademark terms. To prevent competitors from bidding on their trademarked terms, companies can proactively monitor their trademarked terms on a regular basis. This allows them to quickly identify any unauthorized use and take appropriate action.
Register trademarks with Google. By registering their trademarks with Google, businesses can prevent others from using their trademarked terms in their advertising campaigns. This ensures that their trademark is protected by copyright laws.
Use negative keywords. Businesses can use negative keywords to exclude certain search terms that are not related to their products or services. This ensures that their ad is shown only to relevant audiences.
Conclusion
Trademark bidding is just one of many tactics that can help you achieve your digital marketing goals, but surely an effective one. By incorporating trademark bidding into your overall digital marketing strategy, you can increase brand visibility, drive more targeted traffic to your website, and gain a competitive advantage over other companies in your industry. If you're not currently using trademark bidding as part of your digital marketing strategy, it's worth considering. However, it’s important to approach trademark bidding with caution and to ensure that it is being used in a legal and ethical manner.
