“We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are “, Says prominent writer Anais Nin.
Yahoo Sells To Verizon In Saddest $5 Billion Deal In Tech HistoryIt was tragic. Yahoo was the king of the internet once upon a time, but it came down to a sad end. What was Yahoo’s greatest mistake? Brand perception of Yahoo was really low. “One year after Marissa Mayer assumed the CEO title at Yahoo, the company’s stock price is approximately 60% higher than when she started, but the company’s brand health measurements, based on consumer feedback, have moved in the opposite direction,” a spokesperson for YouGov tells WebProNews, citing the firm’s YouGov BrandIndex.
The analysis of the customer journey is no longer an easy and straightforward highway journey as it once used to be. Instead, it has a lot of twists and turns due to the emerging trends in the digital world. Gone are the days when companies could analyze a few customers and come up with a marketing strategy. With the plethora of data available on customer preference and customer behavior, it is becoming humanly impossible to analyze the data manually. Artificial Intelligence has come up as a solution to this problem! Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help a company to better understand its brand health. In this sense, companies can measure how well their branding efforts are being received by their customers. With the help of AI, brands can constantly stay in tune with the ever-changing consumer perceptions, and monitor their brand perception when compared to other companies in the same space – that too, without sacrificing significant time or resources.
Brand perception is critical if a brand has to survive and push ahead. But how can a business ensure that its brand perception does not sway from its ideal position? It will have to constantly monitor and measure brand perception, so it can make amends wherever necessary and stay on track. Here are 4 ways in which companies can monitor brand perception:
2. Customer Survey- The real voice of the customer
The most direct and the best way to know how your customers feel about your brand is to ask them. A customer survey is used to measure customer sentiment by asking targeted questions. The survey is sent after the customers have purchased products, after a customer service activity, or even a store visit. To understand the feeling of a shopper – ask three simple questions:
It could be a raving customer review or a negative online review about your product – you should know it all as this revolves around your brand.CommCore CEO, Andy Gilman says, “In a time when 92% of people trust businesses with a great star rating on their business online, managing your online reputation is not an option anymore”. This statement cannot be much more true when we talk about brand perception. Online reviews have a huge impact on brand perception. While positive reviews boost your brand image, negative reviews can pull down your brand perception badly. Companies should take extra effort to monitor their brand perception using online reviews. For example, see how Nordstrom is trying to get product reviews through a contest. It is encouraging users to provide product reviews in exchange for a chance to win a $1,000 gift card.
“Finding out what a competitor is doing wrong is just as important as identifying what they are doing right.”Its important to monitor your competitors to gain insights into what their customers find most interesting in your competitor brand. What is missing in your brand? Why do customers love their products more than yours? There are different inexpensive methods of checking up on your competitors – both online and offline. “I recommend routinely tracking what the industry analyst firms like Gartner are reporting about your industry, as well as trade associations and advocacy groups,” says Becky Sheetz-Runkle, the author of Sun Tzu for Women.
Perception is the reality!! You may know it or not, your company already has a brand perception. But most important is whether it is working in your favor or against you. Do you know how your brand is perceived today? If you are aware of how your brand is perceived, you can work towards improving it or fixing it for a better tomorrow. Understanding the exact gap that exists between the brand’s potential and brand perception is the first step towards change.