Brand reputation is one of the most important assets a company could own. It is instrumental in customer loyalty, sales generation and building faith in the market. However, developing and maintaining a great reputation doesn’t simply happen overnight. It takes careful consideration, hard work, and long-term strategic action.
Whether you want to improve your brand image or need help addressing obstacles that have held your brand back, this guide is aimed at giving you practical takeaways on how to build a brand reputation that wins in a market overcrowded with competition.
Why Brand Reputation Matters
Consider the brands you love the most. What comes to mind? Presumably, these brands have garnered your trust with great products or services, strong messages, and allegiance to their core values.
A positive brand reputation:
- Establishes Trust: People will only purchase from a brand that seems trustworthy.
- Draws Talent: The best talent wants to work for a good company, and employees like working for a recognized name.
- Generates Word-of-Mouth Marketing: Satisfied customers will naturally put in good words on the street for your brand, increasing visibility and growth.
- Builds Resilience: Organizations that have gained a good reputation are in a stronger position to manage crises or setbacks when they occur.
Understanding how to build brand reputation effectively can deliver all these benefits and more.
Important Things to Help You Build A Brand Reputation
Define Your Brand’s Identity
The identity of your brand is the backbone of your reputation. Without a well-developed sense of who you are as a business, it’s that much harder to communicate a clear and consistent message to your audience. Begin with these questions:
- What is your brand’s mission and ethos?
- What challenges do you help your customers overcome?
- What sets you apart from your competition?
Create a brief, true brand story that conveys your story, your why, and the meaning of what you do. This identity will inform everything from how you market to how you talk to your customers.
An example is the outdoor gear and clothing brand Patagonia, which has made a name for itself through environmental activism. Their mission statement — “We’re in business to save our home planet” — is reflected in the deeds, from their line of sustainable products to donations to climate causes. It’s also clear, authentic, and resonant with their audience.
Knowing your brand identity is foundational to how to build brand reputation from the inside out.
Provide the Best Products or Services
There’s only so much even the best-run marketing campaign can do without a good product. Developing a brand reputation starts from a foundation of offering products/services that really do meet or exceed your customers’ needs.
Learn to understand your customers, gather feedback, and constantly innovate. When what you offer ‘just works’ better than anything else out there in terms of quality, ease of use, or price, your customers will sing your praises louder than any paid advertiser.
Apple is a tremendous case study. The precision they put into designing an in-depth functionality to the user experience has enabled them to cultivate a worldwide fan base that is ever-ready to have a new product launched.
Delivering superior products is a non-negotiable when learning how to build a brand reputation that lasts.
Offer High Quality Customer Service
It all depends on how you’re treated by customer service. It is not only about solving problems; it’s also about the way you make your clients feel on the way. Positive, memorable experiences are shared, and customers talk.
Key customer service tips:
- Answer enquiries and complaints in a timely manner.
- Encourage your team to exercise empathy and listening skills when it comes to customers by coaching them hon ow to do so.
- Exceed expectations in problem solving.
- Leverage consumer feedback for positive change.
For instance, you never hear of anyone who has bad service on Zappos. Customers post heartwarming stories of Zappos reps going way above and beyond the call of duty to make people happy, from helping a bride score last-minute wedding shoes to helping stranded travelers with deliveries.
Outstanding service plays a critical role in how to build brand reputation through meaningful customer experiences.
Establish Your Strong Virtual Presence
Build isopropanol, you need to get more proactive about creating a strong online presence.
Your website will likely be the first experience a potential customer has with your business, so make it a great one. An online identity that is steady and accessible creates a sense of reliability and assertiveness.
Ways to increase online visibility:
- Build a fast, user-friendly, and SEO-optimized website, filled with all the details about your company.
- Get active on the social media channels where your potential readers are.
- Consistently distribute high-quality, valuable content via blogs, videos, or newsletters.
- Be consistent across brand, tone, and messaging in all your channels.
Take Nike, for example, which does a masterful job using social media to portray an inclusive and inspiring picture. It’s their push for user-generated content, powerful narrative, and reactive involvement, which allows them to remain relevant in a crowded market.
Your online footprint is a central element of how to build a brand reputation in the digital age.
Maximize Your Use of Reviews and Testimonials
Word of mouth and customer reviews carry a great of weight in purchasing decisions in today’s world. Based on the fact that 93% of consumers read reviews online before making a purchase, the reputation you develop on review sites becomes very important.
Here’s how you can efficiently handle reviews:
- Provide incentives to happy customers to review you positively.
- Check sites such as Google, Yelp, and Trustpilot for fresh reviews.
- Respond professionally to negative reviews and provide solutions.
- Feature customer feedback on your website and in marketing material.
A great example is Airbnb. They accept reviews from hosts as well as guests, which ensures an open and equal feedback process that builds trust in their community.
Positive customer reviews are among the fastest ways on to build brand reputation through social proof.
Practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
With all these CSR ideas in place, you might just want to do a little bit of brand building for your company.
Modern consumers want brands to make a positive impact on society. When you take part in CSR projects, you don’t just help people, you also get the opportunity to make a name for your brand as a good-hearted company.
Examples of CSR efforts:
- Altruism: Donate a share of sales to charity.
- Make your supply chain sustainable.
- Collaborate with community-based organizations for community programming.
Below, Ben & Jerry’s is an example of that prospect. The company’s vocal support of social justice causes, campaigning on issues including climate action and racial equality, has solidified the company’s image as a values-based company.
CSR is a values-driven approach that reinforces your identity and teaches how to build brand reputation with purpose.
Actively Manage Crises
There is no immunity from challenges in business, but the way you handle challenges can shape your legacy. Customers appreciate candor and action, especially in the face of stray bullets.
A crisis management plan will be effective if it includes:
- Transparency and recognition of the problem.
- Making updates through official channels frequently.
- Approach the situation head-on in an effort to solve the problem and avoid the same mistakes in the future.
For instance, when the emissions cheating scandal emerged at Volkswagen in 2015, it led to widespread outrage at the company being caught cheating the system. There were rejections and denials, but for the most part, the eventual acceptance of responsibility, investment in technology improvements, and marketing transparency made a dent in their confidence over time.
Reputation recovery and resilience are vital lessons in how to build brand reputation during adversity.
Long-Term Brand Building Tips
Consistency, patience, and being proactive are essential to keeping a brand’s reputation over the years. To keep your brand strong:
- Gather feedback about how the public perceives you on a consistent basis, such as through surveys or social listening tools.
- Remain flexible and adapt to changing customer demands.
- Highlight customer success stories and focus on the voice of the customer.
- Always remain true to your brand roots.
These are long-term habits that solidify how to build a brand reputation across generations.
Your Business Image Begins Today
Building a spectacular brand reputation is a relentless process that takes courage to pull off. By prioritizing providing value, listening to your audience, and remaining true to your core mission, your name can become synonymous with trust, respect, and a recommendation to others.
Ready to increase the reputation of your brand? So, begin implementing these power-packed strategies now and watch your business grow.
