BUILDING A BRAND REPUTATION IN THIS DIGITAL AGE

Brand reputation represents - the attractiveness of the brand towards employees, suppliers, investors, communities and customers (Blackstad & Cooper, 1995).

This indicates that brand reputation is gradually shaped by the images held by a number of different stakeholders instead of being limited to the impressions of its customers respectively fans only. A positive reputation of a corporation may also consequently lead to supportive acting by different constituents (Milewicz & Herbig, 1994; Roper & Fill, 2012; Greyser, 2009).

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A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another ~ Seth Godin

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During this time its key for businesses to be online. Whom are we kidding? Let me give you a scenario to showcase the importance of your brands online visibility.

Let’s say you are travelling to a new town. The very first thing that you are going to do is to do a google search of the amenities that you are mostly likely to use. A good example is a place to lay your head. The second thing will be to see the kind of services and ratings that business has. Here is where the businesses online reputation comes into play. If they say they are offering better services with subsidized rates, but then you find that in their reviews, more than half of the people are complaining or have answered queries. Well… no lie there. This will be a total turn off. The only solution will be to get somebody to recommend a good staycation place for you.

Building a brand is quite hectic, but maintaining the brands reputation is very key in sustaining the brand. Nowadays we tend to see that most businesses have bios about themselves on various digital platforms. This is so as to ensure their visibility is on point, as they will reach a wider audience. One thing that you will get from the big brands is that they have consistency in the tone and kind of message they put on their social media pages. This in turn builds trust as their customers can relate with them, as they are familiar.

So, how does one build their brand reputation online? You may ask. Here I will provide you with 7 key points on how to build your brand reputation in the digital edge and avoid the normal pitfalls that many brands trap themselves in. Digital environments such as websites, social media, email, blogs and YouTube make marketing messages available 24/7. Hence, ensuring that your brand awareness and messaging are consistent across all channels is critical. Here follow these steps below to guide you: -

1.??????Put your best foot forward – what you put out there should represent you for who you. It would not hurt to try and invest a little bit in your branding. Your brand identity is what your clients will see first before deciding to interact with you. Make a good first impression and your business will attain instant credibility. Your logo, website, social profiles, and marketing materials all need to look professional and convey your brand’s emotional connection to your consumers

2.?????Always provide original, interesting and valuable content. - Interesting and value-added content is a primary reason why people follow brands on social media. Customers will come when they see value. If your content is worthwhile and it helps fulfill the customers’ needs then they will most likely move to the next step of following, liking and purchasing from you. People will always feel when you’re being authentic and when you’re not.

3.????Provide amazing customer service. Friendly and helpful customer service can make people buy from you again and again, while bad service can cause them to stop buying forever. Many consumers say they would pay more for a product if they could get better customer service. McKinsey & Company estimates that 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated.

4.???Listen to your customers. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for marketers and brand owners to manage their brands online especially with the new well informed consumers who are basing they purchase decisions on the brand reputation and associating themselves to quality.

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The best thing you can do as a brand owner is to listen and hear what your customers are saying about you, what they want and need. If they have criticisms, respond quickly and repair the relationship. Don’t make any promises that you know you cannot be able to fulfil. People don’t expect you to be perfect, but they do expect you to correct mistakes in a way that says you value their loyalty. Dissatisfied customers whose complaints are taken care of are more likely to remain loyal, and may even become your brand ambassadors.

5.???Create a brand protection strategy – it’s not a must but it’s very essential in managing your online brand reputation as there are people who will most probably impersonate you online. ?Another case might be how you handle a complaint from a ranting customer who doesn’t care about your reputation at all. A brand protection strategy will help you to mitigate through all the above and any other cases that will paint a bad picture about your brand. Without a strategy, businesses are likely to either make snap decisions that might harm the brand or spend precious time considering the multiple options available, by which time the damage has been done.

6.???Protect your brand online from people with malicious intent – the internet is full of every kind of person. Some of them will want to infringe on your brand rights. They will create fake accounts with your aliases and parade themselves as you. In turn this will lower your brand reputation outside here, as your authenticity wears off and clients will not trust you anymore.

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The best thing that any company can do is to make their accounts “official”. Facebook and Twitter both have tools to help to verify your legitimacy, and customers will be able to identify this by searching for the blue ticks next to your account name. For other platforms that don’t offer a way to show your pages are bona fide, make sure your company’s main website includes information about and links to your presence on social media.

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7.????Consult with us to help you build your brand reputation and protection strategy. WhatsApp us now: https://wa.me/254703133443.

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Follow us today on all our social media platforms:?linktr.ee/sokevstudio

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Thank you for reading.