Consumer behaviour is changing. That is neither a good thing nor a bad thing.
Technology has helped improve communication and now information travels at the speed of light. This includes information about your brand.
Thanks to technology, discussions about your business can happen anywhere online.
From a website’s comments area and forum thread to social media and instant chat platforms. Now, more than ever, your brand reputation is something that should not be taken lightly.
A shiny brand reputation can get more customers rallying to your business. It will help instil trust and confidence in your brand, build brand loyalty, and engender growth in revenue in the long run.
Conversely, a poor brand reputation can put potential customers off and even cost you existing customers. As you know, bad news travels like wild fire and so, a poor reputation can get to your potential customers before your ads and promotions will.
Knowing this, it makes sense for you to periodically check how your brand reputation online is stacking up against your personal expectation. What are consumers saying about your brand? What is their perception of your business?
Finding answers to those questions will give you an idea of how consumers feel about your brand.
But before that…
Do you – as a brand owner or manager – know what a positive brand reputation looks like? What are the features of good brand reputation? How can you tell if your brand management strategies are producing the right results?
Here are a few features of a well-managed brand:
- Demonstrated Expertise And Strong Thought Leadership
Every brand with a positive reputation is seen as an authority in their spheres. They are influential and the go-to for factual information. You find them in major news, talk shows, conferences, social media outlets, trade events and more.
- Solid Online Presence And Top-Quality Search
Brands with excellent reputation are usually featured at the top of search engine result pages. They are easy to find on social media channels, online forums, online business directories, blogs, etc. In a nutshell, they have solid online exposure. This makes them easy to trust.
- Strong Social Media Following
Brands with a positive reputation are characterized by a healthy social media following. A large social media attention is a sign that a lot of people think highly of the brand. These brands are also engaging and accessible online to their followers.
- Positive Reviews And Feedbacks
You can’t build a solid reputation without good social proof. This makes positive reviews a mark of a strong brand reputation. Brand with positive reputation engage with their customer reviews, whether they are good or bad.
Those are the four major features of brands with positive reputation. If your brand is lacking any of those traits, you might need to look into – or tweak – whatever factors may be causing it.
To build a positive brand reputation you need a brand management strategy. I have handpicked top 5 tips that, when applied correctly, will help improve your brand reputation.
You should sit with your brand manager and work out how you can incorporate these tips into your daily operations.
- Respond To And Manage Online Reviews
Why is responding to customer reviews important to brand reputation? It is because your customers’ perception of you greatly improves when you do. Did you know that 78% of customers believe that a brand cares about them when they respond to their reviews?
Top-rated brands are known to respond promptly to their customers’ feedback. And this makes it easy for them to build a strong brand loyalty.
If you care about your customers, show it. Responding to their reviews is one effective way to do it.
- Double Up On Your Content Marketing
Want to get your customers excited about your brand? Give them valuable information through content. People are always excited about getting useful information for free. So, positioning yourself as a source of great – and free – information is an effective way to stimulate your customers’ interest in your brand.
Your content could take the form of blog posts, infographics, videos, photos, ebooks, whitepapers, and social media posts.
Content marketing does two things for you…
One. Because it educates and excites your customers, it keeps them around long enough to instil trust in your brand.
Two. It positions you as an authority, expert, or thought leader in your industry.
Remember, the goal is to inform and excite – not to sell. Posting sales-y content will only turn your customers off.
- Focus On Your Customers’ Experience
What do your customers feel when they come in contact with and interact with your brand? What do they think about your business process? You must see the answer to these questions through the eyes of your customers. Only through their perspective can you know how well they esteem your brand.
Put more attention on your customer experience. Train your staff (even those who aren’t customer-facing) on how to treat your customers better. Evaluate your buying process. Is it too complicated, or too long? Are there steps that can be removed to make it easy for your customers?
If you don’t improve your customer experience, you might lose them to your competition.
- Include Customer Reviews On Your Site
Humans are social creatures. We are wired to do what others are doing and like what others like as this helps us fit into the “clan”. When many people like or say something good about a thing, it makes others want to associate with it.
Posting customer review on your site has the same effect. Customers trust the words of other customers than your promotions. So, instead of a long-winded post about how good your products/services are, add as many customer reviews to your site as you can.
You can post customer reviews on your site using review widgets. There are more than a few of those on the internet that can help you organize customer reviews on your website.
- Take Care Of Your Loyal Customers And Brand Advocates
Did you know that your loyal customers play an important role in your brand reputation? Besides the fact that they provide repeat business which sustains your profits, they can help you with free marketing.
Loyal customers and brand advocates can create buzz about your brand online. They can get others excited about your business and get their friends and family to give you a shot. You see what I mean by free marketing?
Engage with your loyal customers on a regular basis. Reach out to them and acknowledge them. Show them that you appreciate their loyalty. The outcome of doing this is worth a hundred times over the cost of nurturing them.
To be able to effectively communicate with your loyal customers, you need to know them. To know them you need to have data on them. To get their data you need an efficient and seamless system.
This is where SpotOn Wi-Fi comes in.
With SpotOn Wi-Fi you can easily collect customer data that will help you understand them better. Using the data you collect, you can create personalized messages that will speak to the hearts of your customers.
This way you can tell them about exclusive deals, loyalty programs, upcoming events, and more. Personalized communication will make your marketing more effective, and will increase the returns on your marketing investment.
To get started, contact us right away. We are eager to hear from you.
POSTED ON October 8, 2019Share:
