As a business, the most important thing that you have to protect is your name. Your business brand is going to mean something to your audience, and if you aren’t keeping an eye on it, there is a chance that someone could take your name and impersonate you for their own personal gain on social media.
Social media is easy to join. Anyone can sign up for an account and use a profile photo that they choose from the internet. All they need is an email address, a name, and a password – and social media websites don’t verify the information before they allow you to set up an account. So, you could be running a very successful business and have a social media presence, but if you notice another account out there, then there is every chance that someone has taken your name and decided to roll with it.
This brand protection guide can help you to figure out what to do if this happens to you. Social media impersonation can lead to fraud, and your business name could be taken for granted and ran into the ground if you’re not careful! Your reputation is so important, and it can be so damaging if your business brand is used in a way that doesn’t reflect your business or isn’t real. Below, you’ll find out what you can do to figure out if someone is impersonating your brand.
- First, look for your business name on Facebook and across all over social media sites. Anyone who is taking your business name is going to be using either the exact name or something close. Look out for slight differences in spelling, different photos used and different likes or follower numbers.
- Next, check whether you find any impersonating profile and see whether you have mutual friends with the account. There is every chance that someone is adding people you know to pretend to be you and come off as authentic. Knowing whether you share mutual friends is a good way to narrow down who is impersonating you.
- If you do find profiles on any social media sites, reverse image search any pictures. A search engine knows how to cache an image and when you upload an image, the internet will tell you everywhere that the image is currently being used. This will let you see whether your brand is being splashed elsewhere.
- If you find profiles on any social media sites, report, report, report! It’s illegal – in fact, it’s fraud – to impersonate someone is a crime. Block and report any businesses that you see trying to be your business brand. You want this to be taken seriously and this means reporting it as soon as possible.
Your brand is yours alone, and you need to ensure that everything is as protected as possible. It’s vital that you are vigilant about things like this so that your brand remains watertight and looked after. Take the time to secure your brand, and you won’t have to worry about copycats trying to replicate your brilliance.
