What are the most effective ways to measure the impact of a crisis management plan on brand image?

1 Define your brand image goals

Before you can measure the impact of a crisis on your brand image, you need to define what your brand image goals are. Brand image is the perception that your target audience has of your brand, based on your identity, values, personality, and promises. Your brand image goals should align with your overall brand strategy and vision, and reflect what you want your audience to think, feel, and do about your brand. For example, your brand image goals could be to increase awareness, trust, loyalty, differentiation, or advocacy.

2 Choose relevant brand image metrics

Once you have defined your brand image goals, you need to choose relevant brand image metrics that will help you track and evaluate your progress. Brand image metrics are quantitative or qualitative indicators that measure how your audience perceives your brand across various dimensions, such as awareness, recognition, recall, preference, satisfaction, reputation, or sentiment. Depending on your goals, you can use different types of brand image metrics, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, social media analytics, web analytics, media coverage analysis, or net promoter score.

3 Establish a baseline and benchmarks

To measure the impact of a crisis on your brand image, you need to establish a baseline and benchmarks that will serve as reference points for comparison. A baseline is the measurement of your brand image metrics before the crisis occurs, which will help you understand the initial state of your brand image and identify any gaps or weaknesses. A benchmark is the measurement of your brand image metrics against a competitor, an industry standard, or a best practice, which will help you assess your relative performance and position in the market.

5 Adjust and improve your brand strategy

Based on the results of your brand image measurement, you need to adjust and improve your brand strategy to address any issues or opportunities that emerged from the crisis. You should use the insights from your measurement to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your crisis management plan, and identify any areas for improvement or innovation. You should also use the feedback from your audience to enhance your brand communication, engagement, and value proposition, and to rebuild or strengthen your brand image and reputation.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?