Today, the internet is where brand reputations are made and broken. So how can you ensure your brand has a reliable — and positive — digital image? Focusing on clear communication, zeroing in on clear brand identity, and making sure you can boast of positive interactions with real customers are just some of the tips for keeping your brand image sparkly clean.
1. Know who you are, and communicate it
As a company, discovering what your brand identity is will be the first step in making sure you’re able to maintain a positive brand image online. You may already know what your brand stands for and the key values you want your brand image to convey to consumers, but understanding how best to communicate that in an online environment is crucial.
Remember, the endgame is establishing a sense of connection and closeness with your online audiences, which might mean letting your brand’s guard down online. The good news is that clarifying your brand’s identity and establishing a playbook for how best to express it online will make the other work involved in maintaining your online image easier.
2. Create real content that real users can interact with
We all know the internet is filled with bots and spammers, and we all have an instinctively negative reaction to encountering them. If your brand’s online presence is swarmed with fake accounts — and even worse, negative reviews or comments — you’ll lose customers fast and risk coming off as inauthentic or illegitimate.
Create a positive buzz by offering creative content on the regular that users can interact with. Some of this content can even be geared toward getting customers to post positive comments about your brand, whether that means sharing stories about a great experience they had or posting about a product they’ve enjoyed.
3. Focus on communication
By now, you know what your brand stands and who your customers are, so it’s time to communicate with them. Users need to be shown that they’re important to you, which means it’s a must to respond to comments and reviews, whether they’re positive or negative. You can even expand your reach and monitor how consumers are reacting to your brand beyond its official page.
When it comes to digital communication, speed is the name of the game, and even more so if your brand needs to deal with special events or crises. At the same time, don’t sacrifice the clarity and care of your message, as a poorly worded response can be particularly damaging at these times.
4. Know what you’re measuring
Last but certainly not least, you need to know what you’re measuring. What counts as success for your brand? Is it more followers on a particular social media platform? Or are you trying to increase the percentage of positive interactions your audience reports? There are stages to the process of building a positive brand image, so don’t be afraid to focus on different aspects of the journey as you’re working your way toward your goal.