The famous entrepreneur, Warren Buffet once said it takes about 20 years to build a reputation, but only five minutes to ruin it. That’s definitely true in today’s fast-paced world, where terrible news travels at the speed of light. However, it is possible for companies to recover from negative situations. All they really need to do is take the right approach to preserving and cultivating customer trust.
Here are my top tips for repairing your brand’s reputation…
1. Be proactive
You can’t always predict how your ad campaigns and messaging strategy will impact your customers. However, you can take a proactive approach to tracking, understanding, and preserving your brand’s reputation. It just takes a little work.
These days, there are tons of tools available online to help companies keep track of everything from customer satisfaction scores to reviews. Social monitoring tools can even offer an insight view into your brand’s reputation by tracking ‘mentions’ online.
Paying attention to the negative information spreading about your company, reading reviews, and reading news reports will help you tackle false claims and scandals faster, and more effectively.
2. Plan for damage control
Even if you’re proactive about monitoring your reputation on social media platforms and other landscapes, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll never encounter issues with your brand image. There’s always a risk negative reviews and problematic practices can come to light.
The question is, do you have a plan for how you’re going to deal with these problems? A lot of large and small businesses alike make bad situations worse by jumping into action without a strategy. They act defensively when responding to negative comments, or try to sweep issues under the rug.
Having a well-thought out plan in place for crisis management can help mitigate these problems. Determine who’s going to be responsible for addressing customer concerns. Have a plan for sharing information quickly with your target audience. You might even consider working with a branding agency to help you create a consistent brand image after a major public relations nightmare.
3. Own up to your mistakes (and fix the problem)
These days, consumers have higher expectations of brands than ever before. However, that doesn’t mean they always expect you to be perfect. Most consumers understand that businesses across many different industries can sometimes make mistakes.
What they expect from you is the right response. Whether you’re dealing with a negative review, or a press release has left you with a tarnished brand, own up to your mistakes. Don’t try to pass the blame or explain away the issue.
Validate the emotional responses of your customers, and apologise for making a mistake. Remember, the ‘customer is always right’. Address the problem quickly and comparatively, and look for the best way to fix the problem. Working with your customers to address any issues they might face can turn unhappy customers into happy ones in an instant. Show you’re committed to positive change.
4. Activate your loyal customers
Few things draw attention away from a PR nightmare, than positive publicity. Even if you encounter a problem with your brand’s image, there may still be loyal customers in your midst who you can activate and turn into advocates for your brand. Motivate happy customers to share their positive experiences with your brand, and draw attention to those reviews and testimonials in your marketing campaigns. Create a social media campaign asking people to vote on what they like best about your company.
Connect with loyal customers and ask them what you can do to make their experience with your company better than ever. Posting user-generated content, such as positive feedback or images online, can help to re-direct the conversation and remind people why they like your company.
5. Work with the experts
If you’re facing a serious problem with a negative brand image, sometimes the only option is to bring in the big guns. A brand manager or PR expert can help plan a comprehensive strategy for fixing your image. They can give guidance on how to respond to customers.
Some experts can also assist with your marketing strategy, looking for ways to turn negative attention into a positive experience. PR experts can also help to spread your message to the right publications and outlets, ensuring you can stay on top of the problem.
In cases where your brand is irrevocably damaged, you could even consider working with a branding company on a ‘refresh’ or ‘rebrand.’ Just look at how Facebook managed to detach itself from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, by becoming ‘Meta’ instead.
Fixing a negative brand reputation isn’t easy. While it takes years to develop positive equity for a company, one or two simple mistakes can bring all your hard work crashing down.
Something as simple as a bad social media post or a supply chain issue can cost companies millions in marketing, lost revenue, and unhappy customers. Unfortunately, no matter how careful you might be with your marketing and sales strategy, there’s always a chance something could go wrong.
Last line
You might not be able to avoid negative attention forever, you can decide how you’re going to respond to it. Taking a proactive approach to preserving, protecting, and repairing your brand reputation is crucial in today’s fast-paced world. With the right approach, you can turn negative press into happy customers, and even increase brand loyalty.