“Fake news” is not new but the topic certainly generated more headlines and attention that usual during the just concluded 2016 political campaign. How does your business deal with the threat?
Here are some ideas as provided by Carlton Doty, a B2C specialist, at Forrester Research:
- Don’t confuse satire or opinion with fabrication. Understand the difference between what is blatantly fabricated with ill intent vs. satirical (e.g. The Onion) or opinion-based publications. The risk to your brand differs across this spectrum, and so must your mitigation tactics.
- Automation is not your enemy. Marketers continue to embrace programmatic media buying because it is a cost effective way to buy ad space. But relying too heavily on 3rd parties to manage those buys adds brand risk associated with ad-fraud and fake news.
- Publishers are your partners. Relationships between advertisers and publishers have taken a backseat to data and technology partnerships since programmatic advertising has come in vogue. But marketers can help ensure they are buying quality, controllable digital inventory by building stronger publisher partnerships.
- Brand-appropriate context is priority #1. Marketers must start paying more attention to where their ads appear. The only meaningful way to protect your brand from issues like fake news and ad-fraud is to get more involved in programmatic decision-making.
Want to know more? Check out:
http://blogs.forrester.com/carlton_doty/17-01-12-what_advertisers_must_do_now_to_counter_the_fake_news_phenomenon
