Why is a good survey software key in monitoring your brand perception? | GroHawk

Today we’re going to dive into ‘Brand Perception’ and how a good ‘Survey Software‘ can affect your bottom line…

What is Brand Perception?

Let’s start by defining what brand perception is

Brand perception, also known as brand image, is a fundamental part of your company’s success. Simply put, it’s what the customer thinks of you, based on their customer experience. Make no mistake, regardless of what you think of your brand, it’s the consumers that decide your brand perception.

According to a Bain and Company study, even though 80% of companies say they provide great experiences only about 8% of customers agree.

Why is Brand Perception Important?

The power of Brand Perception

It is important to know how your customers perceive your brand because that has a direct impact on your growth and subsequent revenue. A positive brand perception means positive reviews, referrals, and, most importantly, customer retention. 

A negative brand perception means higher customer turnover, bad reviews, and no word-of-mouth promotion. Or worse, having your customers tell potential customers not to buy from you.

There are a few other reasons why you should be measuring your brand perception. Monitoring your brand perception determines the effectiveness of your company’s marketing and advertising efforts. Identifying that your marketing isn’t working as you want it to, means you can pivot to other strategies early, saving you money in the long run.

Measuring Brand Perception

Now, how do you measure your brand perception?

By asking.

Customers today are more educated and also more opinionated. This is a good thing, in fact, it’s a great thing. With the progress of the internet, now more than ever, customers want to talk to you. And they talk to you in many different ways. Social media, blog posts, online video reviews, etc. What they say can be integral in shaping your brand view. 

Now, the problem is that it is almost impossible for a company to monitor every online channel to accumulate data that is relevant to measuring your brand perception. So how do you get through the noise to the data that really matters, those crucial bits of feedback that will shape how you do business going forward?

The Solution: GOOD SURVEY SOFTWARE!

How does survey software work?

What happens when you reach out to your buyers with a feedback request on their preferred platform?

If done right, it has the potential to yield higher response rates, more opportunities to fix problems and it adds a personal touch to your customer experience process. 

When conducting surveys, one should be mindful of time. Reaching out at the right time and then responding to the feedback promptly and meaningfully will yield the best results. Having a 360 CX pathway can help with this. A 360 CX pathway consists of three main steps: Gather, segment, and respond.

Gather the feedback, segment it accordingly so the right people handle it, and then respond in a timely manner with the next appropriate steps. This will effectively close your feedback loop and leave you with the most accurate data to assess your brand perception.

Benefits of good survey software

A good survey software provides invaluable insight into what your customers think about you. Survey software is one of the best tools that you can use to get accurate and relevant feedback from customers. 

Who to Survey?

The next thing you have to figure out is WHO to ask. Your answer depends on the type of feedback you are looking for. How specific do you want to get? 

In general, there are five groups of customers we can tap in to, to get feedback.

1. Non-customers These are customers that would buy from your industry but are not your customers yet, and may not have even heard of your brand.
2. Brand new customers These are customers that have recently bought your product or service.
3. Current customers that have had some experience with your brand. These aren’t brand new customers but may or may not be repeat customers. 
4. Long-term repeat customers These are customers that your brand has an established relationship with.
5. Dissatisfied customers This group of customers had an experience with your brand that ended in a negative feedback loop.

These are all customers at different stages of the customer experience that can offer valuable insight pertaining to your brand perception. In addition, there are two other audiences that can be invited to offer feedback. 

• Your target customer and their ‘group’. This list consists of the target customer, potential target customers, their partners, friends, and family. 
• You could take a ‘market segment’ approach whereby you ask different segments of your target market for feedback.

Types of Questions

Once you’ve determined your target audience, it’s time to ask the questions. The only work you have to do is design the questions and feed them into the survey software.

There are four main areas of the ‘human experience’ you want to target when finalizing your questions. Cognitive, emotional, language, and action. 

Cognitive

Cognitive, quite literally means, the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning. Asking cognitive questions will paint a picture of what the customer associates with your brand. Cognitive questions can be open-ended or multiple choice. For eg. How would you describe (brand name)?

Emotional

These are questions that aim to extract the emotion the customer experiences when hearing or talking about your brand. e.g. When you think of (brand name), how do you feel?

Language

This is, simply put, how the consumer would describe your brand in their own words. For eg. What are three words you would use to describe (brand name)?

Action

These questions should determine how the actual brand experience was for the customer and whether they would recommend your brand to a friend. For eg. How would you describe your best/worst experience with (brand name)? How likely are you to recommend (brand name) to a friend? 

What Type of Surveys to Conduct?

The next question you need to be asking yourself is what type of survey you want to use to capture feedback. The best thing about this process is that there are different types of surveys that you can use based on the kind of feedback you are looking for.

The four main types of surveys that you can conduct using a survey software are:

Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSAT)

CSAT is used to measure a customer’s opinion after a specific experience. Numerically, it indicates what percentage of your customers are happy doing business with you. CSAT can be done after a product purchase, store visit, or after a customer support interaction.

It is imperative that this survey be conducted right after the customer interaction. This is done so that the experience is still fresh in the customer’s mind and the feedback is accurate and valid. Typically, it is a one-question survey that gets an initial response and then follows up on that response to get deeper insights about the customer’s experience.

Net Promoter Score Survey (NPS)

NPS determines how likely a customer is to recommend the product or brand to someone. The main focus here is customer loyalty and to identify brand advocates. It is oftentimes referred to as the Ultimate Question. ‘Would you recommend us to a friend or family member?’

Regardless of whether the answer is yes or no, the best thing to do is to follow up with a question that asks them the reason for their previous answer. This method gives you a horde of feedback to work with. You can go in and easily extract compliments, suggestions, and complaints.

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Customer Effort Score Survey (CES)

CES determines the amount of effort required on consumers’ end to complete a specific interaction with your brand. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for your customer to interact with you at each point of their customer journey, from when they first heard of you, to when they place their order and become repeat customers.

Lower CES scores suggest you are doing well in keeping customers satisfied. An easier customer experience will invariably lead to more loyal customers and reduce churn. Here’s what you need to know about the Customer Effort Score.

Product Surveys

Product Surveys are another excellent tool to measure product satisfaction. This will give you valuable insight regarding your product offering. This consists of a series of questions centered around a particular product or service. This data can be used to decide which products are serving your brand and your customers and which are not.

Conclusion

A good survey software will assist you in demystifying your brand perception and provide you with regular feedback that you can use to improve your offerings. Your brand is more than a product or service, it is a representation of your values. A brand can have its own personality that can connect with your customers on a personal level. And the best way to determine if your perception of your brand is in line with what your customers are thinking is to invest in good survey software.