In the 20th century, equipment for production was the most valuable equipment any company possessed. In other words, material things were dominant and they had a huge value (approximately 95% of the company). Nowadays, the situation has changed, so the property is not the priority, it is the reputation of the company that makes about 75% of its value. Regardless of the company size, reputation is the most esteemed resource that should be carefully maintained, as Warren Buffett said, it takes 20 years to build a company and only 5 minutes to ruin it.
These numbers confirm the following – the most vital things a company possesses are name, brand identity, and reputation. Before getting into the market, each of these elements should be thoroughly considered and planned. We have already covered the topics about brand identity, brand consistency, now we have decided to add the post on reputation to complete the whole process.
What is brand reputation and how to manage it?
Brand reputation relates to consumers’ feelings, the way they perceive and think about your brand. It means if they buy your product or service, they feel good about it and trust it is important to give attention to your brand. There are three most important factors when it comes to reputation, as you can control and manage the reputation thanks to them:
Positive comments – this is one of the most popular ways to build a positive reputation for a startup. You should ask your clients to write their impressions, next you should put those on your website as testimonials. You could also ask them to write positive comments on Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Negative comments – they might seem scary when you read them but you should observe them as an opportunity to move your communication with clients to the next level, to enhance it, and convert the unsatisfied client to the one who will start respecting your brand. Our recommendation is to always avoid a public discussion and send well-shaped direct messages. Admit your mistake and apologize.
Undefined product reviews – These could create tension between consumers and a brand so it is important to answer them carefully and find out the aspects the consumers were not happy about.
Besides comments, it is very important to pay attention to the followers of your brand that actively interact on your social media channels. You should take time and thank them publicly, show them attention, award their efforts to share your content with their followers. Also, it is always a good idea to connect with influencers, relevant to your niche, so they can spread a positive voice about your brand.
Reputation is a process and it takes years, strategic planning to secure success. Sometimes, only one negative comment can ruin all that has been built for a long time. To avoid such situations, you should have clear goals and build strategic plans. It is also crucial to build an online plan of reputation management and create rules on how to react to negative comments that have a bad effect n a brand.
Tips for buildings brand reputation
1. Create a quality product
Before you start investing in marketing and branding, it is important to build quality products or services that will be as perfect as possible at the very beginning of your business. Analyze if the product is ready to show up on the market, its comparative advantages in comparison to the ones already present on the market, consider its strengths and what makes it unique, and work on emphasizing exactly these characteristics.
You can invest a lot of time and money in creating a strategy that should make a recognizable brand on the market but unfortunately, if the quality of your product is low, then its reputation will be on a low level too. Even if you target your consumers well, they try your products and don’t like it, or are not satisfied with the quality of your services – they will leave you, despite a nice packaging, great ads, and creative campaigns.
2.Choose a catchy name for your startup that will attract attention
When it comes to your startup, the name is the first thing your consumer will notice. Try avoiding bad spelling of English words, and any other grammar or spelling mistakes as that will repel people for sure. Think of something simple, but surely a name that will intrigue the consumers and tickle their imagination so they wish to try what you sell.
Consider well, take some time to shape the name, simple enough (especially for writing) and interesting enough so everyone can remember it. Don’t use generic words because when you type generic words in Google, the search provides too many results, and none of them will be the name of your startup. You should choose something that will make your company name stand out from others, a name that will show up on the first Google page.
3. Avoid using the strict tech or startup language
As a startup owner, you have probably adopted startup terminology and use it very often. But the problem is not everyone can understand that terminology, like ERP, CRM, SaaS companies, agile approach, etc. it is crucial to explain in a simple language what your company deals with, without too many tech/entrepreneur terms. Consumers of your services or products are both people familiar and unfamiliar with such terminology.
Additional tips – tell a story about your brand and increase a product awareness
We are sure one of our blog posts about how to build brand awareness for small businesses be valuable. A story about brand awareness is important for your target audience and it creates and increases the interest in your product, company, and what you offer. The best way to attract their attention is to tell a story about your brand. Why is it so important?
Tell a story about ideas, motivation, days, months even years of your striving and effort to make a success. Tell a story about everything that stands behind the process of building your brand. Stir emotions, show photos, present your product via visually pleasant content that will provide useful information but also a wish to support your brand because you have what others don’t have – a unique, authentic story.
Create a unique picture of your brand people will remember
It is not a secret a reputation immensely influences the way consumers perceive a certain brand if they see it in a positive or negative light. Don’t get into a trap and pay more attention to building a brand identity instead of building a brand reputation. If you offer a product that has not been finished till the very details or a service not developed or planned enough, you can expect many negative comments. This situation is hard to correct, no matter how experienced your management or PR team is. So, focus on a name, quality, reputation, and only then work on brand identity and other elements.
Create a unique picture of your brand people will remember
It is not a secret a reputation immensely influences the way consumers perceive a certain brand if they see it in a positive or negative light. Don’t get into a trap and pay more attention to building a brand identity instead of building a brand reputation. If you offer a product that has not been finished till the very details or a service not developed or planned enough, you can expect many negative comments. This situation is hard to correct, no matter how experienced your management or PR team is. So, focus on a name, quality, reputation, and only then work on brand identity and other elements.
