Protect your brand from brandjacking!

What is Brandjacking?

Brandjacking is basically brand identity theft! Its purpose is to get access to your customers (and convert them). We speak more about it in our previous post. You have worked hard to create your brand/business, so you need to make sure that you protect your brand.

How can you protect your brand?

You have to stop it, or at least limit it as much as possible. Below are a few things that you can do to protect yourself.

• Take over the fake website

If you request the domain name from the CBOO company they will hand it over (at cost). This is because the name has nothing to do with their company. It will cost around $200 to take ownership of the domain name.  You can then re-direct traffic from this domain to your current website (that you own).

Alternatively, just ask them to take down the website.

• Invest in some digital real estate

You will find that CBOO companies will hijack your brand more aggressively if you don’t have a website. They will offer you a FREE website. Sounds great! However, you need to realise that this is for their benefit. They want all online orders to go through them so that they can collect a commission.  It is a very convincing sales pitch “don’t give me any money! I will bring you customers and give you a free website”. What a lot of restaurant owners are noticing now is that they are paying large sums in commissions.

If your customers are heading online to get grab food, then make sure you are online! Your customers should be able to see your business details and a menu. A lot of businesses will direct their users on their own website to the CBOO systems. Unless you are getting a discounted commission rate for orders received through your website, don’t do this. You are essentially giving away your money!

• Close the deal!

Let people order from your website. Make sure that they can view your menu and order directly from you! There are 2 ways of doing this. The first is to build the ordering system directly into your website and the second is to use an online ordering solution like the one Paper2Apps offers. The system integrates with your existing website and Facebook pages. The second option is generally cheaper (even in the long run), we charge a flat monthly fee for the solution. It will cost you less than a cup of coffee per day!

• Start competing in AdWords to protect your brand

Although it might seem silly to advertise your company name or brand, it is a way to directly compete with the CBOO systems.

Another way to look at it is if a customer is searching for your business name/brand, chances are they want to buy your product/service! If the customer orders through a commission-based online ordering system then you will be paying somewhere between $4-$15 in commission (on orders between $40-$100). If you spend $2 for the click and they order from your site, then you are saving yourself the commission. It might sound like a small amount, but it does add up. Why would CBOO companies do this if it wasn’t making them money?

The great thing with the AdWords campaign is that you can see whether it is yielding results. If you are not closing sales and it isn’t worth the investment, you can change strategies without investing large sums of money.

• Run a marketing campaign

Get in front of your customers! The more people that see what you have to offer, the more customers you will create. Facebook campaigns are relatively cheap and have a wide reach! Consider running a special or send them something to think about. There are a number of ways to drum up business, so look into marketing your restaurant.

• Build your own customer database

The easiest sell is to a customer who has visited your restaurant and experienced the wonderful food and customer service. Your customer database is the single most important tool to help generate repeat business. Commission-based online ordering companies know how valuable the information is and this is why they refuse to share the information with you.

Conclusion

Protect your brand! If the above seems a little daunting, feel free to give us a call. We can help! In fact, as standard when integrating our online ordering system with your site, we will organise to take over the “fake” website and our consultant will talk to you about some simple changes and marketing techniques to help your business grow.

The post What is BrandJacking – Part II appeared first on Medi2Apps.

Just like the wolf pretended to be a grandma in the story of “Little Red Riding Hood”. Commission based online ordering systems are pretending to be you online ( BrandJacking ).

What is brandjacking and why does it happen?

Brandjacking is basically brand identity theft!  Its purpose is to get access to your customers (and convert them).  It sounds illegal. However, it is very common in the food and accommodation industry.

Initially, it started with keyword bidding for words directly related to a restaurant. So, when a customer typed the name of a restaurant into Google, the first ad was that of a commission-based online ordering (CBOO) company.  A consumer would click the ad thinking it was the restaurant page and be directed to the CBOO system website.

Consumers have become smarter and now, they often scroll past the ads to view the organic search results. So, to confuse people, the CBOO Companies have started creating websites claiming to be the “official” website for the restaurant.  Take for example “Tiger Asian Wok” in Kenmore. Their official website is http://www.tigersasianwok.com/. The menulog site is http://www.tigersasianwokkenmore.com.au/. The names are very similar and in the google search results you will find that the description for the menulog site is “Welcome to the official website of Tigers Asian Wok – Kenmore”. A bit misleading don’t you think?

Google Search Results for Tiger Asian Wok.

Does it really affect my business?

Think that it doesn’t affect your bottom line? Think again! These customers are looking for YOU. Not a Chinese restaurant in Kenmore, specifically you. Why? Because they like your food, they have heard great things about you or because they have seen your advertising and want to give you a go. When the CBOO company gets that business, they get 10%-15% of the order in commission. It isn’t for a customer that they have brought to you, it is for a customer that already wanted to choose you.

How can I find out whether it is happening to me and my business?

Google yourself! If your business has multiple websites, then the CBOO companies that you are using are probably ‘brand jacking’ you.

Another way is to do a domain name search.

What can you do?

Read our next post and we will tell you

The post BrandJacking – Part I appeared first on Medi2Apps.