No matter how deep you have penetrated the market or how vast your customer base is, that one variable which can either make or break your business is the brand’s reputation. If it fails to offer credibility to the audience, no user will show any further interest, let alone become a promising customer at the end of the sales funnel. What’s more is that a poor brand reputation management significantly impacts your position in the market and might push you back in the competition. Hence, you must strategize early to protect the brand reputation under every situation, especially when there is a crisis.
Importance of brand reputation for a business
Before discussing the protective measures you should implement for your brand reputation during crisis, let’s first learn about the factor’s significance for your business. This way at least, you wont have any doubt in your mind and could actively participate in planning and execution.
- Increased customer loyalty: Most customers are likely to adhere to their principles and associate themselves with a brand that is credible and reliable. And that’s where the reputation variable enters the picture! If your brand is not well-known in the market, people won’t put their faith in it, no matter how tempting and relevant your products or services are.
- Brand value and equity: Maintaining the brand reputation is crucial for every business to acquire a higher brand value and equity in the market. Lesser the reputation, lower will be the valuation. For instance, if you see the top global brands, their market valuation is in billions, if not more.
- Tolerance to negativity: Every now and then, there will be negative rumors or events surrounding your brand. The best way to counteract these is by maintaining an optimal brand reputation in the market. If the name is well-known and credible amongst the target audience, your customers are likely to oversee the negativities and focus on your services or products.
- Increased revenues: There is no doubt that a well-known and reputable brand always attracts customers, regardless of how efficient the promotional campaigns are. So, if you want to increase the revenues and turn your business into a profitable venture, upholding the brand reputation should be on your priority list.
How to preserve brand reputation during a crisis?
Truth be told, brand reputation management is not everyone’s cup of tea. It requires meticulous planning, in-depth understanding of the customers and markets, and a high tolerance for losses. Most often, businesses fail to put an effective brand reputation management plan in place, which is why the brand value and popularity get impacted severely. Since crisis is an unpredictable phenomenon, it’s better to plan early rather than wait for the event to occur. So, to help you out of this predicament, we have provided a few insights into the proper way to handle a crisis situation and protect your brand reputation.
Detection of potential crisis situations and risks
Firstly, you have to identify the potential situations that could soon take the shape of a crisis and the associated risks posed to your brand reputation. For instance, let’s say you have launched an online campaign on social media platform. If the negative reviews increase beyond control, it can soon turn the tables against you and lead to a crisis. Similarly, having too many unattended real-time complaints from the customers can also lead to a disastrous situation. Combinedly, these will affect the brand reputation badly and you won’t be able to control the scenario, let alone protect the image and brand value. So, utilize different monitoring tools like Google Alerts to get notifications about any unforeseen event that could turn into a crisis if not attended immediately.
Formulate a proper crisis management strategy
The next thing you have to do is develop a proper crisis management strategy that will not only help you solve the problem but also safeguard the brand reputation. Below are a few pointers that will certainly help you in developing a risk-proof plan for handling any crisis threatening your brand and its popularity.
- Form a strong and passionate crisis management team with experienced and skilled members. Not only should they have responsive attitude but also should be patient and diligent in handling any urgent matter without delays.
- Have a proper message drafted from beforehand, like a press release statement for negating the rumors and upholding the sanctity of your brand. Ensure the message is clear, positive, and reassuring for your customers so that the crisis won’t take a bad shape.
- It’s important to choose the communication channels properly during a crisis. For instance, press releases, social media walls, and emails will serve as the most effective streams for relaying the message and reassuring your customers.
- Last but not the least, monitor the results and analyze the situation to ensure your crisis management strategy is doing the job perfectly. Make any necessary change if required to increase the strategy’s efficiency and result.
Conclusion
Now that we have discussed the importance of brand reputation for any business and the best way to handle a crisis, it’s up to you whether you want to take every possible measure to steer around the unforeseen event or not. Rest assured, a crisis management plan put into effect immediately will help survive the catastrophe and uphold the commitment of your brand towards your customers.