To find any kind of success with your business, it is vital that you take steps to improve your brand’s reputation. Businesses need to have a positive reputation with the public and their target customer otherwise it is very difficult to attract and retain customers, but how can you go about changing the way that you are seen? This is hard to control, and it can take some time to see results, especially if you have been unfortunate to have some negative blemishes on your reputation, but there are many effective strategies to use to improve your brand reputation and combining a few of these should have a significant impact on your reputation and help you to find new levels of success. Read on for a few of the best strategies if you are looking to improve your brand reputation.
Go the Extra Mile with Customer Service
A good place to start is with your customer service as this has arguably the biggest impact on brand reputation. Everyone will have had negative customer service experiences before and this is enough to put you off the brand for life and to warn others about the company, whereas when you have a positive customer service experience and feel valued, you are much more likely to return and recommend the brand. This is why you should be going the extra mile for your customers as well as offering a few different options, including email, phone, social media, and live chat.
Handle Complaints/Mistakes Effectively
Leading on from this point, another key factor when it comes to brand reputation is how you handle negative situations with customers such as a complaint or a mistake. Some businesses will do all that they can to avoid blame but this is incredibly frustrating as a customer and will harm your reputation. Instead, if you are honest, willing to take the blame and take action to remedy the situation and perhaps go one step further (such as a free gift), then this can work in your favour even despite the negative situation.
Use A Professional Web Design Agency
Another element that has a big impact on how you are seen by the world and your target customer is the company website. This is how you present your business, so it needs to be a website that is engaging, attractive and easy-to-use for visitors. These days, it is possible to build your own website, but it is always smarter to use a professional web design agency as they will know how to design and build a website that will be a positive representation of your brand, impress your target customer and convert visitors into customers.
Social Media
Social media can make or break a business in today’s day and age, so it is understandable that business owners are cautious on this platform and perhaps reluctant to use it. This is a shame, as it is not difficult to use social media in a productive manner and this can have an enormous impact on the success of your company. To improve your brand reputation, you should be sharing high-quality content (more on this below) without spamming or being overly promotional. You should also engage with your target customer by responding to comments and messages, encouraging likes, shares, and new followers, and using light humour to humanize the brand. Crucially, you should never post anything that could divide your followers or cause offense.
Create High-Quality Content
Content can be a smart way to increase your visibility online, show off your expertise, provide added value to your target customer and stand out from the crowd. You will want to think about topics that your target customer will find interesting, valuable and/or entertaining and use a variety of media to make the content stand above the competition. A few types of content that often work well and allow you to achieve the above include:
– How to guides
– News posts
– Interviews
– Q&As
– Explainer videos
– Listicles
– Slideshows
SEO
SEO remains an incredibly important form of digital marketing and one which can increase brand awareness, direct more traffic to your company website and improve your reputation. Consumers will see those that appear near the top of search engine results lists as the big players in the industry, so you need to do all that you can to improve your ranking online. For the best results, it is worth using the services of a digital marketing agency with experience in helping brands to reach the top.
Influencer Marketing
There is a lot that you can do to promote your own business, but it will always be more effective when it is coming from someone else especially if this is an influential person in your field. Influencer marketing has become one of the most popular forms of digital marketing in recent times and this is for good reason as it can have such a huge impact on both brand awareness and reputation. Finding someone with power, reach and influence in your industry and then getting them to promote your brand can build authenticity, help you to reach a much larger group and attract new customers to your business.
Customer Reviews
Following on from this, another smart way to get promoted by others is through customer reviews. You should encourage every customer to leave a customer review, even if this means that you have to do this with an incentive such as a percentage off their next purchase. Customer reviews can be helpful for showing that you are a reliable, trustworthy, and professional brand and give people an idea of what to expect when they use your brand and products/services.
Referral program
Similarly, you can also start a referral program as a way to encourage word-of-mouth marketing. Word-of-mouth marketing remains incredibly effective at building reputation and attracting new customers, so if you can get your existing customers to recommend your brand then you should notice significant improvement without having to put in too much effort.
Ask for Customer Feedback
It is also worth asking your customers for feedback from time-to-time. In addition to helping, you to identify the best improvements to make to your business, this also helps to show that you are a brand that values the input of its customers and wants to find ways to keep them happy.
Use Social Listening Tools
Following this, it is also helpful if you can learn what people are saying about your brand on social media as this is where you will find the most genuine feedback. It can be hard to read sometimes, but ultimately this will give you an idea of the best ways that you can improve as a business. This is possible with social listening tools that will allow you to monitor online mentions of your brand.
Get Involved with The Community
It is certainly important to build an online presence and to use digital marketing to increase your visibility, but you should not forget about more traditional marketing and creating real-life connections. Getting involved with the community can bring many benefits to your business, including creating strong relationships and building a positive reputation. There are many ways that you can get involved with the local community, such as:
– Hosting events
– Attending community events
– Partnering with local schools
– Partnering with local businesses
– Sponsorship
– Volunteering
Use Alternative Energy
It is important to be aware that today’s consumer is one that is eco-conscious and selective of the brands that they use. Many consumers will spend time researching a company and their practices before making a decision, so you will want to appeal to today’s eco-conscious consumer by reducing your environmental impact – there are also obvious environmental benefits and often cost-cutting benefits too. One of the best ways to do this is to switch to alternative energy, which could help you make huge savings over the long term. You can then post about this on social media to raise awareness and show that you are a business that cares about the environment.
Change Business Water Suppliers
Leading on from this, you can also switch water supplier to be more water efficient, which can also positively impact your reputation – again, you can post to social media to show the positive change that you have made. Businesses are free to choose their supplier since the market is deregulated and you can compare business water suppliers Scotland to find the best deal. This could also help you make big savings on your utility bill without any negative impact on the business.
Remote Work
Businesses that offer remote work opportunities can also develop a positive reputation amongst many other benefits for both staff and the business. In terms of reputation, remote work shows that you are a progressive, forward-thinking business and also one that cares about its staff wellbeing. Not only this, but remote work is another smart way to make your business greener so you can impress your target customer in a few different ways by offering remote work for your team.
Prioritise Employee Wellbeing
Following on from this, word gets around about how a business treats its staff particularly during the pandemic where many large companies have received negative publicity about the treatment of staff. You certainly do not want to be seen as a business that neglects staff and prioritizes money over wellbeing, so you should take steps to prioritise employee wellbeing and not just because of how this will make you look. When you prioritise employee wellbeing, it can greatly improve the performance of the business, keep staff happy and create a positive atmosphere that everyone can benefit from.
Stand Up for Important Causes
As this post shows, today’s consumer is becoming increasingly aware and passionate about issues around the world and spending more time researching businesses before using them. This is just one reason why you should be standing up for important causes and doing what you can to improve the situation. Of course, this is also a delicate area and you will want to get behind causes that your target customer feels passionate about and avoid anything that could be inflammatory, offensive, or too divisive.
Form Strong Relationships with The Media
The media has an enormous amount of influence, and you will want to do all that you can to get on the right side. This means that you should make an effort to form strong relationships through networking, consuming their output, and offering to work with them on relevant stories – if you can position yourself as an industry expert and someone that they can go to for quotes and information, this can have a big impact on how you are seen and a great way to promote your brand.
Stay Current
Finally, you need to make sure that you are staying current with your business. The world changes, and businesses that can modernize and keep up with consumer expectations, trends, and tech developments will always be appealing to those stuck in the past. Of course, the pandemic has changed a lot over the last year and the businesses that are thriving during this time are the ones that have been flexible, light on their feet and willing to adapt and change. Moving forward, you need to make a concerted effort to stay ahead of the curve and identify the best ways to keep your customers happy to improve your brand reputation.
This post should give you a few ideas for ways that you can improve your brand reputation. It is important to note that it will always take some time to develop or improve your reputation but combining a few of these strategies should help you get there faster and bring a range of other benefits to your company. When you can develop a positive reputation with your target customer and the wider world, it will help you take your company to new heights and compete with the bigger brands in your industry.
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