Brand perception can be a fragile thing if not cared for correctly. Consumers’ perception of a brand is an especially important issue in the current digital age as customers left unsatisfied by their experience with a business have a wealth of options at their disposal with which to express their disappointment.

It is easier than ever for consumers of practically every product and service to provide brand-perception-influencing feedback, and unfortunately it is the negative feedback that always stands out more prominently than the positive.

Offering great products or reliable services is obviously the primary method of helping create a positive perception of your business, but another way is via the content provided by the company website and social media outlets.

Why Brand Perception is So Important

The public perception of a brand can influence everything that matters, including what kind of customer demographic it appeals to as well as the kind of retailer willing to associate with it. How much customers and retailers are willing to pay for a particular brand will also be heavily influenced by the current status of the public’s brand perception.

Another important element that can be influenced by positive or negative brand perception is the impact of marketing strategies. The status of a brand’s current perception among customers can have a massive influence on how to promote that brand.

How to Gauge Brand Perception

Reviews and comments posted to social media are a good way to gauge the perception of a brand. Following these and analysing them to identify patterns and common themes will provide you with a genuine insight into the public’s perception.

Also follow the comments replying to reviews as well, as they might reveal many people disagreeing with the original opinion expressed, or perhaps many people echoing the same sentiment who were not motivated to post their opinion until seeing someone else do so first.

How Content Affects Brand Perception

Some companies suffer PR disasters which ruin their brand perception overnight (see Gerald Ratner’s infamous speech for perhaps the worst ever brand perception mistake), but most businesses who avoid that kind of absurd incompetence may see their brand perception shifting far more gradually. An important factor in this more gradual shift is the content a business provides via their online presence.

Spamming hashtags or comment threads with irrelevant special offers or product promotions will ultimately just annoy people, but well written and informative articles or detailed special features of interest posted regularly (though not incessantly) on a blog can be shared out across all social media platforms which will gradually help improve brand perception.

How to Use Content to Improve Brand Perception

Most businesses are competing with similarly placed rivals and often at least one or two much more established competitors with larger shares of the market. This situation can actually be very useful to a company trying to improve their brand perception as they already have good examples of what their customer demographic likes and dislikes.

It is a good idea to analyse the content of the much bigger and more established competitors, especially those ranking higher than your firm in search engine results. What kind of content are they having so much success with? Which pages are their most popular? What kind of social media buzz does their content create?

Whatever kind of business you have, it is simply a matter of identifying what kind of content your customers want and giving it to them. Even better is the development of a detailed content plan that can promote the strengths of your business while utilising the type of content that is most attractive to your customer demographic.

If you would like more information about creating a content plan to improve your brand perception, then contact Disruptor Media who can provide the ideal solutions your company needs.