The Essential Guide to Brand Safety

It takes years of dedicated, consistent efforts to build a strong brand but just seconds to destroy it. A digital marketing campaign that doesn't align with your values or core audience can cause brands to lose favor with their followers. Knowing these brand management risks is the first step of brand safety - the act of protecting your brand's reputation across channels.

People have certain expectations of the brands they do business with. When a brand fails to deliver on those expectations, your brand's image is at risk.

Marketers take conscious efforts to protect brands from negative reviews and viral content. But they often lack control when it comes to advertising. Automated processes mean you're not choosing where your digital ads appear, which means your content might appear in places that don't align with your brand.

Let's explore the role of brand safety in marketing and how you can take steps to protect your brand.

Contents:

What Is Brand Safety and Why Does It Matter?

Brand Safety Definition: The act of protecting a brand's image in the context of advertising, specifically in preventing it from being associated with inappropriate content.

You've probably seen ad fails that clearly that don't belong together, like this one:

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Brands face the same risks in digital advertising, too.

In digital advertising, you can't always predict where your ads will land. Automated processes take the guesswork out of online advertising and reduce the stress of having to research and choose specific websites, pages, or channels.

However, this process also increases the risks to brand safety. With little control over where your ads appear, your ad could end up next to other content that might influence viewers' perceptions of your brand.

That's why brand safety is an essential part of any brand strategy. More than half of U.S. consumers consider a brand's reputation and values when choosing who to buy from.

It's essential to maintain their trust by ensuring your ads reflect your brand properly. Otherwise, you risk turning off your customer base or giving them the wrong impression.

Brand Safety Risks in the Digital Landscape

You can't escape digital ads online - they're everywhere. Many sites use tracking pixels to display ads that are relevant according to your browsing history and known interests. Despite good intentions, this can pose a challenge to maintaining brand safety.

Let's look at some brand safety examples and why they create headaches for marketers.

Contextual mismatches

Ads that appear in the wrong context can confuse audiences, which reduces the ad's effectiveness. For example, an ad for a children's toy that appears in an article about economic recession likely won't catch the reader's attention.

Inappropriate content association

Ads can sometimes appear alongside harmful or controversial content, such as hate speech, violence, or adult material. This can damage a brand's reputation by making it appear as though you share these values.

For example, a food ad placed alongside graphic content about animal cruelty could make the viewer think the food company doesn't have humane practices.

Keyword targeting issues

User intent is everything in SEO. But sometimes, keywords can have different meanings or intentions. Broad or poorly defined keywords can lead your ads to show up in the wrong places.

For example, a skincare brand targets the keyword "acne," and its ads appear next to negative reviews about its own products.

Ads on inappropriate sites

Sites involving gambling, content piracy, or adult content can erode brand trust if your ad appears here and doesn't pertain to the site's topic. For example, a church building its image on trust and transparency wouldn't want to appear on a website promoting content piracy.

Social media and user-generated content risks

User-generated content (UGC) can be a boon for brands. It's essentially free advertising and can influence others' perceptions in an authentic way.

However, ads placed near controversial or offensive UGC can negatively affect brand perception. For example, a family-oriented snack brand promotes itself on social media and appears near a user-generated video filled with profanity or explicit content.

Fake news and misinformation

Consumers are ultra wary these days, with nine out of 10 saying they fact-check their news. Half of consumers also say they trust news and content on social media less than they did a year ago.

Ads that appear to be associated with the spread of misinformation can erode consumer trust and harm a brand's credibility. For example, a pharmaceutical company's ad could appear on a website spreading misinformation about vaccine safety. This might cause the reader to think the company supports or funds the misinformation.

TIP: Not sure where to start with brand monitoring solutions? Check out our full breakdown of the best brand monitoring tools on the market!

Brand Safety Best Practices for Businesses

Brand safety is a part of the brand management puzzle. It's not enough to focus on building and growing a strong brand; marketers also need safeguards to protect it.

These best practices can help businesses stay on top of brand safety, even when it feels you lack control over ad placement

Use content list exclusions

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Content lists exclusions allow you to opt out of having your content shown alongside other types of content. For instance, Google lets you choose content labels (e.g., sensitive content, adult websites) to limit where your ads will appear. You can use content list exclusions for new or existing campaigns.

Leverage brand monitoring tools

Brand safety solutions like Meltwater let you see how consumers react to your brand. Whether you're launching a new paid campaign or posting new content on social media, brand monitoring tools will show you the response.

Meltwater's brand monitoring tools measure things like share of voice and brand sentiment. It understands what people are saying and how they're saying it, giving brands context into the online chatter. You can detect spikes in sentiment shifts and see your full digital impact, allowing you to take quick action if an ad campaign goes awry.

Only partner with verified publishers

Established publishers like Google stick to strict content guidelines, which significantly reduces your chances of having an erroneous ad placement. Reputable publishers are also transparent about ad placement practices and can give you more control over where ads appear (such as using content exclusion lists).

Use contextual targeting

Contextual targeting lets you specify where to place your ads based on your brand's message and audience values. Unlike behavioral targeting, which focuses on user history like browsing and buying habits, contextual targeting evaluates the content of the page where the ad will appear.

For example, a travel brand might choose to appear on travel-related websites rather than choosing websites based on demographic data.

Implement negative keyword targeting

Negative keywords let you exclude your ad from appearing alongside certain topics. For example, a cosmetics brand might use "allergy," "lawsuit," or "counterfeit" as negative keywords to minimize unwanted associations.

Monitor and optimize campaigns regularly

Brand safety is an ongoing part of brand monitoring. Regularly reviewing ad placements and campaign performance will help you address risks promptly.

Tools like Google Ads' placement reports will let you see where your ads are running and making the necessary adjustments.

Tips for Managing Brand Safety on Social Media

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn have built-in ad programs that let you customize your audiences. Even though these ads only appear on social media platforms, you still need to approach them with caution.

Ads can still appear alongside content that might not align with your brand and put your image at risk.

Follow these tips and best practices to keep brand safety in check on social media.

Understand the risks of each social media platform

Social networks cater to different audiences and different purposes. Knowing the nuances of each can help you identify potential risks to your brand safety.

For example, TikTok is completely video-driven and covers just about any topic imaginable (including content that's potentially inappropriate to your brand). LinkedIn is more professional, while Facebook can be a mixed bag.

Get to know the various ad controls each platform offers. For example, Facebook lets you exclude placements on in-stream video ads to avoid appearing next to controversial or low-quality content.

Collaborate with influencers carefully

Influencers can grow your social media reach and put you in front of a relevant audience, but tread carefully. Thoroughly vet the influencer's history, content style, and audience to ensure brand alignment.

A misstep by the influencer, even when it has nothing to do with your content, could tarnish your brand by association.

TIP: Download our Ultimate Guide to Influencer Marketing to learn more about how to find influencers who are right for your brand.

Stay up to date on trending topics

Social media trends can change quickly, and ads might unintentionally intersect with sensitive topics. For example, an ad promoting travel to an area experiencing a natural disaster might be viewed as tone-deaf.

Regularly monitor trending hashtags and content to understand their context.

TIP: For more information on how to properly leverage trending topics, download our free Trendjacking Guide.

Test ad campaigns in small batches

To maintain brand safety in advertising, try your ad creative in small doses. Smaller launches can help brands assess performance and safety before scaling up. It also gives you the chance to tweak your ad before dedicating the entire budget to potential risks.

Common Brand Safety Mistakes to Avoid

Brand safety in advertising is a thin line to walk, and it's easy to make mistakes along the way. You can minimize your risks by knowing the most common brand safety mistakes and how to avoid them.

Avoiding these common mistakes will help your brand safety strategy become more effective.

How Meltwater Helps with Brand Safety

These brand safety examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Anytime you lack control over where your ads appear, brand safety guidelines will always be a top concern.

Meltwater's social listening solution lets you prioritize brand safety in online advertising without the guesswork. Measure audience sentiment, share of voice, trending topics, and context of conversations from a single interface. You can see what people are saying and how they're saying it, helping you identify risks to your brand.

Along with providing insights, Meltwater also compiles the data into reports to help you make sense of all the facts and figures. Get spelled-out insights that tell you what's happening and what you might do next. Learn the "why" behind the numbers so you can take the best next steps.

Learn more when you request a demo by filling out the form below!

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