What is brand perception and how do you measure it?
Gaining positive attention in the public eye is one of the best ways to help your business flourish. Your brand’s success is intricately tied to how it’s perceived, including the collective opinions, emotions, and associations people hold toward your brand.
Understanding what brand perception is and how to measure brand perception will inspire your business strategy, brand guides, and decision-making processes. This guide will dive deeper into the essence of brand perception, covering how and why you should work on improving your brand presence.
What is brand perception?
Brand perception refers to the way people perceive a particular brand. It involves the impressions, thoughts, and feelings that people have about a brand based on their interactions and experiences with it. Brand perception is formed through various touchpoints, such as advertising, customer service, product quality, word of mouth, and overall brand messaging.
Over time, brand perception can change as a result of effective brand management. Because it directly influences consumer behavior and loyalty, brands tend to invest significant resources in managing and improving their brand perception. A positive brand perception is vital in today’s dynamic business environment, as it can lead to increased trust, customer loyalty, and a competitive advantage in the market.
Factors that shape brand perception
Brand perception plays a pivotal role in how consumers and the public engage with a particular brand. There are various factors that make up the perception of a brand. Let’s explore each aspect that contributes to a brand’s overall perception:
- Brand image: Encapsulating the visual and intangible impressions a brand conveys, brand image is a fundamental aspect influencing brand perception. It includes design elements, such as logos and packaging, along with more abstract facets, like brand personality and values.
- Brand reputation: Reputation is built on the collective opinions of customers, stakeholders, and the public. These opinions are based on a brand’s past actions and behavior. For example, the way a company handles a crisis can have a huge influence on its reputation.
- Brand awareness: How well a brand is recognized and known among its target audience makes up brand awareness. As you increase brand awareness, it can positively influence consumer decisions.
- Customer experience: Interactions between consumers and a brand play a pivotal role in brand perception. Positive experiences contribute to cultivating a favorable brand image, while negative interactions can lead to a poor brand image.
- Advertising and marketing: The way a brand communicates through advertising, social media, and other channels influences the overall perception of the brand. Consistent and authentic messaging is vital in shaping a strong brand perception.
- Reviews and testimonials: Customer opinions and recommendations carry substantial weight in shaping brand perception. Consumers often rely on other people’s reviews, which can either bolster a brand’s image or diminish it.
Why is brand perception important?
The multifaceted task of building and maintaining a positive brand perception extends beyond simply shaping a favorable image. It requires strategic positioning of a brand in the minds of consumers, stakeholders, and competitors. In essence, brand perception is the cornerstone upon which business objectives are built.
Building consumer trust and loyalty
Establishing a trustworthy brand perception is fundamental for fostering consumer loyalty. Brand strategy involves consistency and quality, which can lead to long-term trust and advocacy. When consumers perceive a brand positively, they are more inclined to make confident purchases and become repeat customers.
Gain a competitive advantage
Building a brand in a crowded marketplace requires developing a favorable brand perception to stand out from competitors. Brand perception can be the differentiator that compels consumers to choose one brand over another, resulting in a distinct competitive advantage.
Instill confidence with investors
Investors place considerable value on a brand’s perception. A positive image can increase investor confidence, leading to more opportunities. Whether they are shareholders, venture capitalists, or lenders, investors seek brand stability.
Develop partnerships and collaborations
Brands that are highly regarded often secure better partnerships and collaborations. Other companies are more likely to align themselves with a brand that has a positive reputation because it can enhance their own image. Brand collaboration is an important tool for opening growth opportunities and expanding a brand’s reach.
Deploy brand extensions
A strong brand perception can facilitate successful brand extensions. Entering a new product or service category can be made easier by leveraging one’s established name and reputation. People are more inclined to try new offerings from a brand they already trust. This allows brands to focus on more asset workflows thanks to the potential reduced risks and costs associated with launching brand extensions.
How do you measure brand perception?
How to measure brand perception involves more than simply understanding what brand perception is. It requires various metrics and methodologies to measure different facets of brand perception. Each brand perception metric offers unique insights into consumer sentiments and market positioning.
1. Social listening
Social listening, also known as social media monitoring, involves tracking and analyzing social media channel mentions, discussions, and sentiments. By monitoring platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and others, you can gain insights into what people are saying about your brand in real time.
The goal is to understand public opinions, identify trends, and gather useful feedback that can guide marketing strategies, improve products or services, and manage the brand’s reputation. Key elements of social listening include topic analysis, sentiment analysis, and competitor analysis. Leveraging tools in social listening provides companies with the ability to monitor and analyze social media data effectively.
2. Brand perception surveys
Surveys and questionnaires are insightful tools for gathering brand perception metrics. By capturing the opinions, preferences, and attitudes of consumers, surveys provide brands with structured and quantifiable data about how their audience perceives various aspects of their brand. Here are a few ways surveys and questionnaires can be utilized to measure brand perception metrics:
- Quality assessment
- Trustworthiness evaluation
- Value perception
- Brand image and personality
- Customer satisfaction
- Likelihood to recommend
- Demographic insights
Crafting well-structured, clear, and unbiased questions ensures you receive the best data possible. Combining quantitative data from closed-ended questions with qualitative insights from open-ended questions provides a comprehensive understanding of the nuances behind participants’ perceptions.
3. Brand analytics
Reviewing website and search engine analytics provides helpful insights into how your brand is perceived across platforms. These metrics offer a dynamic view of user behavior and engagement, contributing to the overall impact of your brand online.
Website analytics
- Bounce rate: Understanding and reducing the bounce rate can help improve the alignment between user expectations and actual website content
- Time spent on site: The amount of time users spend on your site can reflect their interest level
- Pages viewed: A higher pageview count may suggest a deeper interest in your brand and a more positive perception of the information provided
- Website traffic: The number of visitors and unique visitors helps assess your reach and popularity
- Conversion rates: Conversion rates indicate the effectiveness of your website in achieving specific business objectives
Search engine analytics
- Search volume: Search volume for your brand name and related keywords can help gauge interest and awareness
- Ranking keywords: Analyzing keywords helps understand user search intent and how search engines perceive the relevancy of your brand
- Trends related to the brand: Search trends can help you stay ahead of consumer concerns
- Click-through rates (CTR): A high CTR suggests that users find your brand appealing and relevant
4. Online reviews and testimonials
Online customer reviews and testimonials can be extremely influential in developing brand perception. They provide unfiltered insights into how customers experience and perceive a brand. By analyzing both positive and negative feedback, you can measure important brand perception metrics and learn how to improve content management and brand building.
Positive feedback can highlight brand strengths and the positive aspects of your brand. They also contribute to building trust and credibility among potential customers. Positive reviews are essentially digital word-of-mouth recommendations.
Negative feedback can help you identify areas for improvement. Responding to negative reviews in a constructive and transparent manner presents your brand’s commitment to customer satisfaction and willingness to acknowledge mistakes and take responsibility.
How can you improve brand perception?
Crafting a positive brand perception involves a keen understanding of your audience. From consistent messaging to a focus on delivering outstanding customer experiences, transparency in business practices, conducting thorough market research, and effective online reputation management, each component plays a critical role in influencing the way your brand is perceived.
Consistent brand messaging
Implementing comprehensive brand style guides and digital asset management (DAM) solutions ensures that your brand communication is always consistent and up-to-date.
Customer experience
Focus on delivering an excellent customer experience, including positive interactions, personalized service, and a seamless customer journey. Customers who feel valued are more likely to amplify positive brand perception.
Transparency
Transparency builds trust with customers. By promoting authenticity, consumers will develop positive associations thanks to your openness and honesty.
Market research
Gathering insights into what matters most to your customers allows your brand to tailor products, services, and content marketing to add genuine value to their lives.
Online reputation management
Proactive reputation management helps mitigate the impact of negative feedback and demonstrates your commitment to continuous improvement.
Wrapping up: Brand perception
Using the right tools can make a significant difference as you continue building your brand image and working on developing a strong perception. Bynder’s digital asset management platform offers a centralized space to manage your brand identity, messaging, and assets.
From improving content workflow to centralizing files, Bynder empowers businesses to maintain brand consistency across all channels. Integrating innovative solutions enhances your operational efficiency and contributes to a robust brand strategy.
