By Zack Devin
In today’s vast e-commerce market, how an audience views a brand is a key determining factor in finding success. It’s no longer just what a customer experiences that drives conversions, but also it’s the opinions of peers — primarily in an online setting. It’s become essential to monitor brand perception and then use the insight gained to a company’s advantage. Below is a brief look into what brand perception is as well as effective two ways to gauge it.
At its essence, brand perception is how customers view a product or service based on feelings, online reviews, observations, experiences and thoughts. Although these judgments can be easily swayed by others — at times unfairly — brands need to recognize their importance, especially if they are to amend them.
After all, when customers believe in a brand, they feel more comfortable supporting and recommending it. Such backing is vital because, when it comes to e-commerce, consumers have a surplus of options at their fingertips. Being immersed in this competitive space — along with other factors — has made them fickle. In fact, consumer research shows today’s buyers are less loyal than ever before.
How does a brand inspire more loyalty? A lot of it comes down to enhancing the customer experience. As social media and other online platforms have expanded everyone’s reach, they offer the opportunity to publicize opinions and experiences. Customers who have a positive experience often want to share with others. That information is then spread across social media channels and the wide world of the internet. However, bad reviews owing to unpleasant experiences, have the power to make customers switch brands or may even cause widespread damage to a brand’s reputation.
All this and more makes keeping an eye on brand perception vital for any sized company. Doing so means measuring it regularly and using the findings to make improvements. How might a company get an honest look at the factors affecting brand loyalty, both negatively and positively? There are many tools and methods available to monitor brand perception and enhance performance strategies.
At the top of the list is Google Alerts. With no costs or hidden fees, this tool delivers instant notifications whenever a brand is mentioned online. From specific products and keywords to just a company’s name, this service tracks mentions and works to provide valuable data on what people are saying.
Another reliable method of gathering data is via customer surveys. Brands, whether using their own surveys or those from a third party, are able to capture feedback throughout the customer journey and use it to learn what people think of it or how it compares to competitors. It’s recommended to run these brand perception surveys at least quarterly and devise thought-provoking questions to produce the most valuable data.
For further information on brand perception and additional ways to measure it, please see the accompanying resource.
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