How to build a formidable brand reputation
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A brand’s reputation is essential and how your brand is viewed by its competitors and customers can make or break it. Customers know how to do their homework and getting an idea of a brand’s reputation has never been easier. Negative reviews, comments, social media posts will all contribute to your business failing to thrive, so to ensure that you are building nothing but a strong and positive reputation consider some of these steps.
Get noticed
Before you can even think about building a positive reputation, you must first be recognisable enough to have a reputation. If customers do not know who you are and what you do how can you expect them to have an opinion on you, let alone a reputation. First of all, you want to spend some time (and money) on cultivating distinctive brand assets and standing out from the crowd to enable you to start building a winning reputation that customers connect with your brand.
Focus on customer experience
Unfortunately, a dissatisfied customer is more likely to take to social media or leave a negative review than a satisfied customer. Negative experiences and reviews and in turn your reputation will gather quickly if you do not focus on the customer. The good news is even a dissatisfied customer can quickly become a satisfied one if their negative experience is dealt with efficiently and satisfactorily. Ensure that you dedicate sufficient time and resources to stellar customer services. Further, invest your time in following up with customers with a view to persuading them to leave reviews on your website and socials. A top tip is to be sure to respond to every comment or review that has been left. It is an easy and effective strategy that allows customers to feel valued and cared about.
Become an industry leader
This sounds harder than it is, so bear with it. Becoming an industry leader or thought provoker can be achieved with some simple and effective marketing techniques. One of the most effective ways you can do this is through the content you produce and by carefully choosing the people who represent your brand. If you go down the route of influencer marketing then be sure to only collaborate with people who are going to have a positive impact on your brand’s reputation and that their ethos and mentality is commensurate with your brand’s desired reputation.
When it comes to the content you produce you want to ensure that it is relevant, innovative, thought-provoking and something that will add value to your customers day to day life. It needs to be of high quality and speak directly to your clientele. For example, if you are in the education sector then all content will need to be factually and grammatically accurate and of the highest standard, to appeal to your customer. Conversely, if your brand is aimed at a younger more informal client base then your content should reflect this. It should be more jovial and topical, consider whether using emojis and colloquial language that will resonate with your desired audience is appropriate. The more directly and appropriately you can aim your content at your audience the more authority you will gain as an industry leader with something worth saying.