How To Measure Your Brand Perception.
If you’re looking to enhance your brand’s image and reputation, then understanding the intricacies of brand perception is crucial, and this guide will provide you with the necessary actions and tools to do so.
What is Brand Perception?
Brand perception is how people view your brand, whether they’re your customers or not. It’s the opinion they have about your quality, your integrity, and your value system.
Brand perception is also how your customers feel when they come into contact with your brand, whether that’s your digital assets, physical products, or human capital. And it all boils down to a positive or negative association
Why is Brand Perception important?
Your brand perception is all about your reputation. When consumers positively perceive a brand, they are more likely to purchase from it, recommend it to others, and become loyal customers.
Positive brand perception can also lead to increased brand equity and market share, which can be crucial for a company’s long-term success.
On the other hand, negative brand perception can be detrimental to a company’s reputation and bottom line. Consumers may avoid purchasing from the brand, leave negative reviews, and tell others about their negative experiences.
This can lead to decreased sales, damaged brand reputation, and difficulty attracting new customers. Therefore, managing and maintaining a positive brand perception is crucial for companies that want to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.
Companies need to monitor their brand perception regularly, identify areas where they can improve, and take steps to address any issues that may be negatively impacting their brand’s image.
How to measure your current Brand Perception
First things first, you need to know how your customers perceive your brand. It’s virtually impossible to know what you need to change or what things to continue doing, otherwise. This includes both their thoughts and their feelings about your brand
There are a few initial steps you can do to discover how your customers feel about your brand.
One really great and simple way is to talk to people. Reach out to your customers and ask them questions like:
- What is your overall opinion of our brand?
- What has your experience been like, recently?
- What specifically do you like about us?
- What do you dislike?
- Would you be likely to recommend our brand to friends and family?
Following this, you can follow more dedicated steps in measuring brand perception.
Here are some common ways to measure your current brand perception:
Brand Surveys
Conducting surveys is a straightforward way to gather feedback from your customers and understand their perception of your brand. You can use tools like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey to create a survey and send it to your email list or social media followers.
Online reviews
Monitoring online reviews on platforms such as Google, Yelp, or social media can give you insight into how customers perceive your brand. You can track the number of positive and negative reviews, respond to feedback, and take action to address any negative comments.
Social media monitoring
Social media is an excellent platform to track what people are saying about your brand. You can use social listening tools such as Hootsuite or Brandwatch to monitor mentions of your brand, track sentiment, and engage with customers.
Website analytics
Monitoring website traffic, bounce rates, and engagement metrics can give you an idea of how customers perceive your brand online. You can use tools like Google Analytics to track these metrics and make data-driven decisions to improve your website and overall brand perception.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS is a widely used metric to measure customer loyalty and brand perception. It is calculated by asking customers how likely they are to recommend your brand to others on a scale of 0-10. A high NPS score indicates that customers have a positive perception of your brand and are likely to recommend it to others.
By using these methods, you can get a better understanding of your current brand perception and take action to improve it
6 Key Steps to Improve Brand Perception
Improving your brand perception takes time and effort, but it’s an essential component of building a successful business. Here are some 6 key steps on how to improve it.
- A. Define Your Brand: Before you can improve your brand perception, you need to clearly define what your brand stands for. What are your values, your mission, and your unique selling proposition? Once you have a clear understanding of your brand, you can begin to develop a strategy to improve your brand perception.
- B. Focus on the Customer: Your brand perception is ultimately determined by your customers. Focus on creating a positive experience for them, from the moment they first interact with your brand to long after they’ve made a purchase. Ask for feedback and respond to any concerns or complaints promptly.
- C. Consistency Is Key: Consistency is crucial when it comes to branding. Your brand should be consistent across all channels, from your website to your social media profiles to your packaging. Make sure that your messaging, tone, and visuals are all aligned so that customers have a clear understanding of your brand. Brand guidelines can play a vital role in ensuring a consistent and positive brand image. By providing clear guidelines and templates for all branding materials, brand guidelines can help ensure that all brand touchpoints, such as logos, typography, and color schemes, are consistent across all channels.
- D. Tell Your Brand Story: People connect with stories, so use your brand’s story to your advantage. Share your history, your values, and your vision with customers. This can help to create an emotional connection between your brand and your audience.
- E. Build Relationships: Building relationships with customers is key to creating a positive brand perception. Engage with customers on social media, offer personalized recommendations, and provide exceptional customer service. By building relationships, you can create a loyal customer base that will help to spread positive word-of-mouth about your brand.
- F. Be Authentic: Finally, be authentic in your branding. Customers can quickly spot a brand that is trying too hard to be something it’s not. Be true to your values and mission, and let your brand’s personality shine through.
Conclusion
Ensuring your brand perception is ‘just right’ can be challenging, especially now that we’re entering a decade defined by the customer experience. But, by following the steps covered in this guide, you can keep your brand perception on the right track, boosting your customer loyalty and driving up sales.on the right track, boosting your customer loyalty and driving up sales.