Brands can take years, even decades to build successfully, and can go up in smoke in seconds. That’s why brand reputation is so very important.
But which tactics work best in 2022 to not only help you manage your reputation effectively but also deliver a world-class customer experience?
Let’s take a closer look at which strategies continue to work best in 2022.
Foster a Culture that’s Customer-Centric
It’s easy to say “deliver a great customer experience”, but how exactly do you do that? You obviously want to be able to effectively measure customer satisfaction, but you also want to use that satisfaction as a tool, such as through reviews and ratings – especially on social media.
No one goes into business thinking about how they’re going to let customers down and crush their expectations, but creating a phenomenal customer experience means creating an environment and a culture that’s focused on the customer at every key touchpoint.
That includes your website, your mobile app, your social media, but also your brick-and-mortar store, your customer service and your email marketing among other things.
Still, even if you analyze and do a deep dive on all the possible areas where customers can interact with your brand, that alone won’t help you effectively manage your brand reputation in 2022. You have to go beyond what has become expected and ordinary.
Leverage Social Listening
It’s no longer enough to just have a social media strategy in place for your brand reputation. You also have to listen to what others are saying about your brand. There are a wide range of tools that can help with this by telling you not just what customers think about your brand, but also what they think about your competition.
This can provide you with excellent, real-time market research. But it’s not enough just to monitor conversations. You have to put what you’ve learned into action. Likewise, it’s not enough to just look at what the numbers tell you (for example, number of mentions or use of hashtags). You have to actively consider social media sentiment as well.
You can see this strategy in action with big-name brands including Zappos, Nordstrom and even fast-food chains like Arby’s and Wendy’s. But smaller businesses can leverage it as well, even if your brand isn’t (yet) a household name!
Be Proactive and Always Look for Opportunities
Look for ways to support those in your target audience, whether it’s with words of encouragement, comments and guidance or by directing them to where they can learn more. Always look for new opportunities and have your ear to the digital ground to hear what’s being talked about so that you can take steps to nip the problem in the bud before it spreads into something outrageous and difficult to manage.
The same applies in good times and in bad. If you’re getting a lot of negative reactions and comments because of a post, take the time to look for where things went wrong and what happened, as well as taking steps to correct them and letting customers know.
Reach Out to Workdom for Your Own Custom Reputation Management Strategy
Brand reputation management is not a “once and done” thing, but rather something that takes time to build, cultivate and consistently nurture. If done right, you can reap a great deal of benefits and customer loyalty from it. Contact the experts at Workdom today to learn more and get a custom brand reputation management strategy made for your business!
