Brand reputation is the most important intangible asset a business has. Customers choose brands with a good reputation over the other options because they exude trust and loyalty, so investing your time and effort in developing a solid and positive perception of your brand by customers is a must in any field.
If you are just starting out in the commercial world or have been here for a while, you need to build the most positive image in the eyes of your customers and partners. This article will tell you about 4 main factors that influence your brand’s reputation, so be sure to pay the utmost attention to them.
Word of mouth
Word of mouth (WOM) is one of the biggest factors affecting consumer behavior at every marketing funnel stage. It influences the way people perceive a brand, its products, and services and ultimately drives their purchasing decisions.
Although word of mouth is a natural, organic process that happens spontaneously, it can be amplified by brands that use different strategies to prompt consumers to talk about their experience with the company’s products and services. These tactics include customer loyalty programs that encourage repeated business and provide platforms to provide user feedback, competitions, and giveaways, among others.
Typically, word of mouth is triggered by an above-and-beyond positive experience that a company provides its customers. This can be a standout meal, an empathetic and helpful customer service representative, or a cool new product that easily solves a problem. This type is extremely powerful because it’s more likely to inspire consumers to try your product or service. It can also lead to long-term brand loyalty and a strong reputation. This strategy was one of the reasons why more and more students call a service like paperhelp reliable and trustworthy for their study tasks.
Word of mouth is a cost-effective marketing channel because it’s free, and happy customers act as the brand’s marketers by promoting the product to their network. Additionally, WOM can have a high impact and is more believable than traditional marketing channels because it comes from trusted sources.
Online reputation
Context – The internet is full of information, and your online reputation reflects people’s opinions about you based on what they find. This can be from a simple Google search, social media mentions, and even reviews on Yelp. The job of controlling these factors is known as search engine optimization (SEO) and it is an arduous task. Some things can be monitored in-house but others, such as generating backlinks, should be done by a specialized agency. This link building agency will do the difficult work, and can guide you in improving your content.
Your online reputation is not under your control, so staying on top of what is being said about you is very important. Having a good reputation online helps inspire customer loyalty and can help your business grow significantly. However, a negative perception can have the opposite effect.
Building a positive reputation takes time, but the work doesn’t stop once you have established your brand online. Monitoring and managing your reputation is crucial, as it can make or break a buyer’s decision.
There are many ways to monitor your online reputation, and some are more effective than others. Some methods include paid ads, social media management, and PR outreach. By using these tools, you can ensure that all of your content is relevant and accurate and that any negative comments or reviews are being addressed promptly and professionally. You can also focus on building your ‘owned assets’ by creating quality content and increasing them with SEO to improve your search rankings. This is one of the most cost-effective ways to boost your brand perception, and it can significantly impact your sales.
Social media image
In a world where anything can go viral in a heartbeat, social media is an integral part of reputation management. It can make or break a brand’s reputation in the blink of an eye. A single negative comment can be magnified to the point where it is impossible to recover. The good news is that a positive reputation on social media leads to customer loyalty and trust, which in turn leads to sales.
It is important to track key metrics to ensure your business’s social media reputation is up to par. This can be done using a dashboard tool like Cyfe. Providing quality content that supports your company’s reputation is also important. This can be achieved through thorough keyword research and content creation that aligns with your business’s overarching ROI goal.
Another important aspect of social media reputation is social listening. Social media intelligence tools can help companies monitor brand mentions and discussions on various platforms. These tools can help marketers discover sentiment, aspects, visual insights and trends, and more.
Customer Service
The quality of customer service plays an essential role in building or ruining the reputation of any business. A renowned brand with the best products can lose customers to its close competitors in a heartbeat if they are known for bad customer service. Fortunately, if you have an empathetic team of customer support reps who can quickly resolve issues for your clients, they can keep your reputation intact and even turn dissatisfied customers into loyal brand advocates.
However, delivering great customer experience is more than just a public relations strategy. In addition to helping your customer base, it’s a critical way to boost your company’s bottom line. In fact, a recent study revealed that customers with a good customer service experience were more likely to spend money on the brand again and recommend it to others.
While there is a lot of overlap between the terms “customer experience” (CX) and “customer service,” the former is often used to describe the entire buying journey from start to finish. At the same time, the latter refers to specific customer-facing activities, such as troubleshooting and technical assistance.