COMMONWEALTH ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGIES
3 Ways to Improve Brand Reputation 01
TODAY'S DISCUSSION Having a “reputation” isn’t something that only high school kids are concerned with in terms of their social lives. Your brand reputation has a direct impact on the success of your business: over 60% of consumers say that negative reviews make them turn away from a business and look elsewhere for their needs.On the other hand, with 97% of consumers checking reviews on a business before working with them, imagine how helpful (and profitable) it is for you when those reviews and that online reputation is stellar.
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So what can you do to improve brand reputation? Keep reading for a few simple ways to do just that.
What Is Brand Reputation? Before we get into the methods, let’s get the definition of the term clear. Brand reputation, in short, is how a brand or a business is viewed by consumers, other businesses, clients, employees, etc. It’s how you appear and are thought of by others. This reputation can be either good or bad. A brand with an overall positive brand reputation is one where customers consistently come back to that company for the product/service. They receive good reviews and ratings both online and by word-of mouth. When there’s an issue or someone has a negative experience, they sincerely apologize and make it right. All of this contributes to a positive brand reputation. It shows that the brand/business listens to and cares about their consumers by listening to them and putting out quality products/services. A bad reputation, on the other hand, essentially does the opposite. Perhaps a company with a bad brand reputation has a low-quality product/service. This can lead to negative experiences, reviews, and perceptions of your brand. Not only that, but if the company doesn’t adjust their actions or policies after these bad experience, it will continue to hurt their reputation.Now that you know the details and some examples, let’s look at a few ways you can build a great reputation for your brand/business.
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1. GO GREEN
04 This might seem unrelated, but hear us out. Lots of consumers — in fact, 88% of them — want to buy from and work with brands that are environmentally conscious. And with climate change and environmental issues rated as the number one global concern by millennials (the current largest consumer demographic), it’s critical that your business embraces going green. This does a few things for your brand reputation. Firstly, it shows that you’re listening to the wants and needs of your clients and potential clients, which is crucial for improving your reputation. Secondly, consumers are more likely to buy (and spend more!) on products from sustainable and environmentally conscious companies. This means that, if you go green, you’ll likely have a higher consumer base than if you weren’t “green”. And, if your product and business is good, a high amount of positive word-of-mouth and online reviews to also boost your brand reputation. How can you go green? It could be as simple as employing commercial energy efficiency strategies such as conducting an energy audit and implementing the recommendations. You could also try company recycling campaigns, donating to environmental non-profits, installing solar panels, keeping up with solar panel maintenance, and installing environmentally-friendly appliances. Whatever you choose, be sure that your customers, and the rest of the world, know what you’re up to via social media posts, your website, etc.!
2. SOCIAL LISTENING Speaking of social media, social listening is essentially a fancy way of saying “monitor your brand.” You should consistently check the comments on your blogs/social media posts, look at reviews, look at your tags on Twitter/Instagram, etc. But this review process, known as social monitoring, is just the first part of the social listening process. You don’t want to only look; you want to listen and learn. Analyze what you read. Are people mentioning you in a positive way? A neutral way? Are they badmouthing a product? Saying they got bad service? Or, on the other hand, are you not appearing on social media platforms at all? Are you lacking mentions, reviews, and comments? Social listening involves monitoring and learning from that process. This process will boost your reputation by showing that you’re a company that is actively looking to hear from its customers and potential customers. This can also show you where you need to increase your social media presence, where you’re faltering with your business, and where your competitors are doing better than you. Once you know this data and information, you’ll be able to make adjustments that will benefit your reputation overall. 05
3. RESPOND AND ADJUST TO NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
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Along the same lines of the previous tip, nothing shows that you’re truly listening quite like a respectful and courteous response. If you see a negative review or see a bunch of negative feedback on a certain product or service, we understand that it stings. Your instinct might be to be defensive or try and silence the negativity, but this will only hurt your reputation and your business in the long run. Instead, take a deep breath. Collect yourself. And craft a response that’s apologetic for their bad experience and pledges to make adjustments so it doesn’t happen again. This is free for you to do and it does wonders for your reputation. Thirty percent of consumers respond positively to a brand when they respond to reviews and 89% of consumers actively read business responses to reviews. Responding in a courteous and responsive way shows that you listen to your customers and that you’re willing to adjust to fit the needs and concerns of the people you’re serving. All of this will help to boost your reputation as a company that listens and cares about your customer’s experience. Improving your brand reputation isn’t always about selling the best product or having the biggest and best marketing campaigns. Sometimes it can be as simple as responding kindly to someone who didn’t have a great experience with your brand or proactively taking steps to make the world a better place beyond the services you offer. Over time, these actions will make your brand one that people want to connect with and remain loyal to.
SOURCES https://statuslabs.com/reputation-management-stats-2019/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/solitairetownsend/2018/11/21/consumers-want-you-to-help-them-make-adifference/#1fade4ea6954 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/this-is-what-millennials-want-in-2018/ https://mediakix.com/blog/what-is-a-millennial-demographics-statistics/ https://comelectrical.com/service/energy-efficiency/ https://comelectrical.com/service/solar-maintenance-program/ https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/ 07
