6 ways to master your brand reputation strategy using Digital PR
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In today’s world where information travels at the speed of a click, the ability to manage an online reputation can make or break your brand.
Brand reputation management is the practice of strategically monitoring, assessing and shaping your target audience’s opinions, attitudes and sentiments toward your brand to maintain a positive image and mitigate potential risks.
From staying ahead of trends to crisis management, Digital PR plays an important role in protecting your brand’s image. So, we’ve provided six essential Digital PR tactics to master your brand reputation strategy effectively.
We understand that brand reputation management can feel daunting, so for more information on how Embryo can help with your strategy, contact our team by phone at 0161 327 2635 or email info@embryo.com.
1. Focus on quality over quantity
While traditionally, Digital PR focused on gaining links and visibility across as many websites as possible, it’s now important to focus on gaining high-quality links and placements over quantity.
Securing placements on highly reputable websites not only boosts your brand’s ranking in search engines but also positions your brand as a trustworthy source in its industry, which contributes to long-term brand loyalty.
If your website is receiving consistent low-quality backlinks, Google may see this as spam, which can trigger ranking penalties.
Over time, multiple high-quality links from reputable websites will boost your own domain ranking, and Google will increasingly see you as a trustworthy source. Quality backlinks also mean that the traffic likely to follow this link will be more aligned with your own brand, and are more relevant to the content you produce.
High-quality links come from content that is long-form, detailed, actually useful and puts the user first.
2. Establish clear brand guidelines
Brand guidelines are a set of standards that define how a brand should represent itself in all of its output.
Establishing clear brand guidelines allows you to maintain consistency, build trust and increase recognition of your brand whilst also reinforcing your brand identity and values to your audience.
Your brand guidelines should include aspects such as the tone of voice, visual branding and messaging strategies. It’s important to align every piece of content you publish with these guidelines to ensure that it positively reflects your brand’s identity, values, and messaging. Having brand guidelines also means that your output is consistent regardless of which team member is behind the messaging.
By creating an instantly recognisable personality for your brand, that is consistent in colour, font, messaging and visuals- your brand is more likely to stick in people’s minds.
3. Diversify your content and stay ahead of trends
While sticking to your brand guidelines, you should ensure the creation and distribution of diverse content types. This could include blog posts, videos, articles, infographics and other multimedia formats to cater to the varying preferences and consumption habits of audiences.
By prioritizing adaptability in your Digital PR approach and staying ahead of ever-evolving trends, you can maintain a competitive edge and position your brand as a forward-thinking industry leader. Jumping on trends as they grow also means that your outreach has the opportunity to reach more people, who will see you as credible, authentic and relevant.
This strategy ensures that you remain at the forefront of your audience’s mind and uphold a positive brand reputation.
4. Engage with your audience
Digital PR is based on communication that is a two-way exchange. Brands should make an effort to promptly and authentically respond to comments, reviews and messages to show their commitment to customer satisfaction and create a sense of community around their brand.
This stays the same for any negative comments, reviews or messages, especially those visible to the public. Hold your brand accountable and put your messaging out there while staying polite and truthful.
Encouraging two-way communication also helps brands to listen to their audience’s feedback, address their concerns and use insights to guide their brand strategy. Engaging with online communities and user-generated content also helps to amplify your brand’s reach and influence.
Read our page on responding to negative reviews.
5. Measure, monitor and analyse your online presence
By proactively monitoring KPIs such as backlinks, sentiment analysis, engagement and brand mentions, brands can gain insights into the effectiveness of their Digital PR efforts and the overall perception of their brand.
Analytics tools can help track data that can be used to refine future strategies, whether it’s identifying areas for improvement, capitalising on successful campaigns or staying informed about the sentiment around your brand to accurately gauge public perception.
6. Proactive crisis management
Having a well-defined crisis management plan in place is important to address any negative publicity quickly and effectively, to reduce any negative impact on your brand reputation.
This involves identifying potential crisis scenarios and establishing clear communication strategies. Define team roles and responsibilities so that in a crisis, you can respond quickly and minimise damage. Transparency and authenticity are essential in crisis communication as they help build trust and credibility with your audience.
Ignoring your audience or not addressing concerns about your brand promptly, can have a snowball effect of even more negativity. After any crisis, you must use the experience to learn and change the management plan to make improvements.
Want to learn more about the benefits of Digital PR?
Here at Embryo, we know the full impact of what having a forward-thinking PR strategy can do for your brand.
As a full-service digital marketing agency with a dedicated Digital PR team, if you want to know more or work with us to help you create successful revenue-driving campaigns, get in touch by phone at 0161 327 2635 or email us at info@embryo.com.
