Brand perception is often crucial to a successful and long-lasting business. It is essentially the picture that consumers imagine when they think of a certain brand; the more relatable, likable, and respectable the image, the more likely a brand can connect with their customers. While often underestimated by companies, managing your brand perception can make a huge difference in outreach and loyalty.

Value of Brand Perception

Brand perception is essentially all the thoughts and emotions that a consumer has about a company. It can be built up over time through marketing, perception of products, overall appearance (such as website or logo), or interactions with consumers. While many companies often think of it as a byproduct of doing business, brands that manage their image successfully can hone and influence how they are perceived.  

There are a lot of factors that go into successful brand management, though. Strategic and proactive thinking, effective communication channels, and flexibility with regards to the market are some of the factors that can make or break a brand. As a brand manager, you should always remember the value of brand perception and recognition when managing the company’s image. For smaller businesses especially, putting value into brand perception could be the difference maker for rapid growth and building a core of loyal customers. 

Being Strategic and Proactive

When working to improve brand perception, every interaction and marketing strategy should be calculated and purposeful. With the importance of online marketing in today’s world, appealing to younger generations is more important than ever before. They’re shown to favor brands with strong and relatable character, and any misstep or unethical behavior can spiral into a general dislike of a brand. 

It’s important to be very precise when selecting marketing strategies. If your only outreach is through plain commercials or pop-up ads, for example, you might struggle to build a rapport with consumers. Strategic and calculated brand management can strengthen customer loyalty and retention, increase employee engagement, and even improve the perception of your products. To find success, it’s crucial to know your audience, stand out amongst your competitors, and give your brand a personality that seems natural.  

Strong Communication

Having smooth and effective communication channels is another vital aspect of successful brand management. Offering great and quick customer service—be it chat bots or 24/7 customer support—can boost your image and loyalty. Integrating multiple modes of communication (phone, email, live chat, etc.) into a cohesive system helps consumers feel remembered or like they’re keeping up a long, consistent conversation. 

It’s important to remember that customers want to be heard and understood, and not blatantly advertised to. Having online channels (such as a Twitter account) that give your brand character greatly increase the respect consumers have for your image. 

Flexibility

Being flexible in the ever-changing market can propel a brand’s perception amongst certain types of consumers. Whether it’s keeping up with trends or having multiple marketing strategies (say, a YouTube account and an engaging Facebook page), flexibility and versatility are key. Something as simple as having a dynamic logo that is recognizable but non-repetitive can prevent it from becoming background noise for buyers.  

Diversifying in the efforts to improve brand perception, such as by having multiple social media touchpoints, keeps a brand fluid and resilient. Keeping up with trends and the general interests of your consumers is also beneficial to your brand loyalty, as it makes you seem more relatable or aware. This could backfire, however, if it seems like you’re simply hopping onto trends to pander to customers, and “trying too hard” often impacts appeal negatively. 

Teamwork

While brand managers need to be strategic and flexible, aligning within a team or company as a whole is just as important. While developing individually makes a good brand manager, making sure your team understands and reflects the brand’s image is what builds long-lasting success in brand perception. Alignment across the board is what truly brings a brand’s image and personality to light, while adding to the company culture.