These 5 things are Fatal to a Brand’s Reputation: The world with massive multinational companies and monopolists is slowly changing. Newly formed businesses and not-so-much bigger companies are giving tough competition to the long-established companies. Brand reputation has its share of impact on this gradual but big change.
These 5 things are Fatal to a Brand’s Reputation – We might not know that these Practices are killing our Brand Reputation:
What to Do When Good Brands Make Bad Things? Or do Bad Brands Do Good? A great brand name can make you money, while a bad one can devalue your company.
What is Brand Reputation:
Brand management is actually how customers or clients perceive your business. In simpler words, the first thing which comes to people’s minds when they hear about your business is your brand’s reputation. The bigger your brand reputation is, the higher the chances of your business’ growth.
Brand Reputation’s Worth in Modern Times:
People nowadays have a wide variety of products to choose from. But at the same time, people have become more selective.
They think of their every purchase as an investment in the brand itself. Businesses must establish an excellent brand reputation to survive and grow in the changing world.
A strong brand reputation leads to trust and credibility from the consumer’s end. It directly affects sales and increases consumer loyalty towards the brand. Business development is directly linked to brand reputation.
But there are some factors and practices which can harm our brand’s reputation. Let’s take a look at them.
Less Focus on Social Media:
Social media has become one of the most, if not the most, important factors in business development over the last decade.
People are more likely to buy your product if they are somehow connected to you through social media.
Ignoring social media’s importance in business growth can prove to be fatal. You might forget about social media but your competitor will not.
Less focus on social media traffic creates room for your competitors. It exposes your potential clientele to other businesses and hence business development is affected.
In another scenario, some consumers might give bad reviews about your product on social media. You are not aware of it and let it prolong.
This will automatically increase the risk of your potential consumer opting out of buying your product.
What businesses must do?
Businesses should have a presence on maximum social media platforms. They must get in line with the latest social media trends and be aware of their online reputation.
More Importance to Desktop/Laptop than Mobile:
In the online shopping world, the majority of consumers use their mobiles or tablets while buying anything, instead of desktops.
They prefer to scroll down a website with their mobile phone in hand. They don’t want to go into the discomfort of opening up a laptop, waiting for it to start and then start buying.
Yet, many businesses still haven’t paid attention to this matter. They are still driven by the desktop-driven UX (user experience) approach.
Companies or businesses which are still relying on this approach are ultimately going to be left behind.
What businesses must do?
Different studies and surveys have shown that people want an online world which is mobile-first.
Brands must make their websites mobile-friendly, if not better, as it is desktop-friendly. They must use such web designs that adjust to every device.
Poor and Unsafe Workplace Conditions:
Information, nowadays, is more easily accessible than in the older days. People are now more aware of what they are buying.
Labels like “made with sustainable practices” are well-received among environment-friendly consumers.
This awareness is not only limited to the product, but it also extends to the people involved in its production.
Factors like the treatment of employees have gained much-needed significance in recent times.
Consumers are more reactive towards controversial cost-cutting measures taken by a company. Their negative response damages a brand’s reputation and changes how they perceive that particular brand.
Unsafe work conditions and dangerous production procedures also harm a brand’s worth, if they are made public by any means.
Conscious consumers might look other ways if they are not satisfied with your workplace conditions.
What businesses must do?
Businesses should think about the reaction if they made their workplace conditions public today.
If they see a public outcry in this particular scenario, they should immediately get to improving their workplace environment.
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Too much Dependence on Humans:
The significance of employees can’t be denied in a workplace. But there are certain limits to what humans can and can’t do.
Artificial Intelligence has played a big role in covering this gap. It is widely used in different industries and every day it is creatively making day-to-day work practices easy.
Businesses which are still far away from incorporating AI into their practices may fall behind.
Depending too much on humans means you are losing the opportunity to save time and money. There will always be a risk of human error and operational efficiencies will be compromised.
What businesses must do?
Businesses must induct AI into their workplace practices. They can use AI to gather and analyze data. It can also be used to hire employees and improve services.
Data Breaches:
Almost every business has some sort of personal information about their customers. Customers place their trust in brands when they submit some particular information.
This is very important for a brand’s reputation as any misuse of this data will break customers’ trust.
The risk of data leakage or breach is always lurking around a brand. Whether a virus can cause information leakage or a hacker can hack into your systems to fulfil his/her inferior motives.
In other words, there will always be a danger of private information leakages and businesses must be able to counter this threat.
What businesses must do?
To avoid a data breach’s hazards, a brand must be one step ahead of this potential threat. Companies must restrict access to data to only relevant employees.
They should always try to improve their overall security and train their employees. They must create appropriate protocols and educate the workforce to follow practices aimed at maintaining security.
Conclusion:
There is no denying the significance of brand reputation. A brand must always be aware of the above-mentioned and numerous more threats and should be prepared to tackle these challenges, as brand reputation is more difficult to establish as compared to how easy it is to lose.
