image credit: chase elliot clark via flickr cc
Social media, mobile, and other digital technologies have changed brand perception. Consumers now have the ability to publish their opinions across multiple channels. Your customer’s feedback is a key factor in determining your brand’s perception.
If your brand’s identity and you brand perception aren’t aligned, it can lead to confusion. Ultimately, as Branch Watch writes, “brand perception is owned by consumes.” Your messaging will play one role in your public image, but your customer’s feedback can be an even more visible factor. Improving your brand perception requires a knowledge of how customers perceive your organization on social media, review sites, blogs, and other channels.
In this blog, you’ll learn six important ways to improve your company’s brand image.
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Be Engaged
Social media has given brands the power to join conversations. CPG brands must shift from viewing social media as a form of broadcast, to using Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms as a tool for building genuine relationships.
Focus your social strategy on building genuine connections with your buyers. Welcome their feedback, and respond diligently and thoughtfully to their concerns. By showing an interest in your customers, you can demonstrate that you’re a brand that actually cares, and lay the groundwork for a community.
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Be Authentic
Consumers don’t want to follow brands on digital channels with perfectly-polished marketing messages. Modern customers are sick and tired of being hit with sales pitches. They want original, relevant, and high-value content that fits their lifestyle.
Use your social media and online presence to be authentic and build trust. Use transparency, and own up to your mistakes. By offering your customers a behind-the-scenes look into how your products are made and focusing on high-value content, you can differentiate yourself from the competition.
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Welcome Negative Feedback
If your brand receives negative reviews on online forums, it’s not a cause for panic. You also shouldn’t try and bury these reviews or stick your head into the sand. Negative customer feedback is an opportunity to display your customer service skills. By responding with resolution in a timely manner, you can demonstrate your commitment to your customers.
Negative feedback can also reveal key truths about your brand’s products, quality, and positioning. Perhaps customers are dissatisfied because your messaging doesn’t align with reality. Maybe you have some packaging or product flaws to resolve. Regardless of what’s causing the feedback, it’s too important to ignore.
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Be Consistent
Modern CPG brands may use 12 or more digital channels for promotions and engagement. It’s not uncommon for companies to use websites, blogs, four or more social media channels, mobile applications, and more. However, your brand presence must be consistent across channels to improve consumer perception.
A consistent customer experience reinforces who you are, and how you want to be perceived by your customers. By aligning factors like brand voice and visual identity from packaging to Facebook posts, you can ensure that your customers feel like they really know who you are.
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Know Your Values
Without well-defined brand values, you’ll struggle to define and refine your brand perception. Not only are brand values crucial to attracting customers, it can be critical to consistent, cross-channel communications.
Brand perception starts from within. Your brand identity should reflect your customers, and your organization’s culture should be focused around your core values of customer service, quality, originality, or other factors.
CPG organizations who fail to manage brand perception may not have a lot of say in how their customers think about their brand and products. By using social media and other digital promotion methods to join existing conversations, you can work to ensure your brand perception is positive.
