Business owners are frequently looking for ways to improve their image and branding. After all, a strong brand is essential for success in today’s competitive marketplace. But what are the best strategies for achieving this goal? Can one bad image ruin an entire brand?
The answer is yes if the image being talked about here is a mugshot. A mugshot can have an incredibly negative effect on a brand’s image, especially if the alleged crime is serious. It’s best to avoid mugshots altogether, as they may damage the reputation of the business and its owners. In case the damage has already been done, and the mugshot is roaming freely over the web, companies should take active measures to get mugshot removal done, likely by reputed firms, so as to ensure the confidentiality of the matter.
As a proactive measure to maintain a positive brand image, strategies must be in place to ensure the right kind of content is posted to be relevant to a business and to deal with negative images or photos that end up online. These might be images that would embarrass a business and worse still affect its brand adversely. The kinds of images that would need google image removal as the solution to remove them.
With the above in mind, here are five business strategies that can help you improve your image and branding.
Create a strong company culture
A business’s culture refers to the values, beliefs, and behaviours that shape its business operations. Creating a strong company culture is one of the most effective ways to improve your brand image and reputation. This is because customers are more likely to do business with companies that they perceive to be ethical and responsible. Furthermore, employees who feel proud of their company are more likely to go above and beyond to deliver excellent customer service. As such, invest time and resources into creating a strong company culture that reflects your business values.
Monitor your online presence
In today’s digital world, it is essential to monitor your online presence. The first requirement to fulfil this particular goal is to list your business on Apple Maps as well as make a separate business profile on Google My Business. Regularly search the internet for mentions of your business. If you come across any negative reviews or comments, reach out to the customer and try to resolve the issue.
You should also monitor your social media accounts to see what needs to be updated. Post new images of yourself, your business and your work at regular intervals. Ensure that you put Business Headshots as your display picture and hire a property photographer to post images of your office too.
Additionally, you should keep your social media profiles monitored as offensive or derogatory comments on posts concerning you and your business could be detrimental to the success of your business. By doing so, you can protect your business from online reputation damage.
It is important to act quickly if there is something posted about a business that is not complimentary. Constructive criticism might be acceptable, but when it goes beyond that, much damage can be done. Particularly if there are images involved that have been posted alongside the text that show a company to be less than competent or professional.
Use Image Removal Tools
There are various image removal tools available online, such as Google Reverse Image Search and Tineye. These tools can help you find out where an image is being used and who is using it. If you come across any negative images of your business, you can then take appropriate action to have them removed.
Images can be worse than text in terms of damaging a reputation because they can be quickly glanced at and interpreted, whereas many might not take the trouble to read a long passage of text written to arrive at the point which damages a company’s reputation.
Develop a crisis management plan
No business is immune to crises, such as data breaches, product recalls, or negative publicity through images put out there. Therefore, it is essential to have a crisis management plan in place. This will help you contain the situation and minimise reputational damage.
Furthermore, it is also important to be proactive in your crisis management efforts. For instance, if you know that a product recall is imminent, reach out to your customers proactively and let them know what is happening. By doing so, you can limit the negative impact on your brand image.
Where a photograph is not in keeping with a company image, be quick to remove it. Otherwise, it might affect the goodwill that you have down as an intangible asset on your balance sheet.
Focus on customer service
Customer service is another important factor that can affect your brand image. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your customers are always satisfied with the level of service they receive. Respond to customer complaints promptly and efficiently, and always endeavor to resolve any issues.
As well, make sure that your employees are always polite and professional when dealing with customers, regardless of whether you operate online or through a physical facility. Any receptionists that are based at the front desk should be welcoming and should accommodate the needs of their clients. For example, offering them a drink on arrival, switching the TV to something like the wiggles channel (if you have a younger audience), or initiating a conversation can be a great way for people to remember you and leave good reviews. By providing excellent customer service, you can improve your business’s image and reputation.
Each of these strategies has the potential to make a big impact on your overall image and branding. So, don’t wait – start implementing them today!