Brand impersonation attacks affect everyone. The fact is 85 percent of all organizations have been...
Repetition develops habits, and habits repeated enough times turn into reflex. In other words, repetition creates muscle memory. The 10,000-hour rule says it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery. Consider that Americans received 50.5 billion robocalls in 2021, a 10 percent increase over 2020. In May 2022 alone, Americans received nearly 4 billion robocalls, 2.2 billion of which were unwanted (scams or spam). Of those unwanted robocalls, 1.2 billion were classified as scams. If 10,000 hours of practice leads to mastery, a couple billion reps of spam and scam robocalls has conditioned American consumers to reflexively ignore the phone when it rings. That’s why only 19 percent of Americans answer the line when an unknown caller rings. In fact, only 67 percent even bother to check the voicemail from an unknown caller, leaving 14 percent of those calls going completely ignored. Now apply those rates to a brand’s outbound marketing over the phone. How should it feel about its odds of making a meaningful connection over the phone?
In this article, we cover:
- The muscle memory American consumers form from brand impersonation campaigns.
- The continued importance of outbound call campaigns for successful business.
- What enterprises should seek in brand protection services.
This isn’t to say that voice outreach is dead. Far from it. Eight-two percent of buyers accept meeting with sellers who cold call. Fifty-seven percent of C-level buyers prefer to be contacted by phone. Salespeople who state their intent for calling have a 2.1x higher success rate. Therein lies the rub. In a world where the proliferation of scam and spam robocalls renders caller ID as sure a thing as “caller unknown,” consumers need assurances to feel comfortable answering a ringing line.
Though STIR/SHAKEN initially reduced the amount of monthly robocalls by way of better authentication protocols and more reliable caller ID, it hasn’t managed to break the dark cloud of unwanted robocalls that looms over consumers and businesses each and every day. This is where brand reputation management comes into play. Enterprises and communication service providers must do everything they can to take the ambiguity out of the authentication process to ensure calls — even branded calls — are reliable.
What To Look For In A Brand Protection Service
STIR/SHAKEN as a means of authentication was necessary — table stakes in the mitigation of unwanted robocalls. But it’s only the front line of defense. Out-of-band authentication, on the other hand, enhances what STIR/SHAKEN starts by weeding out some of the false-positives that occur. YouMail Protective Servicesis an out-of-band solution for enterprises and carriers that can shut down unlawful voice and SMS communications and reinforce brand reputation.
When we talk about brand reputation, we’re talking about the corrosive effect of unauthorized brand name usage over the voice channel through unwanted robocalls. The more imposter traffic is allowed to endure, the more a business’s brand image and company reputation are sullied. That’s thousands if not millions of unwanted robocalls chipping away at potential customers’ confidence in the brand that is supposedly originating the call. And when the legitimate brand does attempt to engage in outbound marketing or support, its efforts are far more likely to fall into that category of unanswered and flat out ignored.
Enterprises should seek a turn-key solution that not only mitigates damage, but also recurrence of brand abuse. A comprehensive solution should incorporate alerts, reporting, and even litigation support to stop bad actors in their tracks.
Adopting A Meaningful Brand Protection Strategy
A meaningful brand protection strategy also includes surveillance of brand identity over the voice channel. It monitors and detects explicit unauthorized brand name mentions in vishing scams as well as implied brand relationships. When potential trademark infringement or inappropriate brand mentions occur, it’s extremely useful to be able to gauge the severity of the impersonation campaign by seeing detail such as call volume.
To stop bad actors from spoofing calls and muddying brand reputation, enterprises and service providers must consider supplementing their fraud-prevention efforts with brand protection services such as YouMail Protective Services. We detect and eliminate imposter traffic by protecting brand image, company reputation, and customer relationships. YouMail Protective Services’ patented technology provides zero-hour identification of unwanted robocalls to stop bad-actor campaigns in their tracks.
To learn more about how spoofed cell phone numbers adversely affect your brand reputation, download our white paper on know your customer technology, or schedule a demo with YouMail Protective Services today.
