How Reputation Management Helps Improve Brand Perception (2024)

As your brand grows, your company’s reputation begins to precede it. Word-of-mouth recommendations have a cumulative effect, and a really good (or really bad) magazine profile can lead to a boost in visibility. Candid customerreviews and comments on social media can paint a picture of your brand—for the better or worse.

Public perception of your company isn’t set in stone. You have the power to influence your brand’s outward-facing image. Through strong brand reputation management, you can make a solid first impression before customers ever interact with your products.

What is reputation management?

Reputation management is the practice of influencing public perception of your brand. It involves designing strategies to build and maintain a positive image wherever customers hear about your brand—from friends and family to online search results. By using reputation management, you continuously cultivate a favorable impression of your brand and mitigate image mishaps before they escalate into reputational damage.

Benefits of reputation management

Reputation management is useful for any type of company, even if you’re just starting out. Brands like Leesa and Brooklinen have built reputations for luxurious, quality bedding, while Girlfriend Collective and Third Love are well-regarded for size-inclusive, sustainable clothes.

Here’s why even small brands should work towards shaping their public image:

Attracting new customers and boosting revenue

Reputation management can help your business amplify its positive attributes—whether that’s wool sweaters that wash well, a generous return policy, or in-store staff who make the best recommendations. By highlighting these strengths, you can increase word-of-mouth marketing, both in-person from friend to friend and online from creators to followers.

Consumers are more likely to make purchases based on positive experiences shared by others. This means that by managing your brand’s online reputation well, you can capitalize on the brand trust and goodwill you’ve built among your customer base and their networks.

Standing out in a crowded marketplace

A positive reputation can give you that coveted edge over your competitors. If you can develop a reputation for higher quality or a clever social media presence or even a compelling founder—well, you might find yourself one step ahead of the other guys. Being proactive about reputation management ensures your brand remains top-of-mind when consumers need a product like yours. It transforms your company from just another option to the go-to choice.

Recruiting top-tier talent

People naturally gravitate toward companies with stellar reputations. Which makes sense: It’s understandable that people want to work at well-regarded companies whose products they admire and whose values align with their own.

Your reputation management efforts may result in qualified candidates seeking you out proactively. You won’t need to spend time and resources convincing these applicants of your company’s worth—they’re already sold on the idea of joining your team, and they’re likely to be a culture fit from the get-go.

How to create a reputation management strategy

1. Survey your customers regularly
2. Encourage and interact with online reviews
3. Use social listening tools
4. Develop effective public relations for positive press coverage
5. Craft an SEO strategy for search visibility
6. Work with brand ambassadors and influencers
7. Align your brand with positive causes
8. Have a game plan for crisis communication

1. Survey your customers regularly

Customers can provide important insights into your strengths and weaknesses, from the quality of your customer service to the ease of your ecommerce checkout flow. Engage them regularly through surveys, and ask questions like:

• How did our product’s quality compare to your expectations?

• What was the most frustrating part of your recent purchase experience on our website?

• If you’ve interacted with our customer support, what’s one thing we could do to improve it?

Don’t overlook the customers who leave. Understanding why they churned can help you address pain points that others might experience—whether it’s slow shipping, product quality issues, or pricing concerns. Acting on this feedback can help your brand maintain a positivereputation or repair a negative one.

Lastly, assess customers’ Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS measures customer loyalty by asking how likely they are to recommend your business to others, categorizing responders as promoters, passives, or detractors. These sentiments don’t just stay with the customer; they spread through word of mouth, directly impacting your brand’s reputation.

2. Encourage and interact with online reviews

Shoppers tend to trust customers’ opinions. Online reviews are often the first stop for potential customers, whether they’re shopping for a wedding dress or booking a haircut at a local barber shop. Encourage customers to leave positive reviews: Send a post-purchase email for ecommerce purchases or include a review request card in the shopping bag at your brick-and-mortar store.

Consumers favor brands that respond to reviews. A 2024 study revealed that 88% of consumers would choose a business that responds to all its reviews, while only 47% would consider a business that never replies to customer feedback.

When responding to good reviews, express gratitude for the positive feedback and invite customers back. For negative reviews, respond apologetically, commit to resolving the issue, and follow through on your promise.

🌟Ecommerce reviews build trust and credibility. Learn how to encourage customers to share their experiences and where you should display user-generated reviews for the most impact.

3. Use social listening tools

You can’t address your reputation if you don’t know what customers are saying. Social listening tools act as your online eyes and ears, alerting you to mentions of your brand across the web—whether someone posts about a customer service interaction on Instagram, writes about your product on Reddit, or reviews their experience with your brand on their personal blog.

These tools often employ sentiment analysis, helping you understand how your brand is perceived online. With this insight, you can:

• Amplify positive mentions and user-generated content
• Note and address negative feedback promptly
• Track changes in brand perception over time

4. Develop effective public relations for positive press coverage

The right press placement elevates your brand image and builds confidence in your product. Take Pluto Pillow, a personalized sleep pillow customized to individual body stats. The founders built a scrappy in-house press strategy that catapulted their brand in front of millions.

Without a public relations (PR) agency or reputation management company, they secured placements in Business Insider, Fast Company, and The Wall Street Journal, eventually landing a spot on the Today show.

Start by identifying journalists who tend to cover your niche. Craft a pitch to pique their interest in your product or brand story. If you can secure solid press coverage, you’ll bolster your image in the public eye. While traditional press outlets are powerful, don’t overlook new media. Consider pitching to independent bloggers and online content creators.

🌟A press kit compiles all the relevant information about your company in one place. Learn how to create a press kit that will actually get publicity for your business.

5. Craft an SEO strategy for search visibility

When you’re looking for a solution to a problem, chances are you start by Googling it. Your customers do the same. Search engine results can be the initial touchpoint where potential customers form an opinion of your brand.

Building an effective search engine optimization (SEO) strategy boosts business’s visibility online, shaping perceptions of your brand in search results. Here are some key SEO strategies to consider:

• Optimize your website content with relevant keywords.

• Create informative blog posts that address your audience’s questions.

• Implement technical SEO best practices like improving site speed and mobile responsiveness.

By trying these tactics, you can improve your pages’ rankings, ensuring your brand’s narrative is front and center when searchers look for your products.

6. Work with brand ambassadors and influencers

You don’t need to be the only one working to build a positivebrandreputation for your business: brand ambassadors can be your allies in this effort. Whether they’re famous influencers with large follower counts or micro-influencers popular with your target audience, they can create content, share a personal customer experience, and engage with their followers about your product. By building a brand ambassador program, you can keep your brand front and center on social media, tapping into the audiences of these trusted voices.

For instance, Fabletics, an activewear company that makes stylish athletic apparel, has an active influencer program. They collaborate with creators on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, where influencers tag their posts with #TeamFabletics or #FableticsPartner. This approach means you have authentic voices championing your brand, boosting your reputation through genuine endorsements.

7. Align your brand with positive causes 

Customers are increasingly socially and environmentally conscious; many aim to support brands that reflect these values. Partnering with nonprofits and charities doing work in important areas—from environmental conservation to social justice—can elevate your reputation in the eyes of consumers who care about these issues. However, this can’t be just a gimmick. True cause alignment means making a long-term and genuine commitment, not a one-off effort for engagement.

Rare Beauty, a vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics brand founded by singer and actress Selena Gomez, has integrated philanthropy into its core mission. The company established the Rare Impact Fund, which is dedicated to expanding access to mental health services and promoting stigma-free community support. To date, the Rare Impact Fund has mobilized more than $16 million in funds for youth mental health initiatives, funding 26 nonprofit organizations like Peer Health Exchange, Batyr, Black Minds Matter UK, and The Trevor Project, to name a few.

Katie Welch, chief marketing officer of Rare Beauty, notes that giving has been baked into the company from the start.

“Selena wanted to make a difference. She’s got this incredible platform. She knows she can do something for good, and she did just that,” Katie says on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. “A percentage of sales from Rare Beauty products goes to the fund, which helps to raise money to grant mental health services to underserved communities.”

8. Have a game plan for crisis communication

Not everything will always go according to plan. At some point, you might receive a scorching review in a high-visibility press outlet, garner a string of critical online reviews about a recent product launch, or even experience a workplace scandal. While these situations are undoubtedly difficult, you can recover from them more easily if you have a crisis communication plan in place.

Here are a few basic principles for bouncing back from a reputational hit:

• Apologize authentically—whether in writing or through a genuine, unscripted video.

• Admit fault rather than deflect blame.

• Promise to do better, outlining specific steps you’ll take to address the issue.

• Follow through on your commitments and provide regular updates on your progress.

By responding swiftly, honestly, and with a clear plan for improvement, you can mitigate damage to your reputation and potentially even strengthen customer trust in the long run.

Reputation management software

In the quest to manage your reputation, technology can help. Online reputation management software offers features like real-time monitoring, sentiment analysis, and automated alerts to help you track brand mentions, gauge public perception, and respond promptly to potential issues.

Here are a few options to consider as you review management software:

Google Alerts

Google Alerts is a web crawler-based monitoring service that tracks mentions of specified keywords across the internet. Whether you’re keeping tabs on product launches or mentions of your name, the service delivers updates straight to your inbox. Google Alerts offers a free and basic way to track online mentions, but it’s not a full-fledged online reputation management tool—it’s mostly limited to search results and lacks social media coverage.

Key product features:

• Boolean search operators for refined keyword tracking

• Customizable alert frequency (as-it-happens, daily, or weekly)

• Multi-language and regional support for global brand monitoring

Pricing: Free.

Brand24

Brand24 is an AI social media monitoring tool that uses natural language processing (NLP) to track and analyze brand mentions across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TripAdvisor, and more. It offers online reputation management services like real-time data processing and sentiment analysis capabilities to help you understand your brand reputation online.

Key product features:

• Real-time monitoring of more than 25 million online sources, including social media, news, blogs, videos, forums, podcasts, and reviews

• AI-powered sentiment analysis to categorize mentions as positive, negative, or neutral across 108 supported languages

• Customizable reporting and metrics to measure brand awareness, reach, and engagement

Pricing: Plans start at $119 per month for individuals, billed annually. There is also a 14-day free trial available.

Reputation

Reputation bills itself as a “single source of truth” reputation management platform that integrates multiple data sources for comprehensive brand monitoring. It uses machine learning algorithms for review analysis and to interpret customer feedback.

Key product features:

• A centralized platform for monitoring and responding to customer feedback across multiple review sites

• A unified dashboard for managing and engaging with posts and messages across various social media channels

• Tools for analyzing rival businesses’ online performance and identifying market gaps and opportunities

Pricing: Contact sales to request a demo and pricing.

Brandwatch

Brandwatch is an advanced consumer intelligence platform that leverages big data processing and AI-driven analytics. It offers deep social listening capabilities and predictive trend analysis.

Key product features:

• Access to 1.7 trillion historical conversations dating back to 2010, with 501 million new conversations added daily from over 100 million unique sites and billions of sources

• AI functionality including a Gen AI Assistant, image analysis, auto segmentation, and AI-powered search functionality

• A customizable user interface with more than 50 live visualizations, the ability to blend in custom data, and various export options, including Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, and API access for sharing insights

Pricing: Contact sales to request a demo and pricing.