How To Improve Brand Perception Using Social Media

Take a few minutes to look at your brand. What impressions does your audience have about your brand? What in your opinion do you think influences these perceptions? What actions can you take now to project a positive perception using social media?

Social media is a great way to improve, monitor, manage and influence the conversations around your business.

Every action your brand takes online influences your brand perception. Although you may not be able to control these comments, you can at least capitalize on them to improve your brand image.

I’ll be explaining what brand perception entails, and also share 4 ways businesses can project a positive image using social media.

What is Brand Perception?

Brand perception is the overall feelings consumers have about a brand.

Of all the things brands have control over such as brand identities, touchpoints, marketing communications etc, brands don’t have direct control over how their brand is perceived by customers.

This is because customers not companies own brand perception.

However, brands can only try to shape how customers perceive their brands and the feelings they derive. But it doesn’t still guarantee anything.

Sometime ago, I worked with a brand as a content marketer. Our brand mentions from followers and close friends of the brand became massive.

People were responding positively to our content and were fascinated by the behind the scene images of our in-house brand activities.

A closer look at the reviews and comments revealed that it wasn’t the ads we ran that were directly responsible for this perception our audiences had of our brand, it was the content and images we shared via social media.

A colleague also reported a case of his friend telling him that he must really be having a swell time with the brand as the images he was seeing online suggested.

What brought about these changes? We only tweaked our content to be more informative and educational sandwiched with a behind-the-scenes sneak peek, and this changed how our audience saw our brand.

You can change how you want your brand to be perceived but it’s only up to your customers to feel this way.

Read also: Side leaning: a new approach to skills acquisition

What are Social Media Reviews?

Social media reviews are forms of customer reviews that happen on the social media space.

The reviews are usually not requested for and are most times made without the knowledge of the brands involved.

Social media reviews provide new and existing customers with a sense that your brand is genuine and provides real products or services. Businesses with no reviews, testimonials or feedback will be banking on the ability of their prospects to take a leap of faith.

Similarly, your clients are more likely to move on to your competitor if you don’t have a social proof to show for your business.

Additionally, social media reviews can make or mar your business as they have the tendency to go viral within a short space of time. The ability to sway these reviews to your advantage can boost your brand reputation and perception.

How to Checkmate Negative Reviews

•  Respond as quickly as possible
• Be polite and professional in your response
• Reply each review with a custom response
• Don’t take negative feedbacks personally
• Encourage customer reviews
• Request that misleading reviews be removed
• Tackle negative reviews offline and follow up on negative reviewers

How to Take Advantage of Positive Reviews

• Create nice social media designs from reviews and share on your social media channels
• Share positive feedbacks within your organization to boost the morale of your team
• Create frames with positive reviews and hang them on the wall of your offices
• Use customer reviews on your website as social proof
• Engage positive reviewers and turn them into brand ambassadors

How to Build Brand Perception Using Social Media

1. Create or curate better content:

Content is the life wire of the internet. It’s the bridge between brands and their followers.

Social media is a two-way communication, and in order to build a positive brand perception, you need to provide valuable content that speaks to your audience and helps them solve their problems.

Alternatively, if you can’t create quality content consistently, you can decide to curate content you know your audience will be interested in. Or better still, outsource your content creation efforts.

Outsourcing your content creation allows you to save time and maintain a reasonable level of consistency and quality.

You also need to find the perfect synergy between promotional and non-promotional content, and then tie it to your overall business objective.

Without a clearly defined goal for content creation, you might be building the wrong perception. This is one red flag to avoid in content creation.

Read also: Should you outsource your content? 2 important factors to consider

2. Invest in influencer marketing:

One of the seven things we learned about marketing in 2020 is that influencer marketing can be a business growth tool when used appropriately. A well-structured influencer marketing strategy can help generate positive talking points around your brand.

Since social media influencers contribute to positive brand reviews, they can help shift the mindset of followers or prospects into seeing the positive aspects of your brand. Their opinions can sway followers and improve their perception of your brand.

3. Share behind-the-scene images of your brand:

Your followers want to know what it’s like to work for your brand. They want to feel and see the things happening on the inside – the fun times with staff, the processes that lead to production.

Capitalize on these thirst for insider knowledge. Use these moments to connect with your audience and engage them in meaningful conversations.

People want to be friends with the brands that they love, sharing these images will definitely change the way they see your brand.

4. Be present and consistent:

You need to maintain a presence on the social media channels that your target audience hangs out on. Being present on these channels requires you to have a strong brand strategy so that you can remain consistent with your communications.

Creating a content calendar also helps you maintain your strategy – it’s your brand’s to-do list – because it helps you map out important details so that you’re always on track.

Read: 5 benefits of using a content calendar

5. Respond promptly:

Every business is one negative comment away from losing a customer. Responding quickly to comments or reviews shows the customer that you care and value their opinions.

Your competitors are always lurking around to pounce on unhappy customers and the world is watching to see how your brand would react to this situation.

Treat your social media channels as an extension of your customer service centre. You may have the most attractive brand but poor customer experience can ruin your business.

Customer experience is your customer’s holistic perception of their experience with your business across every touch point including social media. You may not need to comment on every negative comment, but ensure you reach out to the reviewer and help them out.

Conclusion

Social media is one of the best tools your brand has, and it’s an extension of your business. Treat social media reviews and comments with the same urgency with which you answer calls in the office.

Use social media listening tools to your advantage, monitor brand mentions and conversations around your brand.