Do you know what consumers think, talk, and share about your brand? If the answer is “no,” you may be in a lot of trouble without even knowing it…Yet! This article explores the importance of brand reputation for business success and how to manage it efficiently.
Brand reputation can say a lot about how well your business is doing. It represents what customers think and talk about you. And this can influence how many consumers will buy or not from you.
Like it or not, brand reputation can really make a difference between success and failure in business. That’s because data shows that 83% of consumers trust the recommendations of their peers over advertising when they make their purchasing decisions. So, it can take one poor experience with your brand for a negative review to influence many other potential customers to turn to your competitors for a similar product or service.
Think about it: when you need a certain product or service, where do you look for a referral? Like your audience, you likely ask your friends, family and read online reviews to see whether or not other people recommend a brand. So, can you blame your audience for checking your reputation before buying from you?
Keep reading below to find out exactly what brand reputation is and how you can manage yours!
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Brand reputation explained
First, let’s make sure we’re on the same page with what brand reputation really is.
In general, brand reputation is pretty much how your business is seen by everybody else, from consumers to industry rivals, stakeholders, and the market as a whole. It comprises the ideas and emotions that all market participants associate with your brand. Now, whether your audience associates your brand with positive or negative emotions and ideas dictates whether you have a good or bad reputation too.
A favorable brand reputation is linked to things like trust in a company and its products/ services, superior customer experiences, and loyalty. In contrast, a negative reputation is associated with poor customer experiences, unethical business practices, and
Overall, brand reputation can impact:
- Customer trust
- Customer loyalty
- Sales
- An edge over industry rivals
- Free word-of-mouth positive advertising
Why should you care about brand reputation?
Well, if the simple fact of ensuring that customers talk good about you isn’t enough, there’s one more strong reason why you should care about your business’s reputation: news spread fast.
The internet, websites, social media, and apps have all come with plenty of marketing opportunities that simply changed the way brands promote forever. However, they also all came with very high risk: negative experiences and reviews spread just as fast, if not quicker, than positive ones. At a time when everything can go viral in a matter of minutes, it’s crucial to make sure what people have good feedback to give about your brand.
Besides that, there’s one more market shift that now makes your reputation matter a lot: top talent job-seekers research a company before applying for an open position with that employer. In fact, data shows that 75% of job-seekers will research a company’s reputation before applying for a job. What’s more, 72% of recruiting specialists worldwide agree that employer brand can significantly impact hiring. So, a poor brand reputation doesn’t only keep customers away and make them turn to your competitors; it has the same effects on top talented employees.
4 best practices for efficient brand reputation management
The thing with today’s customers is that they no longer take your word when you say that your brand, products, and services are the best. Instead, they turn to their peers to see whether they have or not this opinion.
So, now you know what brand reputation is and why it matters for your business. But let’s see how also efficiently to manage it.
1. Be aware of what people say about you.
One of the best practices in managing your brand reputation is to see what people are talking about your business. In today’s digital world, the chances are that the first place where consumers will go to vent out about an experience with your brand will be online.
So, keep an eye on the big sites like social media channels and Google reviews. That’s usually where Internet users share their opinions about a brand. Regularly check post comments, relevant hashtags, reactions, and reviews sections.
2. Take a look at what consumers say about your competitors.
If you want to have a good reputation, you have to look beyond what people say about your company. It would be best if you also looked at what they’re saying about your competitors.
Monitoring your target audience’s experiences with your competitors is a great way to learn from your industry rivals’ mistakes and successes. You may find that consumers appreciate a specific thing about your competitor or hate another. Having this information will help you understand what consumers want and make better business decisions that will help your brand look better. Use a market research tool to look for information about popular brands in your industry that are your competitors to see what they are doing wrong or right.
3. Answer reviews
Simply knowing what people say about you online isn’t enough. The next step is the actual management of their reactions, whatever that means.
So, don’t just acknowledge that a customer had a poor experience with your brand/ product/ service. Respond to that and apologize, ask for recommendations, or, depending on the customer’s issue with your brand, find a solution to it. Similarly, don’t just read a positive review or comment of a satisfied customer. Respond to it and thank the customer for taking the time to share their thoughts.
4. Don’t get into online arguments.
We all know that the customer isn’t really always right. But, if you care about your brand reputation, don’t even try to find out who is right or wrong. Or, at least, don’t do it publicly in the comments section. Always remain respectful, professional, and friendly even when you know a customer is doing wrong to your brand. This will help you more in the long run than to wash your dirty linen in public.