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Brand reputation management is a two-part process with the first part being how the brand handles itself to its customers and the second part being how it handles social media backlash or reputation crisis. Both of these are critical to maintaining a healthy brand image. Thus, it is essential to keep these focal areas in mind as a checklist for good reputation management
1. Good first impression
It only takes fifty milliseconds to form a first impression. Brands should embrace this opportunity and create an appealing visual design and use colors that create a sense of trust among consumers. A good first impression marks the beginning of a long consumer relationship.
2. Embrace the brand
Business-consumer touch points including call centers, salespeople interaction points, and the brand image should resonate with what the brand stands for. These aspects should comply with the company’s vision, mission, values, and goals.
3. Conquer with unity
Multiple channel presence is imminent. It is not just important to be present everywhere. Brands should use these platforms to the fullest extent and give the consumers what they want. Establishing a clear content plan and showcasing brand availability is important in maintaining brand reputation.
4. Community respect
Create a community of influencers who act as stepping stones for brand reputation. Nurturing these brand ambassadors to spread positive and notable comments about the brand helps in creating a positive appeal among consumers.
5. Pay attention to others and listen
It is not enough to just put forth the thoughts and sales pitches to the consumers. Brands should also listen to what the consumers and employees have to say about the brand. Using media monitoring tools helps view and analyze perceptions and gauge the brand reputation.
As we focus on brand reputation, there is another aspect of brand reputation that marketers should focus on. It determines the quantifiable measure of reputation. Net Reputation score (NRS) is one of the most popular methods of determining the reputation score for a brand. This step helps brand ascertain the impression they have to the customers. With a simple formula, NRS can be discovered as below.
Net Reputation Score = [% positive mentions] – [% negative mentions]
While negative mentions is an important part of NRS, neutral mentions do not add to the brand value, and it can be ignored. Although it can be difficult to categorize a neutral mention from negative, a brand must categories the mentions based on the categories appropriately to get the accurate NRS. A brand’s NRS can range between —100 and + 100. Brands with NRS of 0 implies that they have equal volumes of positive and negative mentions leaving scope for improvement. However, brands with a higher — NRS should work on their positive mentions to improve brand reputations.
