Strategies to Improve Your Brand Reputation

Every company needs to consider its brand reputation as this will have a significant impact on the success of your business. Consumers will always opt for a brand that has a positive reputation because they know that they are more likely to have a positive experience as opposed to with a new company with no reputation or a business that does not have the best reputation. While it can take some time to develop a positive reputation (and ongoing effort), there are a few strategies that when combined together, should deliver results both in the long and short-term. Here are the main strategies to try. Increase Visibility with Digital Marketing The brands that are highly visible online are seen as authoritative and trustworthy brands, which means that you need to find a way to increase your visibility online. This is challenging, but digital marketing agencies will be able to boost your profile online through a variety of practices, such as:

SEO
PPC
Email marketing
Video marketing

Influencer Marketing Leading on from this, one of the most effective ways to improve your brand reputation in today’s day and age is with influencer marketing. Having someone with power and reach in your industry recommend your brand to their followers will build credibility, as well as open you up to a much larger audience. This should help you to attract new customers and improve your reputation at the same time. Show Your Expertise with Quality Content Businesses in today’s digital age need to create content that is geared towards their target audience, which can be used to increase your visibility, promote your brand, and show your expertise. The key is to make your content stand out, which will involve using a variety of media and creating content that your target audience will find entertaining and/or valuable. This might include:

Explainer videos
Product demos
How to guides
Slideshows
Interviews
Live Q&A sessions
Infographics

Increase Social Media Engagement Practically every business has a presence on social media, but very few use these platforms effectively, and they can be incredibly effective at improving the reputation of your brand. You will want to increase social media engagement by sharing quality content, encouraging likes, shares and follows and participating in discussions. Humor can be a highly effective way to increase social media engagement. Still, you must also be careful never to post anything that could be deemed offensive and try to retain professionalism at all times. Conflict Resolution Planning Following on from this, it is impossible to please everyone, and there will likely be some comments that highlight an issue that a consumer has had with your business (you can find these with social listening tools). Conflict resolution planning involves having a strategy in place for these situations, usually with an emphasis to move the conversation away from the public platform. Identity Verification In a time where fraud and cybercrime are huge issues, businesses need to take action to verify who their customers are to protect the business and customers. Knowing your customer (KYC) is a set of processes that a business will take to verify the identity of their customers with a high level of assurance, which is helpful for protection but also showing that a business is trustworthy and cares about protecting its customers, so understanding KYC is crucial for brand reputation. Ask for Feedback You can also improve the reputation of your brand by asking your customers for feedback. This will help you to identify areas of the business that could be improved (along with what you are doing well). Still, it is also helpful in terms of showing that you value the input of your customers which is a great way to improve your reputation. Testimonials Leading on from this, obtaining reviews and testimonials from your customers is a highly effective way to improve the reputation of your brand and show that you are trustworthy. These days, reviews are one of the first things that someone will look for when deciding whether to use a brand or not so it is important to seek as many as you can and to make these highly visible. Provide Unbeatable Customer Service How a brand is perceived by consumers is heavily influenced by how the business interacts during customer service. Everyone has had bad customer service experiences as a consumer, and these can leave a bad taste and put you off a brand for life, even if they have high-quality goods and services. Conversely, everyone remembers the brands that made them feel important and valued, which shows why customer service is so important. Even if you make a mistake, if you are honest, friendly, and take swift action, you can improve your reputation and retain customers. Stand for A Cause There are many issues around the globe, and consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of these and selective of the brands that they use. This is why it is a smart idea to use your platform to stand for a real cause that everyone will get behind – in addition to doing good in the world, this can also show that you are a brand that cares which will improve your reputation and help you to attract more customers to your business. Support the Local Community Following this, you can also improve your reputation by supporting the local community. This will show that you are a brand that cares and can help you to make strong connections with consumers and businesses in the local area. There are many different ways that you can do this, such as:

Attending community events
Hosting your own events
Offering work experience to students in the area
Forming strategic alliances with local businesses
Using local suppliers
Raising money for local charities
Sponsorship

These are all effective ways to improve the reputation of your brand. When combined together, they should deliver noticeable results in both the long and short-term and help to take your business forward and attract more customers.