What is Brand Reputation?
Brand reputation is what people generally think and believe about a company. This can affect customers, stakeholders, and obviously the public. And, many times, it gets mixed up with terms like brand sentiment and brand perception as they’re all influenced by how the company is viewed.
But what really makes up this brand reputation?
From what has been observed, a company’s reputation depends on what it does and converses.
Again, when we see a few more questions like –
Do they have good products and services?
How do they treat their customers and employees?
Are they good for the environment and society?
The answers to these questions help create a company’s brand reputation Management or brand reputation strategy, and it’s visible, even if they don’t show everything about it.
Sometimes, a brand’s actions don’t match what people believe online, which is unfortunate. This occurs when negative things appear when you search for a company. It might be bad reviews or a big news story about a problem a brand may or may not have. But to be honest, this can seriously hurt a brand’s positive reputation.
Don’t forget how important this is. As your brand’s online presence has the power to influence everything in your business, people will have their eyes on your business and what you do. And, before we talk about good ways to handle your brand’s reputation, let us see, why it’s a big deal.
Why Brand Reputation is important?
Whether you’re the big boss, who handles the finances or know about marketing in a big company, you are likely to realize the significance of having a strong brand reputation. A recent study through a well-known Consulting firm found that about 45% of people believe that if negative search results are reduced, the brand’s worth could increase. And not just it, more than 40% of people said this could bring in more customers for the company.
However, do you know why it’s important to have a good brand reputation? Let’s see how reputation can affect various aspects of your business.
From the customer’s point of view –
You know, or you may not, but that’s true that every year, many businesses spend lots of money to make their brands and try to keep their influence over how their customers view them. Also, they invest heavily in programs to keep customers loyal and happy with the brand.
But the other part of the story is – that even though these efforts might change how people think in real life, they remain way far from changing their customer’s perception of their brand online.
But, when customers find the brand’s online presence, its online reputation could end up mattering more than what the company wanted to show.
If people find negative reviews of your business on Google, they might decide not to buy from you. And it gets even worse when a few bad reviews start spreading fast. This is because if a customer is unhappy and sees others have the same issue, they’re more likely to leave negative comments on review sites.
Bad comments aren’t only found on review sites. There are many social networks, that have several mentions of brands, including complaints, that happen quickly. These negative statements, comments, or whatever you say, could make people trust the brand less, seriously damage its reputation, and with no obvious could affect customer loyalty.
And believe, this can affect your expensive digital marketing campaigns to give you less value for the money that you spend.
Through the employee’s point of view –
There are few websites such as Glassdoor where employees can share job reviews. This is where employees can easily influence how others view your brand. However, employees who are upset can also write untrue or Glassdoor negative reviews about your company and its leaders. If these bad reviews show up on the first page of Google, it could become tough for you to attract true talents. So it is important to remove Negative Glassdoor reviews from the employee’s point of view.
When people looking for jobs check on Google, they might not only see your low star rating but also read the negative comments. This is why it’s very important to address issues quickly and respond to bad comments on your profile. A recent survey in the U.S. showed that more than 60% of potential employees changed their opinion about a company when the company responded to their reviews in public.
From an investor’s point of view
Investors are of great value to any company. Every company needs investors for different reasons like hiring employees, entering new markets, getting expert advice, and yes, getting money.
But what do these investors want in return?
They just want the company to keep growing steadily.
Many investors think that having a bad reputation is problematic.
In fact, 38% of high-ranking managers think that the results you see when you search online are related to how much shareholders trust the company. So, if your brand doesn’t have a good reputation, your shareholders might decide to take away their investment.
So, we guess, it makes pretty clear how important it is to maintain a good online reputation of your brand.
Best practices to follow
The way people see your company influences everything you do. Whether you’re fixing things after a big problem or stopping issues before they happen, having a good plan to manage your reputation is very important.
So, we’ll see about 3 best things that you can consider to keep your brand’s reputation in good shape. But remember, these ideas aren’t everything you need to do. Just think of them as steps to see how you can look online even better.
Try your best efforts make your customers happier
For your brand to be well thought out, your business should have minimal problems with how customers feel about it. To avoid most issues, focus on making customers have a great experience all the way through.
Here are a few things that you must consider:
Offer good products and services
Don’t cut corners on quality to save money. If you have done something like this, probably, it’s time for you to rethink those decisions before customers complain.
Don’t complicate things and keep buying things easy for your customers
People don’t like waiting in line or struggling at the checkout. They find it very annoying. Whether you have lots of stores or a big online shop, customers want to pay quickly when they find what they want. If you don’t have any streamlined process, facing such problems can make your potential customers leave without buying, whether in the store or online.
Customer support stands on priority
Customers might need help using your services or fixing problems with the products they got from you, so don’t make them wait. It’s better to spend more on customer service than to risk getting bad reviews.
Make returning things and getting money back simple
A sure way to get a bad review is to waste customers’ time and money. If they want a refund, don’t argue. Yes, your profits might go down, but if you make it easy for them, they might buy from you again. If you refuse, they’ll leave a bad review that might keep your other customers away as well.
With so many choices available, your customers will remember your company, your brand – that did more to give them a really good experience.
Watch out for people talking about your brand
Companies that are truly big, get stated thousands of times every day on the internet. These talks about can come from customers, reporters, famous people, or even other companies. They can show up on websites, blogs, social media sites, places where people review things, or even in regular news articles. Usually, they’re a good way to make more people know about your brand and get more people interested.
However, these statements can also be a big problem if they connect your brand to a problem, like a bad news article, or if they say bad things about your brand compared to another company.
So, it’s very important to regularly keep track of these mentions to make sure your brand’s reputation is okay. And it’s not just about paying attention to social media. You need technology to figure out if the said things about your brand are positive or negative. Make your plans on how to answer in the right way, and a team to handle what’s being said about your company outside of your company.
Deal with customer reviews professionally
Most shoppers (that could be around 84 percent) check online reviews before they buy something. So, it’s really important to deal with them the right way. Responding to customer reviews might seem easy, but it needs careful thought. If a customer leaves a mean complaint on sites like Yelp or TrustPilot, you might want to strongly defend yourself. Actually, brand leaders often take negative reviews personally. But don’t get enraged and respond irritably because that can make the criticism seem more believable.
Instead, let the person know that you understand and want to fix things. Show that you care and mean it and suggest discussing things privately to find a solution. Usually, it’s easier to solve the issue over the phone than through emails or online comments.
And don’t focus so much on complaints that you forget about the positive reviews. If a customer takes the time to leave a nice, positive review about your brand, it’s definitely a good idea to reply and thank them.
Reputation management with the help of experts & how much time it takes!
Sadly, you can’t just press a button to make online search results disappear, that’s take time.
Taking care of your branding and reputation management needs your patience, time, work, and a well-thought-out plan with experts.
If a company promises to quickly fix your reputation for very little money, you should consider the possible problems that might come with such a cheap offer.
Your customers, investors, and employees trust Google to help them choose trustworthy brands.
So, you must choose your experts wisely, and only those who have the best track record in the market can do this job.
We have a small but worthy recommendation for you.
You can go with IBRANDtech – they have been in this field for a long time and have earned a strong reputation in this domain.
If you truly care about your online reputation management – the best thing you can do for now is to contact them today and, let them take control of your brand’s reputation.
