Going Through the Whole Process of Brand Reputation Management
Brand reputation management is defined by the techniques and activities within an organization with the purpose of creating and maintaining a certain perception about the brand in the eyes of the public.
The entire process of managing a brand’s reputation revolves around what people are saying or feeling about the business. Businesses identify the public opinion and take steps to generate a perception that is aligned with the business vision and goals.
It is widely reported that reputation heavily impacts buying decisions of consumers. Nowadays, businesses thrive on reputation. A good reputation increases the value of a company, and becomes more attractive to customers. Effective brand reputation management can be divided into three phases: building, maintaining and recovering.
Reputation building: this is the first and foundational stage for all businesses. Here, businesses focus on generating a public image that is ideally aligned with the company’s principles. This should establish a strong foundation for brand reputation. The first steps of reputation building include creating the brand and making it visible via:
- A website
- Having a social media presence on popular platforms
- Monitoring what people are saying about the brand
Reputation maintenance: Preservation of a reputation that has been built is much easier and cheaper than recovery from a damaged one. Reputation maintenance is an ongoing process that can be achieved through multiple methods:
- Get your name out there on relevant websites by guest posting or providing valuable content.
- Have a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that will keep your brand at the top of search results.
- Maintain an active social presence, by providing different types of content, on your website and social profiles as well.
Reputation recovery: with such an expansive online world, every business will have to face a reputational crisis. Such an instance can come in different forms from bad ratings, negative reviews to direct accusations from competitors. Damage mitigation strategies such as responding to negative reviews have to be employed. There are a lot of ways to go about addressing a crisis situation and each one will have particularities that will impact the best course of action.
Today, brand reputation management is more important than ever to businesses. Technology enabled companies to track and monitor the mentions of their brands. While it has become easier for businesses to find issues that need to be addressed, it has also made it easier for people to share negative reviews and comments online. That’s why reputation management is a critical aspect of any business’ success nowadays.
