A brand’s reputation nowadays is fragile: if a company publishes a bad review or a not-so-nice social media post, an unpleasant customer incident, or even something as simple as a product complaint, it will go viral in no time and cause a much more significant scandal than it should.
The good news is that every company has an opportunity to detect a potential reputation risk early and stop it from becoming a crisis. Social listening, online monitoring, customer feedback, sentiment analysis, reviews, competitive intelligence, and even internal sources – all these channels can provide useful insight that will help a company preemptively take action before the problem escalates. So what exactly is a brand reputation risk, and how can a company identify potential issues before they become full-blown disasters?
Brand reputation risk defined: what can go wrong?
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Generally speaking, a brand reputation risk is any situation, occurrence, activity, comment, or conversation that could lead to a negative perception of a brand by its customers. It can arise from a single negative review, an ill-advised post on social media, worker dissatisfaction, a product recall, data breach, poor-quality customer service, brand sabotage, negative publicity, and a variety of other causes.
A negative conversation or review can quickly spiral out of control and attract unexpected attention. In fact, even a single complaint can resonate with many individuals if it exposes an important issue. However, not every customer complaint should be treated as an emergency. If only one or two people have expressed their dissatisfaction, this should be considered on a case-by-case basis. Although the issue should be addressed, there is no need to engage in a full-blown damage control unless more customers start complaining.
However, if dozens or hundreds of people begin posting negative feedback about a company, it is time to take the matter seriously. The later the reputation risk is detected, the more damage it can cause. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that every company employee is aware of potential issues.
Early brand reputation risk detection: how to spot threats before they escalate
Now that you know what brand reputation risks are, where to find them, and why it is essential to detect them early, it is time to learn how to identify potential reputation risks effectively. The following tips will help you detect brand reputation risks before they erupt:
1. Monitor mentions of your brand 24/7
Most companies already utilize various social listening and brand monitoring tools to track brand mentions around the clock. Social media monitoring can help companies track brand mentions across social media, forums, blogs, news websites, review sites, and other outlets. It is a good idea to set these tools up so that they detect brand mentions across multiple channels. Mention detection should include mentions of the company’s name, products, services, executives, or other elements. In addition, hashtags and brand comparisons should also be included in brand mention detection.
2. Perform sentiment analysis of customers’ comments
While monitoring brand mentions is essential, it is equally vital to analyze the sentiment of your brand. Sentiment analysis tools allow you to determine the primary sentiment of a customer comment or post as positive, negative, or neutral. The reason why this is important becomes apparent when we realize that multiple negative mentions can affect your customers’ perception of your brand. Therefore, if sentiment analysis detects a sudden increase in negative comments, it is time to look into the matter and see what causes them.
3. Keep track of sentiment trends and volume of mentions
As mentioned above, it is not only the volume of mentions that matters but also their sentiment. Generally speaking, a sudden increase in mentions, especially negative ones, is a reputation risk. In addition, a sharp rise in comments, reviews, complaints, media mentions, social media interactions, or any other type of customer interaction can also be an early sign of a reputation risk. A sudden increase in volume indicates that more customers are discussing a particular product or service, which should prompt further investigation on whether there is a genuine issue.
4. Set reputation risk thresholds and escalation policies
Every company has to have predefined policies regarding brand reputation risk management. First, it is essential to set reputation risk thresholds that define when a reputation risk escalates to a crisis and requires the company’s senior leadership to take immediate action. Then, the company needs to establish clear rules about how to escalate the issue depending on its severity. For example, a single negative review or comment that has not gone viral and does not have many likes or shares should not require the management’s immediate attention.
5. Combine external and internal data
It is always a good idea for a company to use external brand reputation monitoring data in combination with internal data. For example, if external monitoring software detects a surge in customer mentions, it is essential to investigate whether this corresponds to an increase in customer support tickets, product returns, refund requests, and customer dissatisfaction. The more data you can collect, the better: the ability to look at a problem from multiple angles can help you determine the true cause of a potential reputation risk.
Summary
Brand reputation risks can originate anywhere: social media, online reviews, product performance issues, customer service concerns, or even employees’ social media posts. The primary threat is not the risk itself but the company’s inability to identify it early enough and prevent further damage. Thus, companies must constantly monitor their brand mentions across social media and other platforms, analyze customer feedback and sentiment, track reviews, and keep an eye on relevant trends. In addition, it is important to combine external brand reputation data with internal data to get a complete view of the situation. Then, a company must review the available evidence and take appropriate action: respond directly to customer concerns, modify the product or service, adjust operational policies, enhance the customer experience, and more. By actively managing brand reputation based on collected data, a company can prevent potential problems from spiraling out of control.